INHERITANCE

WHAT DO WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO INHERIT?

When we think of inheritance our minds often think first of our homes or what finances we are leaving for our loved ones?

My Dad passed away over a year ago now and its been a journey of grief and loss. I haven't written my blog for a while over a year in-fact... no coincidence there. I recently started the artwork above, I started thinking about extinction and how he no longer exists as a person, he was one of a kind. However now I find myself dwelling on the idea of inheritance. I look in the mirror and I see aspects of my Dad in myself physically: olive skin, brown hair and brown eyes. He lives on in my memories and in constant reminders of what I have inherited from him, my love of reading, my passion for learning new things and his science fiction mind. Dune was one of his favourite science fiction books that he encouraged me to read when I was younger.

Inheritance is so much more than our worldly possessions. In fact I have only a few physical things to remind me of Dad. Maybe these other things I have inherited will start to creep into this unfinished artwork. my eyes, some books...

What do I want my son to inherit from me? He will inherit I hope and already has a strong sense of personal identity. The good and the bad. A humility in being able to be weak to let others be strong and a strength to help himself and others when he needs too. A confidence in who he is and when life throws curve balls I hope he has the strength of character to rise back up and carry on. Hopefully a good sense of humour, a faith in God and in human kindness that will give him hope.

He is a young teenager at the moment and he said to me the other day 'I know as much as most adults do now if not more, and I don't have much else to learn'. Of course I laughed and explained how he may know lots of knowledge but he will still have lots to learn. The arrogance of youth looking up and seeing adults only as boring human beings that have little to offer you anymore. I remember feeling like this. That strong sense of feeling like you are ready for anything the world can throw at you.

Sadly he hasn't inherited my passion for art although he has the ability to create beautiful music, images and writing that are awesome. I hope through my art teaching that some of my pupils have inherited a love for art and all things creative. That these blogs give a little inspiration to a world desperate for it.

My son will also inherit my artwork. I often wonder what will happen to my artwork? will it end up on the rag market? will it be prized for a while and then eventually pass on? How long does anything endure? I look at discarded CDs, floppy disks and memory sticks, broken disc drive with hours of someones work on. We have a generation growing up that will only know a virtual world, a less paper full world. Will books disappear onto kindles? Will artwork become virtual completely?

In the end none of the stuff ever lasts but our characteristics, our traits they will be remembered. Time to look at who we are as people. What legacy are we leaving the world? What will people remember about us? The only thing that endures forever is indeed love.

How have other artists portrayed the idea of inheritance - here are a couple I found that are different ideas but interesting:

This is by an artist called Manami Longfelt and its called Inheritance. The DNA.

This is by an artist called Andrew Goreds. Its about a legacy for a lost future on planet Earth, where technological advancement couldn’t manage to protect humans from cataclysms but only their ruin.

Not the most cheerful way of looking at inheritance but one that all of us are facing. The planet needs care as do the humans on it. Lets be our best inheritance, for humanity, the planet and for the next generations.