Read Stories


 

Age Plays No Factor

posted by Stephanie.Wilding

Fri Aug 13, 12:16 PM


By Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

He's Britain's most talked-about young artist. His paintings fetch hefty sums and there's a long waiting list for his eagerly anticipated new works.


It has all happened so quickly — he's still getting used to the spotlight — and Kieron Williamson fidgets a little when he's asked to share his thoughts on art.


"Cows are the easiest thing to paint," said Kieron, who has just turned 8. "You don't have to worry about doing so much detail."


Horses, he says, are "a lot harder. You have to get their legs right, and you have to make their back legs much bigger than their front."


Paintbrush prodigy Kieron — dubbed "mini Monet" by the British press — is a global sensation. All 33 of the pastels, watercolours and oil paintings in his latest exhibition sold, within half an hour, for a total of 150,000 pounds ($235,000). Buyers from as far away as the United States lined up overnight outside the gallery, and there is a 3,000-strong waiting list for his Impressionistic landscapes of boat-dotted estuaries, snowy fields and wide marshland skies.


He has a website and a business card. Strangers approach him at the gallery, asking him to sign postcards of his work. Journalists from around the world travel to his small home town in eastern England to interview him.


Kieron shrugs off the attention. "It feels normal to me," he says.


It definitely doesn't feel normal to his parents, Keith and Michelle Williamson. They are bemused, proud and a little anxious about their son's talent and its effects.


"It has been overwhelming," said Michelle Williamson, a 37-year-old nutritional therapist. She and her 44-year-old art dealer husband live in a small apartment with Kieron and his 6-year-old sister, Billie-Jo.


Kieron was a normal, energetic little boy, and his parents were surprised when he asked for pencils and paper during a holiday in Cornwall two years ago. They were astonished when the then-5-year-old produced an accomplished picture of boats in a harbour. He progressed rapidly to fully realized landscapes, many depicting the flat, open Norfolk countryside near their home.


"Keith and I don't paint, so we find it difficult to know what's going on inside his head," Michelle said.


"We don't understand it. We don't know where it comes from. But he's adamant it's what he wants to do. When your child has got such a gift and a talent, you have to support him."


That hasn't stopped the Williamsons worrying about whether they are doing the right thing in exposing him to so much attention. They showed Kieron's work to a local gallery, which has mounted two exhibitions and is helping them cope with the flood of global interest.


"It's not a natural thing to want to put your kid in the media spotlight," Michelle said.


"We've met so many sharks. All they see is the financial element. They don't see the emotional stuff. You can't separate the art from Kieron."


A self-possessed blond boy, dressed in a polo shirt, shorts and sneakers, Kieron doesn't seem like a hothouse prodigy.


He likes soccer — he plays defence for a school team — and messing around on the broad North Sea beaches near his home in Holt, a pretty Georgian town 125 miles (200 kilometres) northeast of London.

When he talks about his work, it's with a striking mix of the adult and the childlike. He can discuss his colour choices and the interplay of light and dark, but also remembers more idiosyncratic details.

"This," he said, pointing at one landscape, "is when we came back from Holkham and we couldn't get fish and chips because there was a line going from the fish and chip shop to the car park."

When he starts to draw, with a confident, relaxed fluidity, all childishness disappears. Working from a photograph of a river at sunrise, Kieron swiftly sketches the horizon, the mounds of trees and the line of the river, then uses pastels to colour the yellowy pink of the sky.

His parents are happy for people to watch him work — it disproves any suspicions that the paintings are not his own.

They encountered that kind of skepticism at first, though Michelle Williamson says it has abated.

Critical opinion on Kieron's work is divided. One newspaper headline asked, "Is Kieron Britain's most exciting painter?" But others have wondered whether Kieron's paintings would be so well-regarded if he were an adult, and asked if his talent will endure.

The precedents are mixed. Pablo Picasso famously said that unlike in music, "there are no child prodigies in painting. What people regard as premature genius is the genius of childhood. It gradually disappears as they get older."

Picasso himself was a child prodigy, however, who went on to revolutionize art. The 19th-century English artist John Everett Millais was made a member of the Royal Academy at 11.

But for every Millais — or Mozart — there are many prodigies whose gifts do not survive puberty.

"Most brilliant 8-year-old pianists or footballers don't maintain it into adulthood," said Jack Boyle, a Glasgow-based child psychologist.

He advises the Williamsons not to worry too much. Kieron's talent is unlikely to do him any harm.

"Children like being successful and they like being the best," Boyle said. "My advice? Take the money and run. Milk it for every penny, but don't harm the child in the process.

"Develop his other interests — and sell as many of the paintings as you can."

At the moment, Michelle Williamson is looking forward to the start of the school year in September, when exhibitions and interviews will be replaced by homework and normal childhood routines.

The gallery is offering two new landscapes — Kieron's last work as a 7-year-old and his first as an 8-year-old — by an online auction that closes Aug. 20. A new exhibition is planned for next summer.

Michelle Williamson says she and her husband won't be disappointed if Kieron one day stops painting, as long as he is happy.

"We fully expect Kieron to change his mind," she said. "But we know that whatever he ends up doing, Kieron is going to give it 200 per cent."

Kieron says he knows what he wants to be when he grows up — "painter and footballer."

And he is willing to offer advice for other aspiring artists.

"Never give up. Try and keep your buildings straight. And don't do a plain blue sky."

___

Online:

Kieron's website: www.kieronwilliamson.com

Picturecraft Gallery: www.picturecraftgallery.com

Inspired  0
 
Bookmark and Share  
 
 
Close

World Improvement Program for Individuals:


(Watch Video Number 1 and 2 on Our Landing Page)

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead

At World Improvement Number (WIN), we go even further! We prove that just one individual can make a difference... a big difference. In fact, it is a part of our mission to give absolutely everyone the opportunity to share stories of positive action and if they choose …. to even become a world leader.

The Key Benefit:
We show that one person (You!) can make a difference … a BIG difference.

The Program:
Personal World Improvement Number: The WIN point tracking automatically calculates your personal "WIN" and shows you just how significant the ripple effect of a positive action or idea can be. You (as a user) would post your positive experience or idea onto the WIN site after signing up.
Positive stories and actions are divided into four easy categories –
  • A positive action that you took for people, animals or the environment.
  • A positive idea that you have learned about or thought up (for a full list view examples of positive actions).
  • A positive action that someone else did for you.
  • A positive action that you learned about whether that be by seeing it in person, seeing it on TV or the internet, reading about it or hearing about it from someone else.


How It Works:
Once your story is posted, you are immediately credited with a point. If you give others access to view your story your points will grow exponentially. Someone then reads your story and is inspired so they click on the inspired link underneath the story. You are then immediately credited with another point. Should another user be inspired by your story, they can click on inspired and you receive another point for each of them. Should you inspire any of those people to post a story and they inspire others, you receive a point for everyone that they inspire and everyone that they inspire and so on and so on.
The possibilities are endless. You could literally inspire thousands of people around the world with a single story. The system will track your total accumulated points, your year to date points and your month to date points. You can have fun competing with your friends in all sorts of ways.
You will be able to track the butterfly effect of your stories about how they have impacted friends, strangers, and communities far and wide.

Download this as a PDF.
Close

World Improvement Number Program for Professional / Trade Associations & Unions:


(See Video Number 7 on Our Landing Page)

The Key Benefit:
The WIN program helps Professional and Trade/Industry Associations significantly enhance their public image by demonstrating the value of their contribution to society.

The Program:
Professional and Trade Associations have many challenges including enhancing the image of their profession / industry / trade, encouraging members to contribute to the communities in which they work, attracting key talent to enter the category and working with government relations amongst others.

A World Improvement Number can help the association track and quantify the value of the truly positive actions taken by its members, employees, associates and partners. In addition member companies can have their own WIN and tag those stories to multiple levels including their business, location and to the association/industry itself.

The system automatically calculates a WIN number and also creates a knowledge center that can be accessed for training, public relations and best practices. In fact, a WIN number can be a key differentiator when members, potential members, investors, government, employees, potential employees and partners (etc.) consider their alternatives.

Here is how it works:
The association sets up a community in worldimprovementnumber.com and then encourages its members, employees, channel partners, customers and vendors (etc.) to join and record stories about the positive work that is being accomplished in every part of the industry or trade. There can be an overall WIN number for the association as well as WIN numbers for member companies, members, employees etc.

One of our partners, TheMindSuite.com can even work with you to consolidate that information from a reporting metrics perspective. For more information about the possibilities of an integrated reporting system including promotional opportunities please visit www.themindsuite.com/industryimprovementnumber

These individuals then tag those stories of great service, community work, employee relations, and community programs to the association (and company etc.) and a knowledge centre will be established and fed from every location in just about any language. This knowledge centre can be accessed by various participating stakeholders to recognize their work, and by others who may want to support their efforts.

Advertising, sales and marketing efforts can then encourage their target market to join World Improvement Number and view firsthand the stories and case studies of the positive work that is being accomplished throughout the world by the members of that industry or trade.

Download this as a PDF
Close

World Improvement Number Programs for Companies / Businesses


(Watch Video Number 4 on our Landing Page)

The Key Benefit:
The WIN program helps companies of any type demonstrate social responsibility by creating its ‘Business World Improvement Number’ which clearly shows the value of its contribution to customers, employees and the communities within which it operates.

The Program:
Global competition, transparency, educated consumers, the environment and corporate responsibility are all key issues facing companies today. A Business World Improvement Number can help the organization track and quantify the value of the truly positive actions taken by its employees, associates and partners.

The system automatically calculates a company’s WIN number and also creates a knowledge center that can be accessed for training, best practices and benchmarking. In fact, a company’s WIN number can be a key differentiator when customers, potential customers, employees, potential employees and partners consider their alternatives.

Here is how it works:
The organization sets up a community in worldimprovementnumber.com and then encourages its employees, channel partners, customers and vendors to join and record stories about the positive work that is being accomplished in every part of the organization. There can be an organizational WIN number as well as WIN numbers for branches, divisions, departments etc.

One of our partners, TheMindSuite.com can even work with you to consolidate that information from a reporting metrics perspective. For more information about the possibilities of an integrated reporting system including promotional opportunities please visit www.themindsuite.com/businessimprovementnumber.

These individuals then tag those stories of great customer service, community work, employee relations, and community programs to the organization and a knowledge centre will be established and fed from every location in just about any language. This knowledge centre can be accessed by various participating stakeholders to recognize their work, and by others who may want to support their efforts.

Advertising, sales and marketing efforts can then encourage their target market to join World Improvement Number and view firsthand the stories and case studies of the positive work that is being accomplished throughout the world.

Download this as a PDF
Close

World Improvement Number Program for Not-for-Profit & Charities:


(Watch video number 3 on our landing page)

The Key Benefit:
The World Improvement Number (WIN) program for Not-for-profit and Charity organizations clearly demonstrates how that organization works and clearly demonstrates a “Return on Investment” to their supporters and potential supporters.

The Program:
Not-for-profits and charities have many challenges including; finding ways to show their value, continually maintain and increase donations, and provide support and encouragement to their employees and volunteers working in often difficult situations.

The system automatically calculates an organization’s WIN number and also creates a knowledge center that can be accessed for training, best practices and benchmarking. In fact, a company’s WIN number can be a key differentiator when donors, potential donors, employees, potential employees and partners consider their alternatives. World Improvement Number helps to demonstrate this “ROI: by capturing and consolidating real stories on field activities going giving great clarity on how the donation money is being used. This will show the true value of the work in a well organized and easily accessible way.

Here is how it works:
The organization sets up a community in worldimprovementnumber.com and then encourages its members, workers and supporters to join and record stories about the positive work that is being accomplished throughout their area of influence.

These individuals then tag those stories to the organization and a knowledge centre will be established and fed with stories from every location in any language. This knowledge centre can be accessed by supporters to recognize their work, and others who may want to support their efforts through donations.

The organization will have its own WIN number and can easily show the return on investment (ROI) that its supporters are achieving.

The system can be set up for an ongoing group or association or it can be for a specific initiative such as disaster relief. Imagine having many heartfelt positive stories all gathered in one place.

Advertising, canvassing and fundraising efforts can then ask their target market to join World Improvement Number and view firsthand the stories and case studies of the positive work that is being accomplished as a result of their support.

Download this as a PDF
Close

World Improvement Number Programs for Schools:


(Watch Video Number 5 on Our Landing Page)

The Key Benefit:
The WIN program helps schools to document and organize their community efforts and demonstrate the positive outcome of these initiatives to students, parents, teachers and the community.

The Program:
Grade schools have many challenges including; providing means to improve their community, teach the values of contribution to students and parents, continually maintain and increase funding and donations, and provide support and encouragement to their students, parents, faculty and staff.

World Improvement Number can help demonstrate this “Return On Time’ invested by capturing and consolidating stories on the activities going on in the school and the surrounding community. In addition, the learning’s and positive outcomes will be documented for further reflection and inspiration to others, both within the school system and around the world.

Here is how it works:
The school (or group within the school such as a sports team or interest team or parent group) sets up a community in worldimprovementnumber.com and then encourages its members, fellow students, staff and parents to join and record stories about the positive work that is being accomplished throughout their area of influence.

These individuals then tag those stories to the school community and a knowledge centre will be established and fed with stories from all participants in any language. This knowledge centre can be accessed to help everyone understand how they as a group can improve and better support their communities. In addition this is a way to clearly recognize those who ‘go above and beyond’ in their efforts.

The school group will have its own WIN number and can easily compete in a friendly way with other schools in their respective communities.

The system can be set up for a ongoing initiatives or it can be set up for a specific initiative such as community education, clean up or even disaster relief. Imagine having many heartfelt positive stories all gathered in one place.

The groups can then gain community support when they ask others to join World Improvement Number and view firsthand the stories and case studies of the positive work that is being accomplished as a result of their support.

Download this as a PDF
Close

World Improvement Number Program for Universities & Colleges:


(Watch Video Number 6 on Our Landing Page)

The Key Benefit:
The WIN program helps Colleges and Universities to document and organize their community efforts and demonstrate the positive outcome of these initiatives to students, professors and the community.

The Program:
Colleges and Universities are often an incubator for social innovation, community development and education. Many great social programs were first thought through in an academic environment. Many students and professors seek to explore new ideas and find ways to improve the world through discussion, debate, experimentation and action.

Often the true impact of these efforts can be lost because they are not linked together to show the greater good.

World Improvement Number can help show the greater impact and demonstrate the “Return on Time Invested” so that everyone involved can track the progress. In addition the learning’s and positive outcomes will be documented for further reflection and inspiration to others both within the academic environment and around the world.

Here is how it works:
The University or College (or group within … such as a sports team, faculty or special interest team) sets up a community in worldimprovementnumber.com and then encourages its members, fellow students, staff and supporters to join and record stories about the positive work that is being accomplished throughout their area of influence.

These individuals then tag those stories to the appropriate community and a knowledge centre will be established and fed with stories from all participants in any language. This knowledge centre can be accessed to help everyone understand how they as a group can improve and better support their communities and the world. In addition this is a way to clearly recognize those who ‘go above and beyond’ in their efforts.

The group will have its own WIN number and can easily compete in a friendly way with other Colleges and Universities around the world.

The system can be set up for a ongoing initiatives or it can be set up for a specific initiative such as community education, clean up or even disaster relief. Imagine having many heartfelt positive stories all gathered in one place.

The groups can then gain support when they ask others to join World Improvement Number and view firsthand the stories and case studies of the positive work that is being accomplished as a result of their support.

Download this as a PDF
Close

World Improvement Number Programs for Communities (Local, State/Province, Country) & Community Groups:


(See Video Number 8 on Our Landing Page)

The Key Benefit:
The WIN program helps any community significantly tap into the resources, knowledge and creativity of its citizens to fully understand the sense of possibility on what can be accomplished when working together.

The Program:
Communities and community groups have many challenges including engaging youth, education, crime prevention, productivity, unemployment, poverty, high costs, limited budgets, alienation and many others.

A World Improvement Number can help any community tap into the combined brilliance of its members and track and quantify the value of the truly positive actions and ideas created by its citizens. The community WIN number will motivate positive change within the community and help create a sense of possibility for other communities to create and build their WIN number.

The system automatically calculates a WIN number and also creates a knowledge center that can be accessed for training, best practices and benchmarking. In fact, a WIN number can be a key driver to help communities community groups and neighborhoods help themselves and others.

Here is how it works:
The community sets up their own unique community in worldimprovementnumber.com and then encourages its citizens, employees, and businesses to join and record stories about the positive work that is being accomplished in every part of the community. There can be an overall WIN number for the community as well as WIN numbers for specific parts of the overall community including communities, community groups, regions, or neighborhoods.

The citizen members then tag their stories to the community (or group within) and a knowledge centre will be established and fed from every location in just about any language. A true sense of possibility and collaboration will soon fuel positive change.

Download this as a PDF