Creativity can be learned. Creativity is opening up the mind to
possibilities and to challenge what has been accomplished before.
Change is celebrated and failure is not negative, as it is looked at as a
lesson learned, and a place to grow.
Compassion, diversity, understanding and acceptance. All of these are
traits I find and accentuate on in our
classes,
camps and even
birthday parties through the studio. Creativity is not thinking like the next
person, it is a celebration of uniqueness.
Below are
just some examples of how we are challenging some traditional techniques
with a fun spin to create thoughtful, Contemporary art. There are also lessons on
taking a traditional application and adding an element that has not been
explored before.
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Contour self portraits
printmaking, a new approach to examining oneself in a mirror. The
lesson started by viewing ourselves on a mirror, drawing over what was reflected.
The mirror is laid flat on the table. Taking a water soluble oil
pastel, trace the features of the face, and the hairline. Once lines
are drawn, take a saturated wet piece of paper. Place it on top of the water based
oil pastel, rub hands on the surface and then lift, revealing your
contour portrait. Each camper traced 3 different images of themselves,
overlapping them in some way. Colors were of personal choice. Lastly,
each artist then chose if their piece could be enhanced by adding just a
bit of water paints in one common area.
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Studio 4 Art loves printmaking. Here campers created a screen print that was
then incorporated onto a slabbed piece of clay. Campers were introduced
to foreground, background, pattern, color and silhouette and contour line. Their background was composed of pattern
and color. We talked about dynamic patterns, and patterns that would
allow our image to "pop" off the clay. For screen printing with our
students, we use a water proof glue, curtain sheers (from a local
recycling center) and an embroidery hoop (that is used over and over
again). Completely non-toxic and green. *the first 2 images are before they are fired, and the second 2 are after firing.
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I
love experimenting! I have been reading a lot on gelatin prints and
decided to give it a try. It was a great way to introduce layering to
our campers. Playing with colors going from dark to light and light to
dark and the effect of each. Colorful layers could be put on with a
brush or a printing brayer, each creating their own texture. The kids LOVED it.
The feeling of the gelatin was of course a hit, but the overall
experience and the ability to experiment just to see what was going to
happen was a true hit. A great element of surprise.
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Mobiles! Creating items in 2 dimensional form, then turning them into hanging sculptures, is a lot of fun. Organic shapes cut out, line drawing with sharpie to create visual texture, finishing with some water paints for lots of color. Then learning how to work with wire and all of their shapes to create a balanced art piece.
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In
our textile design class, we had our students learn how to machine sew,
but they also got the chance to design their own Studio 4 Art shirt. Campers in our summer textile camp become designers through learning to draw clothes draped over a figure, how color affects an outfit, different types of fabric and their make-up. We discuss how fabric is made as well, whether it is from a natural material (such as cotton), or if it is composed of recycled material (such as fleece).
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For the love of color and a zing of imagery. Here are campers that are creating a background with primary colors. Pattern was discussed as organic and geometric. Primary colors were used and brush technique and control were taught.
This was a little Keith Herring inspired work. Not shown, campers also
sketched each other in a pose that implied movement. The pose(s) of
their choice along with
art that communicated a positive message was added on top of their patterned background.
Contemporary
art highlights many of the things that are happening in today's world,
through observation, awareness and participation. This is just one of
the reasons Studio 4 Art is focusing more on Contemporary art. We want
our students to become aware of the world they live in and to apply
themselves to creating a better world not only for themselves, but for
those that come after them too.
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Creating
a sketch before an actual project, is practiced regularly. It allows to
brainstorm ideas, to get the mind working in a creative way, working
out some of the problems that may occur, allow focus and
attention to detail. It also grants students of all ages to know that
sketching is a place to "mess up" and to think our ideas through. No erasing is necessary (although
surely okay) because they are not meant to frame, to put into a museum
or art gallery. As our campers get
older, their judgments on themselves become more critical, forgetting to just let go, to explore and to play. We hope that we are
teaching them at this stage, to go back to playing for that is the place
of discovery and wonder.
Campers on this day were
designing finger puppets that were later made out of clay. They each
made three to help with stories to be told later in a puppet
performance.
Hand
sewing. Nothing like the finger dexterity, eye-hand coordination and
focus. Our students and campers create their own patterns, and in this
camp the theme was animals. Animals are left up to their interpretation.
And yes, boys love it too. After all, most of our famous designers are
men, right?
