Fostering Creative Independence

Central Idea: Artists can transform materials by using their imagination

Teaching for creative independence

*Give options for response

*Assign open-ended tasks

Here the Kinder students were working on a few things: cutting, tracing, drawing, gluing and arranging.  They started with a printout that I made which had about 6 lines going from one side to the other.  They also had paper cups they could trace onto colored paper and cut.  After that, they had to decide how to arrange their composition. I loved it because they were expressing their personal ideas while experimenting with both materials and ideas (in collage you have to try different arrangements before you commit to gluing). They had complete control over the final product.  I believe the practice of this type of art making can have a big impact on developing their creative independence.  Notice how wonderfully different each piece is!

Just The Right Words, Altered Page

                                 Grasshopper sang in the field for Winter!
                                                         by Michelle, grade 4

This piece makes me wonder if "Winter" is a season or a person. Another thought, when I look at this I can see the entire paper as a fluffy field of white snow and the colors are representations of happiness. 

Altering a text filled page for me is almost like a meditation. You absolutely have to slow down in order to find just the right words to compose just the right sentence. Now your mind conjures up an image, colors, lines and shapes to go with that sentence.

She flung it.
Notice how this student uses the element of line to push her idea.  The curved lines are not only in the round spiral but in the fabric as well; also notice the expression on the girl's face.

Jack wished for a supper this night.
This student wanted it to look like "...those planes that carry a sign behind them".
(I think this student shows an amazing sense of space and color) 

left to right-
Giants disappear.
This student glued a sheet over his original page and cut holes out in order to see the text...interesting...it's almost as if the text disappeared as well as the giant.

Jack wished he grew up. 
I love how we get the feeling that they boy is thinking about growing up and those thoughts are represented with green and orange dots. This student also cut most of the page away to create a shape and then glued it on a white background. 

The band wished for a good supper. 

left to right-
When Jack came down the chimney he heard big words from giants.
(notice the ear on the bottom left and how "big words" are represented with large colored dots)

The disappeared chimney. Hey Dad, the chimney disappeared.

The Beginning of Ideas, Line Printing

By working with lines, we begin to see how they can be the beginning of a pattern or a shape. Those shapes and patterns in turn can be the beginning of an idea.

Directions Not Included

I think sometimes we just need to force our hand to start moving, to start a line and see what happens.
It's playful, (maybe) uncomfortable and valuable. Here, we talked about the word ambiguity and how some artists love the feeling and run with it.   Being okay with uncertainty,  that blank paper and just letting go.  Seeing where not knowing may take you.  It could lead you to inquiry. Whether it's self inquiry or transdisciplinary research.  It's all good.  Here are some thoughts on the process...

This lesson was inspired by a Ted Talk given by Cindy Foley "Teaching art or teaching to think like an artist?"  Watch it below...

Crayon Explorations- Artistic Habit of Mind Stretch and Explore

How  fortunate we would be if we could "see through" this piece and experience what the artist did. 

Artistic Behavior or (Studio) Habits of Mind Stretch and Explore

Learning to reach beyond one's capacity to explore playfully, without a preconceived plan, and to embrace the opportunity to learn from mistakes and accidents. 

We've all used crayons.  We're all familiar with coloring.  But are we familiar with exploring the potential of what that little crayon can do? And how does this apply to life anyway?   I see this as holding ourselves in one spot, possibly our comfort zone as they say.  If we stay there we may limit our opportunities to grow.  That's why it's important to give children (and ourselves) the opportunity to play.  When we play (explore) we open our minds up to situations that are authentic learning experiences. And I wonder (and hope) that through guiding this experience of exploring it can be applied as a "habit" and make a difference in the way we go through our day and situations that may arise.

Known techniques explored:
rubbings (held on side and rubbed on a surface)
pressure (learning to be aware of our strength and movements to help achieve light, medium and dark values)
line (thin, expressive, bold, light, etc.)
blending colors to make new colors