Blooming and Bonding

When children engage in social learning, they are provided with a way of acquiring new skills and a means of engaging in nonverbal interaction.  These children attain many of their most important social and cognitive abilities by observing and imitating what others do.

Making art with friends in the studio often comes in the forms of both imitation and emulation.   Using each other or the artworks of each other as models, friends transfer knowledge and inspire further ambition.  As these girls move from drawing to painting, they excel independently but also as a pair.

Each artist has her own style and makes personal choices about what mediums to use and which colors to apply.  Having the freedom to do this allows the artist to focus on her own creation, while also gaining new ideas from others.  She develops skills of her own and appreciates those of her peers.

Sharing discoveries, the friendship between these two girls grows.  Separately, each artist is developing her own sense of self and realizing that she has unique attributes and talents.   Offering these up for imitation replaces the need for competition, resulting instead in mutual achievement.

Comparing and contrasting the final works of art highlights the girls' similarities and differences.  They can visually recognize where they might need help from each other, and also recognize the many ways in which they are maintaining strengths of their own.  Imitation results in appreciation, copying leads to caring.  Through the process of creating together, the capabilities of each artist blossom while the friendly bond between the girls increases.

The Mind Body Connection

Being human means more than just having a brain and hands.  These elements are important for our interactions with the world, but utilization of those inner and outer body parts is what leads to functional experiences that result in genuine living and learning.  When we use both our minds and bodies together, we become creative, useful and productive.  With clay, humans can safely explore these innate desires, while remaining curious but becoming more confident at the same time. 

As we grow up, we are often taught that we should stay clean and we become worried about getting dirty.  That concern can be forgotten when using clay, as it is an easy material to rinse and wipe off.  This young artist is aware of the freedom that comes with using the soft medium, so he is able to plunge in and begin creating without inhibitions.

Original thinking and imagination result in designing and problem-solving.  These artists use their brains to think about what they might like to make or to modify their pieces as they continue the creative process.  For an artist to develop both physical strength and mental energy, he must remain flexible, both in the body and the brain.

 Three-dimensional quality comes naturally for humans.  The artists here work more kinesthetically, as they move their arms and hands to push, pull, and piece the material together.  Sculpting the clay mirrors shaping ideas.  Moving back and forth between these steps, the mind body connection increases.

Working from his own experiences, the artist understands more about what his hands can do and how he can use his brain to facilitate those movements.  Making his own observations, he is not limited in creative possibilities and is encouraged to continue experimenting.  Visual thinking and problem-solving are important not only for clay-making, but also for becoming more self-sufficient.  As different parts of the brain develop through each of these processes, different parts of the body also develop.  The essence of being human is combining and balancing these.  Desire, inspiration and artful capability are the outcome.

Form and Content

To some artists and art critics, form and content are considered distinct aspects of a work of art.  Form refers to the work's style, techniques and media used, and how elements of design are used.  Content refers to a work's overall essence, or what is being depicted.

In our studio, young artists don't particularly care about these concepts.  They just want to discover new things and feel good about what they are doing.  Their form is depicted more through how their bodies are moving, while the word content shifts in pronunciation and simply means "happy".

As seen above, this artist uses his physical form to explore materials and feel content while he engages in the act of mixing colors.  Here, he transfers that feeling of contentment into a more concrete visual representation of line and shape.

He forms an idea, a purpose, an image, a friendship.  The contents of his painting are purely a result of the sensory experience, though he is also content with the resulting aesthetic value of his work.

Using his body to paint, he creates both form and content.  Without having to stop and think about it, the artist is also engaging his physical, mental and emotional abilities, as he moves, thinks and feels.  This is but one way that form and content can be depicted, as art is hardly ever just about the subject matter.

Stuck on Art

When young artists enter the studio for the first time, they often don't know where to begin.  It can be hard for them to know exactly what their favorite thing to do with art is, and they may feel some nervous excitement about all of the options that lay before them.

Usually, the best place for them to start is right where they are.  This artist found that she really liked collage.  It seemed to come naturally, as she had at least had some experience using glue.  Finding pieces of paper, ribbons, fabrics, cardboard and buttons, she also found her way to a new interest.

Making friends while making her art, the artist gained momentum and continued to try new things, as ideas were shared with each other.  She added more layers to her creation while, at the same time, also added layers to her personal and social skill sets. 

The artist was so engaged with collage that she returned to it the next day.  Feeling more confident in her understanding of the activity, she was also more confident in her ability to label one of her favorite things to do with art.

The studio is a wonderful place for young artists to stick things together and discover surprising results. Often, the real surprise is that the artists end up being stuck on art themselves.  Process and product are balanced here, as both the art and the artist develops.