the creative collective: indigo photo hunt

It's been a while since I last completed one of the prompts for Melyssa's Creative Collective. Things have been busy is a bit of an understatement. But oddly enough most of my work these days works perfectly with the current prompt: go on a photo hunt and create a themed set of at least 5 photos. 

I could have used either chalk or indigo for the photos since I've had sooo many chalk projects come my way these past few weeks. But I'd like to share some of the Indigo projects I've had the pleasure of working on instead. Chalk will be shared soon though! I have another giant piece to finish up first before I can share the whole collection...

1. I had a giant dyeing day last week for a couple commissions that came my way. Too much fun!

2. Some of the larger pages were for a big, beautiful Indigo wedding album! I'll share more photos of that beauty soon...

3. The even larger pieces from the dye day were for a series of Indigo dip dye art panels. This is one of my favorites. I might have to make some for myself sometime...

4. I helped my sister and her 8th grade class make this quilt for a school fundraiser. Shibori Indigo glory! I wanted to keep it for myself! 

5. Natural side effect from all this Indigo fun: blue hands! 

monoprinting & teaching the creative collective

For my last printmaking lesson with my 6th graders, I really wanted to try something a little different. In most of our projects these past 6 weeks, their imagery has been basic shapes (footballs, peace signs, flowers etc), their names or just their initials. I'm not looking for deep intellectual pieces but when they immediately resort to something familiar or simple it takes the aspect of play out of creating. Their willingness to play and experiment with a new medium and just see what happens is absent. Which is incredibly sad to see in a group so young! 

So I made them do monoprinting! Quick, abstract, instant results and pretty unexpected and uncontrollable results! Also to keep with Melyssa's Creative Collective and the current prompt, "Anything-Goes Art," it gave me an excuse to just play around with a medium I haven't worked with since college! Albeit, I just made some basic sample prints to illustrate how to do this project but it was definitely a nice break from my usual routine of watercoloring/writing/cleaning/binding repeat. 

And even better, I had everything I needed at home to make these quick little prints! 

Supplies:

• Saran or plastic wrap
• Masking tape
• Paints (we used acrylic but any paint will work)
• Paint brushes
• Assorted pieces of paper
• Optional: paper plates

1. Tear off a piece of Saran wrap and tape it to your table. If you have messy kiddos, use a craft table or put a table cloth underneath the plastic. A piece of tape in each corner should be good to keep it in place. 

2. Squeeze out a little bit of paint either in the corner of your Saran wrap or on a paper plate.

3. Paint across the Saran wrap, roughly the size of the paper you'll be printing onto. The thicker it is on the Saran wrap, the more paint that will transfer to the paper when you print. If you want to do writing, just keep in mind you will have to paint it backwards in order for it to be facing the right direction once it's printed. 

4. Quickly place your paper on top of the paint and push down evenly all over the paper. If you wait too long, the paint will dry and won't transfer to the paper. 

5. Carefully peel up the paper from one corner and see what you made! 

6. Wait for the paint patch on the Saran wrap to dry (it doesn't take very long!) or move onto a clean patch to spread more paint for another layer! You can also wait for your paper to dry or print immediately. If you print immediately, the colors will blend. Whereas if you wait, they'll be more like layers on top of each other. 

7. Keep repeating steps 3-6 until you're happy with your print! Then make another! Or three...

I LOVED watching the kiddos let loose and just play and make a mess. They were probably more productive today than all our other days combined! We did make quite a mess but the best part is that all you have to do is peel up the Saran wrap and toss it for clean up! Perfect! 

Have you ever tried monoprinting? Or have you done printmaking with kiddos before?

teaching the Creative Collective

A couple weeks ago, I was struggling to figure out a lesson for my 5th and 6th grade collage classes. They're old enough that I can do more ambitious and challenging projects and I love seeing what they make when given unique prompts and materials. Then during another restless night, I had the idea to borrow Melyssa's brilliant idea for the first prompt of the Creative Collective! A word for 2014!

Not familiar with the Creative Collective? Melyssa over at the Nectar Collective had the brilliant idea to share 23 creative prompts throughout the year to get people inspired to create, share, encourage and see other people's work! Pretty fantastic right? 

So back to the kiddos...I asked them: What word(s) do you want to focus on this year? What do you want to accomplish? How will you make your word happen? Their response was incredible! 

We spent two weeks on this project. Week one was brainstorming their word and creating the background. Week 2 was for finding a creative way to write their word. After their collage was complete, I had them write on the back of their piece a list of ways they were going to achieve their goal. Their words were so varied, it was really exciting to see them share their word and get into the project. I really loved seeing what imagery they used and associated with their words. 

Some memorable words: dog (he plans to save up to get a dog), focus, creative writing, be brave (she wants to stand up to bullying at her school), dare, horses (she competes in equestrian competitions and wants to medal this year), and relax (he said he gets wound up in school so much he doesn't relax at all). I'm definitely going to keep this project around and hopefully find more ways to teach Melyssa's Creative Collective prompts! 

What's your word for the year? My word for 2014: intrepido (Italian for fearless!)