Art's Explorer #2: My Calming Instant Sculpture

This week's Arts Explorer was actually quite therapeutic for me. After a hectic first two weeks of classes, I needed the weekend to relax, calm myself, and regain focus away from the hustle and bustle of university, and away from the frigid cold. When I began my instant sculpture, I really didn't have any direction at all. I began with a black glass tray and some tea candles. I always associated tea candles with a sense of calmness, and with that, different memories from past events that I associated with calmness became inspirations for my instant sculpture. I first thought of the beautiful sand gardens in Japan and how balanced and symmetrical the imprints in the sand were. I reached for the garlic powder in the kitchen cupboard and began to sprinkle it onto the black tray to mimic sand. I also found some pink sea salt that I added in for some texture which created a pebbled effect. I then looked around the living room, and found a pair of turtle earrings a loved one gave me. Turtles always seem cool, calm, and collected which are traits I try to hold on to when I am under stress and pressure from school. I then found a black rock with a spiral/ curved line engraved on it, which further reminded me of the sand drawings in Japanese sand gardens, and which also reminded me of continuity and gracefulness. I decided to continue the spiral from the rock onto the powder to emphasize the line. Moreover, I found orange plastic rocks, which added colour and warmth to the sculpture. 

My calming instant sculpture 

Balance

The turtle earrings and black stone 

When I started arranging the found objects onto the tray, I wanted my sculpture to emphasize balance. According to Schirrmacher & Fox (2009), balance is achieved when the forms appear to be in proportion to each other. I made sure my sculpture was symmetrical, which means  that every object on the left were equally balanced with the objects on the right (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009). I find myself using symmetry a lot in my artworks because I value organization and neatness. Also, I wanted the sculpture to have a sense of equilibrium or stableness, something I also value in my life. I randomly scattered the sea salt for aesthetic purposes, as I didn't want to the sculpture to look too contrived. I also placed the sea salt to symbolize the spontaneous events and experiences that I welcome in my life. The turtles are placed opposite one another facing the black rock. To me, the rock signifies the goals that I am trying to attain in life, while the surrounding candles symbolize the people who support me and act as a guiding light to help me achieve those goals. I then placed the orange plastic rocks around the candles to add colour. I lit the tea candles, stepped back, and looked at my sculpture. I immediately felt a sense of calm and warmth. Just looking at it made me feel relaxed, which was so appropriate for my weekend of rest. 

The tea candles I used 

I found this arts experience to be quite surprising in many ways. Firstly, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It's funny how my mood affected the sculpture I came up with. Because I was stressed and tired from the first two weeks of school, I wanted to create something to counteract those feelings. Also, I didn't expect to create something that had a deeper meaning other than just randomly placing found objects onto a tray. I thought about where to place the objects, and why I placed them there. When I took a step back to observe what I did, I was very satisfied, and the weight of the world immediately lifted off my shoulders.


This activity would be great with children in Kindergarten. Allow them to express themselves by creating a sculpture. Suggest for them to bring things from home that they can incorporate into it such as a rock, or a small toy. Give them cardboard, cups, string, milk cartons, egg cartons etc to use. Provide paint, glitter, glue, colouring pencils or crayons or markers. As an introduction, you may want to show an example of what you made. Also provide suggestions, and discuss what they think a sculpture is. Correct their erroneous beliefs. There is no one way of creating a sculpture, let them use their imaginations. You may also want to help with with cutting. 

References


Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development
 for young children (6th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar Cengage
 Learning.

Art's Explorer # 1: My Creative Inspiration

Creativity is a very broad term, and many people define it differently. When I thought about the term creativity and what it means to be creative, I thought about a number of things that inspires my creativity. What is it that inspires me to cook something I've never cooked before, to draw something from my mind's eye, to hum a tune that I've never heard before? Because to me, creativity is doing or creating something unique, something that no one to your knowledge has done. I then realized that the simple act of living and being present in life and it's experiences sparks my creativity. When I go to the grocery and walk up and down the isles without having a clue of what to cook, I think of different ingredients that go together and that might taste good. I usually don't follow a recipe. When I spontaneously sketch something at a back of a receipt or a napkin, I tend to sketch something I see around me like an imperfect lamp post or a salt and pepper shaker. Children also inspire my creativity. During work studies when we'd have to come up with different activities, I'd have to rack my brain for fun and creative ways for the children to learn new things.

I was born and raised in the Philippines up until the age of 12, and as a young child, my family and I would love to travel around Asia. At a young age, I understood that there are a myriad of rich and interesting cultures out there. My mom would also collect different kinds of antiques and paintings from her travels and display them in our home. I saw that not one painting was alike. There were abstract paintings, still life paintings, paintings of landscapes etc. The artists' creativity is shown in their artwork, and how they used paints and painting techniques to convey what they want to express. Having been surrounded by paintings has definitely sparked my imagination and creativity in art class and in everyday life because it encouraged and inspired me to draw, paint, and create something I thought was beautiful, unique, and sometimes useful.

A painting by my favourite Filipino artist named Oscar Zalameda. I particularly love his use of lines to create this abstract painting

The 8 kinds of smart proposed by Howard Gardiner

I believe that everyone has the capacity to be creative. I think that for as long as there is free thought, imagination, and free will, anyone can come up with something new and unique. I also thought about Howard Gardiner's 8 intelligences. He believed that there are multiple ways of beings smart. As teachers in training, we need to be creative with activities that tap into children's different intelligences. Whether they are linguistic, mathematical, interpersonal etc. By tapping into children's different intelligences, we ensure that they are able to understand and learn something. Not just by reading out loud from a textbook or a slide show, but by giving them different materials and activities that caters to the different types of intelligences. By doing this, we ensure that children become creative thinkers. They will be able to solve a problem creatively, wether it's drawing a chart, acting something out, or using materials to aid them.