unschooly art lab

Spring session - week 1, getting warmed up.

The idea behind this class is that I provide an opportunity for the kids to explore a variety of materials - drawing, water-based paint, sculptural, found images, & objects, but it is really up to them what they wish to create.  I am providing a studio environment for an hour and a half each Friday (this particular session is 8 weeks) for the kids to ponder, explore, and chit-chat while they make art together in a fun, low-pressure environment.  This is about process and discovery.  When you are an artist, sometimes that even means sitting and staring off into space for awhile - imagine that!  I bring in examples of my own work, I show them a variety of famous artists' work, and when I see someone doing something that reminds me of a particular artist, I bring it up on the internet and show them their kindred spirit.  The kids are invited to push the boundaries and definitions of art, and learn new skills in an environment of self-discovery and inspiration.  They are invited to come with questions if you are interested in learning specific skills.  I expose them to various movements in modern art and techniques of different artists to be inspired by as they develop their work.

words & moves

What I'm trying to get across is that these are not your typical dance & music classes.  Hermione brings some fun games to the mix and the kids enjoy every minute with her.

Just to share a few more snippets of class:

Here they are playing a version of improv freeze dance (no, they are not too old for it, as you can see) where when the music stops they have to jump on a letter.  Then she asks each of them for an adjective that begins with that sound, which she writes down on a list on the wall.  They get really excited and help each other when needed. 

 

Then they have a list of words to play with, and they take turns putting them together in sentences to create a whimsical collaborative story which they each then perform for one another.

      

 

 They also worked to come up with a short rhyming poem about themselves - realistic or fictitious - and performed it on video, dramatizing it with their bodies.  Then they got to watch each of the videos afterwards.  They loved this and were really cracking up and giving each other performance feedback.

 

They finished up with more improv, playing something kinda like musical chairs, except with scattered letters where each round, there was one less letter than the number of people, and they were eliminated one by one.  They were supposed to play fair and not 'hover'...

another absolutely fabulous TED talk with Sir Ken Robinson

Ah yes. Another piece of brilliance from the amazing Sir Ken Robinson: How to Escape Education's Death Valley. In this TED talk, he "outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish." Another nomination from me for Ken Robinson for president! Yes, President of the U.S.! I would love that.

Seriously. Twenty minutes here, do yourself a favor and watch it through to the end. He presents a really amazing and beautiful metaphor at the end that touched me. I would love to hear your thoughts.

born artists

after nature center class

(This post has been stuck in draft for TWO years!  SO much has changed since then, including the addition of the third artist child, Takoda Diin!  Publishing this as-is, with a to-be-continued... ;)

My children are born artists. It's really amazing to witness. I'm not just saying that or pushing it on them because I'm an artist, it's just totally natural to each of them in their own ways, part of the fabric of their being. I'm sharing this story as an example of what happens when you follow your kids' lead, from as early as possible, observe, see what they're into, let go of convention, and really give them time and space to go with it and explore themselves and their world. I think some of my biggest lessons as a parent have been letting go of control - you have to pick your battles, and so many are just not worth it; learning to say 'no' (I was never very good at that - sometimes it's necessary); and learning when not to say no, to say yes as much as possible.


Phoenix (my 3-yo son) has always had such an interesting spatial relationship with his world. When he was a baby, if he got in a fussy mood (which was not often, except for one period of about a month when he was cutting teeth and was inconsolable in the middle of the night), accidentally we discovered that he love to be upside down. He was fussing, crying, carrying on, and his Baba held him upside down like a bat, and he was happy. He stopped and was quiet. He loved it.

Then, he didn't crawl much; he would scoot around on his butt, backwards especially, usually with one leg out rather than on hands and knees. Once he could stand well he would climb to the highest point in the room, as often as he could. He walked a good 15 steps one day around 11 mos. when we were at the TaeKwonDo school and then wouldn't do it again for a month. He learned to walk just after his 1st birth day when my mom was visiting and she said, "C'mon Phoenix, walk! You just do this, waddle like a penguin." And he just took off after her, waddling like the little grandson penguin.

my painted boy balancing blocks at the American History Museum

He went through a phase where he was constantly a painted boy. Marker on his face, kinda like a warrior, and he always had to do his nipples and his belly button and his arms too. Or he would draw all over his chest. He had to have the Aang arrow (Avatar The Last Airbender) on his forehead for a few months straight. And when his hair was short, he had to have the arrow extend up over his head and down his back, and had to have the arrows on his hands and feet too. Attention to detail. Convention would say "No, don't let him do that. He can't go out in public like that!" Why not? Who really cares? He's a little boy that wants to decorate himself. It's not hurting anyone, including him! What would hurt him is if I made him feel bad, guilty, or like he did something wrong.

doesn't want to come down!

Then, as he's gotten older, he still loves to climb, and is quite good at it - I'm very confident in his climbing skills. He can scale a fence up 9 feet at least, and would go higher if the fence is tall enough and someone would follow him up there (because of the adults' fear, not his). Definitely no fear of heights. He does things when we're out and about that make people cringe sometimes, like "He's 3! Aren't you afraid he's going to hurt himself?!" But I just watch him calmly, knowing that he has the situation under control. He's not reckless, but brave and assured.

nakey boy wrestlin' with papa in the backyard

He love love loves to wrestle and 'fight' with his dad, and anyone else that will humor him. His dad is his favorite because he can really test his strength and go at it as hard as he wants, knowing that Daddy's Tough and he can't hurt him. He knows when to be gentle and make it a lot of show with little impact. He goes at it in total fun and is so conscious most of the time of who's on the receiving end. He's smiling, laughing, and squealing in delight. He is my peaceful warrior, usually. He most certainly has a temper which flares from time to time though. Then, look out. I'd say his 9-yo sister, unfortunately, is the most frequent recipient of that type of outburst.

He's developed an interesting relationship with objects. He shows a very natural knack for sculpture without any prodding or suggestions from me whatsoever. He just does it instinctively.

When we are at the river (any river - we're river people) he will collect and arrange sticks in a fashion somewhat reminscent of an Andy Goldsworthy installation. He might stick them in the ground in two parallel lines, making what appears to be an old abandoned ribcage of an animal beached in the mud. (If you're unfamiliar with Andy Goldsworthy, he's an amazing 'earth artist' who creates mostly ephemeral land art. If you have Netflix, his movie "Rivers and Tides" is available for instant play, here. Check him out!)

'drawing' with blocks

He will use objects including various shaped building blocks to make lines on the ground, and he likes to build very tall lego block towers just so that he can knock them down. Convention might say, "But wait, you just built it! Why would you knock it down?!"

When I started getting Play-Doh for him, his first instinctive use for it was to wrap his "guys" (the super heroes and other characters) in it. He completely covers them with the Play-Doh, bit by bit, often using his body to smush it onto them well by standing in his chair and leaning on the guy with all his weight, pressing his belly against it to make sure that it's really well stuck. And then, after a while, he'll take it off, and it can go back into the container. He also pretty quickly manages to mix most of the colors together. Convention would have him trying to make a cat or a dog or something, and of course, you mustn't mix the colors all together! God forbid!

a Batman Masterpiece who's missing at the moment :(

When I offer him paint to use, he's not really interested in painting on paper. About a year ago when he was 2 and a half was probably the first time paint was offered to him and he wanted to paint one of his brand-new Batmans. Convention would say "No! You can't paint on that! It's brand new! If you paint on him, it's not going to come off. You're going to 'ruin' him." But hey, what the heck? Who cares? He wants to enhance Batman's appearance. And does so quite well. Now the "guys" have become real works of art. Some of them look soooo cool, they have so much character, with this kind of weathered look. What he likes to do is paint them, and then wash the paint off, sometimes almost immediately after. Now, sometimes he leaves the paint on. And guess what, he uses my (gasp) expensive paints - my acrylics and nice gouache (high-quality watercolors), or the window art paint, which dries like colored translucent plastic. At first, I struggled with "Oh Phoenix, but you're wasting it!" Especially since he would slather it on and then sometimes just wash or peel it off right away. There it goes. Down the drain. But then I thought, Well, small price to pay for his fun, joy, happiness, learning, exploration, and freedom. Big deal. I'll buy more.

Now, there's Adobe. My first born. My thesis project. And my only girl.  Also a true artist.  And considering that two years has passed since I started this post, and this is where I had left off, there's so much more to tell now, so I'll have to dedicate a whole 'nother post to her, soon. To be continued...

giving thanks for all kinds of things!

Aaaahhh, a little catching up to do, and I got about half of this written, but something happened with the computer and it didn't get saved, so I begin again, with even more catching up.... But, I digress.  And work backwards.

Mon. 23 Jan.:  I give thanks for new friends.   I've been hearing about a 'this really cool chic' named Kristy through my friend Chloe for a few years now, and we recently connected both through Chloe and through the homeschool community.  She has three awesome kids too, and they came over today.  We enjoyed great interesting conversation, yummy snacks, and the kids got acquainted with one another.  Looking forward to more.

Sun. 22 Jan.:  I give thanks for working together.  Some high school friends came over today.  We are planning our class' first reunion - the 20th.  It's so interesting that here we are, having lived twenty years of life, coming together so that we can help others come together too.  And of course, Facebook and the internet make this so much easier.  :)  I'm thankful for that too. 

Sat. 21 Jan.:  I give thanks for cleanliness and order.  We spent a good portion of the day tending biz, and it's a much better vibe when the place is at least somewhat tidy and clean.  Atom and the kids played outside in the sunshine for quite awhile too, and the kids helped him stack some wood on the front porch.  I give thanks for fresh air and sunshine too.

Fri. 20 Jan.:  I give thanks for science.  Inquiry, reasoning, exploration, postulating, proving theories.  So satisfying for our minds that want to understand everything.
     Atom went to Brennan's for a little 'Zombie night'.   While he was gone, the kids and I did some drawing, and we read from a science book we have, simply titled Science by Time for Learning.  It's a great overview, and it's fun that Phoenix is getting old enough to participate in the conversation; we ask questions, guess answers, read a bit, look at the pictures, they interject, Adobe gives real-life examples, they laugh, get excited, and on to the next bit.

Thurs. 19 Jan.:  I give thanks for not having to pay for repairs when living in a rental.  We had some sorely needed maintenance work done around here today and yesterday, and times are a bit tight, so it's really great not to have to choose between 'just dealing with it' or dipping into savings to pay hundreds for a plumber and electrician.  

Wed. 18 Jan.:  I give thanks for running water.  I said before that 'I give thanks for (relatively) clean water to bathe in, cleanse with, and drink.'  I would love to have clean, pristine, pure, unpoisoned water running through my back yard.  If that were the case, I wouldn't even mind having to go outside to get it.  But, seeing as that is not the case, I sure am thankful for the modern convenience that brings water right to our taps, and hot at that!

Tues. 17 Jan.:  I give thanks for slow, cozy days.  We stayed in today.  Mostly.  The kids did go outside and play for a little bit, and I kept the fire going, but we mostly hung out and read, did some lessons, projects, some cleaning, some playing, Papa did the grocery shopping in the evening, we had dinner, watched a little something, and went to bed.

Mon. 16 Jan.:  I give thanks for creativity and daydreaming.  David, Kate, and Corriell came over for the afternoon.  I love them, some of my favorite people in the whole universe.
     Kate and David are good friends of ours who met independently of me.  I knew Kate from my Corcoran days - she was actually my pottery teacher there - wheel-throwing - when I was pregnant with Adobe (even though she's 2 years my junior ;), and although we were intrigued by each other, we didn't get to know each other well until after she and David became a couple a few years back. 
     Well, with them, they brought a Costa Rica fantasy.  It's not the first time I've had one.  It's been on & off for years, even though I've yet to go there.  But Kate and David, who have been there, are rekindling that fantasy, and honestly, I've never heard a bad thing about Costa Rica.
     What sounds really lovely is if we could do a year-long experiment, rent a large house together, our two families, for a relatively cheap price, put some feelers out, and see what happens.... Longer term, what would be ideal is if we could work in such a way to be able to spend chunks of time in both places.  Must verbalize the fantasies.
     And here's what the kids were up to while we fantasized.

the lovely Corriell

Phoe workin' his dough

Corriell's dough person

Adobe making a little crown

Phoe's dough head

Sun. 15 Jan.:  I give thanks for the bounty of nature.  We bought this mushroom growing kit - either from MOM's or Trader Joe's - and they are taking off, right on our kitchen rack.  It's a cool project.  They are easy to grow oyster mushrooms, and hopefully they'll be yummy.  The stuff in the box (which it grows out of) looks like some dense molded stuff with coffee grounds in it.  And the mushrooms coming out of there look beautiful.

Sat. 14 Jan.:  I give thanks for true love.  This one is a little long.

     You know how you've heard those stories of people meeting online, say through eHarmony or something like that, and they fall in love, and it's for real, they get married, and all that?!  I've got one to share.  My friend Laura met Matt through eHarmony, having joined on a fluke, and then carried on merely friendly conversation with him daily for a couple months as a romance slowly began to kindle, then over a few more months fanned to a full flame.  Now they have had two extended visits in person here, and they are getting married in the end of June!  Sounds a little crazy right?!  But guess what, it doesn't feel that way at all.  When you see the two of them together, it's like the most natural thing in the world.  And Laura has three kids who adore him who have also been corresponding regularly with him (thanks again to FB) and welcome him into their lives.  This evening, we spent the evening with Matt in the fold for the third time, laughed, told stories, had some serious notes, ate a delicious dinner, and toasted to a fabulous future for all.  Lovely story.
     Which reminds me of my own, totally different lovely story.  How I came to be with my true love, Atom.  I'll have to devote a whole future post to that one.

Fri. 13 Jan.:  I give thanks for healing.  We spent the evening at our good friend Chloe's house - the one who, as mentioned previously, has gone through a really difficult phase in her life and is continuing on into a new phase, thankfully with an amazing amount of strength, love, and support.  This was the most time, and the best time, we have had together in years.  There was healing energy in the house, for all.
     I love this woman and her children dearly.  We connected when I was going through a difficult period too, about 8 years ago, and we have been close ever since, even if months go by where we barely see or even talk to each other.  She held me up, literally, while I birthed my son Phoenix, and during that labor she was my main support other than Atom, and in addition to the midwife and birth assistant.
     It pains me so much when someone I love is suffering, and I am thankful it is true that 'This too shall pass'.  Sometimes we must remember that again, and again, and again.

Until next time....   

inspiring creativity in learning and life

Several months ago, we went to this awesome place out in Winchester, VA, called the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum.  Even though we've only been there once, it's officially one of our favorite places in the world.  We plan to visit there again soon, so I'll do a full post later, with pictures, about why the place is so awesome and all the things there are to do there.  On the wall, they have this statement, nice and big, entitled 'Creativity Killers', and I requested a copy to bring home because I loved it so much, and it is a good reminder for me from time to time, especially when I feel like I'm being too controlling about what, how, and when my kids learn and do things.  I'm not sure who wrote it, or I'd give that specific person credit. 

If you want to inspire creativity in learning and life, here are some great reminders of things not to do:

CREATIVITY KILLERS

Surveillance:  hovering over kids, making them feel that they’re constantly being watched while they’re working.  When a child is under constant observation, the risk-taking, creative urge goes underground and hides.

Evaluation:  making kids worry about how others judge what they’re doing.  Kids should be concerned primarily with how satisfied they are with their accomplishments, rather than focusing on how they are being evaluated or graded, or what their peers will think. 

Rewards:  excessive use of prizes, such as gold stars, money, or toys.  If overused, rewards deprive a child of the intrinsic pleasure of creative activity.

Competition:  putting kids in a desperate win-lose situation, where only one person can come out on top.  A child should be allowed to progress at his own rate.  (There can, however, be healthy competition that fosters team or group spirit.)

Over-control:  telling kids exactly how to do things--their schoolwork, their chores, even their play.  Parents and teachers often confuse this micromanagement with their duty to instruct.  This leaves children feeling that any originality is a mistake and any exploration a waste of time.

Restricting choice:  telling children which activities they should engage in instead of letting them follow where their curiosity and passion lead.  Better to let a child choose what is of interest, and support that inclination.

Pressure:  establishing grandiose expectations for a child’s performance.  For example, those “hot-house” training regimes that force toddlers to learn the alphabet or math before they have any real interest can easily backfire and end up instilling an aversion for the subject being taught.

Time pressure:  restricting time for a child to explore a particular activity is a sure killer of intrinsic motivation.  Children enter the ultimate state of creativity called flow more naturally than adults.  This is a period in which total absorption can engender peak pleasure and creativity.  In flow, time does not matter; there is only the timeless moment at hand.  It is a state that is more comfortable for children than adults, who are more conscious of the passage of time.

Marcellita exploring watercolors.

Adobe laying out her composition.

Skyler exploring colors and strokes.

Which of these do you find especially challenging at times, or in what specific situations?  Have you had any specific experiences that illustrate for you the points listed above?

what we need is a revolution in education

This is another fabulous TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson, an advocate for creativity, recognition of multiple intelligences, and education reform.  (Thanks, Mana, for turning me on to this one.)  This certainly touches on one of many reasons I live the way I do, and do my best to inspire others, in one way or another, to follow their passion.  Some of you are lucky enough to teach, or have your children enrolled in, schools that are at least attempting to participate in the revolution.  It is great that there are those gems out there who are able to step outside the status quo and truly inspire unique individuals to discover and love who they are, and encourage them to find their path, to follow their hearts' desire.  If, however, you are feeling skeptical about how the system is functioning, about the education your children are receiving, make some waves.  Share your thoughts and concerns, with their teachers, administrators, and county officials.  Offer some ideas, research, point to some alternative sources (such as this video), ask questions.  Or, if your lifestyle permits, opt out, forge your own path, do things your own way, jump into freedom, discover your tribe in your area and build a collective; find a way for you and your child(ren) to pursue your passions together. 

We all have a path, and sometimes we start down the road without even knowing where we're going.  Many happy discoveries and adventures can be found along the way.  Follow your instincts.  Below are some highlights from this talk.... I hope you watch and enjoy.

"Education, in a way, dislocates many people from their natural talents.... Reform is of no use anymore, because that's simply improving a broken model.... What we need...is not evolution, but a revolution in education.....This has to be transformed into something else.... Many of our ideas have been formed, not to meet the circumstances of this century, but to cope with the circumstances of previous centuries.  But our minds are still hypnotized by them, and we have to disenthrall ourselves, of some of them.  Now, doing this is easier said than done.  It's very hard to know, by the way, what you take for granted.  And the reason is, that you take it for granted.... Life is not linear, it's organic.  We create our lives, symbiotically, as we explore our talents, in relation to the circumstances they helped to create for us.  But you know, we have become obsessed with this linear narrative.  And, probably the pinnacle for education is getting you to college.... Human communities depend upon our diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability.  At the heart of our challenge is to reconstitute our sense of ability, and of intelligence.... When I arrived in LA about 9 years ago, I came across a policy statement, very well-intended, that said 'College begins in kindergarten.'  No it doesn't - it doesn't.... Kindergarten begins in kindergarten.... There's such competition now to get into kindergarten, to get into the right kindergarten, that people are being interviewed for it, at 3 - kids sitting in front of unimpressed panels with their resumes, flicking through saying, 'What, this is it?!  You've been around for 36 months, and this is it?!  You've achieved nothing!'....
     The other big issue is conformity.  We have built our education system on the model of fast food.... We have sold ourselves into a fast-food model of education, and it's impoverishing our spirits and our energies as much as fast food is depleting our physical bodies.... It's about passion.  Often people are good at things they don't really care for.  It's about passion, and what excites our spirit and our energy, and if you're doing the thing that you love to do, that you're good at, time takes a different course entirely.... You know this.  If you're doing something you love, an hour feels like 5 minutes.  If you are doing something that doesn't resonate with your spirit, 5 minutes feels like an hour.  And the reason so many people are opting out of education is because it doesn't feed their spirit, it doesn't feed their energy or their passion.... We have to change from an industrial model to an agricultural model.  We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process, it's an organic process.  And you cannot predict the outcome of human development.  All you can do is, like a farmer, create the conditions under which they will flourish.... It's not about scaling a new solution; it's about creating a movement in education in which people develop their own solutions, but with external support based on a personalized curriculum...."
     (Closing with a quote from W.B. Yeats:) "'Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, and wrought with gold and silver light, of blue and the dim and the dark cloths, of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet.  But I, being poor, have only my dreams.  I have spread my dreams under your feet.  Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.'  And every day, every where, our children spread their dreams  beneath our feet, and we should tread softly."

And we should dream too.  I'm a big fan of what I call 'active daydreaming' - something along the lines of the Law of Attraction.  Dream big, and dream well, rather than not allowing yourself to dream for fear your dreams won't come true.


I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences....