After teaching for many years I have come to the conclusion that we are all artists and creators by nature.
That is until the system tells us otherwise and puts us into boxes.
When I teach I watch the children and how they create. I am in awe o ftheir instinctive color sense and aesthetic choices.
There is no rigth and wrong in art and design to my mind. It is an instinctive gut feeling, until we are taught otherwise.
I love looking at their choices. I never interfere when they are choosing and designing. I see my job as the one who teaches them the technical skills. I don't presume to step into the role of choosing their rainbow for them
This week she wanted to make a pink and coral shaded fabric, bead and button embellished bracelet.
I give them a bottle and they choose.
They are also given a pile of upcycled fabric shirt cuffs for the base of the bracelet
They get to choose circles from a huge box - for creating yoyos and fabric flowers and get to pick threads from my assorted vintage supply
I show them how to sew by hand and how to create yoyos, I make a cup of coffee and just enjoy watching them.
I don't care about the skill of the technique at this stage, practice makes pefect and I don't want to stifle any creativity. they will stitch straighter and smoother with time. Their flowers will be more realistic too. I just want to see their art.
Look at the stitching on the buttons. The only thing that I said was that the embellishments have to be well secured onto the base fabric so that they won't fall off.
Give them basic tools and then just be there to help when they need it and they create magical gardens.
