Creative process <3
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
I promised you I would share a little about an art project we are working on with the four grands.
The idea was inspired by an artist I follow on Instagram. Her account is @kelseymillerstudios, if you want to look her up. I am drawn to her use of colors and florals.
Recently she was experimenting with painting various parts of a picture and then cutting them out and putting together in collage style. It was so fun and bright and it gave me the idea to try this with our little ones.
So we have been working on the different parts and I have enjoyed watching them create different and unique pieces within set parameters of specific directions.
Kelsy Miller’s collages are flower vases filled with foliage and blooms attached to a painted background. She shows how each part – the background, vase, flowers and leaves were made and then assembled.
And so we have attempted our own version. We started with using shaving cream and paint in a tray to make swirl pictures. I left the ones they made in tact and made some extras that we used to cut out the flowers.
They either drew flower shapes or asked me to draw them depending on comfort level, and then they had to fill in the shapes with the internal parts of a flower and detail lines to show petals.
Another day I drew vases and asked them to select three colors and paint a design on the shape.
Only three colors???
Can I have four??
Can I mix them?
I wanted them to limit their colors so that they focused on creating a pattern and while we did have one who managed to create a fourth color by blending, and another who managed to squeak in an extra color from someone else’s plate, it was fun to see them use what they had.
Each vase was as unique as the personality that painted it.
On Tuesday I gave them each a larger sheet of paper and told them I wanted them to select just one color and make stripes.
Horizontal stripes.
Although I realized later Kelsey used vertical, I was insistent on them being horizontal.
Oh my…again we lobbied for more than one color and tried to bargain to make stripes with dots or zig zag stripes.
But again there was a purpose and so I explained that this would be a background for the vase of flowers.
Since the vases themselves are rather colorful and the flowers somewhat muted, we needed the background to not compete for attention. They satisfied their artistic expression by using broader strokes or varying the size of the stripes, but once more…unique results within the parameters given.
Kelsey used cut paper shapes to create “leaves”, so I gave them old pictures from magazines. We used photos of fruits and vegetables, grass and plants and I had them just snip away to make shapes that might be close enough to a leaf.
Our final step will be to put all of our shapes together and glue it all down. I am hoping to come up with a way to apply glue where we aren’t trying to pour out of one of those dreadful bottles. It may be paint brushes and glue on a plate…who knows.
It has been fun to see them willingly do the next piece. It wasn’t until they were painting their backgrounds that I showed them what we would be attempting to create. Their eyes lit up when they realized each piece would be part of a whole picture.
This is sweet to me and reminds me that each day we work on part of things that will be added to and result in something whole.
I get frustrated sometimes that I only got bits and pieces of a project done. Working with them on this has helped me remember that all the pieces must be completed first and then assembled.
We see it when we prepare a meal. Cutting the veggies, peeling the potatoes, marinating the meat and then eventually everything is brought together for a delicious meal.
I don’t know what you are working on today, but just do the next thing. Do the small things well and in your unique way and then delight as they are brought to completion.
God is organized in His creation and His works and it is good for us when we follow suit.
I will share our finished projects with you soon.
Blessings <3