About Me Collage

As soon as I saw this project in the course outline I got excited! I remember making collages at various times in my life: school, Girl Guides, with my own kids, with other little friends — and now in a University Art Class. I find complete artistic freedom and creativity with a collage project. Granted, the end result is partially determined by the magazines you happen to have but for some reason you can always find something that makes sense for the collage or vision board that you are working on. This project was no exception. I collected various magazines over the week before class, to make sure I had something good to start my project. I quickly began flipping pages and snipping out pictures and letters to prepare my creation. I was a little bit over zealous and ended up having more pictures than I was able to use on my 12×12 canvas. My collage is missing a few things: a rainbow (I love colour and find immense hope in a beautiful rainbow), a butterfly (for me, they symbolize growth, new life and transformation) and something that symbolizes my passion for supporting people with Down syndrome. I hope you enjoy perusing it as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

The BIG IDEA the first week was about exploring our own beliefs around art and creativity. This week we focused on creative expression as a means to explore and share one’s identity within a community. As I reflected on these I fully admit that the thought of having to complete an Art course this semester was terrifying! I do not consider myself to be an artistic person, by any stretch of the definition. I can draw a circle, barely. I’m not talented in the areas of drawing, painting or sculpting. I do consider myself creative and love creating a lot of different things — I love crafting, I used to love scrapbooking (and probably still would if 35mm film was still a thing!), I love baking/cooking, I love my Cricut, I love photography and I love Canva! In these last few weeks I have come to realize that Art is more about creative expression and less about skill and talent. My stress level for this course has decreased to a solid zero. I’m really enjoying exploring all the different approaches to Art Education, including out-of-the-box ideas about assessment. Our collage project was the perfect choice that allowed all 15 of us to create something that reflected our identity — our likes, preferences and passions — all with a pair of scissors, some glue and some magazine. There was some collaboration in our group — some people found a photo and would ask a classmate if they wanted the horse or garden or mountain. It was lovely to see everyone’s creations and I feel like it was a great project as an introduction to our studio projects.

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

– Maya Angelou

Connections to BC Curriculum

I found a plethora of connections to BC Curriculum across K-12 grade levels. These are all three: big ideas, curricular competencies and content. I think this About Me Collage Project would be a great Art project for any grade level. I plan on using it in my first practicum — a Grade 5/6 class. It will be a great way to get to know the students and for them to get to know their student teachers.

• symbolism as expressions of meaning
• explore artistic expressions of themselves and community through creative processes
• develop processes and technical skills in a variety of art forms to nurture motivation, development, and imagination
• express feelings, ideas, stories, observations, and experiences through creative works
• processes, materials, technologies, tools, and techniques to support arts activities
• Big Idea Grade 3: the mind and body work together when creating works of art.
• develop and refine ideas, processes, and technical skills in a variety of art forms to improve the quality of artistic creations
• Big Idea Grade 8: individual and collective expression can be achieved through the arts.
• examine artistic possibilities and take creative risks, using various sources of inspiration (Grade 12)

Some Collage-making Fun!

A few friends and I made some collages this past week. I am an EA to a sweet little girl (bottom right picture) who is homeschooled. Her mom asked, “Do you have any ideas for a fun craft project we could do with my kids and a few extras?” Funny you should ask, I have the perfect project idea! I pillaged the hunting/fishing magazines from in my son’s room and collected a variety of other magazines for everyone to use. It was a fun afternoon. See below some of the creations that the kids — age 7-10 produced. The best part was when one of them said, “I don’t usually like crafting or art projects and I really enjoyed this!”

---

Wire Sculpture

Artist Statement

When I first encountered the wire sculpture assignment, I felt overwhelmed. I associated wire sculpture with highly intricate forms, which felt far outside my comfort zone. Seeing the actual project parameters—a wooden block, wire, and wooden beads—shifted my perspective and invited experimentation rather than perfection.

My sculpture explores balance, movement, and gravity through a combination of colourful and natural wooden beads. Initially, I designed a tall structure, inspired by the examples shown in class. However, it repeatedly failed to balance. Observing a classmate’s successful sculpture helped me recognize the importance of a lower center of gravity. By reducing the height and adjusting the wire at the fulcrum point, the sculpture began to balance and rotate freely.

This project highlighted the intersection of creativity and STEM concepts, particularly physics principles such as balance and stability. It reinforced that there are multiple approaches to solving the same problem and that learning can be strengthened through observing and adapting others’ strategies. If I were to revisit this project, I would experiment further with varying bead sizes and heights to explore how these changes impact movement and balance.

The Big Idea is week: How is the process of art making shaped by unexpected events? What a perfect question for this project. I don’t think anyone expected how tricky this project was going to be. I had one idea when I sat down, and when that didn’t work out — I had to pivot in a big way to make it work. Sometimes, as we are learning, unexpected things happen when we are working with materials that are new to us. Sometimes the most beautiful creations happens when we least expect it or because we are willing to try something new or unplanned!

This wire sculpture project was inspired by Alexander Calder. Here are some of his works that are being shared as his most famous mobiles. Although our sculptures are a bit different — the idea of balance and motion are similar. I think we could use this Art project in our classrooms — likely with the mediums we used vs. a more complicated mobile project like Alexander Calder’s works of Art. See one of his famous creations below.

Alexander Calder’s Most Famous Mobiles: A Legacy in Motion – Artsper Magazine

Cover photo by Khara Woods on Unsplash

---

Collaborative Painting

Artist Statement

Working collaboratively on a resist painting shifted my focus from individual control to shared creative decision-making. Using a 12 x 16 canvas divided into four taped sections, The resist lines created distinct sections, while varying tape patterns ensured that each season maintained a unique visual identity.

For each section, I selected a limited colour palette of two or three analogous colours, with the option of white or black to create variation in shades. This constraint allowed me to focus on mood and contrast while maintaining cohesion across the canvas. Although I established the overall structure and colour intentions, my partner and I took turns painting on each other’s canvases. She consulted me about colours and direction, but I did not have full control over the outcome.

As someone who identifies as a strongly Type A personality, relinquishing control felt uncomfortable and vulnerable. The process challenged my usual approach to creativity and required trust, flexibility, and openness to uncertainty. Ultimately, this project was as much much more about collaboration and communication, than the finished project. I value not only the final painting, but also the conversations, compromises, and mutual problem-solving that occurred throughout the process. The experience reinforced that collaboration can expand creative possibilities and that meaningful artistic growth often occurs outside of one’s comfort zone.

The Big Idea this week: Creating artistic works collaboratively. How can we create opportunities for play and collaboration in ways that support social and emotional skills. Our project this week was all about communication and collaboration. These are very important skills that we’ll be actively teaching our students and it was good to experience the stretch and process that a collaborative art project brought to our Art class. In our classrooms, so many activities that involve play and Art can be presented with a collaborative flare. Small groups, think-pair-share, buddies — there are so many ways that we can teach kids SEL through giving them opportunities to dive into the work of working with someone — taking feedback, asking questions, compromising and letting go of our expectations of what may or may not happen.

Teaching Connections

I think there are SO many connections to teaching for this project. Kids could do this project with an older/younger buddy. They could be challenged to do it with someone they wouldn’t normally talk to or play with. There are cross-curricular goals between PHE, Art and even this Big Idea from Grade 3 Careers: “Effective collaboration relies on clear, respectful communication.”

I found some really fun ideas for school an class collaborative Art projects. So many of these are not complicated or would they be expensive to offer to the school. I especially like the one below (from the link above) as it’s so accessible and inclusive and it’s likely displayed publicly so everyone, including visitors can see their beautiful creation.

---

Bundle Dyeing

Artist Statement

Resources for the Future

I collected a few resources for future art classes! I had never heard of bundle dyeing before this class and I’m so intrigues by the whole process. I can’t wait to explore more bundle dyeing and other natural dyeing with my practicum class this year. My co-teacher is Grace and she loves art so I foresee us doing lots of art projects with the students.

An introduction to bundle dyeing – Romi & me

Bundle Dyeing Tutorial – With Autumn

How to Bundle Dyeing (with Kids) – The Barefoot Dyer

Bundle Dyeing with Flowers: Tutorial by Isabella Strambio – Isabella Strambio Blog

Beginner’s Guide to Natural Dyes — Practical Self Reliance

A Beginner’s Guide to Natural Dyeing – Seasalt Cornwall