Posts tagged as:

art

What is Creativity?

by 123pizza on August 7, 2008

Something Whitney George said at a Dream Conference I once attended has stuck with me for the past several years. He said we are all creative. We were made in God’s image. Although I had heard that before it didn’t click until that moment. I can be creative. No, I am creative.

What exactly is creative? Definitions of creative on the Web:

* having the ability or power to create; “a creative imagination”
* promoting construction or creation; “creative work”
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

How is it that I put creativity in this little box? Everyone is creative. Your sense of creativity may not be the same as mine but you are still creative.

Some forms of creativity that I use are:

  • disciplining my children. Each of my children are different and the same forms of discipline may work for one child but not the others. I am constantly observing my kiddos so that I can learn from them. That way I can praise them when they need praised yet I can also effectively discipline them when it’s needed.
  • making meals for my family. I get tired of eating the same thing all the time. I have to get creative when cooking so that we are not always having the same chicken recipe night after night and also so I can try different recipes. There are also times when I should have gone shopping and didn’t feel like it. Those are the times when I have to search the kitchen looking to see what I can throw together and still be something the family will want to eat. We now have a favorite soup from one of those times.
  • housekeeping. I don’t want to spend all day cleaning house because there are other things I’d rather be doing. Yet the house still needs to be cleaned. I reward myself for the work I do and I also take breaks. I am not one who will be a slave to my home.
  • reading. Yes, it’s a form of creativity. when I read my mind isn’t just taking in the story line. It’s dissecting it, relating it to my life and trying to learn from the characters. I learn from what I read.
  • art. I like to experiment with different mediums of art. I have my sketchbook, watercolor pencils, oil pastels, chalk pastels, and charcoal pencils that I hide from my kiddos. (They have enough art supplies I don’t think I have to share my stash.) Do I have talent? Nope, but I’m not going to let that stop me.

What about you? How are you creative?

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Art Sculpture with the Kids

by 123pizza on July 31, 2008

I’ve mentioned before that I like to do art with my children. Well, actually I don’t do the art I just set out the materials and let them create.

One day I had the brilliant idea to let them make sculptures. We had some clay that if left out would harden. Perfect. I would give each child some clay and let them create their own sculptures. I had planned on placing the sculptures on the fireplace mantel so I could admire them at all times.

I decorate with my kids art pieces. I have pottery that my eldest has made, paintings from all three kiddos, and a painted rock from one of the older two (I used to have two rocks but I have no idea what happened to one of them). Sculpture would be the perfect addition to my decor.

I was excited! I think I was more excited than they were but that’s beside the point. I had the table covered with newspaper and the clay was out. I gave each child some clay and stepped back to watch them create.

And create they tried. And tried. And tried. The clay was too hard for them to work with. We tried breaking the clay into smaller pieces to see if that would help but nope they still couldn’t get the clay to do anything. Oh they could make balls, snakes, and my youngest was able to make crumbs but they couldn’t get the clay to move in a way for them to make something.

What started out as a pleasant time quickly turned to tears and frustration. I reminded the kids that there are other kinds of clay and this doesn’t affect their ability to make fine creations. It was trial and error and this was one of those times that didn’t go as we had expected. It would be okay and we would try again with a different kind of clay. Or we could try again with this clay, it was up to them.

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