Creativity is often seen as an intangible quality, a characteristic of those who possess a certain gift for artistic expression. But what does it really mean to be creative? At US and Art, we believe that creativity is a skill that can be developed and cultivated through practice and exploration. In our art classes, we strive to create an environment that encourages creativity-based learning and empowers our students to express themselves through painting, drawing, clay, and more art projects.
At US and Art, we believe that everyone has the potential to be creative.
We strive to provide an environment that encourages exploration, experimentation, and risk-taking. Our art classes are designed to help our students tap into their creativity and develop their skills, and our Final Projects provide an opportunity for our students to showcase their artistic vision and talent. We believe that creativity is an essential part of the human experience, and we are dedicated to fostering it in ourselves and our students.
We use creativity-focused teaching methodology to guide our students toward success in their art.
We believe having a theme and specific materials and techniques to work with gives our students room to exercise their own creativity while also giving them direction so they don't get stuck in creative block. When there are too many options it can be harder to be creative. To remain creativity-focused at our studio, we always provide an overarching theme for the semester and specific themes under that for each art project. Each project is limited to a specific medium as well. We provide multiple examples for each project so students can feel inspired and not inhibited by the expectation that their projects to look a certain way. This semester's overarching theme was "Once Upon a Biome."
Our projects explore many different types of media.
Each project is carefully designed to provide our students with a new set of challenges and opportunities to explore their creativity. Here are some projects our Combination classes (Pink Painters, Amber Artists, Crimson Creators, and Blue brushes) completed this semester!
Drawing-watercolor: Older Combination students (Ambers, Crimsons, Blues) started out with a "forest" themed drawing-watercolor project. From sketching forest birds to using the grid method to draw forest animals such as bears, foxes, and deer. We finished by layering on watercolors! Our youngest students (Pinks) ran with the "aquatic" theme using white oil pastels to draw sea creatures and watercolored on top with wet on wet technique and salt.
Acrylic: Older students' next project was an "aquatic" acrylic painting. We used cool colors to paint students' watery backgrounds, and then warm colors to add fishy foregrounds. Younger students' acrylic animal faces took the show for sure!
Chalk pastels-paper collage: Next was a "tundra" chalk pastels and paper collage project. This one-day project involved using smudging and ripped paper stencils to create the northern lights with chalk pastels, then layering paper on top for an arctic foreground. We saw ice, mountains, polar bears, penguins, and narwhals in these projects!
Clay: Finally we explored clay with our "desert-dessert" themed project. We taught students how to roll, flatten, decorate, and attach clay pieces together. We enjoyed the range of projects students came up with under the fun, word-play theme, including cacti with sprinkles and lizards with melted ice cream cones on their heads.
One of the highlights of our art classes is the Final Project.
This project is a culmination of what our students have learned throughout the semester, and it provides an opportunity for them to showcase their creativity and skills. We brainstorm together with our students, discussing ideas and themes, and providing guidance and feedback as they work on their projects. This project is a chance for our students to paint their own project from start to finish, under the theme for the semester, giving them the freedom to express themselves and their unique artistic voice.
Need some acrylic paint or clay for your own or your kids' creative projects?
These are fun sets with a variety of colors for your own DIY clay and painting projects!
(link for amazon paints)
One way we incorporate creativity into our classes is by doing creativity exercises!
These exercises are designed to help our students tap into their inner creativity and explore their artistic potential. For example, we may ask our students to do a quick sketch or painting exercise using a limited color palette or to create a drawing without lifting their pencil off the paper. These exercises are meant to challenge our students and help them break free from any creative blocks they may be experiencing.
Need a sketchbook to do some creativity exercises for yourself or your kids?
These are the sketchbooks we use in our studio!
To us, creativity means being open-minded, curious, and willing to take risks.
We encourage our students to experiment with different techniques, materials, and styles, to push their boundaries and try new things. We believe that creativity comes from within, but that it can be nurtured and cultivated through practice and guidance.
Exercise your creativity by taking an art class!
You don't have to be "good" at art to start learning! We have classes for everyone...all ages, all skill levels! Click here or the button to book your spot!
We believe creativity starts with kindness toward yourself and others!
We always say our mantra at the beginning of our classes to remind ourselves: "My art is awesome because I am awesome!"
We encourage you to tap into YOUR creativity by discovering your passion!
Your creative activity might be different than someone else's. It might be art, music, dancing, or sewing! Do some experimenting, take some risks, make some mistakes. Find something that makes you smile. It will be well worth your time and efforts!
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