The End of the School Year

A year of wonderful artwork is nearly at its end. Students have learned new skills and used new materials. They’ve completed amazing artworks and persevered when lessons have been challenging, especially this term in weaving. My on-going philosophy in teaching, especially with the younger grades, is the idea of “beautiful oops”, i.e. there are no mistakes in art, only new opportunities to make something beautiful. Older students have considered the “embrace the shake” approach, based on an inspiring TED talk of the same name. This is all about looking at any limitation we might have as a chance to problem-solve and think creatively in art, and more importantly, generally, in life.

Embrace the Shake TED Talk

In art school, Phil Hansen developed an unruly tremor in his hand that kept him from creating the pointillist drawings he loved. Hansen was devastated, floating without a sense of purpose…until a neurologist made a simple suggestion: embrace the shake. Year 4-6 students watched this video and we discussed it. A Compass Learning Task was set for the Year 4 students to answer two questions about the talk. You can find Phil's inspiring talk HERE.

Beautiful Oops

I read the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Salzberg to Prep, Year 1 and 2 students. It's a fantastic book about moving past "mistakes" in art. "When you think you've made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful." I gave Prep students paper with a shape already drawn on it and a folded corner as starting points. Year 1 students had a torn paper with a smear of black pastel on it, and the year 2s started with a splash of paint and a hole in their paper...They created wonderfully imaginative pictures! "Beautiful Oops" is now a part of our everyday visual arts language. I have spoken with all grades about the principle of Beautiful Oops. My intent is for students to have fun, take risks and become fearless with their art.