from yikes to yowza

One of the philosophies I adhere to the strongest at my studio is that there is no such thing as a mistake.

A mistake is just an opportunity.

An opportunity for ones work to take an unexpected turn you hadn't originally thought about yet.

With children, I think it is even more important to teach them to work within the unexpected because it is a chance for them to cultivate their imagination and problem solving skills.

Skills that will prove useful in life regardless of what road they choose as adults.

Most times the end result is something far more marvelous than anything I or the student had originally envisioned.

Case in point, this Kimmy Cantrell inspired sculpture project.

After showing and discussing different elements of Cantrell's artwork, the students worked with fimo clay, since I do not have a kiln in my small studio, to create their own pieces.  They cut away areas and added elements of texture and found objects to their work.

I'm particularly smitten with the nose ring added in the above piece.

Some students even decided to forgo the face subjects and create flower vases instead, which I fully support because every artist should share their own unique vision with the world. 

Once they were baked, they added acrylic paint and when dried I had them add an India ink wash over the top and wipe away.   

This was a scary proposition for some while others jumped right in and covered their artwork.  In the end, I think they were all pleased with the results and I sprayed a quick coat of gloss varnish over them and sent them home to be proudly displayed.

And then I got an email.

YIKES!  

One of the sculptures had broken and the student was so disappointed.  She had made an extension too thin while rolling it out and it had snapped.  Is there something you can do?

Unfortunately because of the paint and varnish my original thought of letting her add some more fimo and re-baking it wasn't an option and so we started to brainstorm.

We could glue it.  But because it was so thin, we needed to put it on a base.

I happen to have some board hanging around and so I suggested painting a background and then we could apply her sculpture.

The result turned out fantastic!  She painted a table top by a window to sit her Kimmy Cantrell inspired vase of flowers on top.  She used acrylic paint and went over the top with a bit of black oil pastel before using an all purpose glue to put on the broken sculpture.  

You'd never know in the end that this was the result of a mistake. 

Through creative problem solving the student ended up with a work she loved and in the future I think if I explore this project again, I'll add the wood element as part of the overall idea.

Not only being inspired by Kimmy Cantrell, but also the genius of this particular student.

What's not to love about a yikes turning into a yowza!