A new to me media and art discovery is like sitting in my sandbox and someone gifted me a new toy. The current college course I am teaching is on color and design. This course is a beginner course which in return means a very diverse student body. Only a fraction are art students and I am challenging myself to find creative ways to explain art and technique to the students. I am ultra-aware that my vocabulary is a new language to them. Like when learning a new language I ease the students into the course. Breaking down one preconception and fear about art.
Researching alternative teaching strategies and projects is a challenge at times, sorting through a lot of materials. I dig and follow links until I am satisfied that I can apply them in class and make them interesting. I find myself going down so many rabbit holes. There is so much useful information out there that I wanted to incorporate all my new finds into my coursework. But now I keep a folder and as a resource, I can come back to. But with no-fail, I always encounter a surprise gem. After all, students are bombarded with enough information during a semester.
This is where bleeding tissue paper comes into the picture. I was searching for a nonthreatening color mixing exercise for my students. At first, I found a lot of projects geared towards the tiny artist. Then digging deeper into the research rabbit hole I found artists using the media successfully and I knew I had something I could introduce to my students. One of the problems I see among beginner art students is that they want to be very controlled, detailed and create something that they feel is perfect art. It takes some time to break down this need for perfection. The best I would compare this to is when you have a bug bite or poison ivy and you can’t help but scratch the itch. You know you will pay the price later but, nevertheless you scratch.
This media has its own mind and takes a bit of control away from the person who is trying to control it. The student has no choice but to embrace it. Working with bleeding tissue paper is science and art mixed all in one. I love the first few studies I created and can’t wait to see what the students create.
If they allow color, water, and time to do their thing they will be amazed at how far they can push this media. I do hope that this exercise will bring their inner child out and they will allow it to create freely. I am like a kid in a candy store anticipating what art will come out of this project.
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