by CCSA Admin | Aug 13, 2021 | Blog
While we usually think of exercising to strengthen our muscles, crosswords to exercise our brain, even evaluating how our diet may benefit our minds, we often overlook one sphere of life – art. While it may not be everyone’s natural talent, and not everyone has the time or abilities for an at-home studio, art allows us to take a moment for ourselves and create a tangible product. Practicing art can even boost your serotonin levels, while simultaneously working on fine motor skills and emotional balance. This may be hard to believe, as it easy to get frustrated when a project does not come out quite as perfect as the Pinterest inspiration, but art truly boosts your overall mental health.
As Pablo Picasso said, “Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
And, anyone can do it. For years, art therapy has been used to treat people of all ages and abilities for a variety of purposes. For example, the reputation needed to create a mandala, (a circular pattern originally created by monks in Asia as a part of Buddhism, but now is popular globally), benefits those with Alzheimers who begin to lose the ability to identify patterns.
In other ways, we have all used art as a form of therapy or diffuses a situation without even knowing it; Summer camp counselors, parents, and teachers can all relate to giving a child some crayons until they come down. Afterall, adult coloring books were created for a reason.
In short, while we carve out the time to regularly be on our phones, scrolling through social media or creating shopping carts that we will delete soon after, why not create some time to nourish our minds? And, there is no better place to do so than a paint-your-own-pottery studio, where you don’t even need to deal with the mess.
by CCSA Admin | Jun 8, 2021 | Blog
It’s time to line up some amazing art camps for your children this summer! Studios are taking the necessary precautions to keep your children and their staff safe while they create, socialize and learn! What are the MANY benefits of enrolling your children in art classes? Read on … (and be sure to read our earlier blog with more on the importance of art classes for children).
WHY ENROLL YOUR CHILD IN AN ART PROGRAM?
– ENCOURAGES DISCIPLINE – During art classes, students must exercise discipline while creating and learning about art. Students must pay attention to the instructor, study the technique, follow instructions and take constructive criticism in order to progress as an artist. Art classes lace emphasis on practice, just like any other academic lesson. In order to hone their craft, students must commit to their lessons and even take time out of class to practice.
– DEVELOPS PATIENCE AND FOCUS – Most toddlers have short attention spans. Children aged between 16-19 months are generally able to focus on a task for 2-3 minutes. However, regular drawing activity can help improve a child’s concentration levels and establish the concepts of patience and focus.
Concentrating on the intricacies of drawing is often the first step towards establishing good study habits. Setting aside time in your child’s day to allow her to engage in drawing will aid the development of his/her ability to concentrate on a range of tasks simultaneously. Drawing regularly for a short periods of time is the best way to improve their focus over time. The benefits of art classes are that children get to set aside a specific time to practice their art. As well as being provided with all the necessary materials for their creative needs.
– IMPROVES COMMUNICATION SKILLS – Drawing is an outlet for children who are non-verbal communicators. Even children with a good vocabulary aren’t always able to express their emotional needs. Thus, through drawing, children are able to develop their emotional intelligence in a creative way. Putting color pencils to paper gives children another means of communication – even if their artwork is only really understood by the child themselves in that moment.
– IMPROVES SOCIAL SKILLS – Going hand in hand with improving a child’s communication skills, taking art lessons can also improve a children’s social skills. Children learn best in social environments. Thus, in art classes, the child will make friends with other children in the art class and bond over their shared passion for art. Moreover, creating art as a group is an ideal way of mastering skills while learning from each other. In the act of sharing materials with the rest of the class, children learn to share and help out their peers, further 
– DEVELOPS MOTOR SKILLS – Holding a pencil or other drawing implement helps children develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The more practice your child has with making simple marks on paper, the quicker they’ll develop the ability to undertake more advanced activities like coloring and handwriting. At the beginning, this is done most effectively by the repetition of simple patterns. What you tend to see is that children will initially press harder when they’re uncertain of what they’re doing and have less control. With encouragement and step-by-step guidance, it’s possible to improve their skills and build their confidence.
– DEVELOPS SPACIAL AWARENESS – Drawing can help improve a child’s visual analysis and help them understand concepts like distance, space, texture, and size. Such activities can help children understand how objects relate to each other. Which in turn will help them understand more advanced concepts like depth and volume.
Visual analysis is an essential skill for everyday life, which can be learned from a young age through artistic pursuits.
Through art classes, children will learn how to understand and interact with the surrounding environment. They will notice more details about their surroundings, and how those details relate to each other. Children can better understanding of the world around them through art. That attention to detail will spill over into other aspects of their life. Such examples include being more observant. Which will allow them to catch their own mistakes easily and become less careless while doing school work.
– ENCOURAGES INDEPENDENCE – Participating in art classes allow the child some freedom, freedom to be independent and curious. The student has complete control over their artwork and is responsible for the materials, technique and purpose of their work. By taking their project into their own hands, children learn how to care for the materials and how to put them back on their own. Not to mention they are encouraged by art teachers to do what they want and to ask for help only when they need it. This in turn allows them to think for themselves during lesson time and they will be more independent in school and at home.
– DEVELOPS CRITICAL THINKING – The process of observation paves the path to critical thinking. The child who has attended art class would be able to pick up the tiny details that others would not. They see the details most others take for granted, and they become more curious, which leads them to ask questions and find alternate solutions to problems. Students that are taught to examine and consider the details also helps teach students to more closely observe and analyze the world around them—skills that are vital in critical thinking.
– ALLOWS REALISTIC EXPRESSION – Although there is a lot of observational work done in art classes, that observational skill can be applied in the children’s daily lives. Diagrams, maps and graphs can be easily visualized with prior art experience. Students who can draw out anatomical diagrams from their biology textbooks will better understand the functions of that system as a whole. Thus, children will achieve a firmer grasp of the concepts and ideas presented to them. children equipped with artistic knowledge will grow up being able to articulate their ideas in a clear and concise manner. Perhaps after all that observational drawing they did in class, your child could be drawing up building blueprints in no time!
– DEVELOPS OPEN MINDNESS – Since the act of observing art can change our innate ways of thinking and how we see the world, when children learn how to make art of their own, they can achieve that level of open mindedness with time. In addition, children see their peers work and how it vastly differs from their own. Which allows them to be more understand the viewpoints of others at a young age.
– BUILDS CONFIDENCE – Art education allows students to explore and practice with new mediums and techniques, thereby finding their own “voice.” They gain confidence in the path to discovery, without fear of the final outcome. It goes without saying, that having confidence is beneficial for personal and professional relationships. That confidence will help students step out of their comfort zone, be willing to step up as a leader or pursue their dreams.
Drawing and creative skills can be a great asset and will further the development of your child, and the benefits of art classes are too good to pass up!
FIND YOUR LOCAL STUDIO AND INQUIRE ABOUT THEIR SUMMER PROGRAMS FOR KIDS!
Information from this blog is from The Visual Arts Center
by CCSA Admin | Apr 16, 2021 | Blog
Visit your local studio and make a truly unique piece of pottery – from your own original piece of art!
Whether it’s a black-and-white sketch, color drawing or hand-written recipe, it can be transferred onto pottery.
Preparing your original art: we HIGHLY recommend you make a color copy of the original artwork and bring THE COPY into the studio. You do NOT need the original to create an art transfer.
The process of transferring the artwork to a piece of pottery will depend on your studio, as there are a few ways to transfer your image. Your local studio may also offer custom painting services, allowing you to hand over the project to their artist! Project time frame and cost will also depend on your local studio.
What will you create?! Think gifts, anniversaries and keepsakes. Have fun with it!
by CCSA Admin | Apr 1, 2021 | Blog
Children are naturally creative on their own accord. But if their creativity isn’t fostered, they begin to lose it as they grow into adults. Pablo Picasso famously said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
One of the best ways to encourage a lifelong love of the arts is to enroll your kids in art classes. There is an ever-growing variety of art classes available for kids of all ages. If you’re thinking about enrolling your child in one, you’ll be surprised that these types of classes offer much more than an outlet for imagination and play. Here’s how kids art classes help prepare your child for success in life.
1. Art helps improve fine and gross motor skills.
One of the most basic benefits of art classes, particularly for toddlers, is the improvement of fine and gross motor skills. Because there are so many different types of art – from painting to sculpture to drawing – a variety of tools and techniques are required. For many small children, the struggle is real when it comes to using and developing their tiny muscles to hold and use objects correctly. Art classes teach children how to properly hold a paintbrush, pencils or markers and build hand muscles while playing with clay. Older students will benefit by learning proper painting or drawing techniques, and even build muscle when learning to create more physically-demanding forms of art like sculptures.
2. Creating means learning to make decisions.
During the creative process — whether it’s through visual art, writing, or other activities — we often go through a stream-of-consciousness period at the beginning of a project, then go back and strategically make decisions, revising our ideas until we are satisfied with the finished product. When young children create, they go through that same period of stream-of-consciousness and are often satisfied with the end result. As they get older, however, and their personalities develop, their ideas start to become more complicated. And so they revise, making decisions to try to match the ideas in their heads. Through this, they begin to learn the consequences of their decisions, and how those decisions affect the creative process. Art is equal parts innovation and problem-solving. Through continual art education, kids are instructed to be more strategic in their decision making, which they eventually carry over to the adult world of work, relationships and home life.
3. Art teaches children to be more aware of themselves and others.
Part of the creative process in kids art classes is learning about different artists and the variety of methods those artists use to create their art. This means your child will learn about different artistic styles originating from around the world. But art classes also help your child understand different perspectives, and what the artist was thinking when they created their piece. It helps kids appreciate the different modes of expression others may have, to form and value opinions, to appreciate the beauty around them and how others interpret it. Art feeds open-mindedness and diversity in thought and culture, helping your child to thrive in a diverse and culturally-rich world.
4. Creating art teaches focus and perseverance.
Making art is a process. As your child gets older, their creative visions will become more complicated, requiring more time, attention and technique to fulfill their artistic quest. They will no doubt get frustrated and want to quit at times. Art classes help develop your child’s craft and manage their expectations. They will learn that the creative process is something that’s developed over time, and that honing one’s skills and techniques doesn’t happen overnight! Your child will learn to see their ideas through to the end, which is an important lesson they will carry with themselves for the rest of their life.
5. Art helps children express their emotions in a positive way.
Perhaps more so than anything else, art helps children express emotion in a meaningful and honest way. According to a 2015 report by the National Endowment for the Arts, art activities help kids regulate their emotions so they learn how to control themselves when they are overwhelmed by anger and frustration. Kids gain a sense of confidence as they take the emotions they are feeling, acknowledge and process them into something visual.
There are plenty more benefits that you and your child will receive from art classes but we just covered the basics. If you want to enroll your child in a virtual art class, be sure to find the ones that will fit your schedule best.
Blog post shared from: https://www.hisawyer.com/explore
by CCSA Admin | Mar 9, 2021 | Blog
We wanted to share a wonderful article from Artsy. There are several lessons to take away from what transpired.
When I first learned that Seth Rogen had taken up ceramics, I was amped. As an aspiring ceramicist, it was gratifying to see a Hollywood star spreading the gospel of ceramics. And as an editor who focuses on creativity, it was inspiring to see such a celebrity promoting creativity’s therapeutic powers. I was dismayed, but not surprised, when Twitter trolls came for Rogen, viciously attacking his sweet vases and ashtrays. But I was more dismayed that there was a need to assess whether or not his ceramics are “good.”
Rogen debuted his ceramic creations in mid-April on Instagram. An avid ashtray collector, he posted an image of small, shiny smoking receptacles he made, suggesting he’d enrolled in a ceramics class to learn to craft them. But it was in late May that his pottery started making waves.
First, GQ published a profile on the actor-comedian, in which he discussed his newfound hobby. When the writer Caroline McCloskey joined Rogen at a Los Angeles ceramics studio, he sang ceramics’ praises while throwing a pair of ashtrays. “There’s something that’s so therapeutic about it,” he told McCloskey. “It’s like yoga, if you got a thing at the end. If you were doing yoga and then some object was produced at the end of it.” The following week, he shared a tweet and Instagram post, with an image of six ceramic pots, each one adorned with dainty blooms, and the caption “I made these little vases.”
When some of the actor and comedian’s 8 million Twitter followers caught sight of his pots, several took it as an opportunity to intone Rogen’s reputation as a stoner. One wrote “You put the pot in pottery,” while others drew comparisons between the vessel shapes and bongs. But there was also an eruption of positivity—users deemed the vessels “beautiful,” “cute,” and “pretty.” Others shared their own pottery or celeb
rated the art form; “ceramics is the greatest!” one cheered. Twitter being Twitter, there were haters, too. One of the more popular negative reactions to Rogen’s pots called them “adequate” and “tasteless.” Rogen replied to the tweet, “I’m doing my best.” And that’s exactly the point.
Making ceramics is not easy. Anyone who’s ever spent time with a lump of clay on a pottery wheel knows that the process comes with myriad challenges—from centering the clay, to getting it off the wheel intact, to finding peace with the reality that your pot could explode in the kiln.
As I’ve written before, we’re living in an age when it can feel incredibly daunting to pick up a hobby, as Rogen did. It’s no longer enough to leisurely pursue running or cooking or knitting. It can feel impossible or pointless to do something just for fun, in a mediocre way. We’re pressured to accomplish milestones, hone our skills, and document the progress on Instagram. Because of this, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around the idea of making art that’s not “good.” But you don’t have to master painting or pottery or any other hobby to reap the benefits of practicing it.
In a September 2018 op-ed in the New York Times about a recent decline of hobbies, author and Columbia University law professor Tim Wu suggested that the daunting nature of hobbies is pushing people to sink their time into social media and streaming TV and movies instead. And as a result, they’re missing out on the virtues of leisure activities; they can make us happier, calm, empathetic, and more creative.
When it comes to making art, research has suggested that such activities can improve our mental health. But even so, the fear of making something inadequate that our peers might find ugly or pathetic is very real. For many, this traces back to childhood—a teacher or classmate who poked fun at our earnest scribbles. To get over that hurdle is a matter of trying new things, landing on something you enjoy, and pursuing it regularly. That’s not to say you won’t feel vulnerable in the process—you probably will.
This is why Rogen’s “adequate” ceramics are so great. Intentionally or not, the actor was telegraphing a message to millions of people: that it’s possible to make art in a leisurely way; that trying your best is all that’s required; and that it’s therapeutic. By condemning his ceramics, or even just picking them apart, we’re making it far less likely for others to want to pick up creative hobbies of their own.
Casey Lesser is Artsy’s Lead Editor, Contemporary Art and Creativity.
Here is the article on their site
