Creative Process

My Creative Process

What I have learned about my creative process is that when figuring out a new topic to research, it works best when said topic is connected to something that I know well rather than having no proper starting point or prior knowledge. For example, my workshop idea stemmed from creating a mind map of artistic skills and interests I have such as listening to EDM music and creating visual art then connecting it to a related topic I don’t know well – synesthesia. The type of research that worked best for creating my workshop content was through visual learning of the artwork of visual artists who have synesthesia and reading their artists statements explaining what synesthesia means to them and how their artwork was inspired by music. This helped me explain what synesthesia was to my students, provided examples for what their art could possibly look like, and provided different approaches to drawing what you hear/feel as each case study artist analyzed music differently. The delivery of my class instruction was heavily influenced by the affordances in my classroom such as the moveable desks and chairs, a great amount of space, and chalkboards on every wall (Rands). I used these affordances to create a closed and intimate section at the front of the classroom where everyone could turn and talk to each other and pass materials around. The movable chairs not being attached to the desk made their positions less stiff and allowed for freedom when they got up for collaborative chalkboard activities and gallery walks to see each other’s artwork.

Rands, Melissa L., and Ann M. Gansemer-Topf. "The Room Itself Is Active: How Classroom Design Impacts Student Engagement." Journal of Learning Spaces 6.1 (2017): 26-33.