Jo Murphy's Blog

Posted by Jo Murphy

In the article beyond Decontextualisation and Cynicism, Stanton.E. F. Wortham explores the possibility of truthfully and blatantly addressing the complexities of the power politics of schooling.

Wortham argues for a “more complex account of schooling that reimagines the intertwining of academic learning and social identification without privileging one over the other.

As I explore his reasoning, I will be showing cases where at Mary MacKillop we are preparing the children to be discerning members of democaracy.

In my article Creative Arts Teachers In Year One I have shown how I use the context of communal visioning and the MIECAT Process to companion young children as we co create images for their wall. In the article, I talk about preferring the use of the word Conversation to the use of the word Therapy when describing what I do.

The Visioning Wall was motivated by the desire for Transformational Change. I companion the children while they reflect, evaluate and image forward. Their work truly reflects their own ideas about the world, as they know it now and can imagine it into the future. I also challenge their notions of stereotypic roles within society and draw their attention to the wealth of role models we have available to us within our tradition. As well, we look to traditions of children in our midst who come from other communities.

Vygotsky talked of (1934/1987) “Scientific Concepts” ...that “start from the abstract and grow toward making sense of experience, whether these concepts come from the humanities , the social sciences, or the natural sciences – they enrich human life. They are crucial for maintaining the disposition toward reflective thought and for passing it on to future generations.” Stanton.E. F. Wortham p15

The Visioning Wall was a part of a much larger process that sought to encourage middle schooling children to steer the curriculum for a day. They worked for many weeks to arrange and prepare the day. This gave them the opportunity to take responsibility and to experience roles, rights and responsibilities. Cooperatively they scripted a rap titled “You Can Be What You Want To Be.”

During the process,

• the conversation reflected upon why some people might not end up being what they might want to be.
• They looked at whether some people are so locked into stereotypical and xenophobic thinking that they can never even imagine being certain kinds of things.
• They were encouraged to act out and to devise scenario
• and to be reflexive if blocked by preconceived thinking.

To read about another example of Authentic Scripting A Word About Scripting Comics

Acknowledgement:

Jenni Proctor Career Clarity the Careers Officer and Librarian utilised a sum of money that had been awarded to the school for the Careers Programme . She wanted to exemplify the spirit of Programme Achieve by creating what we later called a Visioning Wall.

Posted by Jo Murphy

The comic was called “After the Party” If you mess with drugs you are messing with your mind. Initiated by Child and Youth Mental Health Qld the comic book scripting process serves as an illuminating example of Decontextualisation. (See Image) The aim of the process was to engage three young people in a process where they

• told their story
• reflected upon their story
• shared insights gained from the reflection upon their story
• scripted a representational story board
• scripted possibilities and scenarios
• analyzed ways young people could reach out for help
• speculated with parents (audience) about what would be useful behaviour when addressing the topic of drug and alcohol problems
• gave insight into what they mental health system may be like

I was commissioned to illustrate this script.

• I facilitated the process by companioning the young people in the style of MIECAT and or using the MIECAT Process.
• I companioned myself by attending to every aspect of Programme Achieve and by companioning myself. This is called The Self As Therapist, Self Parenting or Self Soothing.
• By going through this process, I became more aware of the frustrations and setbacks others experience when attempting very long marathon projects.
• I feel I can talk to the children on an equal level when we enter aspects of Programme Achieve.
• I depthed my own issues as I reflected the sentiments of the young people, their mentors and the women who worked with me. Linda Leatherbarrow and Kristy Mammon.

I journaled the process

• It was a difficult script because it was the synthesis of three stories
• They were told separately but left with tension and anticipation at the end.
• At the end of each two-page script there was a note that read “turn to page eight to find out what happens”.
• This made it difficult to keep the continuity of time and place
• we had to pay particular attention to devices such as clocks and headings intended to give visual clues.
• The comic took eighteen months to prepare
• by the end of the eighteen-month project the illustrating style had changed immensely
• and there needed to be a final blending to rework the depiction so that it was synthesized.

If you are starting out creating comics for the first time,

1. I suggest you begin very simply.
2. keep the plot straight forward
3. and the illustration style an easy one.

There is no doubt that the more complex the story line and the techniques the more quality will be created – however – learning about scripting and layout and presentation in incremental stages would be advised. To read about other Authentic Scripting Authentic Authorship (For copies or information Sophie Morson. Institute of Child and Youth Mental Health. P.O.Box 1507. Fortitude Valley.4006. Ph: 38351444 Email: mailto:sophie_morson@health.qld.gov.au)

Posted by Jo Murphy

Art Area:

You will find it easier if you have

1. Bench space.
2. Running Water.
3. Plenty of light.
4. Plenty of containers buckets and rags available
5. Recycling Set Up

Materials:

1. A block of hand building clay
2. Modelling Tools and Sponge
3. Skewers and Probes, Hooks and Paddle Pop Sticks
4. Metal Scrapers and Shapers
5. Cutting wire
6. A stand for the pot or the sculpture
7. Plastic to cover table
8. Access to a kiln for firing
9. A box for storage
10. Plastic wrap to wrap the drying sculpture in

Technique:

1. Cut a small ammount of clay from the block.
2. Make an egg shape with the clay by rolling it gently in the palm of your hand.
3. Don’t over handle clay (do as quickly as possible. )
4. Roll backwards and forwards very, very gently
5. As you do this it will stretch outwards from the middle so that the coil evenly gets longer and thinner.
6. Don't roll the coil any thinner than your little finger.
7. Roll a small ammount around into a snail and then drag lightly across the coils so that they weld into a flat surface.
8. Roll a coil around so that the coils start to form upward to make half an egg.
9. Make very sure that you weld each coil together before travelling upwards.
10. Keep building the shape upwards one coil at a time into the from you are wanting.
11. Cut wings out of a small piece of clay rolled out to the desired thickness.
12. Make another smaller coil pot for the head and join both the wings and the head on to the body.
13. From here you have the raw creature with hollow inside so that it is not too thick for firing.
14. The next step is to fashion the penguin to be the gross shape you want.
15. Cut a triangle out of the egg shaped body at the feet and bend back the feet so that the penguin has a tripod like stand and a gaping hole in the bottom underneath.
16. The gross shape is then put aside.
17. A few hours will allow it to become leather hard and easier to carve.
18. Now firmer it will be able to hold shape more easily.
19. It will be easier to handle when leather dry and won't bend with any slight touch.
20. Example Example

Posted by Jo Murphy

At Mary MacKillop Primary Birkdale we decided on the purpose of our mural. From the purpose we moved to how the process would develop and worked out the content from there.

Jenni Proctor Career Clarity the Careers Officer and Librarian utilised a sum of money that had been awarded to the school for the Careers Programme . She wanted to exemplify the spirit of Programme Achieve by creating what we later called a Visioning Wall.

One of the Key Phrases quoted from Programme Achieve was “You can do it” In a rap song prepared by the Year 6 students and presented on the day they rapped ....."You Can Be What You Want To BE!"

"Empowering Learners of all Ages To Shape and Enrich Our Changing World by Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Brisbane Catholic Education Framework. was another of the slogans.

"Never See A Need Without Doing Something About It" was also quoted from Mary MacKillop our Patron Saint. (Sculpture in the forground by Mardy Kearny a Qld Sculptor.)

We had set out to consciously encapsulate the ethos of the school through words and images. Our moto is Reach Out... Embrace ...Achieve

We collaborated to find out how the children viewed the world that we want to be so free and empowering for them. We invited each and every one of them to do a drawing of how they see their world in 10 years time. We ask them to image forward.

As the Creative Arts Teacher I coordinated the project. I either facilitated the workshop process for the children myself or devised a workshop sheet for other teachers and children to follow. This was so that the process followed the same, consistent theme. From there I worked with Jenni Proctor and David West a Graphic Artist and parent of two children in the school to choose a representative sample of the work. We wanted to glean across all age groups to come up with a representation of the whole.

The selection was difficult because the quality of the work was high and breadth was wider than we were able to assemble into the wall space. However after much processing the selection was finalised.

A professional photographer was then hired to come into the school for a day to photograph the children in the course of their normal activities. He was also paid to photograph the artwork. We had decided that photographing the work would be much quicker than scanning it.

The Photographer suggested the rainforest image for the background. It was enhanced with a golden glow and this created the ambiance carrying forward into every photograph of the kids. it had a unifying effect.

The raw images were then taken by David to another technician and they blended the images into a collage. By the time the Photoshop file was created it weighed 2gbs!

Posted by Jo Murphy

Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme (AGQTP) is a $300 million flagship initiative for supporting quality teaching and school leadership. Its primary function is to “fund professional learning activities for teachers under agreements with state and territory government and non-government education authorities.”

I was fortunate to be a presenter at the National Forum: Teachers Making a Difference in Melbourne on 28 November.

This gave me the opportunity to showcase research conducted throughout 2006. I presented as a compliment to Jenni Proctor another teacher from Mary MacKillop Primary Birkdale. We were a part of the Building an Inquiry Culture team from Catholic Education Queensland. AGQTP funded this professional learning activity for teachers.

Both Jenni and I conducted Appreciative Inquiries.

Jenni undertook to “ascertain the impact that middle schooling practices have on the engagement of students and the effectiveness of their organising the school’s annual career awareness day.”

I explored the empowering relationship Visual Literacy has to Literacy and Numeracy. “The school has a history of successful Career Education so both projects used the context of the day and worked together to create a Visioning Wall. (Picture)

Throughout 2007 I will be exploring many aspects of this presentation and further explaining the context, the process and findings. This is an ongoing inquiry.

Teacher inquiry is also known as reflective practice. It is hoped that professional development programs will encourage teachers to be more reflective and research oriented in their work. I found the approach beneficial.

The Inquiry opened up the professional world for me because I was publicly encouraged to explore the potential of the Creative Arts to “Power Up The Curriculum.” The process enabled me to establish links and working partnerships with other teachers such as Jenni and this encouraged the creative potential of our students to be unleashed. You can see this reflected in the beautiful Visioning Wall.

Partnerships with the parents also flourished in this fertile environment of collaboration. David West a Graphic Artist and a parent of two of our students coordinated much of the artistic side of the Visioning Wall project. Many parents came forward to talk with the children about the Literacies and Competencies that are a part of their chosen career pathways. The children themselves scripted and choreographed their dramatic contribution at the opening of the day.

It will be a challenge to keep this creative momentum going and to record the effect it has on all aspects of the curriculum.

Posted by Jo Murphy

1. Furniture from a bulk warehouse is ideal for the creation of a puppet arena!
2. Shelving is sold ready to assemble.
3. The stage designer only needs readily accessible tools such as a spanner and electric screw driver with a reverse cycle. For bolts a spanner head will be a necessary accessory for the screw driver.
4. The cost is affordable. Use simple, cheap but bulky shelving purchased from a ready to assemble warehouse.
5. Perhaps you may need to bolt it to the floor to provide stability and safety.
6. If the stage is for finger puppets you will only need one set of shelves. Larger puppets will require a more creative approach. Be versatile and think outside the box!
7. Combined sets of shelves to provide sufficient performance space. it will be possible to combine shelves to create spaces located at different heights. This could even allow for puppets to walk up stairs or inclines.
8. Erect the shelves and paint them black or a simple colour. Don't allow the stage to become the focus. It is the puppets rather than the stage you wish to feature.
9. Measure sufficient matching or contrasting cloth to fit from the back.
10. Drape it around the entire shelving system.
11. Split the fabric from the floor to an appropriate place at the top of the shelving and remove from the shelves.
12. Hem the entire piece of fabric on a sewing machine and return it to the shelves.
13. Use a staple gun and tack the fabric to the shelves if you are in a hurry.
14. If you would like to be able to collapse the stage later create tapes and tack those to the stage.
15. Create a backdrop and tack this to the shelves at the back of the performance space. Do not tack the bottom edge as hands will need to be able to operate the puppets in front of the back drop.
16. Furniture purchased from this kind of bulk warehouse is readily collapsible. Simply put the screw driver on reverse cycle and undo the bolts.
17. The stage can then be stored between performances. The furniture is quite stable and bulky. This is important when there will be considerable movement in and around the stage.
18. For another play renew background by taking off the backdrop and replacing.
19. Props can be made by carving polystyrene and painting.
20. Lights can be hung from the shelf above
21. Endless combinations of shelving allow heights to change during the performance

Posted by Jo Murphy

Once the students have learnt this technique and understand the process they may want to push it further.

The two oval formulae is adaptable.

1. Turn the character on its side by shifting the line that shows the centre of the face
2. arrange the arms and legs accordingly.
3. overlap the shapes so that the arm and leg farest away are blocked out by what is nearer.
4. here is an example of a character turned on its side
5. add character traits,
6. clothing
7. and other props so that they act as visual cues
8. add words if they help create a meaningful scene
9. here is an example of the figure developed further
10. So that the techniques do not become clouded keep the image simple when starting.
11. Once the students have constructed a scenario for the character they can begin to script from the ideas that have been stimulated.
12. This example lends itself to a conversation about "why a baby would be sitting up in its sleep?"

I moulded this simple line character in Photoshop.

It is really handy if all classrooms have Photoshop installed. If you have access to Photoshop it can fit neatly, spontaneously and adaptively into creative arts lessons. Because it is such a versatile programme and if you have the Internet connected the students can try ways of creating collage characters.

• The can try a range of colours until they settle for a scheme that suites the character.
• From the internet they can pick and choose all kinds of Clip Art add ons. They can try on hats clothes, hair styles and other attributes.
• As the personality of the character develops the students can try bits and pieces they find from around the Internet until they hit on something that completes the story.

The completion of the baby sleeping story is that this baby has had a brain reader applied to its head. Whilst it is on reading his mind the baby sits quietly dreaming. The students called the character Crainoh!

The idea evolved very simply but the potential as a story writing stimulous is very wide.

There is also potential for the students to evolve their stories in a multi variant way which allows them to push their creativity to the limits.

Have fun! Please let us know if you come up with good stories.

Posted by Jo Murphy

Here is one way to encourage a sense of rhythm naturally using it as a springboard to other creative innovations.

Take the students out to different spaces and facilitate their appreciation of the rhythms they hear. Amplify useful variations.

Ideal places will allow musical reptiton to be highlighted

• The library
• The creek
• The fountain
• Nature
• On a train
• The shore

Wait until they are sitting very quietly and investigate what they hear.

• In the library they might hear the fans squeak.
• The creek might offer the gurgle of the stream.
• A fountain offers the sound of running water
• Nature may just burst with the sound of singing birds.

1. What ever the auditory stimuli ask the kids to softly clap along, or hum, click or tap
2. Make sure this is done as quietly as possible.
3. Break them into groups
4. Get some to clap and others to click on the off beat.
5. Get one group to say pop! See what eventuates.
6. If possible have a recorder - a tape recorder or a scribe.
7. Have the kids go clap, click pop word.
8. Rotate and see whether a sing song develops.

“Squeak, clip, pop, slap

All of us kids go

clap, clap, clap.

Don’t get bogged down

don’t fall into the trap

Of an old humdrum

way of thinking!

Walk, skip, run along

Where are we

when we sing our song?

Running together

we can’t go wrong

as we

create our art together.”

1. When rhythm and verse is happening allow the children to draw with whatever materials are available.
2. This might be a stick in the wet sand if you are on the shore.
3. Encourage them to put pencil to paper if you are in the library.
4. If the students feel comfortable allow them to express in the modality that comes naturally to them. They might begin to dance, mime or act out their creations.
5. Use what ever you have to record the innovation of the day.
6. Perhaps they will respond to each others' work.
7. They might start to offer suggestions for further exploration. Can the idea become a sculpture, animation or short PowerPoint presentation?
8. Let them list suggestions and then move to the reality checking stage of your creative session. What eventuates from the lesson may depend on time.

I would be interested to hear from teachers who try these kinds of improvisations in the classroom.

Posted by Jo Murphy

• Plenty of room – but not too much!. Visual Arts Students may require the option to spread out, layout their materials and experiment. Similarly dance students may need space to practice and stretch. However sometimes too much space can take away from the feeling of closeness and the teacher may need to gather the students together quickly and with ease. Teachers can create boundaries and areas for appropriate use within the context of the space and the lesson.
• Plenty of resources – with easy access – but perhaps not too easy! The teacher wants the students to be able to gather up needed materials without asking for every item. Conversely too much free access can mean that the budget becomes over taxed and that the students are expected to make choices too early in their creative development. Teachers think this through and layout what is needed, locking away what is rationed. Wet hands can ruin some materials so lay a towel out for the students to use.
• Ability to make noise – and yet insulated. Artists may need quiet times to experience serenity, to think and to plan and yet they may need to talk, laugh, sing and practice dance routines. Designated times and spaces within which different kinds of creative activity can happen make it clear how the space will be used.
• Space within which to get messy – and a place where the environment is attractive and clean. . Again different types of activity require alternate kinds of space. It pays to have both available.
• Storage Space. So that materials can be found quickly without frustration.
• Good lighting and acoustics.
• A space for writing and demonstrating. I like to have the availability of a whiteboard as well as a chalkboard and a data projector. No doubt you will develop these resources and a style of presentation that suits you over time.
• Good seating. Comfortable students are good listeners. Sometimes a blanket on the ground with cushions will do the trick.
• Proximity. Sometimes it is good to be near others so that one can call up a quick audience. However it may pay not to be too close so that others don’t drop in and disturb the ambience of engagement.

Posted by Jo Murphy

Posted by Jo Murphy

Amanda from E Europe/Russia Travel wrote ……”My husband's an artist and assures me that everyone can learn to draw (but not necessarily to paint). What do you think? Can I really draw one day or do I have to confine my expression to words and music?????”

“I believe drawing is a language like any other.”

Young students can indeed learn to draw as a class. The process will be less difficult if approached as though drawing is a language like any other. Learning this mode of expression is the same explorative (submergence) and repetitive (consolidation) process to be mastered in the same way as speaking and reading.

Drawing becomes a part of the fabric of the communicative process. It will be an integrated aspect of the culture of the class. Eventually the school will find that drawing is ‘normalized’ if all children pass through this learning process. So the kids might say, “I need to draw you what I mean!” and I may even draw my reply for them.

So yes the children can learn to draw. But they must be reminded not to compare themselves to others. I think professional and inspired artists are passionate, focused and draw daily. Not every body wants to be that devoted. Kids will get from the drawing process the results that match the effort poured into it. Some children are more naturally inclined towards visual literacy and therefore are more motivated by this form of self expression.

If your school favours the idea of “A Community Of Learners” those that draw well can be of great benefit to those who struggle with the visual elements of design.

If a child is being ‘held back’ or struggling with drawing as language it may be because they or their teachers have an over conflated expectation of what drawing is about.

They might be attached to the outcome rather than delighting in the process. If drawing is seen as a natural aspect of the art of communicating then less framing and privileging would occur. This means that fewer students would be frightened of not being good enough. I like to call this a process of ‘normalization.’

If you want your children to lose their fear of drawing; start out drawing very simple line drawings everyday. If you do this daily for just five minutes you will be cheered by the results I think.

I would be happy to walk with you through my Drawing 101 - free Suite101.com course class if you ever feel like getting creative.

Posted by Jo Murphy

Posted by Jo Murphy

Robert Masters makes the following distinctions between affect, feeling and emotion: "As I define them, affect is an innately structured, non-cognitive evaluative sensation that may or may not register in consciousness; feeling is affect made conscious, possessing an evaluative capacity that is not only physiologically based, but that is often also psychologically (and sometimes relationally) oriented; and emotion is psychosocially constructed, dramatized feeling."

Masters, Robert (2000), Compassionate Wrath: Transpersonal Approaches to Anger

One of the beauties of Arts Education is that depiction, enactment and dramatization help the participants 'get in touch' with how they feel about a topic, issue, or internal state.

Here is an example.

Sometimes in class I ask the kids to make a collage in Photoshop. They can gather their resources from any where on the internet or take digital photos. Perhaps they can scan parts of their own drawings or even flowers they have found. They don't have to know what the emotion is they are expressing at the time. After they are finished we talk about the composition. Once we have chatted the students write a short (or sometimes quite long) poem as an intrapersonal response. A brief Haiku is enough. It gives them something to bight into - emotionally speaking I mean.

Sometimes these kinds of experiences can create entry points. Students might want to create a story. What was this collage about? Who was the stone talking to? If the children set about to answer questions about their pictures a whole world of emotional/artistic material can be encouraged.

Educare means to draw forth or "to lead forth". When we start a pathway of inspiration like this one we need not always draw the students forward - sometimes it is enough to companion them while the create their script.

Often the Educator thinks that at some stage he or she should be interpreting the work of the student. We can intersubjectively respond but it is always better to be tentative. This allows the student to define and own his or her own world. The student is allowed a sense of authenticity.

These kinds of exercises can be great discussion starters and a great jumping off point from which to impart technique. No doubt at some stage someone will put up there hand and say "How do I?"

If you have work you would like to share email and I will post it for you. Or alternatively post it at your Blog and invite my readers over.

Posted by Jo Murphy

Mentors often advise teachers and writers to practice their craft daily. Some find it hard to remain motivated when so many other distractions and demands cry out for their attention. Others find they are motivated and eager but for some reason their muse is blocked.

If interaction with others and certainty of friendly constructive feedback sounds appealing please join in. Inspiration comes when people construct areas of serendipity. Synergetic spaces in the hypersphere can be fertile inspirational wells of energy. Images and word pictures begin to flow.

Enter the game!

Today I have revisited and old friend down on the shoreline where I take my Visual Journal for my daily poetic meanderings. As the slow old wandering Brisbane River carves its way through the South Bank Parklands my silent companion sits quietly watching. Everyday the scaly, thorny, horny silhouette remains erect and alert while joggers jog and runners pantingly plod past.

There has been a friendship of sorts develop between us. A kind of teasing game we both willingly play. I sneak towards my mate who waits. I approach as my friend tenses and as I ease forward ????

Enter the game!

If you have a relationship like this one (as bizarre as it may seem.) I invite you to depict it in your favourite medium. Email it to me and I will post it here for you. Or if you have a blog of your own perhaps you could post the poem or drawing there and invite us over. We can arrange Track backs as a way for readers to stay in touch.

Yours in anticipation!

Posted by Jo Murphy

Surprise your students with an unusual photograph and kick start their writing by placing a time limit on their response. This will encourage free form association. Allow freedom of creative style. Example

Students might appear a little taken aback at first if they are not used to this kind of scenario. Sometimes newness can jolt us out of a safe artistic mode and open up insightful doorways of exploration.

Visual Journals are a great space to keep exercises like this together. Students can glue the photo into their journal and perhaps they will be inspired to further the imagery by drawing as an extension.

If this mode of expression seems to suite your class the exercises can be made more challenging by asking them to take turns with a camera. Each lesson a different student could provide a photograph that they see to be fresh, innovative and imaginative. The variety of response will speak to students about the way each individual sees the world.

Arts Education works best when it is steered by the students. Ask them would they like to find other creative ways to extend this modality. Perhaps they would like to form groups and create masked freeze frames or statue silhouettes. Perhaps they would like to create their own PodCast Album from the variety of responses to their stimulous material.

Be sure to support them in their risk taking when they offer their ideas. Talk them through if things don't seem to work out at first. This will help them persist until the art emerges from the scruffiness that often arises when students are being truly authentic. At the realisation stage invite an audience and record spectator response.

If you have artistry you would like to share. drop me a line I like to hear how art projects and ideas work out for others.

Posted by Jo Murphy

Often I am asked to explain how to be explicit when talking with students about how to develop resiliency through art projects. Here is an example.

I took the original black and white drawing and cut it into five parts and enlarged them to A4 size. Colouring Page

I placed them on the floor and told the kids to take the tree that best represented how they feel about art at the moment. We then took the trees outside and painted them.

It was a good lesson and the kids got the point about commitment being a process not just a noun. Their trees were beautiful and they got to share their feelings about how much work it takes to really get into art and do a job of it.

The kids worked out for themselves that if they tracked where they were up to in the feelings emotionscape - maybe they would be able to empower themselves to keep going until they finally realise their projects.

Some of the parents who were present were quite impressed by the kid's ability to understand and dialogue about commitment. Helping children develop the ability to keep commitments is part of empowering children to become resilient.

The page posted above is called Uninformed Optimism and it is about the honey moon phase at the beginning of any commitment. The kids all seemed to want to paint this one with lots of colour. Once it was dry they rescued the outlines with oil pastels. Next they really went to town with the glitter and sequins!

Experience more of this dialogue as I post more colouring pages in Blogs to come. If you subscribe to the RSS feed you will be alerted when the next one is posted.

Posted by Jo Murphy

In my course Visual Literacy a Course in Drawing I wrote an essay about 14 Reasons to Keep Visual Journals.

A diary has value and is relevant to any creative process.

In the past it hasn't been as easy for some of the areas within the creative arts to keep journals as it has been for writers or artists. With the invention of affordable digital video cameras, Webcaming and Podcasting came the opportunity for the note takers of the other sections of the Creative Arts to spontaneously record their thoughts, intuitions, and impressions with out the loss of valuable material.

These valuable recordings can be kept online in an electronic journal or online as a web log. Blog. Some of the reasons Creative Artists would take journaling up as a discipline include.

Personal process.

Posted by Jo Murphy

"We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams." Kathleen Academy.

I have come to the conclusion that dance can, but, need not be seen in the context of therapy.

Dance can be the pre-existent freedom that comes before feelings of entrapment by society.

If a child experiences a safe environment within which to express emotions she is likely to become more resilient. Dance is a safe way for children to express emotions.

Attributes are

Ritualistically the parent or teacher could schedule time to dance away conflict and tension. Processes allow space for the child to work through emotions. This ensures that emotions are acknowledged. Perhaps the kids can resolve them. It is likely this resolution will become a part of the emotional memory.

We see evidence in our school for the idea that children are much more settled and quiet after liturgy and other communal sharing sessions.

Maybe teachers or parents have become disconnected from this type of expression due to societal repression. The teacher may just not feel comfortable around this kind of activity. It is in this situation that we start to use the word therapy. Experiential Creative Arts Therapists can help people work through issues in safe situations using a variety of tools, one of which may be dance or movement.

Music/sound /silence too can be a part of this tapestry. Some kids may want to start off in silence trying to scream their dance in mime? Others may use music to match how they feel. After feelings become comfortable they may turn to silent, gentle movement to close the session.

Teachers often turn their classes to writing at this stage. Perhaps the children are now relaxed and in creative flow. Others may teach mathematical pattern or explore space and time.

If you have experience in this area I would love to hear from you.

Posted by Jo Murphy

Karen Carpenter is an example of an artist who lost her life due to the stressful nature of fame and fortune. Fame Management is a type of personal vigilance where the teacher looks for opportunity to dialogue with students.

Teachers model ways to nurture esteem from within rather than by looking to boost ego from outside. Addiction to adulation will develop a need to follow and court the tastes and wants of audiences. This can be odious and soul stealing. Artists who are drawn into competitive and comparative cycles of addiction suffer. It is better that they be eased into cultures of support and collaboration more pure in motive.

Prep School is the time to commence dialogue with students about their 'life's career.' An artist's life requires a balance of work, fun and play. Students will be encouraged to think about the role of exercise, meditation, numeracy, literacy and the like. Aspects of everyday life such as love, value and esteem are essential if the artist is to be resilient Art students should be encouraged not to put all of their eggs into one basket and allow this "cache" to be the sole source of their self esteem.

Resilience will be encouraged when

At the low time after a performance when all the accolades have subsided; students may be asked to brainstorm how to deal with the deflation. Perhaps they will settle to writing about the experience, meditation, or be content to lose themselves to exercise or some other creative pursuit such as photography.

I welcome feedback.

Posted by Jo Murphy

The book Presence. 2005 (Diagram of Concept) had a profound effect on the way I view teaching and experiencing art. Rather than stun me with new and exciting knowledge about the teaching of the Creative Arts it reinforced my way of seeing the subject as 'reflexive.' I understood that a Creative Arts teacher has to be ever developing a strong sense of self.

The idea of 'Letting Come' swirls around nurturing ideas, projects and collaborations without temptation to force. A 'hands off' attitude to another artist's learning is essential. The teacher becomes a companion of the student rather than a container of knowledge. Not a guru or a sage but a co-learner in a process of co-creation.

I see the Creative Arts as channelling, presencing and realising community ecologies. Together we dream, together we design, together we realise and direction our being. Optimal cooperation requires suspension of personal belief, so that 'we' can see the whole from within the organisation.

An organisation can be any group of two or more beings that come together to share and experience. So a Theatre Company for example comes together to dream about a production. A couple can dream about an animation.

No one part of any collaboration can be allowed to monopolise the creative process. Indeed sometimes the less featured parts can influence the whole very profoundly. Simple presence can be powerful due to its subtlety. Set design is one example of an artistic presence that can influence with little conscious awareness on the part of the audience. Even when the stage is left bare the very starkness itself can influence 'seeing' and thus the experience.

The authors of the book encourage us to suspend prior belief and to 'look consciously at our looking' so that we can become aware of influences and triggers sufficiently to be released from them in an attempt to step back and take in the whole.

Posted by Jo Murphy

Animania began in NSW in 2002. It is now an annual event and is held in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. AU It is a festival that brings together young people from local, interstate and overseas to celebrate and participate in the popular culture that surrounds Anime and the Japanese Culture. 2006 has seen the first time this Festival has made its way to Brisbane and it is certainly attracting popular attention.

The Festival has been designed to create an environment where young people can explore the phenomena of Manga and Animation in an exciting and vibrant atmosphere. As an Arts Educator I will be going along to see for myself how young people explore the Manga drawing style I am also interested to see their interaction in the making of multi media.

Attractions will include

2006 also marks the 30th anniversary for cultural exchange between Australia and Japan. The event is endorsed by both the Australian and Japanese Governments.

The benefits of staging this festival in Brisbane will be not only to the Arts, to the understanding of animation as a medium but to our understanding of Japanese culture.