Wild Earth Integration

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently led a few workshops for 60 12 and 13 year olds, who were very interested in changing the world for the better. We spoke about mixing different mediums to send positive messages, and about how each person can make a difference no matter what their passions are. Of course, one of my favourite mediums is clay, so I let them loose with a few colours and some illustration board. I wanted to see what they would come up with, if challenged to create something with a positive message.

Their results were incredible – It was great to see how aware these kids actually are – issues like biodiversity, poverty, health care, racism, climate change, peace and unity were forefront in their creations. I was also happy to see that, despite representing 4 different schools, they all worked together to make something. I won’t be surprised to hear about any of the awesome things these kids will accomplish in the future. In fact, I can’t wait.

So, as promised, here is a gallery of their work. Great job, folks!

The first piece represents 2 sides of the world – one side is covered in factories, stinky clouds and sludge in the water. The other side is how the students want the Earth to be – with a clean atmosphere, wind turbines, lots of trees, and of course, wildlife. Note the snowman in the North Pole – he’s there to show that we still have ice caps!

The next piece uses a lot of color to show peace, integration and unity. Bright colors and integrated swirls are on one side, with darker, murkier colors on the other. I only gave students a few colors to start with and I noticed there were people in charge of mixing new shades!

The next two pieces focus on water – pollution, fresh water needs and biodiversity are all issues these guys were concerned with. Of course, the first is modeled after the Texas-sized pile of garbage in the Pacific. Note the Cola can…

Finally, diversity, unity, racism and global needs are tackled in the last two. In the first piece here, flowers represent people, in that we are all different in some ways, but the same deep down. Brilliant, no?

The last group tackled a whole gamut of issues, with recycling, health care, biodiversity and peace depicted, around a healthy Earth.

One thing I did notice was how often the teachers peeked at the box of clay. It’s funny how when plasticine’s in the room, it’s hard to ignore…

Here are some creations from teachers who just couldn’t help themselves.

Congrats everybody on a job well done!