This is a piece of art I made during my creative practice cannon ball. It is an anatomical heart I cut from a piece of cardboard.
By Kayla Klein
As we move into our spring trips, I am reminded of the impact that our Winter Exploration had on me. It was an opportunity for both students and coaches at One Stone to immerse themselves in their passions. The month of January was made of a three-week-long “cannonballs” and a one-week-long “deep dive.” Coaches pitched both of these opportunities the students and then those who signed up for the courses wrote a short rationale as to why they were interested and what they hoped to gain. The variety of options catered to everyone in the One Stone community. The month was truly special to each and every person in the lab school because it gave us all the chance to grow and discover who we are as individuals. This was my first Winter Exploration at One Stone, and it was definitely one for the books.
In the start of this year, I found myself in a cannonball revolving around creative practice. I was first interested in whether I could put a definition by the word “creativity.” I began asking myself what makes someone creative? What is creativity? When are you most creative? What moves you to be creative? How does creativity alter when you assign it to someone else? What does it mean when you deny yourself creative assignation? I think these are questions people often ask themselves. In the world we live in today, we are constantly searching for creative people, but we face challenges while approaching how we identify these individuals.
The main objective of the three weeks was to really experiment and learn more about different mediums in which creativity comes into play. In addition to personal experimentation, we also had the chance to speak with an accomplished pastry chef, Michelle Kwak. Michelle came to One Stone and showed us some of her work and told us about the journey and the sources of her inspiration. At the end, the class got to experience the art of designing a dessert by creating a beautiful cupcake with limited ingredients and tools. In another outside-the-box project, we had the opportunity to create a surrealist dinner party. This project left a lot of room for interpretation, so mine turned into a stone age meal. From this cannonball I saw real growth in my ability to create without the end in mind and to be free of judgment. It was such a great experience to see my ability to be creative without fear of other people’s expectations.
For the Deep Dive week of January, I participated in the “Centering” pottery intensive. I opted into this experience because I saw people throwing on the wheel in a movie and remembered how easy it looked… definitely a false assumption. I went into the week with confidence and soon realized my patience would be tested. I didn’t know ANYTHING. We learned a lot about the basics of functional and nonfunctional pottery, how to hand build, practicing in the studio, and for me the most important thing was to slow down. When we visited the Fort Boise Community Center, I really loved being able to see how pottery can connect people. It was impactful to be surrounded by so many talented people and to feel welcome in a place that was foreign to most of us. My favorite part of the experience was just learning something new. It felt refreshing to fail at first, then begin to develop my skills through practice.
Overall, Winter Exploration was a great experience to engage in some new things and potentially develop some passions to pursue. Not a lot of places offer time to simply enjoy yourself and what you are doing, especially in a school setting. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it.
With the spring trips just weeks away, I fondly reminisce on how things like Winter exploration and school-wide adventures bring the One Stone community together through pursuing our passions.
