Last week I taught my first altered book workshop to the under thirteen set, when I was invited as a guest artist at Crofton House School. I worked with two back-to-back groups of grade 7 girls with twenty kids in each class. We began with a presentation of a selection of my altered book work and then I moved on to a demo of techniques.

It was amazing to see all the girls get right down to work on their books with very little hesitation. The photos will give you a sense of the wonderful creative chaos that took place.

I’d only worked with adults in previous classes, so it was an interesting experience to observe how easily these young people tapped into their creativity and how much harder it can be for an adult, especially if they’ve lost touch with their creative side. I could see that the girls didn’t have the hesitation or fears about making a mistake that people tend to develop as they grow older.

Our workshop together was just the beginning of their altered book unit in art class, so much of what is pictured here is a work-in-progress. There was some very interesting work happening in the classroom, and I’m looking forward to seeing the end results in a few weeks.

Thank you to Kerry Harding for the invitation to share my work and knowledge with her grade 7 art classes, and to Crofton House School for hosting me.