It's Process Art Week over on the ol' InstaChallenge this week, and we've posted a couple of different new projects, but I wanted to share an older one that we absolutely loved making -- yarn wrapped rocks! Are you thinking, "Really, Cara? Rocks wrapped with random string? THAT is your fave?!" Yep. It's true.
It doesn't get much more process-y than wrapping yarn and twine and string around a nice smooth stone. Wrap as many times as you want. Switch when you want. Make it look how you want it to look or just until it feels done. So, soooo good.
Kinley and I started a thing a few months ago called #famousartistfriday. Every Friday, I introduce her to a new artist through YouTube videos, library books and some Google searches for examples of their artwork. We then create some art, either in their style or using their go-to materials, or just something that we were inspired to make after learning about them. Sometimes the artist we choose is super famous (Van Gogh, Kandinsky, etc) and some are a little less well-known, like the incredible artist who inspired these little textile masterpieces of ours.
Her name was Judith Scott and she led one inspirational life. I think I told everyone I know about her journey after Kinley and I discovered her in one of our Google searches. She was born with a twin sister, but she had Down Syndrome and her twin didn't. When Judith was an infant, she caught Scarlet Fever and it left her profoundly deaf, but no one figured that out until thirty years later. After verbal IQ tests were given (which she obviously couldn't hear), it was determined that her IQ was too low to be allowed in to the only special needs classroom in her area, so she was sent to live in an institution in virtual solitude over an hour away from her family and was left there for the next thirty years. Her twin sister, Joyce, eventually became her legal guardian and after moving her to California to live with her, got her involved at an art studio for artists with disabilities in their area. Judith spent two years going there and not showing any interest in anything creative, but just when Joyce was about to give up and pull her, she discovered fiber/yarn/textile art and absolutely thrived! She made over 200 pieces (some of them are over nine feet long!! Click here to check out her work.) and she even has art on display all over the world including MoMA in NYC and San Fransisco.
What an inspirational story, right? From isolation and loneliness, to world famous artist. Amazing!
At the center of each of Judith's cocoon-like works of art is an object -- something special to her or just completely random. Kinley and I decided to give some of our special Lake Michigan treasure rocks we collected on vacation the Judith treatment and put them at the center of our sculptures.
Wanna make some? All you need is:
- rocks, whatever size and texture you have will work
- assorted yarn, twine, and/or string
- scissors
- hot glue
- Cut a piece of string (Kinley found anything longer than two feet a little hard to work with without getting tangled.)
- Hot glue one end to the rock.
- Wrap until it's all used or just until it looks or feels how you want it to, then secure the end to the rock with another dot of hot glue.
- Choose another yarn or string to work with and repeat just until you or your kiddo feels like it's perfect -- sometimes one string is perfect, sometimes fifteen isn't enough. There's no wrong way to get your rock wrap on!
So, that's it! It's a simple one, but one of our all-time most popular posts and one of our ultimate favorite projects. There's just something magical about yarn, isn't there?
Need some more ideas? Head to our Pinterest process.art board, Facebook page, Instagram @smocks.on, or even to our personal Instagram account @raising.kinley -- we are constantly sharing our major process art wins. Inspo everywhere!
Happy creating!
xo Cara
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