Just Write
Just Write was developed from a creative writing class at Carolina Friends Middle School led by myself, as visiting artist, and Lisa Joyner, CFS Language Arts Teacher. During the fall of 2015, fifteen young writers explored poetry and prose, unpacked word banks, wrote to the future, and rearranged dictionary definitions. Alongside encouraging vigorous word play, I invited students to dye silk organza, try their hand at screen printing, and get a glimpse of state-of-the-art digital printing with a field trip to Spoonflower. I began merging text into textile by establishing a palette based on the students’ dye explorations with translucent silks. Rants, letters, recipes, and questions emerged over their twelve weeks together. Selected writings were turned over to artist A. Brooke Heuts, who transformed the texts into graphic designs based on the writers’ palette of dyed silk. Spoonflower generously supported the project by printing seven yards of words onto cloth. I returned to the studio to stitch. Just Write—building another way to listen to our children.
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