Papyrus, Parchment, Paper & Pixels

This is my favourite studio space at home. A notebook, my phone, a reclaimed wood table from a flea market and a manual typewriter that's as old as I am. There's just something about the clack of the keys that inspires my imagination. It's become a part of my daily routine of mindfulness and wellbeing, too. Facing the blank page for a few minutes and journalling manually, the old fashioned way. Making marks on a surface with ink.

When we facilitate the routines of journalling and writing  with our students, it's like exercise for their imaginations. Journalling can be personal and private, but it can also reveal ideas for stories, essays, presentations and productions that have purpose and audience, as well. The process of daily exercise builds strength and strength builds confidence, which results in quality exhibitions of student artifacts, publications, presentations and productions that are visible to their audiences on the page, stage and screen. 

So, whether it's petroglyphs, papyrus, parchment, paper or pixels, the best worksheet for developing creative confidence has always been the blank surface. It doesn't seem to matter how digital we get, either. Almost every creative project or endeavour begins with some form of scribbling an idea on a surface.  Learn more about the Studio Process and visual storytelling with your students in the Rocky View Studio Classroom and this visual lesson, "Create by Writing":

And, of course, when our student writing has purpose and an intended audience, we can publish their work in a variety of ways, as you can see on the Rocky View Studio Bookshelf, which is full of real examples of student publishing. This visual lesson reviews how: