My treasure Nest

My treasure Nest

​I got the idea of my treasure nest from the contents under "Revisiting/Revising Art and Home (by Courtney Lee Weida)" in the journal.

“How we define, acquire, use or consume art materials is also relevant to our personal and community spaces. Because these items decorate (or at least fill) parts of our homes and classrooms. For example, I choose a model for teaching my art education students with recycled and repurposed materials. This choice was motivated in part by ecological concerns.” 

In other words, I use recycled paper as the material of my nest to arouse ecological interest. Also, as emphasized in this journal, I came to think about what a meaningful nest work that connects a house and a space, that is, evokes memories.
At this time, I remembered the bird's nest my deceased father made for me when I was a child. My father was a man who was good at anything. When I was young, I raised a pair of parakeets, and my father pulled out yellowed grass in the fall (Korean grass turns yellow in the fall) and twisted them together to make a string and then made a bird's nest. So, for me, the nest was connected with longing and love for my father and happy memories of my childhood. I was so moved to see the thin, dried-up grass turn into a nice nest. It was as if the invisible father's love was nurturing me. Thinking of these memories, I used the brown wrapping paper that always comes in to protect Amazon's items with recycled paper. The paper was cut into three pieces as shown below and then weaved to make a string. The Amazon wrapping paper is very sturdy, clean and in good condition, easily making a great string. After making this string round, I put it vertically using gold-colored wrapping thread and weaved it so that the round nests were attached to each other. Then a nice paper nest was created.

I used wrapping paper for gifts I received after my child's birthday party in this nest, rolled it up into roses, and decorated it with pretty turquoise bird eggs.

​The second nest uses recycled straws as wires. Around this wire, the rules were woven with Amazon packing string. This method made the nest more robust. And I decorated this little nest.

​I think this process reminded me again of the importance and value of the space called home. Most of all, while making this nest, I was moved by their efforts, love and sincerity, how small birds can build a nest that does not collapse even in wind and rain. I also drew a picture of a bird in the past. Looking at my pictures of birds in the past, I thought about the energy I received from birds. They love their home, they love the family that lives in it, and they are dedicated to protecting it and their family. I am particularly interested in the journal Craft/Work Programming by Rachel Wallis and Nora Renick Rinehart.

Rhodes' statement resonated very well. That said, it's something that resonates with women who often shoulder the responsibilities of childcare and housework. Having many restrictions due to childcare and work life, she did not separate the space of home from her work life but matched it. In other words, it is a way to find her own identity from home and extend it to the community. It was like I made a nice nest using Amazon recycled paper. I discovered that my nest has finally become a true treasure. That is, all I have to do is weave a very small simple string around me. As an artist, it is only when you value yourself and weave one by one before having a grand and grandiose dream that you truly connect with your surroundings, and as a result, you create a great work.

​The same goes for applying this to my students. Students are a string of strings to me. I can weave these strings well, both parallel and perpendicular, to create one large, beautiful work. The same goes for students' lives. Therefore, through this project, I deeply realized that my mission as an art educator is to have the craftsmanship of a weaving craftsman. This realization is such a precious treasure to me. In other words, art education, which I defined through this project, is the work of carefully weaving students' dreams piece by piece. And those simple tasks come together to make one big nest, and another dream and life can grow in this nest. Through Nest, I realized once again my mission as an art educator to weave children's dreams.