In Waldorf schools, children paint, draw, sing, play musical instruments, knit, sew, embroider, sculpt, carve, weave, work metal and strive for grace in athletics and dance. They do not do this to become artists, as some people who do not understand Waldorf Education believe. The arts develop in the child - the ability to perceive harmony, beauty, ‘rightness’ and ‘completeness’. There is no formulas that lead to the creation of something beautiful. One simply works, strives, even struggles until the piece in question seems ‘complete’.
I tried my hand at wax modelling. We engaged in an activity designed for children in classes 1 to 3 (ages 7 to 9). It’s a great activity for quiet time and whisper time in class.
It was a wonderful activity calling for patience when warming up the wax between my hands and slowly using my fingers to knead and sculpt the wax into a bowl, bird and eggs. It took me awhile to understand that wax cannot be handled like dough :P each depression in the wax takes careful thought and consideration. The activity activates the senses - the wax smelled liked it had been made with a hint of Honey, it felt smooth and steady in my hands, and the gentle colours of the wax i worked with got me to think about the details on things i have seen... Through this observation exercise, I came to realize that i have not actually, truly looked at a bird :P I struggled to visualize what it looked like without referring to a picture or an actual bird. It is also possible to do this activity in an outdoor classroom setting! That’s what i’m going to be doing for my project. I’m going to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park to do wax models of native flora and fauna.
In class, we also re-purposed our beautiful bowls with birds and eggs into another creation (i made a tree log with a snail on it) to show that beautiful things don’t always last. They can be re-purposed into something else that is beautiful.
In summary, the Student, in doing artistic work such as wax modelling is cultivating a moral sensibility, an ability to perceive what is right and true. By working with the colour, tone, texture of the wax and their own body in movement, they discover the possibilities and limitations in each. They find the essence of the medium, palpable or impalpable and transforms it into something beautiful. A reality beyond the artist is created. Out of this experience also grows a deep respect for the materials used to create beauty, a selfless love for the world, and the desire to enrich the world through the beauty one can bring into it. The impulses developed in artistic artistry apply to the moral life.