Did you know that Styrofoam is no longer in rotation in the City of Thousand Oaks recyclable line-up!
Three cheers!
Although it was a material I collected and reused for years, the more I looked into it and how it is made, where it comes from in my spotlight program, the more I felt it is a concern for kids to work with. Even though it came from the earth as crude oil, it goes through chemically enhanced processes to become a material the earth can’t take back.
I am please to be in alignment with the City’s practices and look forward to seeing less and less of it in our world.

Learn more about the City’s break-up plan here.

-Jemma

Let’s CReATE together this summer for hands-on imagination exercising with wood working, eco art, jewelry making, doll and critter house creating and more… all summer long!

I have a variety of camp options- all with a connection to each kid’s creative flow and my love of re-using recycled materials! I can’t wait to explore with kids and community partners like the City of Agoura Hills and Conejo Recreation and Parks District to help kids imagine big!

Visit my camps page to sign-up here.

;-} Jemma

An easy way to honor earth day, anytime, is to reuse the things we have. These can be things like containers which are often the holders for things we really wanted. Cookies, mints, candles are all things I have wanted, which to buy, come in metal containers.

Metal is my spotlight material for April so theres a connection to one of the questions I ask in my spotlighting. Where do we see this material used? Metal is part of many things around us. Its a strong material that can be used again and again. It is also a material that is painstakingly mined from the earth so a way to honor that effort and care for our planet is to reuse it.

Next time you come across a tin from mints or a colorful tin from cookies- try asking yourself, what else can this be? The answer can be fun to explore!

-Jemma

Metal is the material I am exploring this month so I start off wondering where does it come from and Where do we find it in our lives?
Metal items can be found just about everywhere; from paper clips to Staples and twist ties, coins, steel gutters, and even containers. These items can be made of different kinds of metals. I look to PBS Kids to help me understand and share what I learn.
Check out this short video then explore where you see metal in your daily life.

Thanks for learning with me.
Jemma

A thing that gets broken can be even more amazing when put into a new vision. Ceramics are certainly fun, interesting as they’ve been made to be but take on another vibrancy as a mosaic.

Have you see the Watts Towers? People usually keep their ceramic items if they carry meaning or donate them for someone else to enjoy but broken ceramics- they often find their way to…the trash.
If something you love breaks- rethink it, then turn it into something that can last, a stepping stone, a fancy mosaic frame or.. art right in your own backyard.

Last week I hosted a Spring Break Sampler Camp at the Agoura Hills Rec Center. The kids and I had a great week creating together. We had projects to explore like CD Spinners, Egg Carton Animal Portraits and Cardboard Houses and of course, open-ended art which always takes top billing.
Riley summed up our week with the highest compliment of all when she said, ” I like this art camp the best, we don’t have to make stuff”. I knew just what she meant- everything is there to explore, they did what they liked, each of them. There were collaborations, solo creations, and drawing competitions. There were as many ways to go as there were kids to make. A gaggle of kids inspired one another to make fuzzy cats and squirrels from an old scrap of cozy material. Creativity is an infinite source when in the hands of a child.
I look forward to a fun-filled summer with all my camps where we’ll create again! Check out my camp line-up here.

As of March 6, CReATE STUDIO is 15 years old.
Thinking back, I smile at the varied iterations of the studio, all the wonderful families I have met and gotten to know. I beam at the thought of the kids who have created with me since 2009.

I am proud of what I’ve created, this space to express ones own ideas and imaginings through the reuse of recycled materials. Mixing recycling and reusing with creativity. It’s a natural partnership and yet a unique to approach to art. As a child of the 70’s, this was how I have experienced art myself-ever teetering on the verge of play.

Saying yes to kid ideas and queries is empowering for them. Encouraging parents to say yes to kid ideas is success for all of us. Here’s to many more years of creating to come. I can’t wait.

Happy Birthday CReATE!

-Jemma

Happy New Year!

Here’s to good cheer, creativity and prosperity for all!
As author Julia Cameron says in The Artist’s Way‘s Basic Principles; “Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.” May we all connect with that part of ourselves as we meet our daily to-do’s and experiences.
Let’s create in 2024!

The novelty of Summer can wear us out just a few days after school gets out! Try out my five summer fun activity options to keep kids busy and help your kids connect with their creativity. Prepare for them now so they are ready and waiting in the wings whenever you need them.

• Boredom Jar– Sit down with the family to pick some at-home activities they can do this summer and put them on slips of paper to go in the jar! They can decorate the jar now or later as part of the activity!
• Ingredients and directions for making Salt Dough, a great dough with just 3 ingredients to play with, create characters with or use to create ornaments or decorations to bake and paint!
• Fill a bin or basket with recyclables and stock with a few rolls of making tape and scissors. Store it away until you need a break.
• Let the kids “Yarn Bomb” a room! Pre-buy or set aside a skein of yarn per child who will participate then on the day you need some time, tell them the room and any restrictions like closets or fragile things to avoid as well as borders they can cross. Let them tie off the start of the strings and wrap up the room, under legs, over tables and around chairs! When they are done, give them each scissors to cut it all down and save the string for future creative fun!
• Save a clear pasta sauce or other jar and clean and remove any labels. Have the recipe, jar and baking supplies to make Chocolate Cookie in a Jar mix in a pinch! Then you’ll have a hostess gift or, gift for a favorite neighbor.

As parents, sometimes it’s our being prepared for anything skills that can win the day and make the happiest memories for our families.
Enjoy!
Jemma W.
Owner/Founder

My, how time flies. This May marks 14 years for CReATE STUDIO.
When I had the idea to start the studio using recycled household materials as art materials, I took a “next indicated step” approach to bringing it to life.
When deciding what to call this art studio, the word create seemed the most fitting word I could use to call it and describe what one could do there.
There have been many phases of the studio space that has gone from garage to sore front and now- to being exclusively mobile. None of these evolutions and pivots have happened overnight. Each has been an integral part of the journey, organically. Isn’t that what creativity is all about. The studio, to my joy has remained true to the word and it’s meaning.

Happy birthday dear CReATE. I’m so happy to be a part of you and, you of me.
Jemma Wildermuth,
Owner, Founder