Eyes in the afternoon

Z came into studio quietly and looked around at the other people already working.  He walked over to the aprons and donned the familiar garment.  He continued to watch the others in the studio before coming over to see me.  I asked him about his weekend and while we talked I was struck by the colorful display of beauty in the iris of his eyes.  I asked him if he had ever really looked at his eyes.  He said he had not, together we found a mirror and walked over to a nearby window where he examined his eyes for the first time.  As he looked a smile spread across his face.

I asked him if he might like to use colors and see if he could find all the colors in his eyes and draw them.  His smile broadened with a "yes".  Several of the children had stopped their work and were eagerly watching Z's discovery.

Soon a small group of interested children were examining and drawing their eyes.

Conversations emerged as they discovered unexpected colors in one anothers eyes: "Your eyes look like the ocean.", "Your eyes look like a sky.", "Your eyes are GOLD!", "Your eyes are blue and green and brown and yellow and orange!"

There was a tangible excitement with each new discovery.

And the completed drawings were evidence based communications of their detailed observations and discoveries.

H spent a full thirty minutes examining the shades of blue in her own eyes, the direction of the lines, the light reflected there and more.  She worked with pens, pencils and paper to communicate her observations.  When finished she proudly shared her findings with others.

 C studied his eyes and face and said looking at them as "parts" was "kinda creepy".

His drawing records the emotional experience of looking at his face, one part at a time..."kinda creepy".

This eye study continues in the studio and has begun to inspire other children from other classes as well.  S came in from the XP class and was intrigued by the idea of examining her eyes and the eyes of her classmates and her self portrait showcases the blue of her bright blue eyes.

The afternoon was filled with children looking deeply into one another's eyes and laughing together at the many things they had overlooked before--- and they call this work?