Christi Griffin, a native St. Louisan and former attorney, visited our lower schoolers this week to share her journey from the courtroom to the artist’s table. After a long career in law and founding The Ethics Project, a nonprofit dedicated to social justice and youth support, Griffin discovered her passion for creating abstract and impressionist art.
On her website, Griffin shares, “To say that my artistic skills are latent would be an understatement. Stick figures were my go-to when assignments mandated drawing. After exploring watercolors and oils, impressionism and abstracts, abstract art became the preferred way of both finding and releasing the creativity that had lain dormant for years.”
When visiting the Lower School assembly, she told the students, “One day, I created a painting, but decided I didn’t like it and crumpled it up. The result became a work of art in itself.” She also shared a story of perspective. One of her earlier painting efforts, once finished, was far from what she had in mind. She said, “Painted on a sheet of inexpensive paper, I was seconds from balling it up and tossing it in the trash – and then my eye fell on a small white [picture frame] mat. Maybe, just maybe, I could salvage a small part of the painting by placing the mat on various portions. As it turned out, I placed the mat in the middle of the painting, and voilà: the painting destined for the trash can just moments before suddenly became a beloved piece. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or in other words, your perspective.
“With the frame adding more appeal, the original sold at the first auction. It is now available as a framed print. Having failed to take a photo before gluing on the mat, there is no image of the original sans the mat, but from my perspective, you aren’t missing much,” she laughed.
Centering on the “crumple” method, with the support of a handful of fourth-grade volunteers, she led the students through a demonstration on how to create a small sculpture from a painting. With paintbrushes in hand, the student volunteers began painting their small squares of paper with any design of their choosing, while Griffin shared more about her art process, passed around samples of her work, and took questions from the audience. Once the small paintings were complete, students dried them with heat guns, an essential step in sealing the paint to the surface. Students then briefly dipped the dried paintings into a tub of water to soften the paper before beginning to shape their pieces.
After the assembly, Griffin and Lower School Art Teacher Sarah Garner set up a painting station in the fourth-grade classrooms, where all fourth-grade students could create their own paint sculptures. Excitement, focus, chatter, and giggles filled the room as students dipped paintbrushes into the paint pots, creating abstract 6″x6″ masterpieces before lining them up at the drying stations. Later in the day, fourth graders gathered in the South Gym to wet, sculpt, dry (again), and seal their final pieces to harden the surface. The gym tables looked like a garden filled with colorful popcorn shapes!
Garner said, “The entire day was filled with joy, exploration, and the excitement of trying a new art process. I am so grateful for Christi’s visit, and for the way she shared that joy can be found in unexpected places—even in things that may not appear beautiful at first. By looking from a different angle, or through someone else’s eyes, students discovered new ways of seeing and appreciating beauty. They loved experimenting with the paper sculpture process, and we can’t wait to see how their forms will come together as part of a larger art installation.”
Thank you, Ms. Griffin, for visiting our school, sharing your art, and reminding our students of the innate artist within.
Griffin is a member of the St. Louis Art Museum Board of Trustees and the St. Louis Art Fair Emerging Art Entrepreneurship Program.