Silly Bands in Art

Like many parents, my initial response to silly bands was a bit skeptical. As I found myself increasingly surrounded by them at home and in the studio, I am fascinated by the conversations begun by asking about these simple objects. They are a form of fashion and fashion is part of art. I heard of one child who wore hers in the order of the colors of the rainbow. Their design is also unique...each animal is represented by a single continuous line or contour. This alone could be an interesting challenge...how would you represent your favorite animal using a single continuous line? Finally, their flexibility makes them interesting; pinch, pull and bend to transform the basic animal outline fatter, thinner, stranger...what stories might they tell?
Silly bands have of course made their way into the art studio; here are a few of my favorites:
Silly band rubbings created with oil pastel on paper. The bands were placed under the paper; notice the one in the upper right was twisted and made a unique design.
Silly band rubbing and a child's drawing inspired by the outline. These first two images were done by Savannah.
Here the silly band is used as a stamp when applying glaze to a pinch pot. The band was carefully painted and pressed onto the pot, the flexibility made it a good stamp for a curved surface.
The impression left by the guitar silly band.
The finished pot (upside down) after the glaze firing. Here we can see how the artist combined the stamps in her overall design. Turned upright, this is a basketball pencil holder created by Andie for her sister and fellow artist, Liz.