COLOR OUR WORLD con't
as “an artist’s path to unlocking the individuality of color”, and the use of plant-based paints was integral to the work. David, coincidentally, was working in a plant-color workshop, making paints from plants using traditional recipes and techniques passed down for generations. How could their paths fail to cross?
As students of the Steiner philosophy, the Kennedys were drawn to the Waldorf system of education, which uses Steiner’s principles to incorporate creativity and artistic expression into every phase of learning. David and Elise moved with their baby son from Switzerland to Edinburgh, Scotland, where David became a Waldorf teacher. As a Waldorf educator, David used art and color with his students every day. He taught in Waldorf schools abroad and in the U.S., eventually ending up in Boulder, Colorado. The Kennedys expanded their family to two boys, with Elise painting when she had the time. By 2009, while they were in Boulder, their sons had left home, and David had retired from teaching. Elise was able to get back to painting and selling her work, and David began concentrating fully on something that was both brand-new and rooted in everything he had done before: making organic beeswax crayons.
David had recognized that parents and educators were beginning to look for more ecologically-friendly materials for use in their homes and classrooms—specifically, an alternative to crayons made of paraffin or petroleum waxes. He was also looking for a product that would be more artistically satisfying to use than waxy, opaque crayons—something that would be more like “a natural extension of a child’s arm.” Over the next five years, he made hundreds of experiments with compounds and colors. Elise, his collaborator, helped to develop a color palette and tested the crayons.
The result, says David, was Filana Organic Beeswax Crayons, a company poised to catch an “epic wave of interest” among schools everywhere in natural materials for classroom use. The name “Filana” came to Elise simply as a flow of syllables that sounded pleasing. She and David discovered later that “filana” means “love of humanity” in Greek. “That seemed so very fitting,” says Elise.
These days, children all over the world use Filana crayons in the classroom and at home. They are especially beloved by Waldorf schools, whose philosophy had so much to do with their development. The crayons are completely non-toxic and made of organic beeswax, with no paraffin or petroleum waxes. The colors are brilliant and transparent. “Transparency is the key. These crayons can take on the qualities of watercolors so that it’s like painting with wax,” says David. The colors can be layered to create dimensions of color, unlike traditional crayons that yield muddy colors when they’re mixed. Most of all, they’re fun to use. “Parents and teachers write to us and say that their children have more fun with these, that they won’t use any other crayons, and that their artwork looks brighter and, really, more joyful,” says David.
Two years on, David and Elise are still discovering the many layers to the area. They now own a house in Paonia and travel daily to their workshop and studio on Bridge Street in Hotchkiss. Says David, “Making that drive through the valley is like receiving a gift of gentle beauty every day. I’m really overwhelmed by it.”
Elise adds, “I feel very settled here. Daily life is so pleasant. The North Fork lacks that ‘electric buzz’ that so much of America has. And that’s a lovely thing.”
as “an artist’s path to unlocking the individuality of color”, and the use of plant-based paints was integral to the work. David, coincidentally, was working in a plant-color workshop, making paints from plants using traditional recipes and techniques passed down for generations. How could their paths fail to cross?
As students of the Steiner philosophy, the Kennedys were drawn to the Waldorf system of education, which uses Steiner’s principles to incorporate creativity and artistic expression into every phase of learning. David and Elise moved with their baby son from Switzerland to Edinburgh, Scotland, where David became a Waldorf teacher. As a Waldorf educator, David used art and color with his students every day. He taught in Waldorf schools abroad and in the U.S., eventually ending up in Boulder, Colorado. The Kennedys expanded their family to two boys, with Elise painting when she had the time. By 2009, while they were in Boulder, their sons had left home, and David had retired from teaching. Elise was able to get back to painting and selling her work, and David began concentrating fully on something that was both brand-new and rooted in everything he had done before: making organic beeswax crayons.
David had recognized that parents and educators were beginning to look for more ecologically-friendly materials for use in their homes and classrooms—specifically, an alternative to crayons made of paraffin or petroleum waxes. He was also looking for a product that would be more artistically satisfying to use than waxy, opaque crayons—something that would be more like “a natural extension of a child’s arm.” Over the next five years, he made hundreds of experiments with compounds and colors. Elise, his collaborator, helped to develop a color palette and tested the crayons.
The result, says David, was Filana Organic Beeswax Crayons, a company poised to catch an “epic wave of interest” among schools everywhere in natural materials for classroom use. The name “Filana” came to Elise simply as a flow of syllables that sounded pleasing. She and David discovered later that “filana” means “love of humanity” in Greek. “That seemed so very fitting,” says Elise.
These days, children all over the world use Filana crayons in the classroom and at home. They are especially beloved by Waldorf schools, whose philosophy had so much to do with their development. The crayons are completely non-toxic and made of organic beeswax, with no paraffin or petroleum waxes. The colors are brilliant and transparent. “Transparency is the key. These crayons can take on the qualities of watercolors so that it’s like painting with wax,” says David. The colors can be layered to create dimensions of color, unlike traditional crayons that yield muddy colors when they’re mixed. Most of all, they’re fun to use. “Parents and teachers write to us and say that their children have more fun with these, that they won’t use any other crayons, and that their artwork looks brighter and, really, more joyful,” says David.
Two years on, David and Elise are still discovering the many layers to the area. They now own a house in Paonia and travel daily to their workshop and studio on Bridge Street in Hotchkiss. Says David, “Making that drive through the valley is like receiving a gift of gentle beauty every day. I’m really overwhelmed by it.”
Elise adds, “I feel very settled here. Daily life is so pleasant. The North Fork lacks that ‘electric buzz’ that so much of America has. And that’s a lovely thing.”