Art at the Center - A Studio Lab

Building Skills with Blocks

2012-01-18T09:09:00.004-05:00

On January 12 our Art Focus Group met for a focus on block play. It was met with great enthusiasm by all participants.

We began with a simple exercise designed to encourage focus, concentration and non-verbal communication. Pairs were seated at a table with a sheet of paper and identical sets of blocks. Builders took turns building and following, with the only requirement being that they pair not speak - they were to use non-verbal communication to lead and follow.

We also discussed how a similar activity could be done "back to back" or with a partition to prevent seeing the partner's blocks. Then the challenge is to develop a workable and descriptive language for describing placement and interaction of pieces so the partner can replicate the design without seeing it.

Either way this activity improves focus and concentration while offering kids an opportunity to work collaboratively and take turns as leader and follower.

As we continued with our discussion and exploration of building materials in the classroom, there was a general consensus of the delight in bringing blocks to the table to offer each child a spot to build and a small group of blocks for building. As we spoke, participants changed and played with different designs, exploring balance, symmetry, layering and just having fun.

While many classrooms have a blocks center or class set of blocks used during play and exploration time, this bringing blocks to the table helps to make more transparent the great learning that is going on in building in a classroom. It allows the adults as well as the kids a chance to focus in on one material and the many things kids can do with blocks.

For our explorations, we continued with adding drawing as a way to reflect on our buildings. Each participant built a structure or design and then sketched this design with a pencil.

Reflecting afterward on the experience, the main description was "intense" - careful observation and representation of space and objects in drawing is intense - for adults and for kids. I think it is this intensity that I so enjoy observing when children draw what they build. Having built and manipulated the blocks first, they have an added felt knowledge of their building and a commitment to representing and saving their built idea on paper.

We also discussed teachers using drawing as a visual note-taking to record children's buildings. Time can be a constraint and most participants (myself included) use photography as it is quicker and easier. We discussed the important modeling that can happen if kids see adults drawing as a way of remembering and note-taking.

Often it seems adults hesitate to draw with and around kids for fear of influencing or intimidating children with their greater skill. At the same time when the drawing is purposeful and a real act of observation it serves as a great model for kids of ways to record and remember. Just as adults taking notes doesn't shut down kids' desire to write, adults taking visual notes doesn't have to shut down kids' desire to draw. It is really about the adult being engaged in his or her own process and in that way modeling engagement for the child.

The following article presents some great examples of the advantages of teacher visual note-taking of children's block buildings:

More Than Play: Children learn important skills through Visual-Spatial Work!

We also discussed using blocks and building to access things that kids (or adults) may know with their hands and their senses but not yet be ready to explain in words. Often children may have knowledge and ability with materials that is greater than their language development. Learning can be frustrating not because they don't understand how to DO but because they don't understand how to represent on paper and tell about it. One way to build on these children's strengths is to focus on what they build and work toward the linguistic and symbolic communication by asking how they could represent or give directions to another builder to replicate what they have done. This act of recording and remembering can help move from the in the hands knowledge to linguistic and symbolic communication of that knowing. One book that describes this process and the hand-brain learning connection quite well is The Hand by Frank R. Wilson.

Our block building explorations throughout the evening were full of joy and excitement and many great stories of the strengths kids show in building in the classroom.

Here are a few stories of building and drawing in the studio lab at Art at the Center for further examples of the rich explorations that take place with building materials:

Building Inspires Drawing

Blocks, Drawing and Building

Blocks, Drawing and Building continued

Light Painting with the DC Area Reggio Study Group

2012-01-10T18:46:00.000-05:00

The DC Area Reggio Study Group gathered at Art at the Center on December 13 for an evening of exploration drawing and painting with light.

Light painting has become a winter tradition at Art at the Center with an annual Light the Night painting event held on the longest night of the year each year.

With this smaller, more intimate group it was possible to explore light drawing as well as discuss some of the implications on learning of this sort of activity.

Reggio-inspired educators stress intentionality and learning from process-based experiences. In this case the phenomena of light movement captured by camera became the provocation for our discussion.

An advantage of this group gathering was the participants' abilities to describe personal experience as well as to reflect on how this might impact our experiences with this media with children.

Below are some of the photos created followed by observations and reflections.

Observations:

Feeling uncomfortable - this was something new, something never tried before.

Complete misunderstanding of the idea based on the verbal description ...until given the opportunity to try it...then it made sense, the participant had to see and participate to understand.

There was a need to start with the basic idea first and then build toward more complexity, with experience came the ability to predict outcomes.

Another participant found that she had the most joy and delight in just playing with light and movement and that when she tried to think and plan it took some of the joy of the moment out of the experience. She saw a connection to the infants she teaches and their ability to be fully in the moment with wonder and joy.

In our set-up the camera was connected to a monitor for instant feedback. The light drawings were displayed immediately after they were made. It was discussed how the experience might be different without the instant feedback, if, for instance, the photos were not seen until they were printed and brought back to the group.

Reflections:

Based on the feelings and experiences shared above, we discussed how using a medium that is unfamiliar to adults puts adults on the same page as kids and allows them to experience some of the uncertainty and discomfort of trying something new. This sort of activity could be a good discussion starter for a group of parents or teachers.

We also discussed the idea of creating an "alphabet" or vocabulary of light images based on different movements with children. This would allow children to explore re-creating and remembering their experience. In addition to creating a physical record of the movement, they could work from a collection of types of marks made by movements to compose more complex movement paintings.

To prepare for this meeting, we read the chapter "Ray of Light" from the latest Wonder of Learning exhibit catalog by Reggio Children.

The quote below seemed to relate to our own experiences of wonder and joy in this process as well as our reflections on bringing the experience to children and community groups.

Our challenge is to stand beside children with an approach to reality which provides oxygen to and makes sense of the scientific thinking which is already a natural part of the hman species, but which needs to be exercised, supported and informed.
It is therefore important to offer specific and stimulating contexts and situations focusing on the idea that science questions, and is curious about, what cannot be explained by the senses - what lies beyond the visible - and seeks out starting data in order to research, test, and establish connections between things which are un-joined, observe the results and develop further tests and hypothesis.
Reggio Children, 2011 p123

Centers and Provocations - a Response

2012-01-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

This post is in response to a post that has popped in my inbox several times in the last several days from different sources and has me thinking about the subtle difference between centers and provocations as we present materials to young artists.

http://atelierista-anna.blogspot.com/2011/12/difference-between-centers-and.html#comment-form

As a bit of background, I work in a small independent studio where children come for weekly classes. Our weekly meetings are an hour to 90 minutes and the studio is set up to be choice-based. My centers based approach is inspired by TAB Choice Teaching as well as by the work of Reggio-inspired schools and teachers who share rich experiences with children through the books of Reggio Children and individual teachers blogs. Art at the Center is designed to be a working studio for children and families. We focus on routines and processes in different media and invite children to create from areas of personal interest. Classes progress from introductions to various media available to on-going work individually and in small groups on themes and stories. The goal is for children to explore, discover and make meaning in a materials-rich environment with tools, instructors and peers as supports for their inquiry and creation.

I was initially surprised to see the characterization of a provocation as more child-directed centers as more teacher-directed. I think in my initial choice to have a centers-based studio I was wanting the kids to decide the direction. Initially I also noticed that often I would think I had a great provocation or problem or theme for the day and would find it was just not where the kids wanted to work - I was too complex and they wanted to just explore materials or I was too simple and they were ready to do more.

I think the challenge of both centers and provocations is knowing your artists. Careful observation and attention to interests, developmental stages and use of materials can help tailor centers that will produce engagement, curiousity and wonder in both adults and kids.

It seems that when a material is first introduced just the material is provocation enough - what does it do? What tools can we use? How can we make a mark, shape or make meaning with this material? It is a delicate balance between staying out of the way for kids to explore and learn and stepping in to encourage observation, reflection and sharing to facilitate thinking about the process.

There is a need for a certain comfort level with materials in order to be ready to move toward a challenge or provocation. In beginning working with younger kids I found my mistake most often was to expect making meaning with a material when I hadn't really offered enough time to explore and reflect on the material itself.

The set up of centers can offer provocation by how things are presented, what tools are offered and problems to explore and engage. At times centers focus on techniqe but I find that more often technique is learned in the context of a story to tell or a problem to solve.

Recently I have had a group of 4 and 5 year old artists become so interested in map making that they come back to this theme in various media over several weeks. They are setting up their own provocation and sticking with it as new participants, themes and variations emerge.

I guess in some ways this is the real goal - moving kids toward self-starting on themes of interest to them.

So in thinking about the skills artists use and young artists working in a studio practice, it seems that centers provide a valuable way to teach routine and aspects of technique. The more kids take ownership of the use and care of materials they use, the more that can be done and them more smoothly things run for the artists - young and old. Centers provide a way to introduce routines, tools and care of materials in paint, clay, collage, construction and other assorted media.

The provocation is a way to stretch and focus the use and meaning making of that media. I often find that bringing a media front and center and setting it up in a new way can increase the focus and interest in a familiar center in the studio. Inviting students to explore as a group a concept or question can allow us to find themes of interest for work over several studio meetings. Building agency and encouraging intrinsic motivation are key here as our provocations allow us to collaborate with young artists, building on their interests and helping them to work as artists problem-finding and making meaning through the use of materials.

Maybe the difference also has to do with adult attention. In setting up centers, my goal is for kids to work independently with materials in areas of their interest. The centers are designed as environments to be a "third teacher" providing the resources necessary for meaningful work with a material and the opportunity for self-guided learning and learning from peers. Part of this is also to allow children to work in multiple media at once - to give them choice and make it possible for the adult to facilitate that choice.

When I set up a provocation, I often present something familiar in a slightly different way and my goal is to see how artists respond and how the group explores the concept.

Blocks are often a good example. Rich play happens in our construction center at every meeting. Structures transform and grow as groups do the groups of builders. I am interested and aware but just at the periphery of my interest as painters at another table often require more attention.

Bringing the blocks to the main tables and beginning a class with an invitation to focus on block play changes my attention as well as the children's. Now I can see and observe more carefully what is happening, noting patterns of construction and interaction. I can see who is more interested in shape and form and balance and who is using the blocks as the spring board for a story. Themes develop and children are invited to record these in drawings, photographs and oral descriptions.

This invitation might lead us toward additional drawing or toward sculpture or paintings inspired by the stories that emerge. It might even lead to more play with blocks. The provocation mainly enables me to gather information and to focus - the work I see on the day we focus on blocks is likely a continuation and/or beginning of work that will happen in more open-ended centers work in previous and future sessions. It is that balance between interaction and independence, choice and guidance. Ultimately we want children to take from both centers and provocations habits that will enhance their sense of competence and ability to figure things out, to discover and explore problems of their own finding and to share these interests and discoveries with others.

a@tc Internship: Art Explorers, Thursday, 11.3

2012-01-09T07:06:00.000-05:00

a@tc Internship: Art Explorers, Thursday, 11.3: The first day of a new session, a very enthusiastic young artist was thrilled to play with clay today. Observing the young artist, I wa...

a@tc Internship: Collaborative Maps and Mazes

2012-01-09T07:05:00.002-05:00

a@tc Internship: Collaborative Maps and Mazes: Young artists minds are bursting with ideas. The studio is a great place to harness this creativity and encourage the use of a variety of m...

a@tc Internship: The French call it painting with glue…

2012-01-09T07:05:00.001-05:00

a@tc Internship: The French call it painting with glue…: That explains why coloring the glue can be a great incentive for toddlers to collage! Because these young art explorers are very focused ...

a@tc Internship: Clay Play!

2012-01-09T07:05:00.000-05:00

a@tc Internship: Clay Play!: Young artists energetically work with clay by flattening it and using tools to experiment with different ways of manipulating...

a@tc Internship: Sharing Inspiration

2012-01-09T07:04:00.002-05:00

a@tc Internship: Sharing Inspiration: The studio offers young artists many opportunities for nurturing an artistic community. It is interesting to see the influence that certain...

a@tc Internship: Preventing a Glazing Daze

2012-01-09T07:04:00.001-05:00

a@tc Internship: Preventing a Glazing Daze: Glazing can sometimes be a tedious activity. There is a lot of hard work involved and because the pieces have to be fired in the kiln in or...

a@tc Internship: Exploring Paint: A Sensory Experience

2012-01-09T07:04:00.000-05:00

a@tc Internship: Exploring Paint: A Sensory Experience: Paint is a delightful material. Young artists often use all of their senses to explore different art materials, and paint is no exception. ...

a@tc Internship: Drawing from other's creations

2012-01-09T07:03:00.004-05:00

a@tc Internship: Drawing from other's creations: Young artists in the studio are inspired by each other and are given the opportunity to learn from one another's creations. After one ar...

a@tc Internship: A gallery of artist statements

2012-01-09T07:03:00.003-05:00

a@tc Internship: A gallery of artist statements: To wrap up our session, parents are asked to join the studio for the last fifteen minutes of class as young artists prepare and display ...

a@tc Internship: Exploring Together

2012-01-09T07:03:00.002-05:00

a@tc Internship: Exploring Together: Very attentively, this young artist creates purposeful marks with a variety of brush strokes. Using tempera paints, she creates arches uses...

a@tc Internship: Collaborative Maps and Mazes Continue!

2012-01-09T07:03:00.001-05:00

a@tc Internship: Collaborative Maps and Mazes Continue!: These artists maintained a steady interest in collaborative work on large maps/mazes throughout the session. Not surprisingly, a majority of...

a@tc Internship: Building a Landscape of Clay

2012-01-09T07:03:00.000-05:00

a@tc Internship: Building a Landscape of Clay: As young artists move about the room to explore different materials, remnants of works from many different artists start to collect at the...

a@tc Internship: After School Studio, Monday, 10.31

2011-11-09T07:06:00.000-05:00

a@tc Internship: After School Studio, Monday, 10.31: Only a few children chose to paint today while others used red clay for the first time. One young artist was dissatisfied with one of ...

Tangled in Mixed Media

2011-10-21T21:53:00.000-04:00

Popular children's media and stories often make their way into the studio. One of my favorite things is the re-telling of these stories by children using art media. This young woman began by creating the princess from "Tangled" with clay coils.

More coils add length to her hair.

Until it is SOOO long it extends off the table on one side.

Moving to paint she continued her portrait theme.

This time creating a painted portrait of the princess with long hair extending down the paper.

I wonder at the complexity of the story telling and observation in moving from one media to another. So often when drawing (or in this case painting) follows building the two dimensional image seems to gain depth and detail from having first been modeled in three dimensions. In this case the clay coils were used almost as the lines of a drawing that can be seen here to also be a sort of draft image for this painting.

a@tc Internship: 10.19 Wednesday Drawing Studio

2011-10-20T07:06:00.000-04:00

a@tc Internship: 10.19 Wednesday Drawing Studio: At the beginning of each class, young artists are asked to practice drawing their hand. In keeping with tradition, we began class by drawin...

Sometimes you have to do a little drawing

2011-10-18T19:00:00.000-04:00

In our evening drawing studio, we spent the third week exploring shape and shadows. The flash of the camera cuts out the shadows of the blocks below but you can get an idea from the drawing that it was a complex composition of shapes and shadows.

Another student used blocks, observing the multiple shadows created by several points of light from our overhead track lighting.

Finally the artists discovered that isolating a single object and single light source made it that much easier to carefully observe the light and shadow on different surface planes. In this case the size of the drawing paper seemed to help too. The artist felt much more satisfied with these little drawings done of a single object which allowed for focus and simplification. They make a lovely series as well.

a@tc Internship: Wednesday Art in the Afternoon 9.21.11

2011-09-23T07:02:00.000-04:00

a@tc Internship: Wednesday Art in the Afternoon 9.21.11: Today in art in the afternoon we started by drawing mandalas with oil pastels. We used this time and the drawings to introduce ourselves. As...

a@tc Internship: Big Chalk Draw!!

2011-09-09T07:02:00.000-04:00

a@tc Internship: Big Chalk Draw!!

Mobile Making - Using Drawing to Plan and Reflect

2011-08-11T21:32:00.000-04:00

In our mobiles class this summer we built with wire, paper, recycled objects, string and ribbons. The challenge for young artists was often as much in figuring out attachment strategies as in creating a design. Tape became a popular media as did bendable pipe cleaners and wires.

We used drawing throughout the 3 days as a way to plan, to reflect on our creations and to think of new strategies and ideas.

Below, the artist arranges found and recycled materials on top of the plan she has drawn for a space-themed mobile.

With the addition of wire attachments, the mobile hangs as a sculptural creation.

The next 4 drawings show an artist using drawing as observation and reflection. The sculptures are shown first followed by the drawings created at the end of class to record our creations.

Notice the different shapes used for different parts and materials on the mobile.

The spy gear goggles seen here are drawn again below.

The goggle plan (below) proved helpful as other artists wanted to create their own gear.

In the sketches below the sculptor depicts the curve of the wire and then the individual beads arranged along it to create this unique small sculpture. In addition to reflecting on his creation, this artist gives us clues as to how it is constructed.

The artist below was careful to match the colors and metallic luster of her materials in recording her sculpture with a drawing.

Finally, this diagram of a moving sculpture with gears inside begins to function as a diagram, adding arrows and views inside to the moving parts. The artist/engineer begins to show and share his understanding of how the device works as he reflects on it through drawing.

Book Making

2011-08-01T21:46:00.001-04:00

Our book-making workshop this summer offered a great opportunity for thinking about working in series with our accordian mini-books and for making personal journals to fill with summer drawings, reflections and memories. See images below.

Paper Architecture Creates Learning Environments

2011-07-12T12:48:00.003-04:00

Below you will see additional images of learning environment designs created using a variety of paper building and collage techniques. Notice the color, variety and ingenuity used in the designs.

The above environment features symbols for resources such as funding, people and transportation to access learning opportunities beyond the classroom.

Natural and playful elements like the tree and the slide to enter the classroom make learning fun and exciting.

The environment above features a variety of working, meeting and seating areas as well as access to the outside (on the right).

The hearth adds warmth and a sense of home while the central circle features a meeting place that can transform and take advantage of technology by projecting on the ceiling depending on the needs of the learning meeting and subject.

Lofts, lots of books and cozy nooks for reading are of utmost importance.

This designer really valued quality supplies and took the care to create these mini supplies for her worktable.

Art (Paper Construction) and Thinking Skills

2011-07-12T12:43:00.004-04:00

In this workshop for upper elementary teachers, participants created ideal learning environments using paper sculpture and collage techniques.

The focus was on how art can help develop thinking skills and we took particular inspiration from the Studio Thinking Habits of Mind developed by Lois Hetland and Ellen Winner at Project Zero.

Paper architecture offers great opportunities for problem solving, inventing and creating using simple materials. Working in a group setting adds the added benefit of learning from the process and discoveries of other artists.

At the beginning of the day when we discussed goals several teachers mentioned working through perfectionism and fear of failure when drawing and making art with upper elementary students.

This sort of activity which begins with building and then presents drawing at the end as a tool for collaboration and communication can help get around some of those fears.

Below are a few different views of one group's combination of several learning environments to create a learning community.

The group had to take into consideration how to connect their learning environments and how flow and function would work together in a shared space.

The multi-level design allowed for great variety in use of space and highlighting features that worked together well.

The group drawing depicts the plan for connecting the different learning environments and presents a plan for a unified learning community.

Talking with Teachers in Texas - Art and Early Literacy

2011-06-30T12:39:00.002-04:00

I wanted to use this post to share and celebrate my day spent with K-2 teachers in Hereford School District. We explored art and literacy connections, specifically looking at developmental stages of artistic development and discussing how the Studio Thinking Habits of Mind developed at Project Zero can relate to classroom art workshop practice. Taking inspiration from the popular children's book author, Eric Carle teachers created collages using painted papers. We combined oil pastel, crayon and watercolor to paint designs and then combined these with torn paper to create unique narrative collages. Check out the great variety of techniques and subjects below.

Just imagine the stories we could tell with these great collages!

Hear Kathryn on NPR WAMU Lifelong Learning Series

2011-05-27T16:36:00.001-04:00

Learning, Mastery and Communicating Ideas

2011-05-20T14:50:00.009-04:00

I want to begin this post with a quote from one of my all-time favorite books on art for children (and adults) Doing Art Together by Muriel Silberstein-Storfer.

When anyone learns to ride a bicycle, usually after much effort on the part of both the guiding person and the beginner, he or she rides at first for the sheer joy of making the bike move and pleasure in controlling it. When the bicycle finally becomes a vehicle for exploration, transportation, and adventure, it is an instrument of new experience. Similarly, when anyone starts to work with art materials, he or she experiences this same exhilaration of moving the medium and controlling the brush and colors. After gaining control, studio work becomes involved with movement or communication of ideas.

This metaphor is a great illustration of the learning that happens when children are allowed an open-ended environment and opportunities to explore media. Each moves through the developmental stages of art in his or her own time and many have a favorite way of working that often precedes important new risks and adventures in communication and meaning.

Below are 3 paintings completed in one afternoon.

In this case the paintings were completed during our warm-up time, we offer a circle drawn in pencil on the page as a starting point. This mandala form provides a starting point for kids and a common routine to begin exploration of different media.

This young artist is very tactile and really enjoys exploring the sensory quality of materials and the flowing nature of the paint. The painting on the left, completed first is typical of his paintings in class. The page is full of color and brush strokes are clear moving through the thick paint.

Above, the artist begins his first painting with some awareness of the circle. As he continues in the picture below the joy of just moving the flowing colors takes over and he covers the page.

His second painting shows a bit more awareness of the shape on the page. There is still the characteristic blocks of color and visible brush strokes but a beginning of shaping the painted strokes to the circle shape.

Other children at the table chose to use the circle form to paint faces. While working on his second painting, the artist began to talk about painting a portrait of his friend from school. The awareness of the circle seemed to be a first step toward thinking about a face.

The third painting of a face was a real step forward for the artist in choosing to do a representational image and to follow through on his idea to paint a portrait. He began with eyes, nose and mouth.

He added the hair and finished with the neck and ears, narrating as he added each detail.

The series of paintings below are a lovely illustration of moving from the pure joy of materials to beginning to communicate ideas - in this case to portray a friend using those materials.

Internship: A guide on process comments...

2011-05-20T14:49:00.001-04:00

Anna has written a great guide for parents on what to say when children are working with art materials. click the link below to visit her internship blog and read more.

Internship: A guide on process comments...: "During this past Winter session, several of the parents I worked with had questions about our model of using process comments in the ..."

Building a Boat and Seeing it Float

2011-05-06T21:42:00.003-04:00

Over time as children come to the studio for a weekly class, they begin to bring ideas with them from school, daily life, and important events. In this case, a young artist saved a small clear container from her snack at school with plans to use it in the after school studio.

Here the artist uses tape to secure a popsicle mast into the container.

A friend is excited to help her test the boat in a tub of water - it floats!

At the end of class we share about our creative process - in this case a demonstration is in order.

The entire group gathers to see the boat sail around the bin!

Not a Tube

2011-03-23T21:04:00.004-04:00

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis is a favorite among our preschool studio classes.

We often talk about reusing and finding new uses for things in the studio - for instance the many recycled containers that hold our supplies.
For this project, we tried using our collage supplies to create variations on cardboard tubes.
It's not a tube, it's a...

Rocket ship!

Light saber - notice the button to turn it on.

a princess

and a castle!

I was surprised by all the careful de-constructing as well as construction related to using the tubes.

Exploring the Loom

2011-03-15T20:49:00.002-04:00

A stand-up loom is a new feature in the studio and has generated varied interest from our four to six year old classes. Almost everyone first thought it was a harp.

Soon there were explorations of weaving in and out of the warp thread with colorful ribbons.

Sometimes it was a good strategy to have a partner to pass the ribbon back and forth working out a pattern.

It seemed to progress that one child would teach another who would become the partner until one lost interest and then another would come along so a new partner was trained. As you can see above, initially there was weaving all over the loom. We tried to start at the top but realized that we were working against gravity so we switched to weaving from the bottom up. Sometimes pulling out the woven strand was part of the fun - we need to understand how things come apart as well as how the fit together.

This student had previous weaving experience in preschool ans was more focused on the task and beginning to work on patterns in his weaving. His interest encouraged his peers to want to learn in our next class.

Weaving

2011-03-15T20:46:00.001-04:00

It has been a goal this winter to bring some fiber arts into the studio and we began with some explorations of weaving in our Thursday after school studio. We tried two methods, the first, shown below is a loom with warp strings created over the opening in a mat board.

The student weaves and the final piece will be displayed in the mat.

We are also trying out some simple small wooden looms as seen below here.

This loom is designed for the weaving to come off the loom when complete. Weaving takes time and concentration as well as attention to patterns and detail.

Fortunately, several students had some weaving experience and were able to share their knowledge as the instructors are learning along with the students.
Others branched out to improvise simple creations from woven pieces. Below is a hammock made from a small piece of weaving.

Another student warped a piece of card board on both sides and wrapped it in such a way that when her weaving is complete she will be able to take out the card board and form a bag. She did a similar project on a smaller scale at school and remembered how to wrap the warp to create a larger bag - more pictures to come when it's complete.

Peer Teaching

2011-02-26T21:47:00.000-05:00

Peer teaching is one of my favorite things to observe in the studio. Often, kids seem more receptive to a peer; the learning and knowledge sharing is more informal and relevant. I learn by listening and hearing how they teach and re-teach each other concepts and routines.
These two young artists spent an entire class period working with color mixing. They mixed both from new colors and from a selection of mixed palettes created by others.
The artist on the right had much greater experience mixing and happily shared her knowledge with her friend who used the colors for his painting. This particular week, the "product" for the teaching artist was her sense of confidence and mastery in being about to share her experience with her friend.

A Memorial

2011-02-24T21:32:00.000-05:00

This project began with the announcement by a young artist, "I made my grandma - she died so she's in the box." She spoke matter-of-factly about the creation featuring a drawing on a slab with the addition of a slab above (a headstone?).

The others at her table became interested in the project and with some great peer teaching helped her to score and slip to make stronger sides to fully realize this idea of a box.

The angle on this final photo makes it a bit harder to see the drawn figure but she is there, now surrounded by her box.

What captivated me about this story was this young artists' ability to create a memorial to her grandmother and the support she received from peers during the process. The focus stayed very much on the logistics of creating this box. I don't recall peers asking much about the death or even the usual sympathetic remarks one might expect to hear after hearing of a loss in a family. And yet, it did not feel as though the group was insensitive - it was just a very matter-of-fact sort of interaction. This is what happened - my grandmother died, they put her in a box and so I am making a sculpture of my grandmother in the box.

Speaking to the artist's mother, it was in fact her great-grandmother who died and she said that her daughter's questions focused a great deal on trying to understand what happened when someone dies. The great-grandmother was cremated so it was a very small box that was buried and this at the time seemed difficult for the child to reconcile - many questions related to why the box was so small. Perhaps, by creating a small box and drawing grandma inside, this young artist was able to work out artistically this part that seemed to not make sense at the same time creating a personal memorial of her great-grandmother.

Sewing Continues and Connects

2011-02-21T21:42:00.004-05:00

Asked to show his collage, this young artist proudly shows the side where the sewn yarn shows through....

A long length of fleece is added to form a connection between two collages.

Working at the same table, this artist sews with the lengths of fleece

adding ties with yarn as well as the items already glued to the design.

Week 2 - these artists specifically requested a return to collage the following week, again working with the hole punches and various fibers to build connections and sew lines.

Here different different textures of yarn begin to form a border.

With a line down the middle created in holes cut carefully by folding and using scissors.

And the final piece ready for presentation on a visit to grandma later in the afternoon.

More Sewing

2011-02-21T21:40:00.003-05:00

This young artist really enjoyed the hole punch tool.

For his sewing he found a length of black elastic - stitches were large and criss-crossed the paper.

Which made for a great effect when he pulled the end and the paper rolled.

Creating motion in his page with the pull of the string became a source of fascination and excitement.

Sewing

2011-02-21T21:36:00.006-05:00

Sewing in the studio has been popular lately - a sort of surprise discovery as part of our collage process. Hole punching is always a favorite part of collage and the suggestion that perhaps a string could pass through the holes began a series of sewn collages across several classes and age groups.

Here a length of string is sewn to form a border all around a page.

This sewn collage created additional interest with other collage groups throughout the week.

This young artist punched holes and chose string, telling me as he worked that he wanted a sewing machine....

...then he wouldn't have to do such hard work! And yet, he stuck with the challenge of pulling the length of yarn through each hole, creating a sewn collage that reminded fellow artists of a kite.

Covering Ground with Paint

2011-02-01T21:54:00.001-05:00

For young artists in the energy stage of painting, the process is really about covering ground, there is simple delight in spreading paint and exploring different tools to do this.

Here the artists tries painting with casters to see how their rolling makes marks on the paper. New tools are often a good way to engage and focus energetic painters - this young man really wanted to move from the paper to painting mom but the new tools and increasing the size of his painting surface helped to refocus to the paper.

This young painter literally covered ground, moving and expanding his field of color as we added paper along the length of the table to keep up with his energetic painting.

He enjoys the sensory quality of the paint on his hands as well as discovering the joys of our most simple print - a stamped hand.

Wheels in clay

2011-02-01T21:51:00.001-05:00

In our first week exploring clay in the Art in the Morning class, this young artist became especially fascinated with the way bottle caps make impressions in clay.

He referred to them as "wheels" and delighted in seeing the different surfaces they left in the clay as he made roads.

Feeling the ridges on a bumpy road.

The metal cap made a smooth road, while the ridged cap had even more bumps.

Matching the tool to the road it made.

Flying through art to get home

2011-02-01T21:47:00.003-05:00

"It's a bat that's going and it has to fly a long way to the next picture so it can get home."

A view of the wall with artwork by classmates - the dark square at the end is the home and the artist explained that the bat has to fly through all the other pictures to get to its home.

The bat's home and (below) a map to help the bat to see which way to go (and not to go).

Colorful Carriage

2011-02-01T21:45:00.001-05:00

This young artist began at the light table stacking colorful cylinders, enjoying the balance and the color in the light.

Dad, working beside her began a construction with the interlocking pieces.

She quickly adopted it, adding her cylinders to the structure as people on a carriage.

The carriage and its colorful riders.

Power Lines

2011-02-01T21:44:00.001-05:00

This young artist was an energetic painter working with a blue and yellow palette to create rich shades of green and diligently covering the paper.

For his third painting, he moved to making marks in the paint with popsicle sticks.

Then moved to using a blue pastel to carefully add power lines, moving throughout the page and connecting back to each other in careful loops.

Finally, he added additional paint over the power lines. Mom shared that the family lost power for 16 hours in the snow storm so power lines were clearly an important subject of conversation at home and now their importance is also recorded in this painting.

Coils, Glorious Coils!

2011-02-01T21:43:00.003-05:00

For this young artist, long thick coils were pure delight as he wrapped them over his arm, calling it a snake.

The coil moved and bent with the movement of his hands.

Finally landing in an ever-growing sculpture of coils.

Favorite Color Mixing Quotes

2011-01-31T07:59:00.005-05:00

"It's almost officially changed!"

"I am going to do the most daring thing ever and mix this...."

"I made light pink, dark pink and middle size pink."

"Yellow, orange and peach - I call it yorch!"

About using oil pastels:
"I rub the side and the color falls off!"

Color Wheel Inspiration

2011-01-31T07:33:00.003-05:00

A color wheel is one of many visual references posted in the studio. This young artist was exploring collage and oil pastels when the color wheel caught her eye and she decided to make one of her own.

She asked for a circle and began with one traced in pencil on a small square of paper.

She was determined in her work, making her way around the edge of the circle arranging sections of color.

She used her fingers to go back and blend some of the colors.
The completed color wheel - in recreating it, this young artist has made it her own while also reflecting on an important artists' tool.

Internship: Light the Night 2010

2011-01-18T20:41:00.000-05:00

Internship: Light the Night 2010: " On December 21st, the longest night of the year, Art at the Center held their second annual Light the Night community..."

A Class Portfolio of Trading Cards

2010-12-19T23:30:00.001-05:00

We ended our Wednesday After School Studio class with an artist trading card exchange.

Artist trading cards are small works of art about the size of a trading card (2.5 by 3.5 inches).

The photo above shows the assembled collection of cards on the light table before the trading began.

What was so exciting to watch was how many variations on technique the artists explored.

A communal work table allows for lots of sharing of materials and ideas.

Collage and water-color crayons.

Paper weaving, stamping and paper sculpture.

It was fun to see techniques that “think outside the card” and push the boundaries of the small 2-D format.

Also lots of affirming messages and a broad range of experimenting with technique. The small format seemed to lend itself well to experimentation, inspiration from friends and trying new things.

A bonus at the end, each artist got leave with a small portfolio assembled of classmates’ images.

Art Ideas for the Thanksgiving Holiday

2010-11-18T21:58:00.003-05:00

Express your Gratitude with Art

Create your own place-cards for Thanksgiving dinner - leave room for each guest to draw or write something they are thankful for
Draw or paint a picture for a favorite relative or friend - present this to him or her and share why you are grateful to have that person in your life
Create a family gratitude poster - hang it in the kitchen and let people add drawings and ideas over the course of the weekend
Interview a family member about what his or her Thanksgiving was like as a child - draw pictures showing then and now and see what is the same and what's different

Enjoy Family Togetherness with Art

Be inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and take a walk (you may not have to go farther than your front yard) collecting colorful leaves - choose a color and see how many different shades of that color you can find in the leaves

Look around for "found art" in nature - interesting shapes in branches, beauty in the form of seed pods, see what you can notice - the photos below are a leaf that dried in a unique shape and a leaf that left a "print" on my bumper after the rain

Enjoy a family drawing or building night - work individually or in pairs to draw, collage, build with blocks or create with recycled materials - share your work when finished. This is a great way to discover some of the hidden creative talents in a group and a fun way to get everyone involved.

Using 2 Sides of the Paper to Tell a Story

2010-11-13T17:25:00.005-05:00

This is the turkey and he has to go all the way around to the back of the paper...

...to get the candy and the noodles.

"Oil Pastels are Like Magic!"

2010-11-13T17:24:00.003-05:00

This artist was particularly delighted with oil pastels. She liked the creamy texture and discovered a great new surprise when she tried watercolor over top and the bright vibrant colors showed through.

Building Inspires Drawing

2010-11-13T16:20:00.003-05:00

An avid builder in the studio, this young man set out to create a building with a selection of different blocks from our collection.

He combined wood blocks, cardboard shapes, and light table blocks to find just the right shapes for this elaborate design. His design required attention to the structure as well as the decorations - keeping it all in balance.

He chose to draw his building as a way to record and remember it - taking his artwork from the 3 dimensional building to 2 dimensional drawing and a challenge of mapping objects and space on the paper.

He worked with great detail and persistence. Below is the final drawing (with color) in the background behind the artist and his building.

Painting with Passion

2010-11-13T16:03:00.002-05:00

From the artist: "If you want to do one of these you have to take your brush and believe that you can have passion in it."

Collage Idea Board and Long Overdue Thank you

2010-11-02T10:50:00.006-04:00

A fall project in our studio has been to create more visual teaching and inspiration materials for our artists. In a choice-based environment, students are often working in a variety of media and with a variety of subjects. Teachers as well as peers are a great resource for technical assistance and problem solving. There is also much more opportunity for students to work independently and having lots of resources available helps with this.

One idea inspired by Teaching for Artistic Behavior is the creation of menus for use in different centers in the studio classroom. Menus provide a visual reference of the materials, techniques and vocabulary young artists will use in working with a given media.

Here is an example of an idea board for collage added to the studio this fall.

Now for the (long overdue!) thank you.

This idea board was created by a group of students from Princeton University last spring as part of a spring break trip sponsored by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement. The group's focus was to gain hands-on experience with the benefits of art-making for various populations. The Pace center is the main community service organization at Princeton and sponsors service activities, internships and Breakout Princeton trips such as this one.

Photos below show some of the process of creating the collages to show a variety of uses of media and methods.

Collage work is materials-rich and can often look like quite messy when in-progress.

Here unique edged scissors and a hole punch are combined with color and texture from a recycled painting. Rolls of colorful tape form another collage in the background.

This artist cut small shapes from different colored text pages and used these to build an image.

Many thanks to the group for sharing their time and creativity with us. One participant shared, "I learned a lot on our trip, and I have so much respect for those professionals who have dedicated their lives to imparting their love of art to others."

Many thanks to Jessica Marot for her help with background information about the PACE center.

In Between Spaces and Risk Taking

2010-10-26T13:54:00.002-04:00

This painter began in a manner familiar to young children, trying out colors he mixed as well as mark making techniques on his paper. Below we have dabs, a painted circle and a larger painted area of a lighter color.

Often, particularly after mixing, children are committed to their colors and reluctant to allow them to touch or mix on the paper.

Today, however when I offered the challenge of what could go in those in between spaces, the artist had some ideas.

He began by carefully painting a lighter pink around some of his dotted marks.

This processs continued with some yellow, again with great concentration and determinatino to fill in all those little spaces between the dots. Finally a darker color is used to complete the last bit of background.

In encouraging children to think about backgrounds, whether with an abstract image or a painting of a beloved person or object, I often phrase it as a challenge, to see if we can cover the whole page with paint and color. It is usually only after kids have been painting with me for a while that they are ready to rise to this challenge. I begin gently, the first time a child paints in the studio, I might approach at the first announcement of "I'm done!" and express curiousity about the "in-between spaces." Noting the colors on the page and wondering if there is a color in his or her palette that he or she might want to use in the in-between spaces. Many children consider for a moment and tell me "No, I'm done." As they gain confidence as painters, children are more likely to take the rist of painting the in-between spaces.

The Story of the Sign - A Community Mosaic

2010-10-24T22:16:00.005-04:00

When we began work on the sign, we posted pictures of our first few mosaic sessions and a description of the process. Now that the sign is installed, I thought I would share a few more pictures of the process and bits of the story of its' creation.

The earlier post featured work on the first side of the sign, shown below.

Here, the work table for the beginning of the second side.

One young artist became interested in painting glue on her hands to "stamp" on the mosaic - as an alternative we suggested tracing her hand and then painting that with glue and gluing down pieces to better record the image of her hand. Here is that first hand beside that of a friend and her mom - the idea quickly spread.

In our after school studio, work on the mosaic was a favorite, each eager to add a hand to the composition.

This artist compares her hand with her mosaic creation.

More artists and more hands and then the final piece - background complete.

Make Any Day World Drawing Day

2010-10-24T20:32:00.001-04:00

These photos show our studio set-up for our community art event last June celebrating World Drawing Day. These are also great drawing prompts to try at home and with friends. See below for some ideas to get started drawing.

A selection of blocks on this table invite builders to create a structure and then draw it. This can be great practice drawing shapes and their relationships in space.

This table is set with pine cones, flowers and items from nature, offering drawing as a way to practice observation. The soothing effect of nature can be highlighted by really focusing on structure and details through drawing.

An invitation to explore! This table is set with recycled crayons, oil pastels and color sticks with an invitation to experiment with color, line, texture and mark making.

This table features oil pastels and a choice of black and white squares of paper with the suggestion to work in series to create a narrative with drawings. The suggestion is to have a beginning, middle and end. Many artists used tape to improvise books from their series.

Sometimes a big blank page is intimidating. Here artist trading cards (2.5 by 3.5 inches) are offered with an invitation to complete small drawings to trade with friends. This small format is a great invitation to fun and trying new things - a good way to get started - artists often create many small studies before beginning on a bigger piece.

The drawing and building moved to the light table, here is an example of a maze built by a young artist. The drawing of the maze is below.

Some of our favorite books about the drawing process.

Learning to Engage and Persist in the Studio and at Home

2010-10-24T16:37:00.005-04:00

The second habit of mind is engage and persist. It relates to the development of focus and concentration as well as frustration tolerance and the ability to work through a challenge using creative problem solving skills. I think of my own household and my desire to develop a can-do attitude of stick-with-it-ness in my kids.

In the studio we find attention spans grow over time as children become more familiar with the tools and materials. So setting the routines and expectations as discussed in developing craft helps set the stage for engagement.

One important part of the engage and persist habit in the studio relates to a commitment to the process rather than the product. One of my favorite quotes from the clay table "I like it here because you are allowed to smash what you make." This came from a very accomplished young clay sculptor. With clay there is a time to keep going and a time to wedge the clay back into a ball and begin again. She understood this and would often begin her clay work with several playful sculpture before settling down into a piece she planned to save.

Play can also be an important component for the child who has trouble beginning, often because they are worried about whether they will do something correctly or well enough. I remind kids that artists often begin by playing with ideas and materials and that they may want to do the same. Once they get over getting started they can engage in the process.

Set backs are a natural part of the creative process - it is how we deal with challenges that determines success. Modeling problem solving, error recovery and that it is okay to ask for help or take a break can help kids to work through frustration. The studio is a good environment to practice creative risk taking with a supportive environment other artists.

By mid-way through our sessions, I find it challenging to ask artists to disengage when it is time to clean up. When kids are very motivated in a creative activity, it can be difficult to transition to something else. I find that routines help here too; we can offer reassurance that there will be time to come back and continue. At home this might mean having a display shelf for in-process lego creations as well as bins for loose parts. It is much harder to disengage if you fear your hard work may be lost. Discussing, writing, or drawing next steps and even gathering or listing the materials that will be needed can also help children to disengage and be ready to step right back into their work when they return.

Blocks, Drawing and Building Continued

2010-10-22T21:01:00.003-04:00

This post follows an earlier post about a class of avid builders. This week we placed the blocks center stage on the table where the kids usually began (instead of off to the side in a building center.)

They began by experimenting with different structures created from the blocks.

Exploring balance and angles.

Once they had settled on a design, we offered pen and paper and encouraged drawing the building.

The diagram grows and details are added.

The children asked for paint to add to their drawings - the colors together with the drawn characters really make this fantasy story come alive.

“The Moon and the Sun”
The sun has 12 legs and the moon has a thinking cap on. The people are climbing through the tubes and there’s a window on the top of the building. I think it was my block building. Two of the stars have glasses on them and the stars have hair on them. The people climb through so they can get in the house.

Click here to see other posts about drawing and building.

Tape Art

2010-10-13T20:23:00.006-04:00

Tape is a favorite media in the studio - the rolls of color are just so attractive to young artists - great to know there is a greater community of tape artists out there waiting to embrace their work!

Here tape art combined with paper folding creates a complex design.
Tape combines with collage materials and fancy scissors for a unique piece.

Check out www.tapeart.com for more tape art.

Recycle Old Markers into Watercolor

2010-10-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

A great recycling project - pull the insides out of old markers (a set of pliers is a good tool here) and group by color in jars. Add water and let sit overnight - enjoy beautiful liquid watercolors.

Art at the Center October News via #constantcontact

2010-10-10T15:42:00.000-04:00

Art at the Center October News via #constantcontact

International Dot Day 2010

2010-09-15T21:39:00.004-04:00

Click the title above for more information and inspiration from Peter Reynolds and International Dot Day - celebrated September 15, the anniversary of the publication of The Dot.

Explore your own creative ways to make your mark - circular or otherwise. A favorite beginning activity at Art at the Center is to create a mandala, a circle drawing. We begin with a simple outline of a circle on paper large or small and fill it with colors, shapes lines, etc inside and out.

Having the simple circle outline is a good way to begin and start with a focus...you never know where it will lead you. We take this idea to a grander scale too with collaborative mandalas created on our wonderful circle tables. See some individual mandala examples below and read on to learn about a couple of my favorite collaborative mandalas - stories posted today in honor of International Dot Day!

Color Mixing Camp Mandala

2010-09-15T21:20:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite ways to end a group session is with a large mandala - our round tables lend themselves well to this format. The color mixing workshop ended with kids breaking into small groups to take turns working on the mandala, each group choosing their favorite color media for their turn. The first group began with chalk pastels.

The second group added to the design with tempera paint - custom colors they mixed over the course of the 3 day workshop.

As the design grew, more decisions had to be made about where to fit new colors and how to relate one person's painting to another, some painters chose to focus on the in between spaces while others added new shapes.

Using chalk pastel again to add finishing touches - a deep blue green to tie together any last uncovered spaces.

Papermaking Collaboration

2010-09-15T21:02:00.009-04:00

For our final day of a 3 day papermaking workshop we created a large group piece of paper, formed from many small sheets of paper layered and assembled on a round table. It began with just a couple unrelated dots of colored pulp, created with circle molds.

More circular pieces are cast, beginning to touch and cover the table with spots of color.

As the design grew, artists experimented with shaping the pulp on the molds and adding new designs by layering colors of papers.

A design on a mold, created with two colors of pulp.

Adding triangles to make a pattern.

Here the pulp is scraped away to form an "X" shape on the color underneath.

The group of artists and the completed mandala.

The colors are a bit softer when the piece is dry.

Developing Craft in the Studio and at Home

2010-09-12T21:18:00.001-04:00

In our studio, we use the Studio Thinking 8 Habits of mind as a framework to talk about the learning we see happening in the artistic process. These habits of mind were developed at Project Zero and have been applied in various arts and educational settings from visual art classes to dance studios and arts integration lessons in general education classes. As we write, think and talk about these ideas more and more, I have been struck by the idea that these habits of mind are equally applicable at home as in the studio.

So, let's start with the habits of mind, "Develop Craft" Developing Craft is similary to establishing routine and setting up a time and place to practice, work or play. It includes skill development, the basics of using tools, developing technique. In the studio this means learning about materials: the uses for tools, techniques for materials, as well as care and cleaning routines. With clay, even the youngest artists learn that we put the clay back in the bag with some water to preserve it's plasticity for the next use. As kids begin to sculpt with clay they learn the process of connecting clay pieces by scoring and slipping. Each of these things is part of the craft of working with clay. When painting, young artists are introduced to ways to care for brushes - for them color mixing is very experiential happening before their eyes on the paper. As kids grow as painters, they learn to be more deliberate in their color mixing, using a color wheel as a tool for mixing and planning recipes of colors to achieve just the right shade or tint. Again, this is all part of developing craft in painting.

At home, I think about developing craft when working with my kids in the kitchen, learning where things are kept, what tools are used to measure and to combine ingredients. This can be as complex as getting the feel for separating an egg or as simple as knowing how to use the sponge correctly to clean up spills. Clean-up is a big part of developing craft, especially in a shared space; materials need to be cared for so they will be ready for use. I came home the other day and noticed our rakes lying in the front yard. I had been so pleased with my children's enthusiasm for helping rake (motivated by being able to jump in a REALLY big pile) that I forgot about taking care of our tools. So as you go about chores at home or practice hobbies, work in the garden, even washing your car, notice the routines and craft you use and share this with your children. The sharing is likely to encourage their help and a great way to begin is by knowing where things are kept, how to set up and how to clean up.

Back to school is a good time to think about Developing Craft - as we settle into routines and work to establish good habits we are crafting our lives.

Click here to read more about the studio habits of mind...Studio Thinking for Young Minds.

Characters from Tape and Recycled Objects

2010-08-24T16:34:00.001-04:00

Working with recycled materials, tape is a favorite method of attachment - here the tape added color and design to a series of characters that began with this person.

Who inspired a mouse...

And two friends...

And another man...

Who travels by sled.

The Moon Bounce - Listening to Intentions

2010-08-24T16:24:00.001-04:00

This story is a favorite of mine because of the surprise of simplicity. The young artist came to class and announced she would like to make a moon bounce. Most of the kids were working at a center with recycled objects so my mind immediately began imagining ways to construct a box and add textiles to give it some softness and bounce. As I moved to that part of the room talking about considering what materials would be best for a moon bounce, the answer came with a definitive, "I want to make it out of clay."

Now I felt a bit nervous, not sure I had a great plan in mind for how to make a moon bounce out of clay. Hoping to be helpful, I suggested she draw what she had in mind before getting started. The drawing is on the right - you can see she has already begun to recreate it with clay.

Here, she experiments with getting the newly formed moon bounce (modeled on a princess castle moon bounce) to stand up.

Smoothing down a piece in the back for support helps to solidify the structure.

Finally, a carefully constructed figure is placed inside the doorway.

Attached by the arms, the figures feet do not touch the base of the doorway - because she's jumping!

Painting Collaboration and Bridges

2010-08-24T14:21:00.001-04:00

For the final day of our winter art in the afternoon class, young artists worked together to create a large painting on paper covering the table.

They began sharing colors but working independently on individual areas of the paper.

Some started to meet neighbor's designs and chose to find ways to connect shapes and work together.

This led to painting "bridges" - lines to connect different parts of the painting.

Here, two painters work together to paint a bridge, then (below) the bridge forms a fork to connect to each of their designs.

The lines of bridges and connections added to the design and increased the complexity.

This artist is interested in a particular point of intersection.

Coming back to fill in spaces between the lines and designs.

A detail of the finished mural.

A Hug from Mom

2010-08-24T14:02:00.002-04:00

I love watching stories unfold as kids paint. One fellow educator described it as the marks on the page grounding the story. Here is a simple story really, and the telling came at the end but I love how the process mirrors the narrative.

The artist begins by painting herself within an enclosure.

She adds another figure, using overlap to show this person is behind and around her and then fills in the background.

"It's me and I'm going out to play and my mom is giving me a hug good bye."

Bee Painting and Story

2010-08-24T14:01:00.002-04:00

"It's a bee with a black stinger and he's giving me a lot of honey so we will never have to go to the store."

"I'm putting my arms out so the honey doesn't get on top of me. I don't want my bow to get dirty. You know why the bee is dropping honey on my arms? Because he thinks my dress is very pretty."

"The honey has pretend wings. The bee took off the real wings and put pretend wings on."

It is delightful to listen to a story unfold verbally as well as visually. Here is the finished painting.

Mixing Colors - Exploring Fluidity and Smoothness of Paint

2010-08-24T12:51:00.002-04:00

This young artist begins with a palette of warm colors mixed in another class. He enjoys scooping the paints and moving colors to another tray.

Here he is fascinated by the drips of white on the dark pink and red - good contrast.

He finds another palette, a greater variety of colors moves to painting with a brush. Smooth strokes across the page with some additional mixing of colors on the paper as they touch.

Then returns to his scooping and dripping technique, this time over the ground painted. The white drips make nice contrast over his colors.

A final image shows Mom's painting as she works across from him. She explores those warm colors as she creates her round shape, using shading and color variations to suggest a sherical form. At the same time, she is sharing his exploration of the material - modeling discoveries about color, smoothness of paint and rounded brush strokes.

Each is deeply engaged in his and her own process; perhaps his mom's image even grounds and the young artist as he works. They are sharing the painting experience as they work across from each other and share materials. Mom's painting also allows her just the right amount of attention, focused on her own process, yet able to be aware and interested in her son's creation.

Dots and Dabs - Color Mixing Exploration

2010-08-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

This young artist began with distinct dots of colors on her paper.

She experimented with adding additional dabs of color on top of the dots and using the brush to mix. Here she adds a dab of dark green to each color.

With layers of dabbing and mixing, the colors grow more and more similar.

Sharing color mixing discoveries with another artist.

After noting the similarity between the dots on her sweater and the dots in her painting, she added an in between color to surround the dots like the brown on her sweater.

Painting in Relation to a Partner

2010-08-23T13:52:00.002-04:00

This collaboration began with two artists working across from each other and sharing a palette of cool blues and purples.

They decided to try using the same color each time in their paintings.

As they continued, each added lines that began to weave together and entwine. Each pattern was different but the color choices were synchronized.

Other artists in the studio came by to see how they progressed. Warm colors are added as they move to use additional colors.

The working process of the two paintings.

The finished paintings hung together in the studio, along with questions for the viewer, "Do you think these paintings were done by the same artist?" "What do you notice that is different about them?"

3D Design, Drawing, Building, Painting

2010-08-23T13:30:00.000-04:00

Working on themes of architecture, drawing and building and 3D design, this artist began with building a structure out of blocks. (Thank you to the Corley's for their wood scraps:)

Above she draws a diagram of her structure to help remember it, also great practice representing relationships among the different overlapping pieces and mapping space by drawing.

She begins to reassemble, adding glue to hold pieces in place.

The final stage begins with painting - using liquid watercolor which seeps in like stain combined with tempera paint which behaves more like paint, drying on top of the wood.

The finished house - notice how the color choices highlight significant shapes and angles in the overall design.

Printing Mom's Painting

2010-08-23T12:54:00.001-04:00

In the family studio, mother and son painted on walls adjacent to each other, each engaged in his or her own process. Here is the collaboration that unfolded when the young artist became interested in adding to his mother's image. This is mom's painting when her son first took interest.

Here, the young artist begins to add to his mother's painting - she shared that she had an intention to add a son and he helped her carry out that plan. Notice his reach to add to the paper.

With much additional painting and over-painting the paper was starting to get really wet. Standing back we see how thick the paint has become.

Mother and son chose to further their collaboration by creating small prints off the main painting. The printing process changes the texture of the main piece as well as creating new works of art in the small monoprints pulled from its surface. Three prints hang with the image while a fourth, featuring part of the sun is hung below.

Clay Bricks

2010-08-22T16:46:00.001-04:00

This young artist was particularly intrigued to arrive one week and find that the clay was cut into rectangular prism shapes. They reminded her of bricks.

Here she uses a stick to smooth "mortar" on a brick.

Using one piece of clay to scrape off "mortar" to spread on a brick.

Here are a variety of objects built from the bricks. A bed in the lower right corner. This was a theme this young artist returned to in her clay work for several weeks, even requesting help making the clay square when she came in to find it in balls.

Exploring Paint - Tools, Mark Making and the Stickiness of Paint

2010-08-22T13:43:00.000-04:00

This young artist began in a fairly usual way, painting with colors on the table. She experienced the mixing of the colors as broad brush strokes captured her motion across the page.

More mixing as she used her hands as a tool to smooth the paint, here the hand motions seem to create a symmetry of swirls.

The artist moved to the wall and chose a larger brush, creating bold strokes of color and extending her reach to the top of the paper.

She continues working to fill the page with paint, colors begin to mix more while the mark making is still energetic with her moves across the paper recorded in the textured marks of the big brush.

Getting her hands into the paint, she discovers the sponge (previously used to dab the wet brush) can be a tool in the paint. Here she has begun a second paper, printing with the sponge and discovering that the paint causes it to stick on the paper.

She explores variations with the sponge, making different shapes and lines using the side of the sponge and creating new mixes of color with each dab of the sponge on the paper.

The Zoo - A Collaborative Painting

2010-08-22T13:06:00.003-04:00

This week the task for the family studio was to create a collaborative painting. This pair began with a sheet of paper 18 by 24 inches on the table between them.

As the young artist began with expressive red paint, dad began to add to the design with smooth circles of similar colors.

Here, the young artist begins to mimic Dad's movements in his own brush strokes.

Some cool colors are added to the initially warm palette.

The final image, named "The Zoo."

Day at the Beach

2010-08-22T12:23:00.001-04:00

Here, father and son begin by mixing a palette of colors to create a joint painting.

The scene begins with water at the beach, painted together, brushes sometimes mixing as they go.

Dad adds a house while his son continues on the water.

They remember the dolphins they saw and add those.

Both artists look pleased with their painting and with the remembering that goes with it.

Continuing to add details, a line of red chairs on the (yellow) sand, flowers above the sand and then the beach house.

The finished painting, "A Day at the Beach."

Monoprinting

2010-08-22T12:17:00.000-04:00

Monoprinting is a fun way to explore and experiment with paint. Here the young artist begins with a ground of purple painted on plexi-glass on her tray.

She uses a comb to scratch lines into the paint, notice how this mimics the color and design of her shirt in the picture above.

The finished print, capturing the texture and colors.

A Device to Transmit Sound

2010-08-21T16:31:00.002-04:00

This project was created during a week of exploring recycled and found materials. One artist/inventor began with the intention to "make a device to transmit sound." When asked what exactly she meant by transmit sound, she admitted she wasn't sure but she just thought it would be interesting to try.

The building began with two plastic cups, inserted through holes in a box. Here a rubber band stretched around one cup will make a sound.

Experimenting with listening and talking at different sides of the box.

This expanded to trying different materials, (tissue paper rattling above) to see how they sounded through the device.

Sharing our creations with the group at the end, the different materials tried and the results of each. I think what excited me about this exploration was the way the experimenting seemed led to new materials and possibilities along with changes in the design of the device. An exact definition of sound transmission was not necessary to enjoy playing with the idea and experiencing numerous ways sound could be explored through the materials at hand, both directly and through the invented device.

The Hot Tub - Why I Love Student Choice in the Studio

2010-06-08T15:01:00.002-04:00

This pot began toward the end of the spring after school session. A nice example of the clay skills this young artist developed over the course of her classes. Notice the scoring marks on the bottom slab, ready for attachment of a second side to complete the pot. Also, there is a coil of clay worked into the space between the two attached slabs, adding strength to the joint of the piece.

Here, she carefully adds the second side, supporting the inside and outside with her hands as she joins the fragile sides together. Behind her are cut off pieces from shaping the slab to be just the right size to complete the pot.

The completed and smoothed slab pot...or what I thought was a pot based on her original intention. The artist seemed a bit dissatisfied, saying she thougth that it was too deep to be a pot. As an observer, I felt a bit disappointed that she did not see and relish in the growth in her hand building skills that I was seeing.

I returned some time later to find this addition, also built with slabs - as well as another transformation. "It was too deep to be a pot so I added a ladder and now it's a hot tub." Watching this unfold was a wonderful experience of developing clay and sculpting skills along with the delight of imagination and creative problem solving.

Visit the Teaching for Artistic Behavior page to read more about Choice-based art making.

Silly Bands in Art

2010-06-06T21:27:00.008-04:00

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.

An Introduction to our Kiln and Firing Process

2010-05-24T22:50:00.006-04:00

The kiln is a large appliance that lives on my back patio. Here it is with the top closed the way it looks when it is firing. The box on the outside houses the computer that controls the temperature. The clay and glaze we use are "low-fire" meaning they fire to about 1900 degrees Fahrenheit.

The kiln opens from the top.

Sculptures and pots are stacked on vertical shelves supported by columns. Below, you can look down intot he kiln to see the first shelf. Columns will be added next and another shelf stacked on top.

The picture above shows clay that has dried and is ready for a first firing. When it goes into the kiln it is called "greenware." When it comes out, it has been transformed to ceramic and is called "bisque." This firing takes about 15 hours and then another 8 to 12 hours to cool.

The clay in this picture is ready for a glaze firing. The blue pieces are all painted with clear glaze. This can be a bit confusing because it doesn't look very shiny. The glaze gets its color and sheen from the firing process. There is silica in the glaze that melts to form a thin coat of glass covering the clay. This firing only takes about 7 hours but takes 8 to 12 hours to cool.

Below are the same pieces after firing. Notice their sheen and color.

The Art of Happiness

2010-05-05T21:23:00.004-04:00

A big thank you to our presenters, Gioia and Rebecca and all who attended The Art of Happiness lecture May 4th at Art at the Center. Gioia Chilton and Rebecca Wilkinson brought to life the energizing field of positive psychology and ideas around defining mental health based on strengths rather than on pathology. Their experiential activities got us up and moving around to discuss adn explore how these ideas relate to our own lives, strengths and preferences. Art activities helped to create a bridge to the connections with art therapy and how achievement of mastery and flow experiences contribute to feelings of happiness.
One important point they made was that achieving happiness does not mean an absense of any negative emotions. It means building resilience, a focus on the positive and the ability to bounce back after setbacks.
This reminds me of the Studio Thinking Habits of Mind we work to build in the studio. When we "engage and persist" we work through frustration, having faith in the creative process. When we "develop craft" we attend to specific skills and the care and use of our tools. This leads to feelings of accomplishment, mastery and ownership of the studio space and the work that is made. We "stretch and explore" when we experiment with a new art media or subject matter, something outside our usual comfort zone. This is where a community of artists is so important in the studio. Peers provide support and resources to support creative risk taking. When we "reflect" or "envision," we look at what is going well, what works in a piece of art and how that might lead us to logical next steps. We imagine new possibilities and look for ways to build on interests and strengths of individual artists.
The Studio Thinking Habits of Mind were developed as a way to highlight learning in studio settings. You can read more about them here,
Studio Thinking for Young Minds

The Turtle and the Egg

2010-04-05T22:49:00.000-04:00

For our four and five year old artists in the Art in the Afternoon class, the process is very much about the story. Stories grow and evolve as children paint, draw and sculpt.

With clay work, the photos are sometimes the only record as the same material changes form and the original character or setting may or may not remain. This is a wonderful story of transformation and new life.

The artist's clay turtle.

He is crawling toward his nest - see it there with the egg.

The egg has hatched!

See the new baby turtle.

Zebra and Camel Story

2010-04-04T22:48:00.002-04:00

The beginning of stories in young artists work is very interesting. Here, we began with the idea to explore black and white paint on black or white paper.

This painting begins with white vertical strokes on the black paper, creating strong contrast.
Black stripes are added on top of the white and the story begins, this is a zebra.

Working beside her first piece, she begins on the white paper; this one is a camel. "He needs a really big bed. You have to go very fast to make a big bed." This narration was accompanied by rapid movements on the lower half of the page using the big brush.

The camel painting.

The zebra painting.

"It's a zebra and a camel; they're friends and they love each other."

Building with Boxes

2010-04-02T23:36:00.000-04:00

Everyone loves a big empty box - particularly one you can fit inside! Gather boxes around your house and see what you can build. Kids can draw windows and doors and rely on adults to do the cutting.

This spaceship has lights, 3 cockpits and a working propeller on the back (attached with a bolt) along with a very enthusiastic crew - they do design-build-and operate!

Shoe Design

2010-04-01T23:38:00.001-04:00

Fun for all ages - begin with a pair of white canvas sneakers and use sharpie markers to customize your own pair of shoes. Create wearable art!

This pair has dogs on the toes...can you guess the artist's favorite animal?

It is a good idea to work on top of newspaper when using permanent markers.

Working on both shoes in turn to create matching designs.

Modeling new custom shoes - wearable art!

Artist Trading Cards Saturday February 13

2010-02-14T22:02:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who came out in the snow to join our community art event and help us raise money to support another community in need. We raised $152 to send to the Red Cross for the Haiti Relief Effort.

Collage, stamping, drawing and watercolor combined to create beautiful miniature works of art (can you see the word ART on the card above?)

Artist Trading Cards are small works of art (2.5 by 3.5 inches) and offer a great opportunity to try a variety of media and techniques. Many families were suprised to discover how many cards they made and went home with delightful series of miniature works, many on a Valentine's day them.

Many thanks to Gioia Chilton for her help with this event; check out Gioia's art therapy and positive psychology blog at http://joyfularttherapy.blogspot.com/

Curiosity

2010-02-10T22:23:00.010-05:00

I have been reading Curious? by Todd Kashdan, Ph.D.

So far my favorite quote is,

"Following directions conserves energy but following one's unique direction expands energy (p. 8)."

Further on, he writes more about the process of curiosity, exploration and discovery:
"By being curious, we explore.
By exploring, we discover.
When this is satisfying, we are more likely to repeat it.
By repeating it, we develop competence and mastery.
By developing competence and mastery, our knowledge and skills grow.
As our knowledge and skills grow, we stretch and expand who we are and what our life is about.
By dealing with novelty, we become more experienced and inteligent and infuse our lives with meaning(p19-20)."

In our studio curiosity, exploration and discovery are actively encouraged through engagement with art materials. The goal is not to learn to follow steps to complete a project the teacher created but rather to engage with materials as a way of expressing and discovering ideas. Sometimes the material leads to the idea and sometimes an idea seems to want to be formed with a particular media. For some students, drawing naturally leads to telling stories and inventing characters, for others, abstract painting allows them to explore color relationships; still others make discoveries about form by sculpting animals and everyday objects in clay. Whatever the media, the idea is to be energized by finding one's unique artistic vision. Working among artist peers in the studio adds to this experience.
The second quote makes me think particularly about our studio practice. What begins as open ended exploration leads to discovery- from the most basic discoveries that glue is sticky to more complex learning about color mixing. Kashdan writes that when the discovery is satisfying, it is more likely to be repeated. What makes a discovery satisfying? Often it is just having someone to share it with; having a witness to her process deepens a young artist's engagement. Other times reflecting on the process through photos, portfolio review, speaking about artwork in a group, and writing artist statements increases the sense of satisfaction.
The idea that satisfaction leads to repetition is interesting too; in the studio our goal is to provide an open-ended environment where young artists can return to and build on individual interests. The focus on the process is important here too. Some students will mix colors for several weeks; their only "product" for those sessions being color swatches with names and recipes for favorite colors invented. Working with clay, one student commented, "I love coming here because you are allowed to smash what you make." We usually begin our clay work with a day (or several weeks) of getting to know clay so we set the idea ahead of time that we will not be saving what we make (except to take pictures). Young artists often find this very freeing, the ability to play, invent and tell stories without the pressure to make something. When they do make a product all the play and exploration knowledge built in their hands adds to the satisfaction of their creation.
The routine of the studio and working with materials lead to development of confidence, skills, and the ability to make meaning through art. It is delightful to be a part of this process. I heard a conductor describe a composer, saying you can hear how he "grew up and lived" as a musician. The conductor was speaking about the adult work of this composer but I thought too of our young artists and the joy in seeing them grow up and live as artists.

Speaking of Curious...a bit about the history of our building

2010-02-10T21:30:00.003-05:00

We get a lot of questions from kids (and adults) about our building; who lives upstairs? what used to be here? where are the inside stairs?

On February 1st, my sons Ryan and Kevin conducted an interview with the building owner, Col. (USA-RET) Louis Molli to find out more about the history of 2804 Sherwood Hall Lane.

We learned that the building was previously zoned for residential use and was set up as apartments. Col. Molli bought the building in the 1950s and had it rezoned; his wife ran an antiques shop there for many years. He believes it is an excellent business location because it has great drive-by traffic and plenty of parking around back. As for the building itself, Col. Molli never lived there or knew anyone who lived there. To his knowledge, it has never had an inside staircase although he did once consider adding one. Other past businesses have included a consignment shop, a contractor, and an orchid supply shop but never a pet store. We are the first art studio to inhabit the building.

And by the way, upstairs is also a business, it is the "home" of Foundations for Families. You can find them on-line at http://www.foundationsforfamilies.com/

To learn more about the young artists who inhabit our studio, read our other blog posts or find us on-line at www.artatthecenter.org

Light the Night

2010-01-10T22:02:00.003-05:00

Thanks to all who joined us for our first light painting event!

Click the title to view the complete album of images.

We added to the artwork already on display by creating light paintings in the studio...

we tried the technique of tracing our friends...

And even braved the cold when it got really dark outside.

Visit http://www.exploratorium.com/pie/downloads/Light_Painting.pdf

for instructions and ideas to try light painting with your family and friends.

Virtual Exhibit

2010-01-01T21:52:00.022-05:00

Students created artist statements in preparation for our planned exhibit Dec 21, 2009. We had to cancel due to snow so we have rescheduled the exhibit for January 8, 2010 at 4:30. Please join us in person and/or check out the artwork here on our virtual exhibit.
“The Moon and the Sun”
The sun has 12 legs and the moon has a thinking cap on. The people are climbing through the tubes and there’s a window on the top of the building. I think it was my block building. Two of the stars have glasses on them and the stars have hair on them. The people climb through so they can get in the house.
Amelia Pollio
* Special Note: You can also see this piece and lots of other wonderful artwork by kids in our community in the Children's Gazette issue of the Mount Vernon Gazette this week.

“Leaf Land”
The king and the queen and the princess are on their leaf castle. They are looking out for people that are in trouble. There’s a bridge and the bridge is the leaf so if the king and queen want to go see the princess they go across the bridge. The princess is wearing a necklace.
Amelia Pollio

“Car Town”
I want everyone to know that these are green cars and I want everyone to know that this orange and yellow and green is a roller skate that fell over. I want everyone to know tall this other stuff is just colors, just a piece of artwork.
Daniel Matheis

I want everyone to know that’s a colorful tree with leaves falling. I want everyone to know I like the sparkly colors. I want everyone to know that this is a sparkly tree, that’s a sparkly tree and that’s a sparkly tree. That’s a bush and all the rest are leaves falling in to a pile.
Daniel Matheis

This is a house with windows and this is a little person. We made prints. I want people to notice the house.
Sara Claire Chiaramonte

This is the fire truck’s sirens and this is the ambulance. The fire truck is in the garage. This is all the men and that’s the window and a letter for my name. Red ambulance those are the sirens, the wheels, and men stepping into the truck.
Jack Bacon

The black spots are stars and there is a wolf and a staircase up there. I want people to notice the house face, red eyes, yellow nose, green ears and the stairs. The little girl walks up the stairs and sees the wolf there.
Sara Claire Chiaramonte

“Patrick”
That’s a man and that’s all of the fire truck and that’s the number 84 fire truck.
Jack Bacon

This is called the solar system. It has most of the planets. Dolly discovered a new planet – Planet Dolly – it’s the purple and pink one that has Dolly on it, the person who discovered it.
Dolly Lebow

"Stripes"
Olive Regan

I copied off the shirt I was wearing that day. I mixed the colors. The background is random. I tried to use colors that I liked. I want you to notice that I used paintbrush splats in the background.
Emma Forsythe

Earth is here. Present for the Earth a big shield to protect it, things bounce off it (like rocks). Green balls protect the shield.
Emma Marsh

It’s called “The Milky Way.” It kind of looks like a kitchen and milk spilled.
Emma Marsh

In the corner (right side) is a big building. These circles that have colors in them that is a big leaf pile. The stuff in the middle, those are the small houses. I rubbed the sky with the side of the pastel over the paint. It’s like the sky is coming over the rectangles. Lots of leaf piles for everyone in the whole world, even my friends and even my family.
Natalie Goel

The scribbles are birds. The girl is me. This is a tree. And I made my name with dots. We had this (foam) and you can write something and then this (foam) makes this (print). See this pile of leaves is this part and this circle is the sun.
Natalie Goel

This is a person in the night.
Kevin Coneway

“Color”
Kevin Coneway

I chose this because Jack helped me draw it.
Olive Regan

Every single step was repeating and I used two different colors, green and blue.
Liz Goodes

Half was hanging off the page and I was surprised by how it turned out and each had a different kind of texture.
Liz Goodes

“The Dancing Paint”
I drew with pen on foam and it turned out really good because I added more and more designs.
Andrea Goodes

I had some ideas for class because we had collected leaves. I put blue and then gold over the blue so it turned out really sparkly and cool.
Andrea Goodes

I made these collages in a certain order. They are colorful. I want people to notice I used different textures of paper. My favorite paper is text-like. I used a lot of tissue paper.
Olivia Johanson

I made this fountain using different sizes of pinch pots. It took me 3 weeks to finish it.
Olivia Johanson

I collaged and then did watercolor over it. I painted it so it looked like “Hi.” I put pieces that fit there.
Emma Forsythe

The lady bug and the butterfly stayed up until midnight (dark blue indicates the night sky). It was Christmas Eve. “Why were they waiting outside?” They were looking for Santa Clause.
Emma Marsh

This (paper with colors labeled) is just to tell which color is which. The background is pink, part of 3 leaves are yellow. The maple is pink too and the oak is pink and purple. The brown is the pine needle. The brown leaf is bent. The is is called “the oaks” because these are the oak leaves. These 3 are blue.
Rosie Stribling

“The Famous Bathtub”
It’s called “The Famous Bathtub” because most bathtubs are white but this one has red stripes around it.
Rosie Stribling

I want people to notice that there’s white paint as a background and that this pink bowl has rice in it.
Pearl Azer

I want people to notice that tere are sparkles on the page and that these are real leaves, they just look like drawings. The leaf on the left is called “Big Leaf.” This is a maple leaf. Two are hot pink. I like how it sparkles.
Pearl Azer

“The T-Rex”
I want people to know that this (the popping up yellow part) is an animal with a blanket on its back. I want people to know that this collage is sort of in the shape of a T-Rex opening its mouth. I want people to know that this loop is sort of like a rolling rock. I made pieces of paper and put glue on the bottom of it. I didn’t think it would stay but it did.
Katie Cunningham

“Dancer”
I want people to know that I used pink paint all around because I want it to look like a real ballerina. I made it with clay but the hardest part was the skirt popping up.
Katie Cunningham

“Purple Leaves” I did it all purple because I want it to be camouflaged.
Evelyn Connor

There’s a fairy in front of the house. This has a hole in the trunk of the tree that squirrels live in. The little lines are grass.
Evelyn Connor

“The Secret Hideout”
It has a lot of tunnels. When a stranger comes in they slide thru the tunnel and every tunnel leads to the middle but sometimes it looks like it won’t go. The little tiny ones have secret doors. A spy at the very top rings a bell when a stranger comes in. But watch out for bumps; you can easily get hurt.
Mary Claire O’Brien

“Nativity Scene”
It doesn’t have all the things. It just has Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. The star is the thing on the popsicle stick. Mary’s hands are on the manger. She’s trying to rock him because he’s crying.
Mary Claire O’Brien

“The Whale and its Baby”
This is a whale. It is going to eat fish. I worked really hard on it. It’s my name kind of in cursive. I looked at it on the light table. My name didn’t turn out like I wanted and the whale is about to have a baby. And it’s about to get some school of fish to eat.
Elizabeth Augenblick Smith

“Leaf Collection That’s Blue”
It can go anyway. The way I made it 3 are upside down and one is right side up and the other way one is upside down and 3 are right side up. First we did it with pencil, then sharpie and then we painted it.
Elizabeth Augenblick Smith

“Wolf Den”
It took a long time, about 3 weeks to make. The bottom is thin and easy to break. I put sealing glue on it and then painted it. If a piece breaks off you can write with it. It was really fun to make and not all of it is done. It’s not done (not painted) on the inside. I made a wolf.
Bella Augenblick Smith

“Leaf Painting”
It took a long time to make. The biggest, the green and purple are the same leaf. First I went over it with pencil and then marker. Then I painted and the marker pops out.
Bella Augenblick Smith

“Flying Robot”
I put paint on one side and then I folded it in half.
Ryan Coneway

“Squirming Blot”
If you turn it upside down it looks the same.
Ryan Coneway

This is a tree with a flower at the bottom. This is a boat by it. I like the tree.
Cade Olson

This is a tree and this (right side) is a lake and there’s a cloud above it. The acorns are rain.
Cade Olson

“Tree”
There are real acorns. There are different textures. It’s a tree just in case you don’t know and there’s a silver leaf. I couldn’t find enough brown so I used gray for the trunk. We went outside to collect the acorns.
Grace Frerichs

“Circus”
I started with circles and I really like the idea of doing mountain lines so I did that with crayon and then I did that with paint. I really like the color green because I tested it on different paper so I did that on the background. I mixed dark green and white. I like how I mixed colors and my favorite colors I used were red, orange, blue, green, yellow and pink.
Grace Frerichs

“A Very Short Story”
Children play on the playground.
The end.
Dolly Lebow

It came from a pile of paper and glue. “The snake” is yellow. It’s creative and I found it. Blue is a log and then big piles of grass – red and green in the jungle.
Dolly Lebow

Annie Lebow

Art Explorers Virtual Exhibit

2010-01-01T14:29:00.000-05:00

"The Blue Dinosaur" created by stamping with objects and blue paint
John

Stamping with objects using metallic paint on black paper
Maya

Collage created from cutting forms out of a large group painting
Meera

Stamping with shapes and objects using metallic paint on black paper
Brendan

Stamping on paper with various objects, fingers
Malcolm

Stamping and painting with metallic paint on black paper
Tyler

Stamping and painting with objects
Edward

Stamping with objects with metallic paint on black paper
Sammy

Painting
Zoe

Stamping with lines and shapes
Faith

Stamping with blocks and round objects
Zoe

Stamping and painting with objects
Annabel

Stamping and painting with objects
Kalia

Stamping and painting with objects
Ezra

Stamping and finger painting
Lola

Clay and Sticks and Standing Objects

2009-11-28T20:43:00.005-05:00

In our studio practice, when interest in working clay with hands begins to wane, we bring out our popsicle sticks. There are many uses for this simple tool and it quickly becomes a favorite activity to stick the sticks in the clay. Children dicover that they can make birthday candles, forests, porcupines and all kinds of things with the sticks stuck in a lump of clay.
In our Friday Art Explorers class last week, things took a bit of a different turn as the children explored turning the lump of clay over so the sticks served as legs holding up the clay.

What began with the delight in holding a lump of clay on a stick (above) turned much more complex when more sticks were added and arranged as legs for the clay (below).

Interest in this process caught on with a nearby artist at another table.

Here she explores balance rocking the clay on its legs and getting the feel for how to make the clay stand up on the legs.

The stability of the legs of this creation allowed the artist to press spikes into the lump of clay without threatening the balance.

And here's a creation from our Tuesday class; it's a spider and it's scary!

Greater Good Magazine | Everyday Art by Christine Carter

2009-11-23T21:33:00.002-05:00

A great article for parents on encouraging creativity.

Greater Good Magazine Everyday Art by Christine Carter

Posted using ShareThis

Wheels and the Wonder of Motion

2009-11-18T17:22:00.004-05:00

Working on a large group piece of paper, we decided to explore painting with wheels and see what kinds of lines and designs we could add to the group piece.

The group exploration at the table was extended by working individually on large paper on the wall. The marks made by the wheels stood out more on the fresh white paper.

This young artists found a favorite tool, a caster with a ball for a wheel and a 360 degree rotation from its base.

She was delighted with the arcs and loops recording the motion of her hand and the rotation of the wheel as she moved it across the paper.

The design left in the paint palette.

Exploring Tape and Making Connections

2009-11-18T17:20:00.003-05:00

In our second week of using tape to explore color and line, we began by working on black paper.

Working beside his mother, this young artist was inspired to add "connections" between their pieces.

He noticed how the connections could bend and change shape.

He eventually separated the papers again by cutting the tape but not before inspiring a fellow artist...

This young artist added connections to her mother's paper, then took the idea a step further by painting the pieces side by side with her mom, creating visual connections in the broad brush strokes.
This reminds me of George Szekely's idea that an art class is a place to work alongside the other artists of one's generation to share process and ideas. For the very young here, the sharing is about their connections to their parents as well as to each other as they work in the studio.