Family Studio Painting

In our family studio class, parents and children get the benefit of exploring art materials and creating side by side, each working at their own ability level.

This particular morning, one young artist chose to continue a painting of a tree begun in an earlier class.

He developed a new technique of using a popsicle stick to draw lines to represent bark.

His younger brother took a more exploratory approach, mixing his colors on the paper and trying out layering areas of color with broad brush strokes.

Mom began with creating geometric lines and shapes on the page and used these as the basis for building a painting exploring color combinations, different brush strokes and ranges and gradations of color.

The fun part to observe is the conversations and interactions that allow family members to share their process while creating distinctly different products. All are exploring different ways to use color, to make marks and to create a painted composition on a page.

Family Painting: Lines, Shapes and Colors

In our family studio class, parents and children created murals to explore lines, shapes and color relationships.

We began with using a chalk line, a carpenter's tool, to create lines across the page.

The web of lines created shapes that became the beginning of our painting.

Family members had different painting styles, adults tended to stay within the lines, carefully choosing colors to fill in the shapes. Younger children created their own shapes with their brushstrokes, often creating gradations and blending of colors as they mixed on the paper.

The final result reflected a variety of styles in the family group.

Dreams for Our Community - Community Art Event in collaboration with Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services

Artwork created at our community art event with Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services. We worked on wood tiles and added collage elements, pastel and paint to depict dreams for our community. Thank you to all the families who participated.

Photos below show some details of the steps of the process. We began with sketching on large paper on the table and brainstormed a list together of "dreams for our community."
Individuals chose an aspect of community to illustrate. We worked on wooden panels with wooden collage shapes and oil pastels.

Here the church design is built with wood, accented with collage pieces and colored with oil pastels.

The final step was a watercolor wash that acted as a stain on the wood areas. The oil pastel marks acted created a resist and remained visible through the paint.

As artists completed their work, they assembled and arranged their pieces to create the finished community art work.

Getting to Know Clay

There is something magical about seeing children really meet with materials for the first time. Having watched closely from her carseat ever since she stopped napping during the art explorers class, this little sister is excited to have her own place at the table.

She discovers she can lift the lump of clay, it's heavy.

With two hands she can lift the bigger lump, look at the look of accomplishment!

Now she brings it back to the table, a slow motion, wonder filled version of the wedging and pounding going on around her.