Our kids creativity seshes for the last couple of weeks were about making monoprints with some different techniques and a small tabletop press. The first week, we made monoprint plates with drypoint etching on plexi. After learning how to ink the plates and wipe them (leaving the ink only in the scratched lines) we added other ink colors… Continue reading Kids Creativity Sesh: printmaking
Tag: learning
Threads of Continuity
Every time I begin working on a new series, I have mixed feelings. Being held by what I’ve already started mixed with being impelled by what I want to do next. Melancholy mixed with excitement. Curiosity mixed with worry. Delight mixed with feeling vulnerable. Do you ever feel that way when you start something new? I haven’t yet… Continue reading Threads of Continuity
Artist Date 7: Stretch It Out with Yoga
This week’s artist date idea is to do some yoga. Not just any yoga. Do YOUga. Stretch your body, heart, spirit to stimulate the deep creative well inside.
Art Camp for Two
Last week, my young friend, Grace and I invented our own “art camp.” She stayed with me for four nights and we had 3 full days of creative fun. I sure hope we get to do this a couple more times this summer. Hanging out with young people fills my cup, especially when they are as enthusiastic about life and learning and creativity as Grace is. It was super cool that we got to do so many projects and have some adventures. I promised I’d show her how to make a blog post, so next time, we’ll publish some tutorials. Enjoy our photos!
Budding Artist
Ema spends Wednesday afternoons with me at my studio. She is meticulous, creative, precise, funny, cheerful, interested, respectful and persistent. I enjoy her company immensely and I truly look forward to these afternoons. For the last few weeks, she has been working steadily on a mixed-media artwork. Ema started with some image transfers onto a canvas, then used water-soluble colored pencils and collage to complete her piece. I’m always impressed when a young person can sustain interest in a project over a period of days or weeks, and she certainly did on this piece. She finished this one yesterday. Let her know what you think in a comment. 🙂
Eating Dirt May Be Good For You
What can we, as teachers, parents, grandparents and friends of children, do — to make sure kids reap the benefits of unstructured time connecting with nature? Read this article for some ideas and background about “Nature Deficit Disorder.” Here’s an excerpt from “Last Child in the Woods:” As a child, I was unaware that my woods were ecologically connected with any other forests. Nobody in the 1950s talked about acid rain or holes in the ozone layer or global warming. But I knew my woods and my fields; I knew every bend in the creek and dip in the beaten dirt paths. I wandered those woods even in my dreams. A kid today can likely tell you about the Amazon rain forest—but not about the last time he or she explored the woods in solitude, or lay in a field listening to the wind and watching the clouds move.” Read more and find a list of ideas …
Girls Art Night was a Smash Hit
Smash. Smoosh. Squish. Mash. Moosh. Mush. Stuff … Oh, the things you can do with an old book! A handmade Smoosh Book can be kinda funky and alotta fun. When you first make the book, you can sort through the old book’s pages and keep the ones you like, recycling the rest. Try incorporating comic book pages, other special papers, translucent papers, seed packets, tiny bags, cellophane bags, glassine envelopes, ribbons, stickers, cards, and any other kind of envelopes or pockets. Check out this sweet do-it-yourself with instructions and lots of photos. And thanks to all the ladies who came to the Girls Art Night last month!
Kids’ Arts Festival from the Perspective of a Docent
A circle of hands is how it felt for me, as I helped with KidWorks alongside the volunteers, my fellow docents and staff of the Holter Museum of Art. We needed everyone to make it work.
After this weekend, I have a visceral feeling for something else we docents get to do: help put together the most amazing festival — KidWorks! — a huge, wonderful day full of hands-on art activities for kids. Read on to find out what a docent REALLY does … and to see the magic that happens when over 800 participants come through our doors.