fairy trapping

I found an excellent website today that I plan to discuss with the miniaturists and the art club at large. The urban fairy project in Ann Arbor, Michigan is most inspirational, but even better are the traps made by local kindergarteners for catching these sprites. I want to catch fairies too! A field trip to Ann Arbor is most certainly in our future, or perhaps our hometown fairy scene could be investigated (to be continued . . .).

tie-dye t-shirts

The art club made tie-dye t-shirts at the beginning of the year to use as paint shirts in class.
Tie-dye is an excellent outdoor activity. Remember to wear gloves, use rubber bands for designs, and pre-wash the t-shirts. Many of the kids had done tie-dye before but they were all very glad to have another opportunity. Encourage students to keep the t-shirts at the art club location so they are able to be used during the year when needed.

paper mache sweets

One of my favorite projects is paper mache food. Start this project outside on a beautiful day. Wrap newspaper into donut shapes and cupcakes using construction tape (the cupcake form requires a bit of cardboard or wire netting for the form). Mix up a bucket or two of wheat paste using flour and water and some white glue. Dip strips of newspaper in the paper mache and wrap the strips around the forms until they are solid and fully covered. Let the forms dry in the sun.

I am always interested in which kids like to get messy when they make art. Some students will want to avoid the chaos of paper mache. It's the same kids that like mud puddles who will finish most of the forms while others will wander off to wash their hands. I just let this happen and we always get enough done for stage two.

During the next class we paint and embellish the sweets. The final stage is sprinkling the tops with real sugar candies. I spray on an adhesive after the sweets are finished to apply gloss and really secure the sprinkles. The final product is delicious looking. I got the idea for this project when traveling in Mexico. You can sometimes find paper-mache sweets or fruits in the markets to decorate your table.

miniature world

One of my favorite projects during miniature week was the little mini books and matchbook file folders. There was a joke book, a diary, and a victorian love story written during the class in miniature.

mini pictures

mini cat portrait

Art club made fimo frames and painted them the following day with metallic gold and silver paint. They made mini portraits and lanscapes paintings and framed them in ornate miniature glory. I love this one of MeMe the cat which is about one inch tall.

miniature food

We made mini foods from fimo. Tiny pastries, sushi, hot dogs, french bread, baby peas and fresh fruit were all lovingly created with tiny details. I found the whole project obsessively satisfying.

minifigs

At first Henry didn't want to be part of the miniaturist club (even though he will sit and build legos for hours -- has been since he was two). I think he was responding to the "girlie" image of many miniatures and the whole dollhouse thing. He wasn't into it, so I took him to visit The Last Square, a store for models and miniatures. This place is great, not only can you find fantasy minifigures of all varieties and modeling supplies for civil war buffs, train enthusiasts, and sci-fi junkies, but you can also buy tools like stainless steel dental picks for mini modeling and the tiniest little brushes for painting. They are very well stocked in balsa wood. And there is a sort of minifigure gallery of amazingly painted lead figures that sell for over 500 dollars a piece do to extreme detail. A must see.

So anyway, after all this Henry was in the club! I bought him some one inch Viking figures to paint and he practiced his drybrush technique last week. He is currently working on a diorama for these little guys which I can't wait to get a photo of when it's finished.

miniature club

You can categorize most people into two groups -- those who are miniature enthusiasts and those who are not. Kids are no different. Some of the art club students wanted to work on miniatures during the school year and I felt like we needed to be respectful to the kids in the club who wouldn't be interested or have the attention to detail you need when working little. So I suggested we form a small group of miniature enthusiasts (of which I consider myself a proud member) and meet in the summer. Last week four kids and myself started the new club and had an excellent time. We plan to read The Borrowers this summer, go on a field trip to visit The Dean House (which I hear has an excellent miniature display), and meet back up in August to have another work week together.

field trip

A group of us visited the studio of a local architect. He showed us the wooden miniature models he was making for a future neighborhood development. The students were enchanted by the scraps of wood in his studio and wanted to sit down and create block sculptures after the discusssion. The idea of creating the world around us in miniature was of great fascination to the students.

Making projects with wood scraps (if you have access to them) is an excellent project for older children. I used to play with blocks all the time when my kids were younger, but for some reason I hadn't thought about letting the art club have at them. The complexity of older children's designs and their ability to talk about concepts of modeling is intense. I was very happy to rediscover this simple pleasure.

Going on field trips and visiting other artists in their studios is an excellent way to keep inspired. People are open and excited to have the art club visit their work spaces. They often want to join themselves.

machine sewing

About half the students already know how to use a sewing machine. Other kids prefer to ask me for help. Rag dolls are a perfect project for teaching machine sewing, they are basically simple shapes with legs and arms. It is best to start with a woven fabric of medium weight. Speeding on the foot pedal is the hardest thing to control.

fimo sculpture

fimo bits

I have several big bins of Fimo bits at my house. From these many wonderful creations emerge. If students can't find the color they want I encourage them to use whatever and paint the work after it's baked.

One thing to be careful of when saving Fimo -- separate the self-drying and bakeable Fimo bins! Mine got mixed up somewhere along the way and all the kids know that about 10% of the time our sculptures come out of the oven with parts melted.

marigold strings

I planted many marigolds this weekend. I am looking forward to stringing marigolds for Day of the Dead this fall. Students have loved this project in the past, but you need to have access to lots of marigolds. Plant now.

old sock collection

Save your old socks. Rag dolls often start with the inspiration of a good sock collection.

more stuffed creatures

Posing for a portrait with their creations brought out the silly side of the kids.

henry's doll

isaiah's sockdoll

Isaiah's doll is made in the sock monkey style with striped socks -- gives him a bit of convict/rascal edginess I'd say.

tiger's doll

A sock monkey with hair and hot pants!

linnea's doll

Linnea's doll was transformed yesterday. She wears a recycled halloween sock as a punk rock shirt, denim hair ties, and shell necklace. The doll's beaded eyes just match the color of Linnea's own.

The art club sewed and stiched their rag dolls (and creatures) into shape yesterday. This week check the blog for more artist/doll portraits.

rag dolls

Today is the last art club before summer break. We will meet to celebrate the year and make outfits for our rag dolls.

gourd painting

Today I am going to plant some birdhouse gourds for future art club projects.

In April I attended the first annual Wisconsin Gourd Festival and got excited about the sculptural potential of gourds. The festival donated a few gourds to the art club and the kids painted them up like chickens. I thought they were a grand success. It was great practice for the students because they had to respond to a found sculptural shape and work figurally. Some of the chicken gourds were lying on their stomachs, others had their beaks pointed up in the air, and some needed to have popsicle stick feet attached for standing purposes.

abstract painting

Some days I will get out paint and let the art club create whatever they want. I encourage them to think about abstract principles of line, color, and scale. I try to have painting days when it is gray outside -- a bit of color therapy goes a long way for everyone. I will usually put on some music. During painting time I go around and talk with students as they work. I let them know which part of their painitings I am most interested in and encourage them to think about why. Sometimes I will ask them what their favorite part is or suggest they step back and look at their work from a distance. Most of my time is spent changing water and mixing paint.

When students are working abstractly I will often ask them what they are thinking about. We have had some great discussions. During our show and share period at the end of class I will ask the students if their abstract paintings have a title. Other students will often pipe in, "The painting reminds me of . . ." I have found the art club very open and curious about how abstract paintings can have multiple interpretations. It is often hard to tell when a painting is finished. It's easy to go too far. How can you tell when to stop? The art club wrangles with these difficult artistic dilemas in their show and share period.

At the beginning of the year I bought big sheets of paper and paints (both acrylic and tempra) with the start up funds. Good painting materials are essential for an art club and you can't really find them second hand. Tempra paints are less expensive and come in great irridescent colors, but acrylic paint is easier to work with for most projects. You have to teach kids how to clean and respect good paint brushes because cheap brushes can be frustrating and I prefer to purchase a few moderately priced brushes and treat them well. I give each student a painting rag at the beginning of class.