Abby's Art Club

Charlie

2007-09-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

Charlie Garland Shotwell

born July 17th, 2007

I forgot how tired you can get with a new baby. Last spring I was sure that we would start art club up in the fall like normal, but I realized shortly after Charlie was born that we would need some time. The start of art club is postponed until further notice. Charlie and I need to get a bit more rest and then hopefully I can resume hosting the young art enthusiasts.

Peace.

summer school

2007-06-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Art Club is on hiatus for the summer. The kids should be keeping up with their sketching and crocheting, and we'll pick up with our chair theme again in the fall. I asked the art club students to find an old chair this summer, either at a garage sale or in their basements, to transform next year into a "super chair" -- one that in functional and empowered with special qualities. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

Last summer I had several optional art club meetings during vacation, but attendance was sporadic with all the different family schedules. This summer I simply asked students to keep in touch and plan on a show and share session when we regroup. Many of the art club kids attend camps and other art classes in the summer where they pick up new crafts and techniques to share with the group.

Sometimes I offer summer mini camps (last year we did several weeks of miniatures), but this summer I will be quite busy with a new baby due in July. I hope to have some updates for the blog this summer (maybe we will hear how Sylvia's new hat business is going or get a chance to visit Carina's fairy forts?) but the entries will be less frequent.

Keep it up art club! Have a great break.

chair painting

2007-06-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

We spent some time thinking about chairs this week at art club. Chairs are a pretty great subject. I have quite an assorted variety around my house. I started by asking the kids to sketch ten different chairs from life. I asked them to think about what type of chairs seem happy and what type of chairs seem fat. We discussed scary chairs and solid chairs. Skinny chairs and silly chairs. Adult chairs and those meant for play and children. Are some chairs more restful than others? We naturally had some philosophical questions about chairs. What type of chair would we choose to represent us in a chair self portrait? What type of chair would we pick to live with if we could choose only one chair? What words do we think of when we think of chairs?

After much musing and sketching, we got to work painting little chair vignettes on masonite board. The art club was asked to translate their sketches to paintings using simple lines and a minimal palette.

Some of the students worked with bold outlines to really make their chair designs pop. Check out how excellent chair drawing is for learning perspective!

crochet

2007-05-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Leaf shows off the crochet purse she made in class. Her t-shirt reads "Perfect at Being Bad". I thought that this was a funny statement about Leaf's whole crochet experience. She definitely struggled to keep up her enthusiasm for crochet, and at times doubted her ability to get details right. But the thing is, Leaf is a super stylish girl, and at the end of the day she really liked her bag. All of the little missed stitches and frustrations seemed to fade away as she sauntered away from art club with the bag slung over her shoulder.

crochet

2007-05-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Last official day of crochet. We finished two granny squares and whip stitched them together to make a little bag with a single crochet handle. The bags could be lined if we had time and the inclination, but most of the class was just pleased to have finished a crochet project after three weeks of hard work.

Art Club with all their granny squares. We learned how to tie off all the little strings and join squares to make a finished bag.

Sylvia is modeling her crochet hat. Over the past week she has made three hats. She was selling the hats at art club for five dollars a pop, and several of the art club students have future hats on order. Sylvia plans on having an art booth at the neighborhood summer festival in August. I wonder how many hats she can crochet by then? Perhaps some granny square bags as well?

Henry and Isak were also very pleased with themselves. Neither of them have ordered a hat from Sylvia. They want to make their own.

Isaiah and Gillian model bright crochet hats made by Elizabeth (one of our crochet teachers). They both learned how to make single crochet hats in class today, and took thread and hooks home for summer fun.

on the news

2007-05-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Last week Teri Barr (News 3) and a camera crew came to art club and we got on the t.v.! The kids were thrilled, and a little publicity doesn't hurt my own aspirations to get more parents involved in the art club movement.

crochet teachers

2007-05-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

Dea and Leaf put their heads together on the very first day of crochet.

Brigette analyzing a granny square with Linnea .

Above: Elizabeth working with Gillian on the double crochet stitch.

Below: Sarah helping both Henry and Olive with baby Liza on her lap. Amazing concentration.

At the beginning of the year I asked the kids what they wanted to learn in art club. I taught them to knit last year, and many of them wanted to keep learning finger skills. They asked about crochet. One problem -- I don't know how to crochet. People have tried to teach me over the years, but it's just not something I've ever really embraced. So, needless to say, I was overwhelmed with the idea of teaching ten nine year olds a craft I could not get my own head and fingers to embrace.

I needed to ask for help. First I asked every parent from the art club, and not a one knew how to crochet. Luckily, a new art club has started in the neighborhood run by two parents -- Dea and Brigette (both of whom are granny square masters). We decided to get the two art clubs together this spring and coordinate some crochet lessons taught by them and a few other crochet enthusiasts from the neighborhood. We tried to have one teacher for every two or three young students, so over the past few weeks these teachers have given a great deal of time and effort to the cause. Thank you.

When I talk about wanting new art clubs to start, I am thinking about the opportunities as a teacher to share skills and resources with other parents. I don't think anyone starting an art club has infinite art ideas about what they are going to teach, but the potential for a group of parents working together and sharing inspiration is super exciting. Next fall Dea, Brigette, and I plan on combining art clubs again for a sock monkey session or two (sock monkeys are one of my special skills). I look forward to it.

I keep hoping to hear from other parents who want to start art clubs and share ideas and fun. If you are interested, please email me and I will invite you to a Monday afternoon at the art club. One of our recent crochet teachers, Elizabeth, said that she liked art club so much she is starting one with a friend next year. Hooray.

crochet

2007-05-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

I love to watch people do hand work. If you have a grandma who knits then you know what I mean. I have known people who grow instantly more beautiful and interesting with a crochet hook in hand. I love the needleworkers who get so good they can knit and carry on conversations at the same time. I love the way a person's brow will furrow when they miss a stitch or are counting an intricate pattern. Hands always look so potent. Some people stick their tongues out in concentration.

The four photos above were taken at the end of another day of crochet. They were taken in quick succession and I wanted to include them together because they say more than I can about how special it is to observe the art club learning a new finger craft. Watching the kids' faces today as they concentrated and began to flow with the granny stitch was really captivating. Their hands looked more potent and their faces more beautiful than I can remember.

To a one they all agreed that granny squares were easier to learn than the straight double crochet square. Maybe it's just another week of practice, but I feel like we turned a corner. Art Club will spend at least one more week on crochet and see how we feel after next session. We split the group in half today so that each teacher worked with two students at once for an hour and then we switched off. The alternate group was working on a drawing/collage project that was basic and playful in contrast to the brain strain of learning crochet. I think a two student to one teacher ratio is ideal for the initial learning stages of crochet.

crochet

2007-05-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

We sat outside and the whole crochet lesson was super cozy. Teacher to student ratio for learning a hand craft should be about 3:1. More than that, and kids get frustrated waiting for their questions to be answered.

My true inspiration -- I want to learn how to crochet plastic bags into rag rugs! So nice.

crochet

2007-05-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

We started our crochet lessons yesterday. Usually I try and stay one step ahead of the kids, but I don't know how to crochet and so I needed to ask in some guest teachers. Thank you Elizabeth and Dea! I had the opportunity of being one of the art club students, and I think the kids got a kick out of my questions and frustrations. I know how to knit and tat, but somehow crochet makes me feel clumsy and strange. I am always asking the art clubers to try new things, so it only seems fair that every once and a while they get to see me with ten thumbs.

I can't say much about how to teach crochet. We were just working on a ten by ten double crochet square to begin. I was interested in how some students picked it up really quickly and others needed to watch and start over again and again. Also, some kids needed certain language to really get it. For example, once one student heard about "keeping her holding hand in a triangle" she was quite dangerous and adept, whereas before she kept dropping her tension. Another student had to "point their index finger" on their holding hand. That's why it was great to have a couple of teachers because each one had a slightly different way of talking about what they were doing.

We were all very patient. The look of concentration on everyone's face is the true story of the day. Learning a new finger skill takes all your brain power and the art club certainly gave the lesson their best attention for over two hours. It was great to observe the "aha" moment when someone finally got the rhythm and started cruising. Henry was certain he wouldn't like crochet, but then he figured it out and seemed very pleased with himself. He is really satisfied when he problem solves things and crochet is no different than a hard math problem. Henry tied his crochet square around his belt loop and wore it for the rest of the afternoon.

Next week we will take on the granny square.

tape sculpture

2007-04-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

The real joy of this project was seeing how the kids related to their simple tape objects in creative, playful and unexpected ways. The most basic sculpture was Henry and Sylvia's half orb. It became something to hide in, a giant bowl for pasta, an umbrella, etc. I was enchanted by their whimsy.

Linnea and Carina filled their tape basket (formed over a wooden barrel) with dandelions and violets. They were doing a great deal of skipping.

Carina and Gillian's unicycle turned out to be the least playful object, along with the little taped chair. Neither the chair nor the unicycle could be played with and they just became neutral copies of the real (more potent) objects. The tape bat, ball, and tennis racket were also pretty excellent until somebody tried to hit the tape ball with the real bat and it collapsed on itself. Alas.

tape sculpture

2007-04-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Today we explored the world of tape sculpture. I paired kids up and gave each group a roll of super heavy duty scotch packing tape to work with. I told them to walk around the outside of my house and find an object (or objects if they were small) to make a tape copy from. Tape sculpture is a great way to work large and to explore simple forms. I encouraged looking for simple things and gave them the example of a garden shovel -- mostly because I thought it would be funny to see a shovel made out of tape. Anyway, the various groups chose to copy from a bouncy ball, a unicycle, a bat and ball, a child's chair, and a wooden barrel.

Tape sculpture can also be used in a more decorative way. The tape layers can encapsulate small decorative items like glitter, sequins, ribbons, pebbles or grass. You can make tape shoes, hats, and dresses using your own body as a form. I decided to focus on the large form sculptural aspects of the tape medium, so I didn't give the kids any decorative options.

Tape sculpture is based on a very simple method: use a form; tape around the form with sticky side out; place decorative items on the sticky tape if you are using them; create a second skin of tape with sticky side down; cut the tape form off the original and apply more tape to the cut seams.

Some tips. The more expensive the tape, the stiffer the finished form. Try and pop for the expensive tape if you can when creating larger forms. When you are finished with the second layer of tape do a hand check for stickiness along the outside of the form. If any parts are left sticky in the finished piece they will attract dirt. If you have trouble cutting the form off the original, you might need a straight edge. This medium is very forgiving. Even if the cuts are messy and crude, the final project looks just fine.

Warning. Don't let kids put tape on their lips. We had one student take off a layer of lip skin by being goofy. Kids should tie back their hair. You wouldn't guess this was a dangerous project, but somehow we had a few mishaps.

fake fur

2007-04-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

Isaiah was intrigued by these pull-string stuffed cars. He altered the cars (note the lime green wheels and orange bodies) and now the mobiles are driven by a "God Bless America" enthusiast and a pink duck with bunny ears.

Carina made these two little critters and salvaged the plastic eyes from other animals. She also made a duck with bunny legs protruding from its stomach (not pictured).

Henry made this dragon from that delightful leopard fur I was coveting in the Anna Chamber's box. The dragon wings are made from some type of stretchy, metallic swimsuit fabric. Henry's dragon has fluffy, yellow bunny ears.

Isak's alterations were very subtle and disturbing. He found two identical blue stuffed bunnies and combined them. He came up with siamese twins. One twin has only one bunny ear and one bunny eye. The other twin is missing an arm. Ouch.

fake fur

2007-04-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

When I asked the kids at the beginning of the year what materials they wanted to work with in art club, many answered "fake fur". Fake fur can be expensive, and I didn't have a stash in my basement, so it took me awhile to come up with a plan. Over spring break my family was in New Orleans for Easter and we came back with a garbage bag full of stuffed animals that the kids caught during the three different Easter parades we attended. After picking out a few special stuffed animals, Jimmy and Henry agreed to donate the rest of the animals to the art club as fake fur fodder.

Also, the art club received a generous donation of inspired fake fur and other special tactile delights from our favorite stuffed animal artist, Anna Chambers. Thank you, Anna. A few months ago I emailed Anna about the club and shared photos with her of the art club's felted creatures (directly inspired by her work). She packed up this box of materials for future fun. Check out the pink and red leopard spot fur. What a dream!

I told the kids they could cut apart the stuffed animals for materials and create new objects inspired by the fake fur. Many of them were delighted at the idea of cutting into a stuffed animal (I guess they hadn't been allowed the pleasure previously) and also a little disturbed. One student let out a strange yelp the first time she cut off a bunny ear.

Linnea is a real animal lover. She always wants to draw her pet gerbil or puppy, and dreams about horses. She is extremely gentle in all her dealings with other people and creatures -- by the end of the day she was engaged in pink bunny decapitation.

ukrainian easter eggs

2007-03-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

ukrainian easter eggs

2007-03-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is our second year making Ukrainian Easter Eggs. The dyes are vibrant and inspiring to work with even if you don't plan on using traditional wax resist techniques. In Madison I got the dyes, wax, and kistkas (wax funnel drawing tools) at Orange Tree Imports on Monroe Street. One year I ordered supplies online from The Caning Shop and was very happy with their service.

Henry is demonstrating the wax removal technique. The most magical part of Ukranian egg dying is removing the outer wax coating and seeing the vibrant colors preserved underneath.

Annalise is enraptured by her kistka. Using a kistka is really quite hard, especially the cheaper versions that we use. The wax tends to blob and flow in strange and unexplainable ways. I just encourage the kids to choose simple designs and accept the difficulty of drawing with wax. When you look at traditional Ukrainian egg design it is easy to get discouraged by the emphasis on minute details. We are always able to come up with beautiful eggs, but we just try not to focus on perfection.

Linnea's little gerbil egg.

chalk drawings

2007-03-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Annalise and Carina combine the early spring enthusiasm of bare feet with hats and polar fleece.

We marked the coming of spring by going outside and creating mandala like chalk drawings on the sidewalk. We were inspired by photographs a friend took in India, and the fact that we had a sunny day above fifty degrees.

chalk drawings

2007-03-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Jessica took these photographs in India. They show chalk drawings made for a spring agricultural festival called Pongal. These chalk drawings are placed in front of entryways and mark hopes for a bountiful harvest.

I was interested in seeing how the chalk drawings begin with a grid of dots. I had the kids use this technique to keep track of the balance of their designs and it seemed to help. Also, they are using some sort of colored powder instead of chalk. They apply the powder to a wet ground with their fingers and get a most vibrant and intense color that we were not able to duplicate with our simple chalk sticks.

chalk drawings

2007-03-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

We started class by looking at Jessica's photographs from India. I showed them some mandala designs and talked about balance and proportion. I had students work out some designs on graph paper that would capture the coming of spring in mandala form.

I had the kids pair up and work together on their outside chalk drawings. We started by using rulers to measure dots on the sidewalk and tried to replicate our original designs the best we could. Sidewalk bumps, mud, group dynamics, and the pure distraction of being outside made this a bit less than the meditative exercise I was imagining, but nonetheless, the kids came up with some good works. Now we need a bit more spring. The kids were barefoot, but I was still freezing.

abstraction in felt

2007-03-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the kids' explorations in felt. They turned out pretty great. In the future I must remember to look at my fabric scraps for inspiration and save all felt bits.

Olive's underwater setting sun scene is an excellent example of the "more is more" school of abstraction.

Leaf's red faced man has purple buck teeth and a crown -- simply delightful caricature.

Isak's sweet ballet dancer was never glued down. He ended up scraping the dancer and moving on to work with a square grid pattern.

Linnea's lily pads float about in various spring colors.

abstraction in felt

2007-03-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

The art club had some tiny felt scraps to play with today. Olive's mom (the hat maker) donated her scrap bin. The little felt bits were just oddly shaped enough to inspire quirky felt abstractions full of wonder and delight. Is it a landscape, a ship, or an exploding planet? Who can tell? I only passed out the glue during the second part of the day so students would have ample time to move the colorful felt bits around in various positions before anchoring them down with Elmer's glue for a finished work.

abstraction

2007-03-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of our abstraction exploration. I got out the grid paper, markers, rulers, large paper, stencils, and pencils. We started class with a short discussion of abstraction, focusing on the repetitive patterning we found in the student's clothing. Olive had on the most wonderful outfit -- striped pink horizontal sleeves underneath a smock of intersecting circles with an peek-a-boo slip of gray vertical stripes and hot pink tights. Jimmy was sporting wide horizontal stripes of black and yellow on his shirt and narrow horizontal green stripes on his pants. We talked about the tension created by Jimmy's two patterns and the break at his midsection. I introduced the concept of white space and breaks in patterning by looking at the kids' outfits and it seemed to resonate. They were walking canvases!

I asked the students to play with the materials and create sketches that explored line, color and patterning in a variety of different ways. I put the music on loud and asked them to hold back sharing and talking during class so we could get away from the world of meaning and play with marking up the paper without a lot of premeditated thinking.

abstraction

2007-03-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

The students practiced their abstract sketches in a quiet, almost meditative state. I played some Brian Eno (Music for Films) and at times you could hear nothing else. We broke at the end of an hour or so and talked about the sketches. Some of the kids wanted to give a title or some background context to their work, while others just talked about their process (I used the stencils, I was playing with grid paper, I limited myself to four colors). The kids who were working on patterning talked about eye fatigue and I took the opportunity to introduce the genre of Op art. I found some examples of Op art online and certain kids claimed to feel a bit sick after looking at the Op. Towards the end of the day many of the students got silly and needed a sort of hysterical release from the trance of abstract art we were under. Other students appeared to have a higher tolerance for the altered state of repetitive mark making and lost all track of time.

felted creatures

2007-02-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

We finished our section on needle felting today. I highly recommend trying this craft with young artists. I was nervous when we began using the needles because I wasn't sure if the kids could sustain focus and avoid serious finger injuries. I shouldn't have worried. We had a few pricks, but generally the students were engaged by the materials and their focus came naturally. They were most inspired when working on their felted creatures. I have printed a number of stuffed portraits that are super adorable. Take a look.

felted creatures

2007-02-27T07:19:00.000-08:00

felted creatures

2007-02-27T07:05:00.000-08:00

felted creatures

2007-02-20T06:32:00.000-08:00

Both Leaf and Isaiah embarked upon the noble task of creating stuffed bunnies. Leaf's bunny is very girlie with a bow and giant eyes, while Isaiah's is the classic understated bunny of earth tones.

Henry's little devil is made from an old cashmere sweater. There's nothing like cashmere for taking the fear factor out of a demon doll.

Big eyes and a serious hairdo makes Sylvia's little chick super cute.

felted creatures

2007-02-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

Art Club felted some stuffed creatures today. We started by creating a pattern on paper and then cutting up old sweaters from the patterns. We flat needle felted the details of the face on the bodies. Limbs and horns were needle felted separately. I used a sewing machine to combine the front and back of the bodies. We stuffed them, attached limbs and things with needle, hand sewed up the openings. They were adorable.

Stage one: flat needle felting the details.

We used Anna Chambers creatures for inspiration.

Not a single student pricked themselves today.

needle felting balls

2007-02-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

We needle felted some balls today. I wanted to start with a simple shape and let the art club get lots of practice needle felting in the round. A common problem when learning to needle felt is failing to felt the three dimensional shape tight enough to hold an independent form. I wanted to teach the art club how to avoid a future of limp and flat felted objects, so we practiced the ball over and over again to get that perfect touch. We made solid balls and geode style balls (with lines of color we cut open to see) and turned the balls into hair clips, bracelets, creatures and rings. Good times.

Analise models the highly fashionable hair balls. We used hot glue to adhere the felted balls to the clips.

Henry models the felted ball bracelets. We used "stretch magic" plastic cording for stringing the felted beads.

needle felting

2007-02-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

This week we are going to focus on felting in 3-d. Little creatures, fairies, ugly dolls, animals, masks, hats, mitts, jewels -- the sky is the limit. The risk of finger poking goes up when you are working this way so I hope we can proceed with caution.

This is my rag doll, the first I have ever done with a felted face and wooly, dread hair. It was so fun to make -- I got super obsessed with the process. Check out her massive eyebrows!

This is Olive's spritely creation. She is very tiny and her hair proceeds her in a most excellent way.

Sylvia's little sea otter is marked with flower power.

press

2007-02-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

Oh my! The art club got some excellent press. Check it out in this week's Isthmus.

If you are visiting the blog because you just read about us in the paper -- welcome. Some of the big themes and goals of the club are listed on the left hand sidebar in the About section, and there are ten months worth of photos and projects in the Archives. Thanks for visiting.

needle felting

2007-01-30T07:44:00.000-08:00

These are the finished needle felted pears. I feel like all together they make such a nice group that maybe we should try to sew them up into a nine square quilt.

The kool-aid, acid colors of the wool lead you to create hyper-vivid images. I mean these aren't your ordinary pears -- these pears are like a super juicy vision from the tropics. I find them very appealing on this gray day.

needle felting

2007-01-30T07:16:00.000-08:00

We started needle felting this week. I got all this great colored wool (and the felting needles) at Rainbow Fleece Farms in New Glarus (608-527-5311). The wool isn't cheap, but we decided to use our special purpose holiday funds on the splurge. I think it is going to be well worth the $40. We will probably use needle felting in several upcoming projects and the bright colors and tactile feel of the wool is really appealing to the kids.

I was worried about them poking themselves and not being mature enough to use sharp felting needles, but they did great. A few kids did prick themselves, but I can report no major injuries and the pricks were not due to negligence. The art club was unusually quiet and concentrated while they felted. The whole day had a dreamy quality about it. The primary sound was the rhythmic beat of needles pricking through wool and foam.

We broke two needles during the day (by pulling them the wrong way when they were stuck in the foam) so buy a few extra when you are planning a project.

I started the needle felting project with flat felting because it is easier for beginning students to remember to keep their other hand away from the needle when they flat felt. I cut up old wool sweaters for the flat background and placed pears around the table. Students pinned the wool to the foam. I passed out needles and had the kids feel the ridges along the edge so they could judge the severity of the tool. This brought about a great deal of respect. Then I asked them all to flat felt the shape of a pear on their wool backgrounds. They selected an individual choice of wool palettes from the basket and began work on their simple shapes. I think the simplicity of the project helped them to focus on technique and developing ways of blending colors and creating a proper hand motion. When students were finished they were able to pull up the flat wool and see from the back how the wool fibers were stuck through the fabric.

Next week we will focus on developing some 3-d felted objects.

Leaf and Isaiah in a moment of total concentration.

Sometimes I noticed the kids shoulders getting tense and riding up to their ears. I had to remind them to relax into the felting motion and let their shoulders fall. Leaf is showing a perfect felting posture in this photo.

drawing game

2007-01-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

Actually playing the drawing game can be frustrating. The easiest and most creative part of the game is drawing characters and creating a team story. It is much more difficult to role play the game and keep your cool. One of the teams pictured played for over two hours and ended the art club session without determining a winner. They were obviously enjoying themselves and their in depth discussions of point totals and plundering success never got out of hand. They didn't seem to mind much when they had to finish up early and it was inspiring to watch them. Their role playing was back and forth, creative, and generally fun. The other group just couldn't seem to agree on a general tone of fun and ended the day with one person quiting the game. This felt like a real drag to me because on the last day of the drawing game I was hoping everyone could have a more positive experience. I also had one parent call me before art club and say that her child didn't want to play at all. So two kids were not able to participate in a game on the last day. Overall, this was not the ending I was hoping for.

What do I think? Basically, I think that some kids don't feel comfortable role playing and gaming. It's a totally new skill to some of them, and therefore I think there is a risk of kids getting their feelings hurt with this project and of creating some insecurities. Would I do it again? Yes. The stories and details of the drawing game were amazing. I think it's important to match up kids who are inexperienced with gaming and let them develop their skills with other students who are at their level. I suppose if it seems like some of the students are absolutely opposed to the competitive aspects of the game they could get together and just role play with their characters. I have to think about this issue a bit more, but for now we are moving on.

Next week we start a section on needle felting. I will have to worry less about hurt feelings and more about safe fingers.

drawing game

2007-01-23T06:39:00.000-08:00

As we finish up our section on the drawing game I will take a moment to highlight a few details.

We saw beautiful princesses and wizards,

crock pots coveted by tramps.

dastardly skeletons,

and briefcases full of cash. (wild penguins, healing tea, fighting babies, fighting fish, elegant ladies in red dresses, whiskey, typhoons, bumblebees, wooly sweaters, quiet horses in fields of grass, magical spells, riddles, gems, and poison gas)

The drawing game inspired art club students to explore the full potential of fantasy drawing and storytelling. I am ready to move on to new things, but I will miss the enthusiasm and gusto of the game.

drawing game

2007-01-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

The drawing game is a flexible role playing game based loosely on Magic the Gathering card game (or maybe Pokemon cards?) and Dungeons and Dragons (none of which I really understand). Basically, we are making it up as we go along and the kids understand more than I do at this point. Rules are of secondary importance to the role playing and drawing aspects of the game. The art club students all have teams with elaborate histories and pedigrees (see previous posts about the drawing game for details). It's hard to keep up. They draw all the characters and game boards themselves (many of them keep drawing things at home and at school to bring to art club) and last week they had their first tournament battles.

This being a very free form type game, I was a little nervous about the competitive play. I was relieved that all the teams displayed good manners and kept a sense of fun about them.

The storytelling was extremely detailed and imaginative.

My favorite part of the day was listening to the sound effects that the kids produced during the battles. Dramatic stuff. They sounded like little human video games.

Also, listening to them creatively argue their positions when faced with a particular game decision was inspiring. Such good conflict/resolution skills in these young kids! I was only called in to mediate one time.

Sylvia Hecht is very interested in creative writing. She agreed to reporting on the details of the games and I still haven't received her final draft. I found a list that is my other favorite part of the day. I think the list is from Sylvia's notes on the Wooly Sweater match up with The International Weird Dudes.

1. evil ballerina
2. poisoned candy
3. healing tea
4. transportation
5. black hole/whirl pool
6. (can't read)
7. poisoned alcohol
8. bad weather
9. same as #4
10. home people
11. bad things
12. odd creatures
13. bed

You see the excellent story material here.

Bottom line:
(for those of you interested in tournament standings)

International Weird Dudes triumphed over the Wooly Sweaters (see above list)

Skeleton Goth Guys trounced The Tramps (who had a hard time getting the hobos to show up and fight)

Laputa took down Horses Gone Wild (the horses aren't really about competition anyway)

The Magical Thingymabobs squashed The Shoppers (who just didn't have the numbers of magical penguins needed to put up a fight)

We will play again in two weeks. We have off next Monday for Martin Luther King Day. I can't wait to see what new strategies these teams come up with during the break.

community spirit

2007-01-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up I made art by myself. I had my drawings and my carefully crafted doll house furniture. Sometimes my mom would display something on the fridge. I made needlepoint for my grandma. In high school a group of us would take our lunches and study halls in the art room. We were hiding out there because it was a safe place where we knew we belonged, but we were never really a community. We were more a bunch of misfits with separate sketch books. It wasn't until I went to art school that I was part of a real arts community. I knew a group of people who were all interested in making art and talking about art and planning new art projects. It felt good. The periods of my life where I have been the most creative and productive are when I have been surrounded by a supportive art community.

When I started the art club I didn't know what I was after. My son Henry was always making things, and I was putting up his drawings on my fridge, and I wanted to help him share his enthusiasm with some peers. I didn't want his favorite past time to be a lonely pursuit, or for him to have to wait until college to find a group of friends to make things with.

I don't think our school arts programs are very good at creating a sense of community for young people. Most after school programs are temporary at best. In our culture a soccer team can last from kindergarten until the teen years, but there are no models for team spirit in the arts. It just doesn't seem right.

I don't know how long the art club will stay together, but I don't see an end in sight. As we approach a new year together I want to articulate my own motivations for starting the art club. The art club is about helping a group of young artists create a sense of community. I need to give them a place to work, materials, consistency, and encouragement. In my mind it doesn't really matter what I teach, it matters that I am there every week and they can bring in things that they made at home and share ideas with a group of young people they trust.

My goal for 2007 is to see if I can share this vision with other parents. Maybe we can get a few more of these groups started. I know there are many young artists out there, crafting solo, like their world will crumble if they don't cut that last paper snowflake. I know that feeling. It is just better to be part of a group and share that snowflake with a friend.

drawing game

2006-12-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

More drawing game this week. Everyone shook dice to determine their tournament roster. Some teams were given home court advantage for the first day of play, while others will have to wait until day two. Team names were determined and students will have the winter break to draw their special, top secret chance cards. The first tournament day will be the Monday after we return from break.

Tournament Schedule: Day 1

The Tramps vs Skeleton Goth Guys

Wooly Sweaters vs International Weird Dudes

Horses Gone Wild vs Laputa

The Shoppers vs Magical Thingymabobs

Day 2

Skeleton Goth Guys vs Horses Gone Wild

International Weird Dudes vs The Shoppers

Laputa vs The Tramps

Magical Thingymabobs vs Wooly Sweaters

drawing game

2006-12-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

Laputa is a dreamy team in the clouds with billowing winds and fairy like nymphs and mermaids. Skillfully drawn by the always entertaining Olive Early, this team is one to watch.

The International Weird Dudes is an unlikely mix of adroitly rendered magical creatures and superhuman globetrotters. Sylvia Hecht is an excellent storyteller and strategist and her team proves to hold a great many surprises. I've heard a secret fleet of evil shrimp are yet to be unveiled.

Watch out for the purely evil Skeleton Goth Guys. By far the most prolific drawer of the group, Henry Shotwell's team is as vast as it is grim. They are like the legions of the living dead, kill one ghoul and at least ten more are waiting in the ranks.

My special favorite, this year's come from behind cinderella story, The Tramps. Isak Lund spent most of yesterday drawing whiskey bottles in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors giving me the distinct impression that these hobos are ready to mix it up. They are up against the Skeleton Goth Guys in the first round. How will these rail riding tramps fair against the awesome power of the number one seed? Stay tuned.

drawing game

2006-12-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

We continued the drawing game adventure today and I plan on keeping with it for the next few weeks. Imaginative drawing is the favorite artistic activity of the entire group. The drawing game days have been interesting for me to watch as a teacher because there is very little for me to do but listen in amazement to the stories and ideas that pour out of the art club as a whole. There ability to tell stories with pictures is further developed than I would have guessed and as a group they are completely self reliant when they draw from their imaginations. Some of the students didn't even want to take a break when they were drawing because it would waste time.

I have to admit I am very excited about the tramp team (as imagined by Isak). It seems the amazing tramps are going to be cracking heads with whiskey bottles, riding the rails, and eating super powered beans!

There's simply no doubt that Henry's walking dead team is going to be a contender.

craft fair

2006-12-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

Our craft sale was a big success. We sold out of cozies, snakes, and cookies. The art club earned about $175 dollars for future supplies. I will ask the kids to vote today on what type of fancy art projects we should do during the rest of the year.

I liked watching the kids sell their crafts and answer questions about their projects. One of my primary goals for this sale, beyond earning money, is teaching the students about what it means to be an artisan and sell your wares. Some of the kids were shy, and others were eager to talk and sell. It is extremely hard for everyone, young and old, to get out there and talk with strangers about what you make, and I hope the students know how extremely beneficial it is to practice with a supportive crowd. I heard that some of the students were asking their parents if they could get out of it, and yet everyone seemed proud of themselves when the day was done.

Thank you to all the parents and kids for participating. This sale is why we can keep the art club fees minimal for the entire year.

candy canes

2006-12-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made candy canes with the art club. This was our second attempt. Last year I vowed to never do this project again. I was finding bits of hard candy on my floor well into February, and the sugar high the kids experienced was pretty ugly. But they talked me into it. I thought a year of maturity and a bit of experience might just get us through, but I was wrong. This year our candy cane making was equally crazed and the day ended with art club students being asked to take their dixie cups of candy cane scraps outside for a little winter fun.

Out of two batches of cane mix (7 cups of sugar and 4 cups of Karo syrup later) I think we made about seven candy canes and the rest was cracked up and snacked on and in bits on the floor. Yikes.

I have always been in favor of a little mess with your art, but next year I swear off the hard candy lesson for good. We all have our limits.

After we lost one whole batch of hard crack candy the students began to cheer with enthusiasm. "Now we can eat all the scraps," they cried with glee.

teapot cozy

2006-11-29T06:53:00.000-08:00

These little teapot cozies will be available at the sale on December 9th. Don't let your tea get cool and tepid. A teapot cozy is just the thing for those who want their second cup of tea to be as satisfying as their first.

Made from recycled sweaters and topped with handmade pom-poms, this is the ideal gift for your favorite DIY enthusiast.

If you have a small head, the teapot cozy can double as a hat with pigtail holes.

This teapot cozy evokes the natural affection shared by tea drinkers and horse lovers alike.

pom-pom mania

2006-11-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

The art club had access to a top secret pom-pom making machine last week (patent pending). The pom-pom addiction that swept over art club was quick and absolute. Pom-pom mania caused art clubbers to abandon the tea cozy project for pom-poms of various sizes and colors. Pom-poms can be juggled, used as hair decoration, or placed in pleasing grids of puffy color. If you choose to learn the art of pom-pom making use extreme caution and give yourself ample time to be mesmerized.

No art club student shall pass the winter with naked ice skates.

door snakes

2006-11-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

These playful door snakes will be available for purchase at the craft sale on December 9th. Keep out those winter breezes in style.

These snakes are filled with lightweight, moth resistant Hi-Dri for a lifetime of energy saving fun.

Remember that door snakes are not a weapon.

crafty cozies

2006-11-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

The art club is part of a holiday craft fair on December 9th. I started the students working on some cozy crafty items for the sale. We are making tea cozies and door snakes out of my old wool sweater collection. I felted the sweaters in the washing machine and they feel nice and fuzzy. The kids want to put pom-poms on the top of the tea cozy, so next week we will have a pom-pom making session, stuff the snakes with a bit of sand, and give them some button eyes. I will post the finished photos. They are all turning out super cute.

The hard part of having students make things to sell is that they get attached to the things they make and don't want to sell them. I guess I'm not really that different. It's weird to hear them talk about how their parents had better buy the things they are making or else.

Thanks, parents!

We are trying to raise funds for future art materials. I actually already spent a bit too much on wool batting recently (for teaching felting this winter), so I hope the cozies are a great success.

Save all wool sweaters. Wool is easy for kids to sew with. Wash the sweaters in warm water and shrink in the dryer. A stash of felted wool sweaters is the basis for any good cozy. I would recommend a wool cozy for your cell phone, nintendo, and digital camera, but not for your toaster.

paper game

2006-11-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

We have officially started the paper game in art club. Last week we explained the rules.
Team leaders pick a theme. Draw their teams. Draw their home base game boards. Role Play.

Fifty points of offensive attack points are allowed per team.
Fifty defensive points are allowed per team and the barricade structures are part of the home base game board.
There are twenty chance cards allowed per team. Chance cards are creative expressions of good luck for the home team or disaster for the opponent.

The art club is getting into it. We have teams made of animorphs, dancers, global musicians, fancy ladies in red dresses, tough babies, really tough old people, Russians, monsters and more.
Stay tuned for future encounters.

the paper box

2006-11-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

I took out my stash of fancy paper for the art club to use in their scrap books. I save wrapping paper and keep my eyes open for vintage wrapping paper, wall paper, crepe paper, doilies, and cards at rummage sales and thrift stores. I store all the paper in one plastic box in the basement and every time I bring the box out the students are instantly inspired. I never spend much money on any one thing in the paper box, but as a collection it is a true treasure.

This is a good time of year to score gift paper at thrift stores, so keep your eyes open and start a paper collection of your own. You won't be sorry. When the paper is spread out all over the kitchen table and a few glue sticks have been distributed, there's no way to lose.

scrap book sharing

2006-11-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

The art club shared their scrap books this week in class. This was by far the best show-and-share period we have ever experienced. The students seemed extra engaged in their memories from childhood. They shared photographs of themselves as kids, their pets, and their relatives. They shared special postcards, drawings, and letters. As an adult I was particularly interested in the acute nostalgia experienced by the nine year old set. They were letting out squeals of laughter and sighing at every special moment. The "when I was little. . ." approach these nine year olds voiced reminded me of how they situate themselves in a brave new world of preteen interests. I was surprised to see Lindsey Lohan featured prominently on a page of one youngster's book. It makes sense, I just have to keep up with the times.

The project was a great success. One mom shared with me how proud her child felt when showing her the memory book, and how he had been sleeping with it next to his bed.

scrap books

2006-11-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

We finished our scrap books yesterday and they look beautiful. I think this was a pretty hard project because there were so many stages that required patience and perseverance, but all our work paid off and the kids seemed really happy with their efforts.

scrap books

2006-11-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

scrap books

2006-11-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

The kids glued on their covers and went crazy with glue sticks and mod podge. Some of the students put movie tickets, drawings, special photos, letters and other special memory materials inside their new scrap books today, but most of the kids forgot to bring things from home. I am still having trouble getting the students to remember the collecting and gathering part of this project. Next week we will dedicate another class to putting special things in our new books and hopefully everyone will have collected something to scrap with. The kids who remembered to bring things were extremely thoughtful about what they selected. I am blown away by how heartfelt and individualized their scrap books look.

sketching outside

2006-11-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

We spent a beautiful fall day outside drawing the leaves, barren trees, dried up flowers and such. The art club groaned when I suggested sketching from life -- they much prefer to use their imaginations. I tried to keep it interesting by having them switch positions every few minutes so they only had time to go for the quick, gestural sketch. I have the sinking feeling that we won't be making art outside for awhile. We have to take plein-air when we can get it.

scrap books

2006-10-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

Today we worked on our book covers. First we sanded the covers outside to smooth the edges. Then we ate banana bread. Then we painted the covers bright and fantastic colors. I was really curious to see all the hot color options the kids chose. Usually sketch books and such are so somber and neutral. I think there is a market for scrap books in lime green and tropical yellow, accented with fuschia stripes or blue polka dots.

Next week we plan on putting the books together. Glue. Glue. And more Glue. The students should be collecting materials to preserve and collage.

paper game

2006-10-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

For those of you following the paper game, this weekend there was a battle in Northern Norway. Team Wenslydale was on the attack, forging through frozen tundra to retrieve the gold Ahindagindabaden stole last game. Wenslydale was geared up in mittens and cleats. They had piles of snowballs. They had hot cocoa. But alas, the children were no match for the hordes of wild, wolf-skinned maniacs. Calling themselves The fury of the North, the horde used brute strength, and a bit of help from their Italian allies, to capture the victory. All the children perished and Queen Wisteria barely escaped. Ahindagindabaden has the upper hand for now, but wait until next time when both teams meet in Egypt!

Transylvania party

2006-10-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

I hosted a Halloween party for the art club this Saturday night. We celebrated our Transylvania project by dressing up like Dracula and the living dead. Timea, our friend from Hungary who led one of the classes on Transylvanian history and culture, was our guest of honor. She very much enjoyed the Transylvania movie and actually got a bit choked up after seeing it. I think hearing the music she loves put to these wonderful images the kids made was a bit more touching than she expected. This felt like a real success to me and I felt especially grateful for her enthusiasm and support.

The kids finally got to watch the original Dracula movie. I had shown them excerpts, but I needed parental permission to view the entire movie. Anyway, they laughed the whole way through. It's hard to imagine a time when this type of horror had real impact. The slow pace, jerky camera movements, and obvious theatricality was genuinely hilarious to them. As I watched the art club mocking this black and white film, I felt a great longing for the gentler, sweeter times of Bela Lugosi's Dracula. After the movie was over the kids suggested we play charades. They were eager to try on various roles from the movie as they reenacted the mock horror of the night.

Every year the art club wants to have costume making activities during class time. I have stayed away from Halloween projects in the past because I find it hard enough to help my own children make costumes, let alone a whole group of kids. I think the Halloween party is a great way for the club to get together and celebrate the performance art of Halloween in a manageable and fun way. They can make their own costumes at home, but what they really want is a stage on which to share their creations. I want to continue this tradition, and as the kids get older maybe we can learn a bit about installation art as we create a haunted house!?! I feel inspired.

Transylvania movie

2006-10-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

pumpkin heads

2006-10-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

We had time to explore the world of pumpkin heads this week during book making rests. The art students drew a grid of odd shaped circles on a piece of paper and practiced their caricature drawing styles to create funny faces. This is a simple and fun way to play with a Halloween theme while buffing up on cartooning skills.

scrap books day 2

2006-10-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

We continued on with our book making today. The kids sewed their spines together, which took a lot of concentration and attention to detail (yours truly almost lost her mind, and luckily our guest teacher Heidi led us through the day with great patience and wisdom). I forgot how hard it is to keep the waxed thread straight and had one too many knots to undo. At one point I had to say that the next person who talked would have to untie Carina's knot, but the kids knew I was bluffing and they just kept talking. Alas. We completed the hardest part and everyone is still with us.

The books are going to be beautiful. Some of the kids have already brought in scrap folders full of photos, letters, and nice pictures of guinea pigs, horses and cats to scrap in when we actually have the books completed. Next week we will start on the covers. This project is a scrappy, month long endeavor I believe.

Transylvania opening

2006-10-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

The opening was great fun -- lots of people and positive feedback. I think watching the art club with their parents and friends was the highlight of my night. At one point Henry was jumping up and down saying, "that one is mine," to his buddies and his two nine year old friends were laughing and saying "cool" over and over again. All the students seemed really proud and excited about how big the video looked on the wall and how loud and compelling the music sounded in the vast warehouse space. They had on artist nametags. I saw several other artists come up and comment on their piece, congratulating them on a job well done. Sylvia was around for the artist presentation section of the evening and she got a chance to talk about her experiences making the Transylvania video. She handled herself with great poise, as always, and I felt quite awestruck at her ability to charm a crowd of adults and speak articulately on artistic process and inspiration. I think many of the grown ups in attendance were inspired by the video and surprised that a group of youngsters could make such a sophisticated and smart work of art.

I felt happy to see the students interacting with many of the other works in the show. There were quite a few challenging pieces of contemporary art that really pushed them to discuss what was and wasn't art. At one point they were walking around pointing at things saying, "That's art, and that's not. That is. Yes. No. Art, not art." They all decided that the edible paper guy definitely had some art about him. All of them unanimously agreed that their piece was the best of show.

I will be posting the video on YouTube soon for those of you who are interested. We are waiting on hubby Frank for this one.

scrap books

2006-10-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Heidi was a guest teacher yesterday. She started teaching the kids how to make scrap books. Heidi showed the students some of her own personal scrap books and talked about her interest in the visual diary. She has saved special images in homemade scrap books for over ten years. She uses these as a source of future inpiration and reflection. They include photographs, show cards, receits, tickets, letters, images ripped from newspapers and magazines, drawings, text, diary entries, and many other strange and wonderful things she has decided to hang on to. Some of the kids couldn't believe that Heidi stuck paint sample cards and plane tickets in her visual diary. It's true.

The scrap book project needs to be done in several seperate stages and demands a great deal of precision and concentration. Yesterday the students measured and ripped pages, and then folded them neatly at the center. Next week we will sew the pages together and start on making the book covers. I hope this project inspires the students to think about what it means to create their own visual diaries. Sylvia said she has already started her own poetry/sketch book, but for many of the other students this is a new concept.

Heidi, thank you for the inspiration.

Transylvania project

2006-10-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

We finished the Transylvania project yesterday. This Saturday night is the big opening (149 Waubesa Street from 4-7)! Most of the students made two or more mini films. I edited them with my computer guru husband last night (thank you, Frank) and they look excelllent. The Transylvanian folk music sets a crazy, creepy tone and jumps and jerks at all the right points. I have the feeling that we could have just kept making videos all year. The kids didn't want to quit. When I asked them what they learned about Transylvania they were still pretty stuck on the whole Dracula myth (and the fact that there was a real Count Dracula that impaled people who displeased him). Anyway, I know they absorbed more than just the gruesome details -- although gore sells itself pretty well. I asked each student to tell me what they will remember about Transylvania and I got some nice responses. One student told me she will remember that they like to eat cheese there and so do we. Another thoughtful remark was that one student was thinking about the poverty and unrest in the country (which Timea had talked with the kids about). Some students were curious to hear about gypsy culture. I know that the style of wearing babushka head scarfs interested some of the fashion savy students. And did I mention that there was a real Count Dracula that impaled people? Yup, it's true. If you want to see a beautiful book of photographs taken in Transylvania, I recommend a book by Korniss Peter entitled Leltar, Erdelyi kepek 1967-1998. The images will stick with me for quite some time.

coats of arms

2006-10-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Almost all the kids finished their coats of arms yesterday. I snapped a shot of them showing off their shields outside. When I looked at the photo again I was surprised to see how different and individualized each crest turned out. Henry's, for example, is strictly abstract, while other art clubers took time to select personalized symbols, letters, and color fields. Several of the students said they were going to hang these up at home in their rooms. I think they were quite proud of them.

Transylvania project

2006-10-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Week three of the Transylvania project was all about non-stop action, stop-action video. The art club went totally nuts making little characters out of clay and building castles out of legos. There were stories involving dracula, cheese, lollipops, ghouls, impaling, stabbing, swordsmanship, cute little children, and children that turn into cheese. I can't say enough about the simplicity and fun of claymation sessions with young people. The art club was able to navigate the software completely on their own and enjoy the pure magic of moviemaking . It was a delight to watch them laugh and tell their stories. Throughout the entire session the kids were picking out their favorite Transylvanian folkmusic as background sound for their movies. Imagine the whirling dervish of a Hungarian jig, Dracula impaled on a lego sword, and red clay clusters of blood, and you will just about catch the crazy, zany fun of the day.

Transylvania project

2006-10-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Timea is Hungarian. She has visited Transylvania and I asked her to share her stories and photographs with the art club. I think the opportunity to hear a first hand account of the region was invaluable to the project. How did Timea's personal stories about delightful cheese, colorful farmer's markets, salt mines, packs of wild dogs, and political unrest resonate with the art club? We shall see. I am asking the students to integrate what they have learned about Translvania -- from Timea's tales, the Dracula myths, the regional music we have been listening to, the folk dancing video, and the various photo books I've gathered -- and make a short stop action video related to the theme. It was a good work day. The group seemed motivated, and I can't believe how quickly they are catching on to the conceptual process of translating a mass of information into a work of art. Amazing. Anyway, thank you Timea.

Transylvania project

2006-09-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

I introduced the Transylvania project today. We watched a documentary about the many faces of Dracula and then switched gears to a video about Transylvanian folk dancing. "How do we make sense of this place?" I asked. We have images of horror and darkness on the one hand, and colorful swirling skirts on the other. I had a bunch of library books checked out on the table for students to look at. The books were full of photographs -- fields and sheep, markets with cheese, children in folkloric dress. One student mentioned a disproportionate number of old people and babushkas. There were a number of photographs of the gypsy population, and mountain dwellings with sod roofs. One student (named Sylvia) noted that the root word sylvania means a land of many trees. I let them sketch and make figures out of clay as we listened to music from the region. Next week we will begin to make stop action movies about our Transylvanian musings.

animal crests

2006-09-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Linnea and Gillian both finished their coat of arms projects this week. They focused on animal symbolism -- which for both young artists is very much in keeping with what they find important and meaningful. I was really happy with their efforts. The flaming tail of Linnea's horse and the scorching sun over Gillian's lion are especially powerful.

I join the game

2006-09-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

I have joined the epic battle. Almost all I could do last weekend was draw my troops. My team is Wenslydale, and we are a rag tag group of British orphans forced to fight with knitting needles and such by the wicked queen mother of our orphanage -- queen Wisteria. Some of our brigade has been turned to bugs by her powers. We drink tea and eat crumpets to sustain ourselves. We are blessed with good cheese. We have a few hound scouts and some falcons. Our healing powers are based on leeches and fresh blood. Go team Wenslydale! Our next battle is this Sunday at twelve hundred hours.

coats of arms

2006-09-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

At the last art club we looked at some books about heraldry and discussed the concept of a family crest. We began creating coat of arms designs on graph paper. I encouraged them to think in terms of symbolism and geometric order. I have several rolls of gold leafed wall paper that is quite thick, like a stiff canvas, (they were discovered in a dumptster behind a local wall paper store I frequent) anyway, the golden canvas is perfect for the crest ground. I advised students to use masking tape for the boundary distinctions in their crest designs. Then we started to paint. When the paint was dry we peeled off the masking tape and had really nice backgrounds with perfect line and clarity. During the next art club we will go back into the project with a second layer of detail painting.

This is the first time I have turned my basement into a painting studio. I threw down big drop cloths and let the students work on the ground. We had to be careful not to walk on one anothers art, but overall it went okay. I want to allow the students to get messier and work bigger at times, which just can't happen in my kitchen. I'm too afraid of paint everywhere. When the weather is nice I can let them paint outside, but this winter I have to keep cleaning out my basement and carving out a mess room. I was surpirsed how candid the students were about the chaos. One student saw a mouse trap in the corner. Another asked why it was so dusty. Quite a few were looking out for centipedes. I need a few more bright lights, certainly, and a good scrub down, and less junk -- but most of the junk is for future art projects, and you just never know when the gold leafed wall paper will come in handy.

life drawing session

2006-09-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

I like to start class with life drawing -- quick one minute poses that focus students attention and stimulate their minds to the particulars of describing visual information. Life drawing can be very hard and frustrating. I try to create a non-judgemental attitude towards the work. These drawings are process excercises. The more comfortable students get with an attitude of experimentation throughout these beginning excercises, the better the entire class will be. Also, having the whole class come together and draw the same thing (the model) creates a solidarity within the group that I like. The first time we did life drawing some of the students were very hard on themselves. Now they can laugh at their difficulties and start over with the next pose. Keeping the poses moving and changing helps to create a dynamic environment, increases concentration skills, and limits frustration. Students are more open to trying new things during the rest of art club if we start with twenty minutes of life drawing.

life drawing

2006-09-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

Art Club regrouped yesterday and we started the session with life drawing excercises. Students posed for each other and did quick thirty second and one minute poses. The models had trouble holding still and quite a bit of goofiness ensued when picking poses, but overall a great time was had by all.

epic battle game

2006-09-07T06:13:00.000-07:00

My sons Henry and Jimmy are really interested in epic battle games. They play card games like Magic the Gathering, board games like Settlers of Catan, and computer games like Age of Mythology. I think many kids are so inclined. I must admit that I have not been super supportive of these inclinations in the past, but recently I have been totally won over and inspired. Let me explain.

Last year Henry began drawing battle guys and giving them powers (number ratings). The drawings progressed and became more detailed. He introduced Jimmy to the activity. They told stories. They learned to role play entire battles. They drew fences and castles and balistas and guys on horseback with arrows. Later they drew food sources, charms, and monsters. The whole story progression is so detailed and complex that it is hard to absorb it all as an adult. I think the experience of trying to understand children's stories is often humbling and demands a different sort of attention and patience. My friend Heidi took the time to really sit down and engage with my boys and soon after she began to draw her own army forces. Last week the three sat down to demonstrate a full epic battle using their drawings and stories. The game took two days and several hours to complete and contained some of the best drawings my sons (and my friend Heidi) have ever made.

I loved the whole thing and I want to introduce the idea of game making to the art club this year. I think we will have to be careful with our glorification of carnage and battle, and also watch our silliness while role playing, but overall I have never seen this type of drawing commitment before with my kids. Henry and Jimmy have been making drawings for over a year now and they have won over an adult. Heidi now stays up late nights drawing her army to show Henry in the morning. Both my husband and myself want to find a late night or two so we can start creating our troops soon. I think there is an epic battle in our future.

miniature hats

2006-09-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

The miniaturists were invited to Hats-O-Fancy, the studio of local hat maker Renee Roeder, to make small hats and bags. We molded black buckram for the hats and let them dry tied over bottle tops. Buckram is a stiff material which can be purchased in most fabric stores. The starched material becomes maleable when wet and then stiffens again when it dries which takes about ten or fifteen minutes. We decorated our little hats with silk ribbons and flowers. The hat bags were folded and glued around wood blocks and labeled with mini Hat's-O-Fancy stamps.

flip books

2006-09-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

Yes. Flip books are fun and easy to make. All young artists should give them a try. Henry made an excellent example based on his Flabacco series of characters. You guessed it. By the last page Flabacco has chopped off a demon head.

Flip books are good for teaching visual narrative. Have students think of a surprising visual scenario that conveys movement. Tell them to draw the final image. Encourage them to use a simple cartoon based drawing style. Have them draw fifty supporting images that precede their first drawing. Students will be surprised how quickly they can get through the process, especially when each image is just changed a micro bit.

Some details: Try to be as exact as you can when cutting the pages because the flipping will be better if you have all the same proportions. Use paper that you can see through (we used computer paper) and draw your image on top of the previous image so you can change each frame of your book proportionally. Draw images with a Sharpie style marker so the lines jump right off the page. Remember to leave room for the staples. The images in the flip book will be on the outside half of the page and the inside part of the page will be blank. The fatter the book the better the flip.

clothespin people

2006-08-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

I found a bag of old school style wooden clothespins at a local thrift store and Sylvia brought them to life. I like the found materials she used to give her guys crazy individuality -- bouncy ball head and flapper girl draped in tin foil, marble man and tatsy (a girl with lace tatting glued to her torso with pink beaded eyes). This project creates the perfect stage for character development and storytelling, you just have to provide clothespins and hot glue, and let the kids scavenge for odd bits and baubles.

shell and bead guys

2006-08-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

The art club hot glued shells, beads, and googly eyes together to create little guys. It was quite fun and only one child hot glued their finger. Pink glue was used as an aesthetic choice and all the creatures were given names and pedigrees.

hot glue sculpture

2006-08-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

When I have kids create sculptures using small found materials I place all the objects at the center of the table in bowls and on cookie sheets. I give paper plates to each child to work on top of when they use the glue gun. I give students dixie cups to place the materials in that they favor and want to save. Glue gun safety is important. I give each student a wood skewer (or straw/chopstick/toothpick) that they can use to poke their found objects into place with instead of using their fingers.

mini box worlds

2006-08-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

The miniaturists are back together this week. Today I gave them jewelry boxes, old magazines, scissors, and glue sticks and they collaged miniature worlds of fascinating detail.

felting class

2006-08-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to Virginia the kids and I took a simple felting class. The last time the art club attempted felting it wasn't a great success -- pretty messy, the felting was slow going, and I didn't have a good grasp of the material. A local community art center in Orange, Virginia provided the space for a private lesson with a local felter. It was an excellent opportunity to improve my own skills and step back and watch an expert work with my own children while I took notes. I got a lot of specific felting tips from the class, but mostly I was reminded about how important it is to take time to watch other artists teach. On the road, or right here in Madison, I realize how refreshing it is to make contact with other artists and encourage myself to keep learning and trying new materials. I think that teaching art club helps motivate me to expand my comfort zone as an artist and that's just the kick in the butt I need to stay creative.

Some of the things I learned about felting:

Start by patting felt lightly, then rub gently, then get rough with felt only after shrinkage has started to occur.

Start your felting inside a freezer bag. (genius, easy clean-up and no friction between hands and felt)

Use wool batting for simpler felting constructions. Make a sandwich with batting of four layers -- with every other layer of fibers going opposite ways in a cross-hatch fashion.

The warmer the water the quicker the felting.

Use Ivory soap. Don't use too much soap because the wool fibers will slip, one or two drops per warm water solution in an old dish soap bottle is enough.

Use a series of warm water rinses as you felt until the soap is no longer in the felt and the final felting stage occurs with damp felt outside of the freezer bag in your hands. At this point the students can get rough with the felt and rub it on the table for a final felting stage.

For projects that need a resist (a pocket that doesn't felt like a puppet or a purse), use foam packaging sheets.

Remember to mark the top of projects before felting so you can tell where to cut the resist pocket when you want to turn it right side out.

Jimmy made an excellent pouch, so I guess this project is age appropriate for four year olds. This year in art club plan on some felting fun.

Olive's party

2006-08-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

Birthday parties are an excellent time for craftiness and artful performance. Olive had all the kids decorate their own party hats -- greatly increasing the true fanciness of the occasion. She made and designed her own party dress. She served miniature foods at her birthday banquet on mini green plates. The elegant fare included mini weiners on mini croissants, cocktail corn, baby carrot sticks, and a tiny cake. Lemonade was continually served in doll sized glasses. I was glad to be included on the guest list.

Isaiah's summer

2006-08-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Isaiah shared some of his summer projects at the last art club. He has made several sock monkeys and a knitted horse. One of the things I really value about art club is the show and share period when students can bring in what they have made at home and discuss their ongoing artistic pursuits. I am often surprised by how students translate what we work on in class to the home environment, tweaking and changing techniques to their own interests.

Isaiah knew how to knit before starting art club. He actually made a number of knit chickens for the chicken fundraiser while I was helping other kids get through their first projects and was able to help other students learn to tie off and count stitches, etc. He told me the knit horse took him quite a while and he wouldn't recommend the project for beginners. At the start of last year Isaiah was not as comfortable with a sewing needle. I helped him thread his needle and provided insight on things like starting threads, knotting off, cutting patterns, and stuffing techniques. I felt very gratifited to realize that not only does Isaiah now feel comfortable starting hand sewing projects on his own, but he is also creating a whole sock monkey community in his home. This is his third sock monkey of the summer. (I think his little brother might run out of socks.) This summer Isaiah also attended a circus camp and got a new unicycle.

cross-stitch

2006-08-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

We learned how to cross-stitch today. Cross-stitching builds confidence with the needle and young students can get fairly specific and simple images quickly. First the students made designs on graph paper and then they translated the work to gingham using the checks as a guide. Many of the students had not used an embroidery hoop before and cross-stitching with a geometric grid helped them learn how to push the needle from the back of the hoop without flipping the hoop over every time. I made students pull out their stitches when they made a mistake with the design (which is easy to tell with cross-stitch) because I wanted them to learn to be exacting with their stitches and to feel like drawing with a needle and thread can be "erased" with very little effort. We also made designs for writing our names in cross-stitch.

fancy fans

2006-08-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

We had art club today in the intense heat and so we decided to embrace the art of the fancy fan.

I got the daisy fan pattern from a victorian book of child's play. You can use wrapping paper or white paper and color your own design. Fold the paper first in atleast 34 fan style folds. Then unfold paper and decorate with colored pencils. You can cut holes in paper papel picado style and add embellishments if desired. Next decorate and cut the leaf pattern every four folds. Refold fan. Add popsicle stick handles with glue stick at edges. Tape center with scotch tape to hold the fan in position. Tie with a twistie (or ribbon). Fan yourself vigorously.

field trip

2006-07-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

On a recent field trip to Chicago I came across a flyer that interested me and gave me pause about my own art teaching projects. The flyer was an advertisement for Art Party Play Dates, a business venture that offers parents an opportunity to enroll their kids in art play dates (at a cost of $60 for three hours). I am not sure if this concept is financially successful, or viable in a smaller market like Madison, but the whole thing had a very slick look and pleasant appeal. Would I like to run art party play dates and make some money I had to ask myself?

I have to say, on this very same field trip to Chicago I found myself lusting after a pair of shoes that cost a ton of money. I didn't get the shoes. After the field trip I actually felt like I couldn't really afford to visit Chicago that often because the whole thing was so expensive. My own relationship to money was right at the forefront of my mind. And I realize how lucky I am in general because I don't have to make money to support myself and my family through my art. I am a mom who can afford to stay at home with my kids, and that affords me the ability to volunteer my time as an art teacher. Anyway, I guess right now I am interested in thinking about teaching art as a supplemental income maker, not as a replacement for art club, but as an alternative model of art education outside the classroom. Having choices about how and when to purchase extra curricular opportunities for your kids feels good to me as a parent. I frequently enroll my kids in soccer camps for example, and I pay a piano teacher to give my children lessons. And it seems that some parents are willing (and able) to pay for art opportunities for their young ones, so why not me?

I am on the fence about offering art classes on a pay-per-class basis, not as a replacement for the art club, but as a way of testing the Madison market and supplementing my own family income. I have no doubt I would enjoy giving it a try (and my own discretionary account is at an all time low), but I just have to develop a business plan.

confetti eggs

2006-07-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

Confetti eggs, also known as cascarones, are a traditional part of Mexican celebrations. Making these eggs with the art club was easy and fun. We did this project during mardi gras, but they are the perfect party bomb for any summer fiesta.

I cracked open small holes in the eggs ahead of time (and made an excellent quiche for dinner). I dried the eggs out in the oven on low heat. During class the students filled the eggs with confetti, glued tissue paper over the holes in the egg, and decorated the eggs with glitter using glue from the squeeze bottle and drizzling it on the egg in loopy designs. After the glue was dry the students had an egg cracking party outside and seemed rather pleased with their efforts. We made enough so students could take one egg home to share with their family.

flower patterns

2006-07-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

The students translated their observational drawings into flower patterns. We looked at textile designs where the flower pattern is repeated and applied this method to our paintings. Most students created a pencil design and filled with color as a second step. Painting flowers is a good practice for teaching how contrasting line applied over a solid bachground color can create depth and detail.

Henry's milkweed design is dreamy art deco delight.

flower drawing

2006-07-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

The last art club was a beautiful day and the kids sat outside in the garden and drew flowers from life. I had them switch every so often so that each drawing took no longer than five or ten minutes.

abc's

2006-07-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

I will try to make a list of tips for parents interested in starting an art club. The ideas will probably grow and change, as I am learning about what works by trial and error, but here goes:

A. Students in the group must be interested in art. Don't just work with a group of neighborhood kids or friends. Not all children want to make art for three hours after school one day of the week. Art Club is a time commitment and the students must choose it for themselves. Group dynamics are very important to the art club. I have had several students stop attending. Ask teachers and other parents which children they know who make art on their own time and seem inspired by art projects in school. I want kids who are already self motivated about visual art, but need a place and a group to share ideas with. Every community has kids who are hungry for this experience and it's important to try and reach out to gather these kids together. I assume that your child is one of these kids and will be the primary motivator for your continued interest in this project.

If you suspect that maybe you are more interested in art than your children, maybe you should consider forming an art club for adults.

I have two sons. My older son Henry is obviously interested in art. He is always making things and has been doing so forever. I started the group because I wanted him to have an art community of peers and I wanted to be a part of the group. My younger son Jimmy shows very little interest in making art. He may motivate me to try becoming a soccer coach in the future. The jury is still out.

B. Art Club should be free except for a materials fee. The kids who should be in art club don't always have material means or motivated parents. It depends on circumstance and I was not comfortable with narrowing my base by economics. Also, although I am a trained artist, I feel comfortable giving four hours of my time a week to a group of kids without thought of material gain. I think ideas of professionalism in the arts have made it all but impossible for kids to have access to a community of artists without a pay-per-lesson type mentality. I am not able to give more than one afternoon a week to a facilitating an art club, so that's all that I offer. Parents should ask themselves how much time they are willing to give of themselves and then schedule accordingly. An art club could easily sustain momentum by meeting once a month. If I did groups every day or needed to rent a space I would have to charge each student. That is why I feel it is important for art clubs to stay in the home, small, and parent-run.

I charge thirty dollars for materials for the year. I do a lot of shopping for materials at garage sales and thrift stores, and I put the word out for donations. Many art supply stores will give discounts to teachers, so ask about store policy. Parents who have economic means are able to donate money and materials if they choose. We have a Christmas sale of student art works to raise material funds.

C. Teach the art club alone. I started the art club with a partner. While I think it is o.k. to start this way, and may give a certain amount of confidence to parents, in the long run I think that art club should be lead by one person. I ask parents to help on certain projects if they have a special project, talent, or desire, but I always enjoy the quiet time when I am the only adult in the room. I think anyone who is a teacher will attest to the dynamic disruption that occurs when another adult enters a classroom. I talk more with the other adults in the room when they are present instead of focusing on the needs of the students. At times other adults can cause me to feel self-conscious about my role as teacher. I think a good model for adult participation is as a guest teacher or field trip helper, and if another parent shows particular interest maybe they could attend for awhile and splinter off eventually to form their own art group.

D. Have public exhibitions. I was thinking about the 4-H model of competition and realized that public display is an important group motivator. The art club students are not given prizes or ribbons, but the public display of art gives them a feeling of pride and something to strive for based on excellence and presentation. The art club has a booth in a Christmas craft fair and an annual exhibition at a local gallery with an official invitation, an opening, and specific fund raising goals. These experiences motivate art students. Public exhibitions give the group an opportunity to raise funds and create a community presence. Coffee shops are a great place to have an art opening.

E. Teach skills. Teach self improvement. Recognize student preferences. I love art projects that are creative and exuberant, where students use bright colored paints and glue and sequins, but I also believe in the concentrated act of self improvement through art. Most art experiences for children are about the expressive moment, both in school and the library/museum type classes available within the community. I try to strike a balance between the fun, creative moment and an approach to art which emphasizes self improvement, the development of artistic skills, problem solving, and conversations about art and the role of artists in the community -- things which are especially suited to be taught within the extended time frame of the art club setting.

Each student will have a preference for specific media and an aversion to others. Some artists work best in two-dimensions, or sculpturally, or are colorists, or surface designers, some like to work gigantic, or perhaps in the miniature, and some like to just draw from their imaginations. These preferences will always be with each individual artist -- they are theirs to keep and cherish -- but I try to motivate students to expand their skills and think about art club as a place to learn new approaches to art, and to get feedback from other students and myself. I try to motivate each student according to their own interests, but I do not allow them to sit out group projects or just do their own thing. I treat art club like a class and everyone does the same projects, starts class together, and ends together with a sharing period where we have a chance to talk about the process and what is working in our projects and what we need to improve. Some students need to take more breaks because of their attention span, but we all come together at the end of a good day.

This year every student learned how to knit. Knitting is a skill and not all of the students were as thrilled about learning this skill as others, but we all worked to complete one project together. Some students completed twelve projects while others worked hard to get through one. I paced out the knitting so we had days where we only knit for the first half hour and then moved on to another project that engaged different artistic abilities. I also introduce students to drawing from life. Many days we start with a half hour of drawing from a live model (we take turns posing for each other) or I will set up a still life to observe. Drawing from life is hard. I do not feel exceptionally gifted at it myself, but it is a skill worth pursuing. I find students respond to the challenge, but most still favor drawing from the imagination.

Art club students will respond to artistic challenges because they feel comfortable with their group, and because they meet on a consistent basis, they know that they don't have to master anything on the first try. The club is about trying new things and being part of a supportive art community, so mastery and the completion of projects in a set amount of time is totally deemphasized. The art club students are self selected, after all, and identify themselves as artists, so it is only fair to treat them as serious art students and give them challenges, but this is different than artistic mastery or the definition of art as a project which demands perfection. I give the students gentle critiques of their work. They are looking for ways to improve their visual communication and I find many of them really want me to say what I believe is working in their art and what parts I think need improvement. Much of the art training kids receive absolutely lacks the element of critique. When I tell students, for example, that one part of their painting really interests me over the rest, they will often go back into their painting and come out renewed. I introduce the idea of editing in art club and we will talk about when a project is finished. The benefit of having a group dedicated to art is that you can introduce some of these ideas to students and even though we don't always know where the tough ideas will take us, the group dynamic and a weekly commitment allow the group to continue and strengthen. I will always motivate from a student's strengths, but I have found that each student is open to improving themselves artistically. Completing projects, learning new skills, having public exhibitions, and participating in show-and-share critiques are all ways of motivating art club students towards self-improvement, but this in no way negates the primary goal of art club -- that each student feels a sense of artistic community and learns to see art making as a continual process of experimentation.

I do think it is possible to have an art club where a leader specializes in one artistic medium or concentrates on areas where they (and their students) feel most comfortable and inspired. I love the idea of an art club dedicated to performance (there are certainly a number of kids in my art club who would love to focus entirely on making plays and designing the sets and costumes). Or perhaps a club that brings together a group of young musicians to form a band and explore the art of song writing and improvisation. I can visualize a quilting enthusiast who decides to create a youthful quilting bee. These variants would all work. I can visualize a time when there are a great variety of clubs and they all collaborate and attend performances and shows of the other groups on a regular basis.

I am personally trying to impart a specific philosophy of art to the students in my art club, but this can be intimidating and overwhelming for potential group leaders, especially if they don't have a personal philosophy of art already formed. Many of the principles and benefits of art club can be modified to the leader's interests. Starting a club is more important than having a philosophy of teaching, but I find it helpful to have a philosophy so I know where I am going. Also, I have a strong feeling about what is lacking in our society's approach to art education. I encourage parents starting a group to ask themselves some philosophical questions about their own motivations and let these feelings guide their teaching style. Most importantly, look to the child you are starting the art club for. In my case, I looked to my son Henry and asked myself what he would want and what he was missing in terms of his art education and that was able to guide me as I made decisions.

F. Teach same age kids. Fine motor skills and attention spans of children vary widely even within a year or two. I find it difficult to imagine teaching a group of kids of various ages. I am interested in the idea of mentoring. If other art clubs are started up, I think it would be wonderful to have older art students collaborate with younger students on specific projects, although I haven't been able to try this idea out yet.

G. Give it a try. Teaching art to kids is a forgiving process. The bottom line is that not enough people try.

why

2006-07-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

I hope that parents will look at this blog and feel inspired to start their own art clubs. I am a visual artist and so I started this project with a certain amount of confidence, but I think that anyone with some time to dedicate and an interest in helping their kids with art can give it a try. Of course, specific projects will vary according to the leader's interests and abilities, but I believe lesson content is less important than the simple act of forming a group dedicated to making art. The group must be made up of kids who enjoy making art, and the leader needs to provide project ideas, time, materials and space for the creative process to unfold. It's really pretty easy.

I know a good number of soccer league parent coaches, for example, who never played soccer themselves but feel obligated to step up and coach a team. I don't see this type of commitment being given to the arts. Our public school art programs are unable to provide the time and materials for excellent art instruction. Kids who are specifically motivated by visual ideas will not have their needs met during the school day alone. An art club not only gives these kids more access to time and materials, but the group can reinforce their talents and self identity as artists. Art club is about creating a sense of community for your kids and their peers.

Starting an art club is simple -- all you have to do is decide how often to meet and invite a certain number of kids to join. And the benefits are immediate and profound. The most obvious one for me was being able to make a real, lasting commitment to my son Henry. Before starting the art club I often fell short of my goals for making art with Henry. He was consistently making things, but something always seemed to get in the way of my ability to sit down and be a part of his process. Now that I have set aside one afternoon a week, and I have asked other kids to join in, I never miss out on the experience. I also get the joys and benefits of being an art coach. I get to share the stories, projects, and triumphs of the club each and every week. The students bring me constant inspiration and hope for a more inspired and creative future.

I would love to hear from other parents who are thinking about starting an art club. I want to swap project ideas and arrange future collaborative projects. I am willing to answer questions and give support to anyone who wants to start a group. I hope to schedule a talk in the future for interested parents, so please send your email information if you would like the details. Just leave a comment.

fairy forts

2006-07-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

Fairy forts are a great way to arrange natural materials. One of my art students has been making fairy forts for several years. She keeps remaking the forts and collaborates with other neighborhood kids as the fairy village changes and reacts to natural disasters (like rainstorms and winter) and whimsical reorganizations. The materials -- moss, gourds, coconut husks, birch bark, shells, and rocks -- work like building blocks and must, according to the groups strict rules, be found and not purchased. They forage and gather materials as part of the creative process and have a mossy spot in the park and a birch tree in a neighbor's yard which are of particular interest. Domesticating nature on a miniature scale is appealing to these students, but I understand that the story is less important than the architectural delight they take in making new structures. Yes, these huts and hammocks are inhabited by fairies, but no one seems to worry much about specificity. They are aware that at some point in the future the village will be visited by a local dog or toddler.

digital photos

2006-07-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

If you have a digital camera, let your students play with it. They get immediate feedback on framing, lighting, and perspective -- and they have a chance to tell stories with images. I like to let kids set up little scenes with figures and environments and then ask them to capture the narrative with a digital image or set of photos. This scene had to do with the drama of Vikings and battle.

taffy sculptures

2006-07-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

taffy pulling

2006-07-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

A good thing to do with kids in the summer is an old fashioned taffy pull. Taffy is an excellent sculptural material and we don't often get to eat our art. Just try it. Sometimes I pull a bunch of colors ahead of time and let art students play with the edible taffy sculptures like you would with playdough, but older kids will love the entire process.

You will need candy flavorings and colors and a candy thermometer. In Madison we have a specialty candy store called the Vanilla Bean which is an excellent source for inspiration.
I use a regular, heavy 2 qt. saucepan and butter cookie trays for the cooling stage. The kids will be fascinated by the alchemy of sugar boiling and all the sugar stages. The smell of the sugar changes as the process progresses and you can see the consistency and color of the the sugar change magically before your eyes. The entire process takes about fifteen minutes of suspense on the stove before you reach the soft boil stage (260 degrees). Adding the colors and mixing the dyes into the sugar is exciting for the kids, and watching the taffy cool down takes another five minutes. Let the kids poke at the cooling taffy and dimple the surface as it cools. Buttering your hands and preparing to pull is quite sensual. Pulling the taffy once it is manageable to touch is a physical experience unlike any other. It's hard workiong the taffy at first and takes a little messy practice, but pulling small bits is easier and you can't really screw it up that bad anyway. Keep adding butter to your hands as you pull. My favorite part of pulling taffy is the irridescent color of the candy as the air is added. I cover the entire table with a plastic tablecloth and have the students set down pulled taffy as they go and mix colors and play on the smooth, washable surface.

A general taffy recipe I use is as follows:

2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbls. butter
1/4 tsp. flavoring\few drops coloring

In saucepan combine sugar, syrup and salt. Stir over medium heat until boiling. Clip candy thermometer to side of pan. Cook over medium heat without stirring to 260 degrees (soft boil stage). Takes about 15-20 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in butter. Let cool for a few minutes. Add flavor and color. Cool for five to ten minutes on buttered counter or cookie sheets until easy to handle. Butter hands. Pull each piece until it turns a creamy color.

There are lots of tips about taffy pulling around on the web if you feel intimidated at all by the process. Good luck.

fairy trapping

2006-06-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

mini cat portrait

2006-06-22T06:17:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

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.