Goodbye 2010

I feel so full and happy winding up classes in Alameda StudioTime for 2010! Sharing my studio with kids and adults has been so much more satisfying than I had anticipated. I really love it.
We ended this last week of StudioTime for the year with an exotic camel project and a I had a few request for a "little family" or manger scene for the younger artists. The decorated camel in Islamic tradition symbolizes Mohammed, and in the Christian tradition my thoughts went to the wise men following the star. For both projects we used cut paper, trims, ornaments, ribbons and gold and silver pens, we adorned.

Starving artists!

Thank you to all my students, parents, friends and family who have helped make StudioTime such a wonderful place!
See you in 2011.

Some Good Friends of Mine

I count myself lucky to be a part of this little group! With the addition of Alabama (above) the harmony and good spirits of the group skyrocketed. The four of them laugh, tell stories and stay focused on their work, producing such masterpieces as shown here! (These photos don't really do the originals justice. The lighting was poor and the pieces still wet.)

We started with quick sketches and a short talk about a self-portrait that was done by Swiss artist Paul Klee. I had laid out an already painted canvas, aprons, simple templates, (so they would fill up the canvas) acrylic paints, four brushes of different sizes, and then I just stood back and watched. As the kids had snacks, I set up the blow dryer in the bathroom and got the pieces really dry. After snack, a few of them went back in with chalk pastels and added some finishing touches.

After seeing the current show at the DeYoung, ( I LOVED it and recommend it for young and not-so-young!) and being so moved by the Les Nabis artists works (pronounced Na-bee), I realize these kids don't even have to strive for the qualities of simplification and enhanced colors that were so sought after by those artists. These kids are the real thing!

Superstars!

Super hero Johnny!

His fabulous mom, Jen!

My students are all superstars! First, I took their picture and turned them into "sketches" via Photoshop and printed them onto watercolor paper. We used markers, colored pencils and in the case of Aoife above, glitter!

Thomas Rocks!


Annie's piece!

Caleb and Liam!!

These two are my samples.

Gecko's Gazing at the Moon

This project was so fun to do with the little kids! We looked at photos of all kinds of gecko's, did sketches and added a lot of details. We worked in watercolors, markers, and tempra paint. Notice the last photo. My newest student, Aoife (pronounced Ee-Faa) felt strongly that she could express herself better with people than with Gecko's.
Love it!

Step Three

Bluebird by Cat age 5

We've just finished our paper mache birds! We did small steps each week along with our regular projects, and this week we finished painting them! I put little Hans, one of our live canaries, on the table for us to use as inspiration while we painted. I'll tell you, the amount of energy generated by the kids in the studio today could have fueled a rocket ship to the moon! I'll post more finished birds after classes are done tomorrow. Now, I'll put my feet up!

Peacock by Annie, age 9.5

Cecilia, Annie, Ilana and Cat proudly show their birds!

Birds in the grass by David, Age 8 and Kevin, Age 8

Thomas, Age 7

Caleb, Age 6

Liam, Age 6

Landscapes, Laughing and Frogs Tounges

What did we do in the studio today?
Laugh!
Something tickled the kids funny bones early on, and that was it.
Snickers, giggles, and tear producing peels of laughter. I tried to be sober and reel them back in, but then I thought "This is fun! This is creation. This is joy! So we laughed and painted and that is what I want for them.

The older kids did a simple perspective study in watercolor, and they turned out wonderful (see above)! The younger kids (see below), did frogs with long tongues. Plus we all started on some paper mache birds that will take a few steps to complete.