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!