Let's Dance

I love the Day of the Dead and the opportunity for all souls, living or not, to get together and celebrate life! I'm hosting a Día de los Muertos workshop for some little artists I know and this is the format, and my sample for the class.

I can't wait to see what gets created!

Getting Goulish

These pieces look really cool in person!
Click on them for a closer up view.
I love these kids and I love having them in my studio with me.
I really do!
Now that I've been opening up my studio for over a year now, I think I'm really getting the hang of preparing projects, scheduling, and setting up the studio.

These skulls literally glowed after those little fingers
burnished the oil pastels into the black paper.

Thank you Nelson, Clara, Caliope,
Caleb, Audrey, Cecilia, Maia,
Annie, Ilana, Kevin, David,
Iesha, and dear Zarinah,
and all your
wonderful parents.

Love these kids!

I started by plucking this pumpkin out of our front yard and had the kids sketch it in pencil. Then we used our powers of observation and added the ridges, stems and dead leaves.

Next we added surface detail with oil pastels, showed a foreground, middleground and background. Then we used watercolors and washed the pieces, creating a wonderful texture as the water resisted the oil.

I thought I might be raising the bar too high on this project with the techniques and materials I offered, but no! These kids dove right in, stretched themselves and finished pieces that were so good that the hair stood up on my neck a few times.

Just look at their faces! (And their work!!)

Look how happy and proud they seem!

I'm so glad that I could help them create these pieces.

Annie said "Mine looks as good as yours does Mom!"

What a Hoot

From four years old to nine and a half, my students all love owls. The barn owls featured here are done by my 8-9 year olds and I love the way the oil pastel gave the owls such a feathery, ancient quality! I loved watching the kids the work, and helping them develop their pieces. I feel so excited and honored to be teaching art and sharing something that has made my life so rich and satisfying.

A Lesson in Acrylics

I can barely contain my excitement about today's Acrylic lesson!

I had two very confident artists in the studio who were totally ready to put paint to canvas.

No quicker than I could get the words out of my mouth, and these two gals were painting like they'd done it for years!

I guess with a little color theory, and simple painting ABC's under their belts they let their instincts guide them.
I'll stop gushing now, especially since a picture, or painting, tells a thousand tales.
(See the finished paintings below!)

Mixed Media

I'm introducing using acrylic paints with some of my older students.
I made these canvas pieces to be painted and finished off with embroidered accents. Our theme was birds in a tree and I like the direction these two took. Mine sample is on the bottom. I'm using mine as a patch for a denim jacket.

Healthy Color

Classes this Summer have been so sweet! With only a few children in each class, we were able to combine some simple color theory with fun crafting. Like a smoothie with lots of protein powder hidden within, we painted and crafted while learning what complimentary, warm & cool colors, monotone and saturation means!