Fall 2010 Session!!

shelli — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:45:31 +0000

The Fall 2010 Session will begin Thursday, September 9th, 2010 from 3:00-4:30 at St. James. Please click on The Workshops tab above to read a description of the classes. Thank You!! I look forward to a new Fall Session together with your creative children!

Georgia O’Keeffe – 1887-1986

shelli — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:01:26 +0000

Our featured artist last week we learned about and was inspired by was Georgia O’Keeffe. She was born on a farm in Wisconsin and since she was 12 years old she knew she wanted to be an artist. After going to art school and living some time in New York City, she felt called to leave the big city and spend some time in Texas and eventually New Mexico. She loved being alone and she spent many, many hours at a time painting. I especially love her flowers that she painted. She painted them big; it feels like you are looking at them through a magnifying glass. If you want to view some of her work and learn more about Georgia, you can do that at the Georgia O’Keeffe museum located in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

www.okeeffemuseum.org

We enjoyed reading books about Georgia and viewing her work during our Opening Ritual. The girls were given some illustration board and could choose between oil pastels or watercolors and got to work on their own “Georgia O’Keeffe flowers.” Here’s a peek at their work-in-progress.

Final Works of Art…

Bright, colorful, and each one unique! I think Georgia would be proud.

Reminder: Our last class for the Spring session is May 20th!!

“Color Stories”

shelli — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:22:03 +0000

The focus of our Storytelling session was how color can evoke feelings and drawing and telling a story that has a beginning, middle, and end from “color” drawings. Each girl received a homemade book for their “color stories.”

The girls were introduced to a book called My Many Colored Days by Dr. Suess. It’s a great book on how colors can match certain feelings. Blue might evoke a feeling of sadness or it might bring out a feeling of being bright and free like a bird in the blue sky.

After our lively discussion, the girls were asked to choose 3 colors for their “color stories.”

They got to work on their stories. Some used one color per page and others mixed colors, but all stories evoked some kind of feelings through the use of colors.

As they finished, they practiced telling their stories to me or a friend. I loved how the following story demonstrates simple drawings and a color for each feeling/emotion, yet the way the girl told the story was with such detail and expression!! It was wonderful!

The story begins with her feeling upset that she didn’t have any pets.

Next, she’s excited and happy that she got a pet.

Last, she’s feeling sad and alone because she wasn’t able to keep the pet because of her mother’s allergies to the pet. She used the color purple to reflect those emotions.

One of the girls practicing her story to a friend.

During our Culminating Celebration, we will take the time for each girl to tell her story; that is why I kept the stories until then. They will get to take them home on that day! Great job everyone!! See you next week on May 6th for our Featured Artist… Georgia O’Keefe!!

Self-Portraits

shelli — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:37:05 +0000

After we ate homemade banana bread, shared what they wanted to be when they grew up, read the book the many faces of the face by Brigitte Baumbush and viewed many self-portraits from books, the girls were ready to get started on their own self-portraits. I gave the girls drawing paper, their own 4B drawing pencil, and invited them to experiment with their pencil and get used to using it. What kind of lines or shapes could they draw? Dark/light lines? Shading? I think it’s important to feel comfortable with an artist material before jumping into a project. I also provided charcoal that they could experiment with as well.

Next, I gave the girls another piece of drawing paper and had them draw their self-portrait using just their imagination. When finished, they turned their paper over and I gave each girl a mirror and a step-by-step guide to drawing a self-portrait (made by Deborah F. Lawerence). They followed steps that helped them think about where their eye, nose, and mouth line might be, thinking carefully of where each feature is. This was challenging and the outcome might not be exactly what they were thinking it should be, but they worked so hard and were so focused! I am so proud of them! I was able to take some pictures of their “Before” self-portraits, but ran out of time and wasn’t able to take any of their “After” self-portraits. Sorry about that! I hope you enjoyed all their hard work.

I saw one of the girl’s mother and she shared with me that her daughter was practicing at home. I love it! Those girls are so inspiring! Happy Drawing!

REMINDER: No class on April 22

Our next classes will be on:

Thursday, April 29 – Storytelling

Thursday, May 6 – Featured Artist

Thursday, May 20 – Culminating Celebration!

Lune Poetry – Spring 2010

shelli — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 01:23:06 +0000

Our Spring session kicked off with a homemade snack and the book I am Special by Max Lucado. A sweet book that reminds us that we are all unique and special and …”fearfully and wonderfully made.” And what our Creator thinks of us matters the most. They each received a verse card to remind them of this(Psalm 139:14).

I shared with the girls that sometimes writer’s write “free writes,” where they just write and write what comes to mind and just get out their thoughts. I had the girls partner up and do “free talks.” They had the words “I am…” as a starter and talked and talked about who they are with their partner.

Next, the girls were introduced to Lune poetry. A poem with three lines, the first line has three words, the second line has five words, and the third line has three words. That’s it! I gave the girls a frame to work with…

I am__________________.

I am_____________ and________________.

I am__________________.

The girls wrote their Lunes and then glued it in the middle of some white paper. They added drawings around their poems that matched.

Last, the girls love sharing their work on the stage outside the Art Room. So, they each read their poems and talked about their illustrations.

A wonderful way to begin our Spring Session!

Reminder: our next workshop is April 15– Materials of Art

Spring Session Starts March 25th!

shelli — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:29:10 +0000

Click on The Workshops tab above to see a description and dates of the new Spring Session. Thank you!

Culminating Celebration-Winter2010!

shelli — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:18:09 +0000

Let’s Celebrate! Snacking on homemade cranberry bread and talking about favorite winter snacks started our celebration. Next, the girls finished their “Snowy Day” projects. Inspired by the front cover of The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, the girls cut out their snowy scenes and glued them onto illustration board. They added blocks of color on the top using oil pastels(they were given a choice of crayons, oil pastels, or cutting blocks of paper to glue on top and all the girls chose oil pastels). Enjoy the pictures of the girls working and their final products.

Our final celebration was a poetry reading! I saved the list poems that the girls wrote during our Poetry workshop and made each of them a compilation of everyone’s poems including a few extras(a list poem that I wrote and my son Asher wrote:)). They practiced reading the poems and then read them to the group. What a great way to end our celebration!

Spring Session – 2010

shelli — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:22:10 +0000

Please click on The Workshops tab above to read a description of the Spring Session. And feel free to scroll down and review any of the previous workshops. Thank you!

Featured Artist 2-Ezra Jack Keats 1916-1983

shelli — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:21:42 +0000

Our opening ritual–Liya choosing a special treasure and sharing a favorite snow day.

The girls were given watercolor pencils to do their art project. When using art materials for the first time, it is helpful to experiment with that material and practice using it before beginning an art project.

A work in progress. The Snowy Day inspired art.

“Snowy Day” scenes. The girls really enjoyed using the watercolor pencils. Most of the girls did 2 scenes and we will finish the project during our next session. I love Ezra Jack Keats art and I love the girl’s art as well!!

Featured Artist – Jan Brett!

shelli — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:07:53 +0000

Jan Brett, of course! Since our theme has been winter and we had focused our storytelling activities on her book, The Mitten, Jan Brett seemed like a natural choice. (Ezra Jack Keats will be our Featured Artist this coming week).

Jan Brett has illustrated so many books and they are all so fabulously detailed. We learned that it takes her one hour to draw an inch!! Some artists have special drawing journals or notebooks to practice drawing. Jan Brett practiced drawing for hours at a time when she was a little girl. I thought it would be nice if each girl had their own drawing journal with a special drawing pencil. My husband has the talent of making books, so he got the paper cut and ready and showed me how to sew a simple binding.

I brought in all of Jan Brett’s winter or Christmas books that she has illustrated and the girls each chose one to practice their Jan Brett drawings. The girls spent time browsing pictures and decided which ones they wanted to practice. They each had a 6B pencil to use, a very common lead weight type of pencil.

Just a few examples of some of the drawings in progress…

A swan from The Twelve Days of Christmas

Animals from The Hat

A moose from Annie and the Wild Animals

A candy balloon from Gingerbread Friends

And, of course, the girls love sharing and talking about their drawings.

Happy Drawing Girls! P.S. I gave the girls Jan Brett’s website and address if they want to learn more about Jan Brett or send her one of their drawings.:)