"I only use three primaries, so the nice thing is that I can't have favorite colors." -- Chuck Close
I absolutely love this video by Jeff Turick for Sesame Street! It's a great introduction to color for a children's art class, though trust me, I am going to show it to my college students too. Take a moment and then pull out your tempera paint and prove to yourself if yellow and blue make green.
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"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist
once we grow up." -- Pablo Picasso
Can you imagine a more magical place than a garden filled with sunflowers that reach the sky? Every where you look there is a new to explore.
This fall I've been teaching a children's drawing and painting workshop at the Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse. We are ready to begin our culminating mural that will educate visitors to the wonders of this place. We've studied how leaves come in different shapes and sizes, wondered at the patterns of a butterfly wing and have been awed by a seed sprouting.
The joy in teaching comes from watching their excitement as they discover how to use watercolor pencils or see tiny hairs on the surface of a stem. They are becoming keen observers of their environement and want to share what they are learning. The mural will be unveiled in February, a perfect time to look forward to spring.
"This project is supported by a Neighborhood Arts Program grant
from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events."
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"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist
once we grow up." - Pablo Picasso
Happy Fall! So many new projects are in the works. I am excited to share with you that I am a new blog contributor over at Illustration Friday. If you haven't swung by this website, you must. Every week a new prompt is given and artists from around the globe send in their finished ideas based on that prompt. It's full of oodles of inspiration as there are no limitations on medium, so you could see the same prompt illustrated in graphite, watercolor, collage or even mixed media. The sky is the limit. There are also artist interviews, book releases and a new kids section. Started by Penelope Dullaghan, the website was a way to meet others in the field and further develop her portfolio. Little did she expect it to become the powerhouse it is today.
Twenty years of teaching art to children is being brought to you in the form of projects on a twice weekly basis. I am having a blast covering techniques I haven't explored in years. Check out my first two posts and sign up over at IF to get blog updates sent direct to your mailbox.
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When you are describing,
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don't state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.
~Lewis Carroll
The circus has come to town! Each summer for the past decade I've been teaching camp at the Evanston Art Center. They are a time when as a teacher I can pull out the stops and let my imagination run with the kids. We have a blast!
This year the theme was the circus. Every circus must have a few clowns. We tie-dyed t-shirt costumes with paper hats, egg carton red noses and coffee filter bow ties. I love doing tie-dye with children. They get into the alchemy of it, full of wonder on how the color appears. Magic! I Love to Create's kit made it especially easy to do. Everything was mixed ready to go. I just added water, a few t-shirts, some children and voilà!
Collagraphs are equally fun, easy to make and cheap to do. A few old file folders, some glue, a couple of water-soluable printing inks, a brayer and you are good to go. (A post will soon follow on how to make them, so keep your eyes open for it.) The bold, graphic combo of the collagraph with the construction paper in this poster is gorgeous.
Naturally, we had to make sock doll lions, clowns, dogs, and elephants. They were so proud of their new creations and excited to go home and keep sewing.
Here is Mr. Leo. He is followed by Ellie the Elephant with of her colorful friends.
The children wouldn't part with their dolls and costumes, but you can see more great art from this camp at the Evanston Library (main branch). The opening reception with the young artists is from 6-8pm on August 30th. The show continues through September 30th.
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"We remember best through stories." -- Pon Angara
The arts providing tools for nonprofit businesses to grow?! As I read about branding and listen to all the balu about social media, I find the need for experience-based marketing to be ever more relevant. I recently caught up with Pon Angara, creative director and principal of Barkada Creative to discuss his launch of Barkada Circle. Barkada Circle provides educational arts-based programs that help participants discover and harness the transformative power of the visual arts, music, theatre and more to spark creativity in telling their organization's stories, stories that fully engage people.
What made you launch Barkada Cicle?
After years of years of working with nonprofits on branding, visual communication and marketing, it became apparent that a critical piece of the message was missing. This lack of message prevents a nonprofit from taking it to next level. I kept thinking, “Your story isn’t compelling. Why should I care? Why should I want to be conncted to this organization?" To effectively help my clients, I realized that I had to help them tell their story.
Isn't a story the same as a mission statement?
No, a mission statement is just a statement of purpose. One statement of why a business exists. That's it. A story goes deeper. It involves the emotions, relating the struggles and successes of a nonprofit, its people and its consituency. It can take many more forms than a statement. It may be told in different mediums - word, image, sound, etc. The key thing is the emotional part. We remember stories because we remember the emotions running through them.
Give me an example.
The mission of Barkada Circle is to give nonprofits a creative forum in order to develop different ways to craft their own stories using techniques in the arts that is usable on their website, in their brochures, etc.
One story of Barkada Circle is in why I launched it. Immersing myself in the activities of a nonprofit organization, I had the opportunity to experience the same struggles they were having in trying to get a compelling message across. Some nonprofits were more successful than others, but the challenges were there nonetheless.
I'm reading a lot these days about the use of storytelling in branding. How is Barkada Circle different?
The Barkada Circle approach differs from the others in that the focus is on a multi-sensory experience using the arts, whether the visual arts, theater, music, writing or cooking. The best way to really embody a story is for the storyteller to engage as many of his/her senses as possible in creating the story, so that telling it engages multiple senses for the listener. This approach was inspired by the book The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage by James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine.
Why have your targeted nonprofits for your program?
In my book, they are the ones that deal the most with complex emotions, concepts, ideas, and challenges. They deal heavily with humans, not just products for humans. It’s all about the people. Nonprofits generally have direct impact on issues that affect the quality of life in our communities. It has become my personal choice to share in this mission.
If teaching artists are interested in working with you, what’s the best way to contact you and what will they need in terms of experience?
They have to be skilled in their craft, but also have a personal mission for educating others about it. They need a minimum of 5 years of teaching experience with adults, sharing and demonstrating their passion. I am willing to talk to new artists after June to see what they have to offer. It's best if they read through the website and then leave of comment expressing their interest on the Our Artists page.
I'm honored to have been working with Pon on this venture since its inception. My workshop for Barkada Circle, The Power of Symbols, looks at the way symbols have inspired change throughout history. It's an amazing experience to work with directors from small and large nonprofits, helping them to better understand and harness the storytelling potential of their organization's visual symbols.
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"A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams." -- Anonymous
This winter I purchased a die cut machine and am having a blast with it. I recently used it to teach a lesson on implied versus acutal texture in art, as well as how a 2d shape may be manipulated into a 3d form. Students in my DIY Toys class at the Evanston Art Center each received a house blank, flat with all the pieces. They loved seeing how paper could be used for more than just a picture.
This haunted house was created by our yougest student, barely 6 years old. See the ghost? Very scary. He placed the house in a yard with a broken fence that was strewn with "trash" and featured a large tree changing to fall colors. It was fully thought out from beginning to end.
Students were permited to use watercolor crayons, pencils, paper and glue. This tree house was designed by an 8 year old. She decided her house would resemble stucco painted in a terracotta color. Talk about sophisticated! The front step has a built in ladder leading to a sidewalk.
She didn't stop with the house. Her first attempt at a tree trunk for the house became a log for a little paper girl.
This suburban dream was concieved by a seven year old. Each wall of the house is a different color scheme and pattern alternating between cool and warm colors and finished with a confetti roof. I love the car at the end of the driveway!
Another clever tree house comlete with tree branches for a more realistic setting. At the ladder's base is a fire pit with roaring fire and logs for family and friends to gather.
The students had such fun that they made two houses, one to take home and then the ones featured here which will be on display Young Evanston Artists Festival in late spring.
I have plans for a few of my own paper dream houses.
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"Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity." -- Bo Bennett
I've been without a working camera for the past few months. Though I have a cell phone camera, it just isn't up to the job, but I'm fortunate in that others send me pics they have taken. These come from Alexis. She and her mom were two of the 18+ participants in my needle felted gerber daisy pendant workshop at the Chicago Craft Social this past March.
As you can see, everyone had fun learning the technique and were successful in creating their own daisy pendants.
Thank you to Clover for supplying us with their great tools and roving!
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"Man's heart away from nature becomes hard." -- Standing Bear
One of the greatest compliments I have received about this new collection came from the curator at the West Chicago City Museum where the work was was on exhibit this past summer. Children who were to do plant identification while on a walk through a small stretch of native prairie were rained out. Instead, they came to the museum and proceeded to walk through my "prairie. To know that my likeness of the originals is close enough for children to identify is very gratifying.
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"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." -- Chinese proverb
I've been teaching on some level for 20 years, but tomorrow will be a first. I've been asked to bring The Red Thread Project® to a parochial school in Aurora, IL. Okay, there is nothing unusual in that. Over the years, I've taught well over a 1000 people how to knit, whether with needles or knitting looms. But here is the twist - I'll be teaching 200 children, K-5th, at one sitting. Imagine a school gym filled with lunch tables, 200 hundred children, teachers, yarn, knitting frames, and me. Fortunately I'll have teachers and volunteers at each table to assist, but I'm just a wee bit nervous. It's either going to be amazing or completely chaotic.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.
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"I am neither an optimist nor pessimist, but a possibilist."
-- Max Lerner
Tomorrow is my last day teaching at The Shore. The grant money has once again dried up. It is so frustrating. These folks have been fabulous to teach. They always great me with a warm smile and a hug. We joke and tease each other. In short, we have fun.
It's been a delightful challenge to design projects that meet the needs of a range of very different capabilities, let alone all be taught within a one hour period of time including set up and cleaning. This is our group quilt which now resides in the tv room of their residence.
I started with a series of lessons on pattern, symmetry and repetition. It gave me the necessary time to observe skills and determine the best way to proceed with the quilt. Each student embellished a square of fabric featuring their image and then another square with a personal textile design. We didn't use fabric paints as I had first considered. They were too difficult to control for some folks, so everyone used Sharpies. I then stitched it all together. I think it looks great!
The other day we worked on a series of paintings using oil pastels and watercolor paint. Their color sensibilities are wonderfully vibrant.
There has to be a better way to fund outreach art programs. Grants come and go. I need to find a long term funding plan. Any suggestions?
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