Gifting

Current situation: sitting in a semi peaceful spot, drinking coffee, staring at everything that needs to be done to "wrap" up the season until next year, I find myself reflecting on the past few weeks- weeks filled with excited children counting down the days, making gifts with my art classes, sugar highs, crazy traffic, sweet voices singing at the preschool Christmas program, candlelit service, fun family and friend gatherings, traveling and everything in between.  One of the most rewarding projects I've ever done with my classes also took place.  The director at preschool had a great idea after seeing an example of an ornament created by children at our pastor's old church home.  Once seeing the clay ornament, the three and four olds and I set out to make ornaments for all of the families at preschool as well as all of the families in the congregation of the church where my daughter's preschool is.  I knew we could do it, but definitely held my breath between each step hoping the outcome would be positive.  Our final count was over 250 ornaments and the kids learned about each step of the clay process along the way- win/ win!  

Step One:

We started with raw clay and shaped it into circles and stamped it.  Once it was Bone Dry/ Greenware (right), we fired in the kiln to get to the Bisque stage (left).  The kids were amazed that the gray clay turned hard and white after being fired.  

Next stage- glaze.  The were very busy "painting" the ornaments and I assured them that the dull colors they were using would turn shiny and bright once they were fired again.

A box full of ornaments made with love after the second trip to the kiln:

Final product- something each child could be proud of being a part of!!! And continue to be each year when they hang it on their tree.

Cookie Party!

Love when I get to be creative and do something different on the envelope.  Here are some examples from my latest task of addressing invitations to a Christmas Cookie Party!

 

 

 

 

 

 

ColorFALL Days

Fall is here which means the landscape is rich and full of vibrant colors everywhere!  It's such a pleasing time of year for all the senses.  I have broadened my teaching landscape to include teaching the three and four year old classes at my daughter's preschool.  What a joy it's been!  We have been enjoying books about art, learned about new artists and materials and have been having FUN exploring art!  My after school session at the studio has been in full swing as well.  This week we learned about the Canadian artist, Ted Harrison, who made his mark on the art world with his colorful Northern Landscapes full of WARM and COOL colors.  I altered the projects based on the ages of the artists and enjoyed seeing what they came up with. 

Examples of Harrison's work:

 



 
 
 

 

 

Three year olds using crayons and "bleeding" tissue paper with water

 

Elementary artists using limited color palette to create a variety of hues:

 

 

 

"Where Arts and Smarts Meet"

Where else?  RALEIGH!  Being coined as "The Arts Capitol of the South"

 

Was so pleased to run across this article while browsing...

Check out this link about Raleigh! 

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/southbound-articles/raleigh-101/

Crafty Campers

Last week I had the privilege to teach the "Imaginarium" camp at the studio the week before preschool started.  I had such a sweet group of 3-5 year olds and we let our imaginations run wild- reading books, painting, crafting, playing, laughing and more.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  Here are a few of masterpieces that were created...

Artists at work- 3D paintings:

 

 

 

Robots using recycled and new materials:

 

 

Personalized Puzzles:

 

 

 

Masks: Kitten, Pony and "Wild Thing":

 

 

Bubble wrap snakes and milk carton bugs:

 

 

Can't wait to do more soon!!!

Words

I spend a lot of time reading.  Words are constantly being streamed in front of me through books, blogs, emails, social media posts, road signs, advertisements, news stories, etc... While it's impossible to absorb it all, there are some things that capture my attention and I save for one reason or another.  Lately I've been really trying to find a good balance of what I need to do for others and what I need to do for myself. A lot harder than I thought- I do know that one of my great pleasures is making and teaching art.  Here is something I found along the way that I saved because I love the WORDS...

 

(Now if I could remember to start keeping track of where I find these to give the appropriate credit...)

Holding on

While the world seems to spin at such an amazing speed and days, years, moments roll by, it's nice to get back to the basics sometimes.  I am incredibly grateful for certain aspects of technology, but this doodle/ handwriting fanatic from a young age really appreciates putting pen or pencil to paper... 

 

Something to think about:

 

 

Blank wall

 

I have been staring at a blank wall in my room for way too long,

so I decided to do something about it.  I let my subtle palette guide me...

 

Work in progress:

 

 

Finished product:

18"x 36" acrylic

 

We've been making some art

My most recent art class students and I had a great time together learning about new artists, techniques, materials and more and created some really fun pieces!  We covered Monet/ Impressionism, Kandinsky/ Abstract, Paul Klee/ Cubism and Georgia O'Keeffe/ Nature Inspired Art among other styles, techniques.  Here are a few of the works from our latest

End-of-the- session show: 

What Masterpieces!

 





Van Gogh Inspired:

 

 

 Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired:

My Samples for the class:

Collage, Pattern, Texture



 

 

Monet Inspired Landscape and Klee Cubism Examples:

 

 

I also felt a little inspired to fill some empty spaces on my walls:

 

Next class with be a Spring "Color Explosion" Series- can't wait to see what we create!

TIME. PLEASE. FREEZE. FOR. JUST. A. MOMENT.

I adore everything about this picture:

 

Subject. Color. Light. Innocence.

 

Grayson. Age 2 1/2

Tis the season to be creative!

The holidays are always a great time to add those special touches when decorating for your home, school and work functions and other fun festivities. 

Along with everyone else, I was caught up in the hustle with work, kids, family and friend get-togethers and all that comes with it! 

Wanted to share of few of the fun projects I worked on which actually (surprisingly) calmed me throughout the craziness...

Handwritten Invitations for preschool teacher luncheon:



Teacher Gifts:

 

Annual Christmas Dinner with friends:

Wanted to do something a little different with the bell and feather

 

Can't ever have too many flowers!!!

 

 

 Handwritten place cards for Gingerbread Village at preschool:

 

CHEERS!!!