Clay Vessels

Super day for Drop-in-Art at the OKCMOA yesterday. I had about 60 people come through. That is a good number. I had just enough clay and will do a project like this again as the parents and children really enjoyed it. Drop in art is from 1-4pm at the Museum every Saturday. I see all age ranges so I try to do things that can be done by everyone. I also have to do something that can be completed quickly and ready to take home. We used Crayola Air Dry Clay to create a basic vessel using the pinch pot method.

I had portions under plastic ready for the kids as they came through the door. I had them each work their clay by squeezing it in their hands first. Then I had them make a "crab claw" with their hand. I told them to stick their thumbs in the middle and use their fingers to pinch around the clay ball, forming a bowl shape that could be further manipulated into whatever vessel shape they wanted. I saw a lot of hearts, so I think these will make a great Valentine Present!

The problem with this short time frame is decorating the clay. It can't be painted or anything yet, which I would do if it was a 2 part session. So, I thought it would be fun to use beads, buttons, and other things to decorate our bowls. The kids loved picking out their pieces from an assembly line of items I had out on a table. Little fingers picking up little objects is great for building hand strength and using fine motor. Enjoy!

You will need:
-Air Dry Clay
-Pony Beads, buttons, shape sequins...

Here are some of their creations!

My Art-Guitar Love

The front


and the back


What a busy time of year it has been. This may be the last post that consists of "my art". I hope to have paperwork completed this week for my new adventure (an LLC) the name of which I will reveal when finished! I'd like to keep my artwork separate from the teaching artist page that this has so lovingly become. I hope to have more of both to share with you all!

The latest project I just finished is the painted acoustic guitar for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Their incredible exhibit, The Guitar: Art, Artists, and Artisans is opening Feb. 13th. If you have a love of music or have any interest in the guitar, you really have to go see this. Here is a snippet from one of their press releases:

There is something about a cowboy and guitar that says "we belong together." Today they do, but that was not always the case. In spring 2010, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum^® offers a new exhibition showcasing the instrument.

"The Guitar: Art, Artists and Artisans" spotlights three aspects. “First, the guitar is a work of art itself, providing a canvas for artwork that enhances the instrument’s beauty. Secondly, there are musical artists who are identified with the guitar when they perform. Lastly, there are the artisans who create these beautiful instruments,” said Don Cusic, the exhibit’s guest curator, in an article written for the Museum’s Persimmon Hill magazine, Winter 2009.

Organized by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the exhibit opens February 12 and runs through May 9. There will be a “sweet” exhibition preview that is free to the public, February 13, 6 to 8 p.m. Whether attending solo, visiting as part of a group or treating your Valentine, enjoy extended hours and be among the first to see this colorful exhibit.

Included in the exhibition are approximately 50 guitars worth millions, from top entertainers — recording artists whose image and career is tied closely to this instrument. These notable artists include Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Toby Keith, Lynn Anderson, Brooks & Dunn, Eddy Arnold and Marty Robbins.

The 3 guitars that local OKC artists painted will be on hand for children to play and then GIVEN AWAY at the end of the show. You just have to attend the exhibit and stick your name in the raffle!

I was a bit nervous about this project. I have never painted a guitar! Sanding it was a feat in itself. Thrilled and honored to be asked, I could not turn down this amazing opportunity. Well, I finished her up and delivered her today. While I was there I got a "behind the scenes" tour that seriously blew my mind. All the things people never see at any Museum I got to peek at today. Pretty neat!

Paper Sculptures

What is sculpture? It is a 3-dimensional work of art. A work of this kind, whether large or small can be viewed from all sides. We can walk around it, and sometimes under or over it. Sculpture has come a long way from carved marble, stone or cast bronze pieces. Now we see sculpture in all shapes, sizes and materials.

Yesterday the OKCMOA had a table at the OKC Philharmonic for the Childrens Concert Series. Trying to relate a project with their theme for the day which was Music in Motion and our current exhibit, Jason Peters: Anti.Gravity.Material.Light was not as difficult as I thought. Peters does sculpture. The Phil does music. I thought about moving sculptures and what we could create with over 200 kids in an hour. Paper sculptures! I love to see kids build in this way. It forces them to think about art differently. Most kids can easily pick up a crayon or paintbrush. This pushes them to be hands on. It is also great for those motor skills! It was a busy day for the roads being so icy. I guess everyone had cabin fever. I would have taken more pictures, but we had SO many kids come through, I barely had the time to take the few pictures I did! Have fun with this project!

We started with our base piece of construction paper. I had the kids cut pieces and asked them what happens when we fold or bend paper. We worked on accordion folds, tubes, curling and more.

You will need:
-Construction paper (one piece for base and scraps)
-Other papers (I like the fadeless art paper, but you could even try scrapbooking papers for a different look)
-scissors
-double side sticky tape
-we used colored masking tape too-fun!

Here are a few examples:

Snowman Collage

Seems like everyone does these in one fashion or another. I really tried to have the children create their own personalized snowman. Noses don't have to be orange, etc. This might be the artist in me rather than an educator. There was one thing at the workshop last night that I didn't agree with and that is templates. I don't want to give the kids all the same pre-cut shapes and say, glue these in this way. I like to see them create something uniquely theirs. This also might be easy for me since I deal with small classes. What do you think about templates?

I began the class with a story and we looked at snowmen in different books. In the gallery we studied portraits and got ideas of different things for our snowmen to wear. I know, this is reaching but the Museum just doesn't have any snowmen in the galleries! :) Back in the class we talked about collage. I had examples from different artists, Bearden, Matisse and book authors they recognize Carle, Ehlert and Lionni. The kids were excited to begin. One girl saw "princesses" in the museum and could not wait to make a snow princess!

I gave everyone a blue background, white paper and had them cut out circles. Then I had an assembly line of embellishments for them to choose from. I gave them a plate and had them pick things out to take back to their workstation. We had paper, buttons, felt, fabric, feather, sequins and foam to personalize our snowmen.

You will need:
-18x12 blue construction paper
-white paper
-scrap paper in different colors
-glue
-embellishments
The kids got busy and here are some of their fantastic creations!

Local

Last night I attended a wonderful event for Teaching Artists at the Arts Council. Oklahoma City has so much offered to artists right now. It was part one of a four part series by the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and City Arts Center. Last night I gathered with Art Education and Program Directors, Educators, Artists and more. There was some super creative energy flowing through as we listened to 3 speakers talk about Curriculum Planning.

I learned quite a bit, but more importantly I networked. I sat next to friends, one an artist-he talked about getting himself psyched up for this year, getting things done and being on the verge of an explosion. It's how I feel. This is my year. I have had so many wonderful opportunities offered to me this past year I am only building on it this year.

I mentioned sort of cryptically a while ago that I am working on something. I am not quite ready to purge the specifics, but I am committing myself to my artwork and more as I continue my search for studio space/small building in OKC. I am promising myself to paint more, volunteer more, share art with more children, network more and push myself further than I have gone in the past. I am happy I have the support of my family and of course my friends. One friend has really made me believe in myself-even if she doesn't know it-I owe a lot of my break out attitude to her. You know who you are. :)

Okay, other excitement is Jason Peters at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. I CANNOT WAIT to attend the members preview and lecture on the 27th. His work is really exciting. I don't believe anything quite like this has ever been in OKC. I took this pic the other day after one of my classes, he did a small installation outside the Museum Gift Shop. This picture doesn't do it justice. It's actually lit from the inside. Way different. Way cool.


It's hard to tell, those are buckets-suspended from the ceiling. They wrap and twist like a serpent. Love it. He has been working for a few weeks or so with OU students on filling our exhibition space with more extraordinary works.

I am wrapping up my painted acoustic guitar for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and it's pretty darn cool if I do say so myself! Thursday after my class at the Museum I am headed over to OVAC office to help with some mailings. As part of my networking 2010 pledge I am joining two other arts related Organizations this week, The Paseo Arts Association and IAO (actually trying to get 2 pieces finished for Money talks, Art Walks in Feb.)

I will post fun pictures from my snowman class after Thurday! I am really looking forward to it. As much as I am dedicating myself to my work, I am dedicating myself to children and the arts as well.

Have a Creative Day!

Magic Snowflakes

Kids love how magical it is to use watercolors over oil pastels or in our case, White Crayola Construction Paper Crayons. This class was full of eager 3 and 4 year olds ready to tackle this project. We try to relate our Museum classes to pieces from the collection or special exhibits. Relating snowflakes was difficult since there are no paintings of snowflakes. However, we broke the snowflakes into lines and that was easy. Lines are everywhere.

I brought the class into circle time around me to talk about lines. I put a big piece of butcher paper on the ground with crayons. I invited the kids to gather around and draw lines. I showed them some (straight, curved, wavy, dashed etc.) Then we practiced pressing our crayons hard to make a dark line. This is needed for our resists to work. We read a quick book, Millions of Snowflakes by Mary McKenna Siddals and lined up to discuss our Museum rules and visit the gallery.



On the 3rd floor we found lines everywhere. We discussed several paintings and then I had the child lead the parent for the final few paintings to tell them about the lines they saw. In the classroom we used our knowledge to cover our paper with snowflakes, lines and other snowy things. This is difficult for them to see using white crayon on white paper, but I assured them the magic would be next. We used our watercolors to cover our paper and our magic lines appeared! So much fun!

You will need:
-White crayon or oil pastels (press firmly!)
-50 lb watercolor paper
-watercolors
-brushes and water

Here are some other examples from my super creative 3 and 4 year olds!

Little Kandinsky's

Nice crowd today at the Museum for Drop-in-Art. I had this class prepared for last weekend, but the Museum was closed due to snow and ice. Today we focused on Kandinsky. At first thought I was going to concentric circles, but I could not find a single photo of it in any book at the library. I thought that would have been easy enough! Oh well. We had plenty of fun and a little more freedom doing it this way.





I had the kids look at a few examples from books. We broke the paintings down into shapes and lines. We talked about organic shapes and geometric shapes. We talked about lines and all the kinds of lines there are.

First I had the children draw lines and shapes using oil pastels. Then we used watercolors to fill in the white space. So much imagination...so much fun!



You will need:
-50 lb watercolor paper
-oil pastels
-watercolors
-brushes

Here are just a few of the wonderful pieces the kids created today!