Acrylic Painting: Van Gogh his Sunflowers!

We will be looked at the work of Vincent van Gogh, a Dutch post-Impressionist painter.  Many people don’t know but van Gogh was drawing since he was a child.  I hope that his work will be inspiring to the students as they will then develop their OWN painting and adapt the style of Vincent van Gogh.  Student will learn about the Elements of Design and Principles of Design to help them have a balanced and flowing painting.

  

MADD HATTER tea sets.

This session we worked with low-fire clay. Students designed their teapots; cups and sauces during the first class and begin building them.  They were shown hand-building techniques and develop their understanding of 3D forms.

Andrea, age 8, was inspired by the many mushrooms she saw.

Kathryn's "Drink me" bottle.

Amelia's forest inspired tea set.

Olivia, age 9,  experimented with form for her tea set.

Brent focused on the form and design elements of his tea set to create an elegant design.

The inspiration for these tea sets was from the movie Alice in Wonderland. Students drew idea's after being shown this move and began to sketch out their creative idea's on paper.  

"Creative Beginnings" - a show of young artists.

Creative Minds Studio is an art studio for children of all ages.  Here, students learn how to express their ideas through a variety of new and exciting materials such as painting, drawing, 3D sculpture and much more! They are taught new technique, exposed to many different artists and encouraged to look at new ways to solve problems. At Creative Minds Studio I encourage students to take their time and work through their ideas.  I feel it is important for children to be give the opportunity to experience art and new ways of thinking at their own pace.

Students are exhibiting their work at Uncommon Grounds Coffee Shop located at 1030 South Park Street in Halifax on Saturday November 27^th.  The opening will be from 2pm- 4pm and the show will be up all month.  They are all very excited to be given the opportunity to display their works of art in a public show for all to see. 

Paper Making!

Paper making is one of my favorite things to teach.  During this session students learned about re-using and recycling old flyers, papers, cards and even old jeans.  They learned traditional paper making techniques and began to create beautiful paper.

 I then showed them several different techniques such as laminations, embossing and inclusions.  After several weeks of making paper students then learned traditional Japanese book binding techniques and made accordion books and a Yamato binding.  All students made amazing and unique books with their wonderful papers!

Pencil Crayons and Illustration

During this session students learned how to blend using pencil crayons. They  tried them on several different types of paper such as vellum, mylar and card stock.  They learned how to manipulate the colours to create a smooth looking image.

After several exercises we then disscused how to lay out a storyboard.  Students gain the skill of working in a team and with one another’s idea’s.  They created their own characters and settings and from there we illustrated the book, 10 Apples Up On Top by Dr.Seuss.  

Acrylic Painting

During this session students learned how to plan out a drawing from a still life.  We first started by setting up a still life of a bottle and some fruit.  We then discussed how to begin to plan out our drawing.  Students learned about proportion, shadows, highlights, negative space and value.


From there we re-drew them onto our canvas.  Students then learned about proper brush strokes, how to mix paints and how to blend their colours.  This was a very exciting process for many of them.

Each student worked very hard on their paintings and were extremely proud with the end results.  I couldn't have been happier!

These are just a few of the remarkable paintings that were done!  Remember, these students are between the ages of  7 and 11!

Collect and Collage: November 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th

I am always amazed at the creativity that comes from collage.  Students will be experimenting with several techniques such as stamps, sponging, painting, ripping methods and learning how to combine found and hand-made papers.  Students will begin to experiment with combining different textures, colours and shapes/images.  We will begin by playing with colour and texture then move on to more investigational pieces by adding imagery and font.  Students will gain a better understanding of materials and self-expression.