A Butterfly Effect...

This day's theme surrounded mono-printing with larger sheets of paper and simply folding them in half. What results is that mirror image - Rorschach looking paint blot, sometimes resembling a butterfly.



What also results is an excellent opportunity for teamwork between adult and child as you first paint, then work to press the pages together. 

 The final product is always a mystery and exciting surprise for all involved

The actual definition of Butterfly Effect - a small change leading to complex or larger unexpected effects, feels appropriate for this open studio setting, as we plant those small seeds of learning for our children to blossom with in amazing ways...

Maps!...

 

Over several sessions, this art explorer has begun to draw and paint maps of familiar places - and in this case, a local park.

During our class working with paper strips, a piece of paper was added to designate the slide.
















Several more maps were created in the next session, this time out of paint and standing at the wall.

It is delightful to watch young artists fueled to create by their everyday experiences without any prompting from adults. This can give any teacher or parent a window into what is truly important to your children at that moment.

Folding together...

 This mother and daughter pair are working together on building with paper strips. Artists are shown several ways in which to fold, bend, coil, curve and cut their paper and attach it to the background.

Their artwork begins to resemble a relief sculpture or pop-up book as they explore lines, shapes, and color relations. 

For more than just building...

This artist has discovered that he can draw and make marks on our canvas tables with his ball of clay and sticks. This is a normal part of the discover process as children begin to learn the ins & outs of what a material can and can't do.

Stacking, Part 2...

 Earlier in the session, we saw this artist demonstrating a love for stacking and building (regardless of the materials at hand). Here he is at our light table, continuing to work on those balancing techniques and motor skills. 

These vertical feats pop up a lot in the studio, and there seems to be a running theme that if the objects are the same size - then there is bound to be an attempt to build a tower with them!

You can't resist resist...

This day I began by offering our artists thick paper, crayons and pastels. Once the drawings felt like they were nearing completion (i.e.: attention spans decreasing), I introduced our watercolors to the group.

With our younger crowd, the larger watercolor cakes work well, and there are often useful teaching moments in how to treat our materials with care. (Otherwise you might get a lot of aggressive digging into the paint.)


 The same goes for our Preschool group, who we started out with white pastels only, on a circle (mandala) background.

The oil in the pastels separates from the watery paint and previously hidden white designs will appear when they add color. 

Lots of excitement ensues when this technique is first being discovered and their "secret drawings" begin to appear.

"Paint It, Black"...

... or at least try paint on black - and feel free to draw on it too!

(p.s. - that was a Rolling Stones reference for those of you who didn't get it. )







Switching up your background color is great for extending interest with materials and teaching about color relationships - "notice how this yellow pastel shows up on the black paper compared to white paper!.."

Blues become electric and metallic paints glow on a black background. Try pastels if crayons don't work, they tend to leave thinner and less saturated marks (i.e., Pastels just show up better on darker colors!) 

Stacking, Part 1...

This gentleman was able to find an alternative use for our foam stamps during a recent painting session.

His self-made lesson in building is a welcome break from painting on his paper, as the child's brain and body have the important task of working together to learn about balance and refining one's motor skills.

This is one of the reasons it is advantageous to offer a variety of blocks, building materials and surfaces in an open studio, where children can recharge from clay and 2-D work that is often product-oriented.

Here our artist has simply created his own building station without having to leave his seat or wash hands!

The sense of accomplishment and pride that seem to appear on his face was fulfilling to watch, and as you'll see, this stacking becomes a favorite challenge of his throughout the winter session.

Rapunzel...

On our last day with my Monday Art Explorers class, this artist came in determined to make a princess and castle out of clay.






I began by helping her to make the figure, then remembered our handy old garlic presses we sometime use with the clay. These tools make excellent clay spaghetti, or hair, as the case may be.


The princess quickly became "Rapunzel," (not surprisingly) as our young artists realized how much hair we were capable of making in an hour long class.

Watching the clay come out of the press elicited peels of laughter and excitement, no matter how many times they had just witnessed me squeeze more clay through the press.

These two artists teamed up as they worked out a system of who would be the runner and who would attach the hair as it gradually wrapped farther and farther around the table. All the while there was constant talking and questions as to how long Rapunzel's hair could become.

This was a lovely way for me to be able to close out the winter session with this class. The passion for story telling my Monday artists were willing to bring to class was always spontaneous, full of creativity, and a joy to watch & be a part of.

Extending the trays...

Once young artists have been allowed to sufficiently experiment with  with painting on trays, you can reintroduce paper into the mix if you find there are images the artist wants to save.

After a work is created in paint on the tray (the thicker the better) you can lay paper across the top and make a print.

Have the artist experiment with rubbing or scratching onto the back of the paper to create interesting designs and marks that will appear on the front, once peeled off the tray.

But take this warning from lesson hard learned! Try waiting to introduce the paper a few minutes in, as an extension of the art session. This method of printing can become quite prolific and hard to keep up with/find drying space for. Sticking with just fingers and taking a break from brushes tends to slow down production and the child focuses more on the feel of the paint, the experience, than a desire to mass produce.

Let there be mess...

 


As I've written before, using cookie trays can be an excellent way to introduce finger painting to young artists.


As parents and teachers, you may be torn between wanting to save every piece of artwork your child creates, every time you do art together, and yet you know that you simply don't have the storage space (and it's getting hard to tell many of those scribble drawings and paint splashes apart!) This is okay.

With art tasks like finger painting, many times it is more about the sensory experience, the love of that slippery goop between your fingers, than what pictures can actually be created with said goop.

Working on trays allows for that experimentation with color mixing and the feeling of paint within the safety of natural borders.

When the session is all done, the lessons have still be learned and the experience will stay with your child - even if they don't save their work on paper.

But if an image feels worth saving, it can be transfer from the tray through printing, which I will address in the next post...

More from stamping....

Over the winter session - stamping has become a true favorite for many of our artists, and I have constant requests to bring them out if there is any hint that we will be painting today. 

 Wood blocks, thread spools, corks, erasers, bottle caps, sponges, and anything that can teach our artists about shapes and design are happily utilized in the studio.

This artist (one of our biggest stamp lovers) has found a creative way to problem solve with a paint roller that just won't stay together. He's made a new and more efficient stamp!

A long term project....

As we saw in the previous post, many of our artists choose to bring in objects of interest from home to share with the class, and often incorporate these within their artwork.





This pair has been gradually adding to their plastic skull (an old Halloween decoration) since the fall when they first brought it in.













Since then he has become a permanent feature in the classroom and inspires a lot of creative questioning from many of our students!

You may just spot him soaking up the sun in our front window.

Custom detailing...

This artist has chosen to bring in items from home to decorate in the class. 

She and her caretaker both work on the dinosaurs to carefully add color to the plain white plastic.

Offering this opportunity can bring new life to forgotten toys, as young artists reinvent old objects with their own personal style.