……what are liquid drawings you ask?
This was a technique introduced to me by Carla Sonheim that I loved doing. First you tear up some paper into an irregular shape, then you find a subject to draw and finally you draw that object (bicycle, glass bottles, butterfly) within the edges of the torn paper. You literally make the object take on the shape of the paper. Try it. It was fun to do.
…..what am I easily distracted by?
There are probably a lot of things that distract me, make me lose my focus but one of them is seeing art. I’m fascinated with abstract artists and I can get lost in their paintings. This happened to me last year when I had the opportunity to see numerous famous works of art at the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery in Venice.
Check out other WPC – ooh, Shiny! posts.
….this week’s WordPress photo challenge is satisfaction
One thing that I great satisfaction from is organizing my stuff. Right now I’m sitting in my cluttered bedroom, trying to figure out how to organize my art materials into a small space at the far end of the bedroom. One thing that I have done is sort through all my finished art projects and I’ve actually put them up on the walls. I had contemplated selling off everything very cheaply just to recoup the cost of the materials I used but there were too many pieces that I like too much. I’ve discovered that I’m getting a lot of satisfaction seeing my art on my walls.
…..a few weeks ago The National Ballet Co. came to our school and demonstrated the fundamentals of ballet and the preparation that takes place before a show
Our entire school population, from kindergarten to grade 5, were lucky enough to see the show and ask questions of the dancers. As a follow-up I did an art lesson with my kindergarten classes and used a picture book about Degas and the little ballerina, Marie to demonstrate some ballet poses and highlight some of the work that Degas created.
I showed the classes how to draw a simple ballerina, using chalk pastels. Some of the boys asked if they could draw male dancers and I was interested to see how they would do that since I spent so much time showing them how to draw a tutu.
As always, I was blown away with their creations. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
…..when a scribble is art
If you had told me a few years ago that scribbling is a viable art form I would have scoffed at you. Today, however, I have a new profound respect for the scribble. It started a few years ago when a well renowned artist introduced me to the art of scribbling. He thought that my students might like the activity. After trying it myself first and finding that it wasn’t as easy as it looked I put it aside and forgot about it.
Flash forward to the on-line year long art class that I’m taking right now. It started in January and every day Carla Sonheim posts a video with a quote, interview, photo assignment or drawing assignment. Some of the videos are very short, only 30 seconds or less and others are a little more detailed with actual instructions.
On day 56 we were given as assignment to take a pen and start scribbling. It was very addictive. I loved it and want to do more. I tried it with pencil but it works much better with a pen or fine tip marker. Give it a try. Start with just a random scribble and see what you come up with and then darken areas with more scribble to bring out what you see. After that choose an object and try to copy it by scribbling.
…..the kindergarten classes that I teach art to created a garden of Van Gogh inspired sunflowers
Recently I read the book The Artist and Me by Shane Peacock to the entire school. The book is one of the Blue Spruce nominees for 2017. 
I liked this book for two reasons. Firstly, because it is written for young children and highlights how the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh was bullied by children and adults alike. It points out that even adults are bullied when they appear different or do things differently. In Van Gogh’s case he suffered from depression and his art was different from the classics that people had come to expect from artists. The students were surprised that such a famous artist was treated so badly. I explained to them that Van Gogh was one of several new artists that had grown tired of traditional painting and wanted to experiment with texture, colour and paint strokes. People had a hard time excepting this new way of painting and in his lifetime Van Gogh only sold one painting.
Secondly, I liked this book because the illustrator tried to use similar colours that Van Gogh used and he reproduced parts of Van Gogh’s work in his illustrations. For example there are a few illustrations of Van Gogh’s famous bedroom and an illustration of the wheat fields that he liked to paint.
I had other books that showed some of Van Gogh’s many paintings. I showed my kindergarten classes the sunflowers that Van Gogh became famous for after he died. In our art period I demonstrated how to paint simple sunflowers using round stamps. Some of the students used paintbrushes to create the petals of the sunflowers. We talked about the different varieties and colours of sunflowers and I gave them yellow, red, orange and white paint that they could mix if they wanted.
On the first day the students painted the centres and the petals of the flowers. On day two they added green leaves and stems. I also gave them the option of adding a blue sky in the background and I showed them how to paint around their flowers. Some of the students also added some ladybugs and other little critters.
….in this part of the world spring is not close at hand
Looking at blogs that originate in Ireland, the United Kingdom, parts of Europe and the west coast of North America I’m amazed to see so many gardens that are already in bloom with beautiful spring flowers. With some luck we may see our first daffodil in late April but most of our flowers won’t appear until May.
To get us in the spring mood I painted some simple made up flowers using watercolours and circle shapes. For the background I used a scraping technique that I learned from Carla Sonheim. Once the paint was dry I added more detail, sometimes with more paint but mostly with black ink from a Sharpie. I liked the final product so much I adapted it for my students and when I return to school this week I will plaster the walls with their beautiful gardens of flowers. I will share their work with you later this week.
…the kids loved this quote by Ray Bradbury
For the last two weeks we have been discussing the concept of creativity in our art classes. Once we established that having artistic ability and creativity didn’t necessarily go hand in hand I shared some quotes from a few famous people.
“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on!” – Albert Einstein
“Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.” – Pablo Picasso
“Creativity takes courage.” Henri Matisse
“Great art picks up where nature ends.” Marc Chagall
“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” Salvador Dali
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Pablo Picasso
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try” – Dr. Seuss
The students were then directed to print their favourite quote or part of it onto a white sheet of drawing paper with pencil. Then they were to turn it upside down and start drawing by extending the lines in the quote. Once the page was full they could outline the whole piece in black Sharpie and add some colour.
At this point the quote is almost unrecognizable so to remind us how the art started the child was directed to rewrite the quote somewhere on the paper where there was open space. The grade 3s really got into this assignment. A few forgot to turn the quote upside down. The first photo is the sample that I created so that the students would have a visual when I explained the process. I would encourage any of you to choose a quote from the ones I’ve posted or come up with your own and get CREATIVE. I would love to see what you come up with.
Thanks to Carla Sonheim for the idea of gathering quotes about creativity and Stefanie von Hoesslin for the drawing activity using the quotes.
….a cross between a carnation and a chrysanthemum with eucalyptus and rose leaves
Obviously this is not a real flower. For one of my assignments in Carla Sonheim’s 365: A Video a Day, year long art class we had to pull apart flowers and create a new species.
Hope you enjoy these variations of Carmums.
…..thanks Cee for Share Your World
Do you prefer juice or fruit?
I’m definitely a fruit person. I stopped drinking juice a long time ago when I found out how much sugar is added to juice and how much of the fibre is removed. Eating one piece of fruit is much more satisfying than drinking a glass of juice (equivalent to 2 or 3 pieces of fruit).
Did you grow up in a small or big town? Did you like it?
I grew up mostly in a large city. For a period of 4 years I lived in a smaller town and I have fond memories of playing in the neighbourhood and riding my bike. When we moved back to the big city I lived directly across from the skating rink, the park, my school, the tennis courts and the outdoor swimming pool. I loved it. There was always something to do.
If you were to paint a picture of your childhood, what colors would you use?
I would use bright colours like blue, red, pink and green.
Ways to Relax List: Make a list of what relaxes you and helps you feel calm.
• reading a book
• knitting
• painting and drawing
• having tea with friends
• enjoying a cup of coffee after dinner with my husband
• doing yoga
• going for long walks with my husband
• going out for dinner
• lying on the beach at the cottage
• having a pedicure
Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful that my father is adjusting to living on his own again and finding a new purpose at the retirement home where he resides. I spent time with my family this weekend and was introduced to our daughter’s new dog. She’s a beautiful French bulldog. A and J named her Olive. Winnie wasn’t too sure about this new addition in her aunts’ home but I’m sure both baby and puppy will adjust and get used to each other in time.
I’m looking forward to finishing my report card comments this week and doing some more art assignments from Carla Sonheim’s 365: A Year Long Class.
Mama Cormier 