Friday, May 7, 2010
My Favorite Atelierista
Marla McClean has continued to inspire me all year. She is an " atelierista " at a Washington D.C. school called the Peabody School. Look through her site and read her wonderful stories of her young
artists. She emulates what I believe in. Children learn by doing. They are naturally creative. If they are given a space in which to work, beautiful things will happen. I will continue to grow with our artists by listening to them and exchanging ideas throughout our time together.
http://atelier.schoolwithinschool.org/
artists. She emulates what I believe in. Children learn by doing. They are naturally creative. If they are given a space in which to work, beautiful things will happen. I will continue to grow with our artists by listening to them and exchanging ideas throughout our time together.
http://atelier.schoolwithinschool.org/
Through the Looking Glass
Looking through the blue looking glass.
What might seem like a frivolous use of time is
so much more than that.
After finishing a wood sculpture, this young artist
was at the light table exploring the different colored
pieces of plastic shapes.
Covering a little hole in a piece of wood with
one color and observing the effects that it had on
the light was endlessly interesting.
The final action was taking a photo with the blue
piece on the lens.
I love when a child is engaged with something that will
give information that will stay and deepen for a lifetime.
The next time your child is deeply engaged with an activity
other than television, observe them knowing that learning is
happening .
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Sketchbooks
Sometimes the best idea is so simple and easy that you forget about it.
As an artist I always sketch. Jotting down an idea on a scrap of paper while I am out and about. Many times loosing what I have drawn. Therefore I bought a little sketchbook to paste or draw things in. This brought up the idea for using this concept with my young artists. I also came across a great website showing ideas and the importance of a sketchbook.
The children come into The Studio drawing and painting on small pieces of paper. These impromptu ideas are very original and very important to the artists. So, a few months ago the 3s.4s and K made a small sketchbook to draw in.
Sometimes we drew from life. Flowers, a large bird house and a wooden mannequin are some of the things that we drew from life.
Other times were drawing from our imaginations. These are two very different ways to draw. Both are important.
The first day that they drew in their books, they immediately wanted to take them home to show to their parents.
I told them that we were going to work on them for a while before they took them home.
Well, they were hesitant, but ended up acquiescing to me and waited. They were very happy to come in each week and find a book with their name on it.
The time has come to send them home. The only unfortunate thing is that some of the pictures were not drawn in a specific order. So, I don't have a list for you to know what we were doing each day.
But, please know that your child loves this book and they can easily add pages to it with a little help from you.
The following website is about sketchbooks in schools. But, I believe that at home is just as important.
Sincerely,
Miss Julie
http://www.accessart.org.uk/sketchbook/
p.s. Kindergarten boys are bringing their books home in a couple of more weeks.
As an artist I always sketch. Jotting down an idea on a scrap of paper while I am out and about. Many times loosing what I have drawn. Therefore I bought a little sketchbook to paste or draw things in. This brought up the idea for using this concept with my young artists. I also came across a great website showing ideas and the importance of a sketchbook.
The children come into The Studio drawing and painting on small pieces of paper. These impromptu ideas are very original and very important to the artists. So, a few months ago the 3s.4s and K made a small sketchbook to draw in.
Sometimes we drew from life. Flowers, a large bird house and a wooden mannequin are some of the things that we drew from life.
Other times were drawing from our imaginations. These are two very different ways to draw. Both are important.
The first day that they drew in their books, they immediately wanted to take them home to show to their parents.
I told them that we were going to work on them for a while before they took them home.
Well, they were hesitant, but ended up acquiescing to me and waited. They were very happy to come in each week and find a book with their name on it.
The time has come to send them home. The only unfortunate thing is that some of the pictures were not drawn in a specific order. So, I don't have a list for you to know what we were doing each day.
But, please know that your child loves this book and they can easily add pages to it with a little help from you.
The following website is about sketchbooks in schools. But, I believe that at home is just as important.
Sincerely,
Miss Julie
http://www.accessart.org.uk/sketchbook/
p.s. Kindergarten boys are bringing their books home in a couple of more weeks.
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