Mixing color

Mixing color

Stirring the dough first.

Studio 3

Squishing "Javadough"

Mixing gray from black and white

Moving dough to a cup

Drawing with a colored pencil

The children's work time is very focused. They always put a lot of care into what they do.
Always try to remember this as you verbally discuss their work. Some things to say might be:
"I see that you used black and white ; that's beautiful !" or"I see that you drew circles"\
Try to avoid"What is it?" and always treat their work with respect.
You might wait to see how they respond before saying anything else. Let them guide you.
Even the smallest piece has more work and thought than you might guess.

Happy with herself!

Proud of his hard work!

Picture day brought out the colored pencils!

 

As you can see, the children are loving their art class.

From Movies

  I walk into the YD's room and set up materials and watch them flow from painting to puzzles back to painting. They do gain quite a bit by experiencing color,texture and movement. This is  the beginning of the love of learning. It is a joy to see creativity at its most basic.

Painting,Drawing and Exploring in the Studio

The Studio was bustling with activity this week. All age groups either came to the Studio or I went to them. We all enjoyed our time together.

 YD painted with bamboo branches and black watercolor on paper or mixed purple and white together to see what happened. Hands were sometimes dipped in the paint as were brushes.
 I went to the Young 2's also. They each brought such magic to their corner of the collage. Some even saw how a print could be made with an extra sheet of paper. Bubbly water used to rinse their brushes delighted them and kept them very happy and enthusiastic.
 The older twos came to the Studio and worked on a large collage using warm colors (red,yellow and orange) burlap,tiny pine cones,glue and cardboard shapes. They also printed small circles with corks. The cardboard pieces were glued and stacked as desired. They loved playing with the light table for a few minutes at the end of our time together.

 The Threes worked with an individual board, oil pastel, watercolor and watercolor pencil as their tools. As they drew, they saw their lines show through the watercolor. Each child was happy with the results of their effort. Some of them tried their hand at the tape dispenser. All of them walked their pieces to the drying rack and place it on all by themselves. I wanted to let them do as much on their own as possible. This will give them more independence in the studio as they visit each time.

Pre-K first took a "tour" of the room. Visiting all areas to see how they will be used. They learned how to use a brush(wooden handles and bristle), where tools are to placed after use, where the drying racks are and their purpose. We talked all about about"line." They observed different objects and told whether it was a straight, circular or curving line. A fine tipped black marker was used to draw only straight lines. We are breaking down the characteristics of each line so that they can put them together with more purpose and control.

Kindergarten also toured the room and learned about line. They went further by actually drawing curved(squiggly) , circular and straight lines. They pieced together each line choosing what they wanted to draw. They came up with simple yet sophisticated line renderings. We talked about the picture being abstract if they did not want to draw"something". This helped the artists focus on just lines alone.

 I look forward to another exciting week with all of the children. I will post each week on this blog. If you ever have any questions , please feel free to stop by the room and ask. Preferably in the morning , as there is no time to talk while the  artists are working.

                                                                      Miss Julie

art class 1st week

The Studio is Ready!

The day is almost here when the young artists will enter the studio to create with and experience new materials. Each week they will come one half of the class at a time, giving them an intimate working experience with the atelierista (Miss Julie).
We already had a few visitors casually drop in on our meet and greet morning. They enthusiastically explored the oil pastels and paper that was sitting on the table ready to be used.
I look froward to getting to know each child and helping them develop there own personal vision and style of creating art.

Classes will begin in full Monday. So, please peek in on our blog from time to time to see what the classes have been doing.