Create Your Own: (Toy) Sculpture

To begin another afternoon of artistic discovery, we visited a neighborhood art gallery.

Sneaking a peek

The focus was on sculptural artwork as the artists intended on working to create their own three - dimensional works upon returning to the art studio.

Natural elements in the foreground
including rocks, sticks, and seed pods

The studio's design comes together as the
cumulative Art Exhibit approaches

Collaborative critiques are well-received

Sculpting, Crafting, Creative
Problem - Solving

Wooden 'beauty sticks' serve as structure
while hollow pistachio shells mimic
the wheels of an airplane

Demonstrating flight

Select red felt is carefully cut in halves to
create a stylish runway while eucalyptus
seed caps function as 'jet engines' for
this artsy aircraft

Demonstrating take-off

Museum wax made this piece possible

Compilation of completed works

Making sculptures was a blast; these pieces are only the beginning of more to come... 

Water Element

         Rain, wind, and more rain characterized this Art + Nature afternoon. 

It was the first time the weather insisted the artists remain indoors. 

Which is why we spent the afternoon wondering about the water that kept us all inside.

Smiles during circle time

Opening class with a circle, the artists considered the qualities of water.  

When I think of water, I think of...:

Wet
Drops

It comes out of our eyes when we cry

It is inside our mouths

Waves

Ice

When it is snow time, rain turns to ice

Snow turns into water when it melts

Iceberg

In the middle of the sea (South pole and Antarctica)

Water makes music when it rains

All the talk about water and rain made us want to go outside again and attempt a short walk. 

Running back to the studio for shelter

But it was too cold. 

So we turned back.

Warming up

ACT II:

Introducing the portable easel

Setting up the portable easel for the first time felt like pure magic. 

Silence descended into the room, remaining for.....about a minute.

The artists create a basic color wheel

It was a day of many 'firsts' including an introduction to the concept of a 'color wheel.' 

Mixing secondary colors before their curious eyes felt like magic yet again. 

One artist was so struck by its resemblance to a 'spin wheel' that she continued to refer to it as such throughout the afternoon.

Mixing primary colors

A couple of watercolor 'spin wheels' later, the artists embarked upon the most exciting creative exercise of the day: the building of boats.

Let the boat-making begin

All are welcome aboard including:
a pirate, a hippopotamus, an elephant,
and the Buddha :-)

Eventually exhausting all (known) available options for mounting a sail - glue, tape, clips - enter Museum Wax to save the day.

Museum Wax is a MUST for an artist's toolbox.

Its indestructible, easy to manipulate, and creates an unbeatable short or long term adhesion for the littlest or biggest of hands.

A towel serves as make believe water
for creative sailing crafts to float

Finding a pirate figurine in the collage box
was icing on the cake for this young artist

Who knew staying inside could make creative discovery that much more fun?

Bubbles + Paint + Clay

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco and the artists were happy to be together and to begin another exciting afternoon of Art + Nature. 

This cowboy is ready for Art +
Nature - yee haw!

Bubble painting 

We decided to begin the class with bubble painting. 

One artist had never painted with bubbles and thought we were kidding saying,

"Bubble painting? That's silly!"

Perhaps...

Left: This is so awesome!
Right: A bubble painting master

Next, the explorers reviewed a map before embarking on a journey into the forest.

Cool cowboy map

Inspecting a dried creek bed

 One explorer noticed that the mud had dried up.

"It's gone. The mud was here."

As the children followed the curves, turns, dips, noticing how it changed course, 

they offered hypotheses to explain the reasons for the changes.

Playing and jumping 

Laying a bridge across the crevice

Watching four hummingbirds while
balancing a harmonica 

Back at the studio we engaged a variety of media, some familiar and others new.

Learning about modeling clay

This artist explores watercoloring techniques
like blotting excess moisture or 'erasing' as its described

Spray bottles wet the watercolor paper 

The collage queen's work station

Spray bottles are multi-purpose;
Thirsty? Why wait?

Stamping with wood pieces
collected in the forest 

Applying paint with an awesome natural brush
the artist discovered with his family at the beach

Completed watercolor paintings hang to dry

A collaborative piece made with tempera paint

Today was so much fun and we were sad when it was over.

But as we all know, there is always more to explore!

Join us on our adventures next week to see where our curiosities lead us.

Experimentation + 'Nature's Paint Brushes'

Completed works on display in the studio

The studio undergoes a transformation in week seven.  With more than enough completed art work to fill the studio walls, we carefully selected new pieces to hang.

Artists reflect upon the studio's new additions

Sharing ideas for the afternoon's activities

This week, the children stretch beyond their creative and artistic boundaries. Instead of painting with traditional paint brushes, the artists are challenged to find alternative modes of applying paint to paper.

Examples of 'Nature's paint brushes' and leaves for stamping

We discussed the possibilities of finding alternative paint brushes in nature.  Ideas included flowers, sticks, grasses, leaves, rocks, and the like. After a short brain-storming session the innovative creators ventured outside to see what they could find.

As always, curious surprises presented themselves along the way.

Examining Ganoderma applanatum shelf mushrooms,
one of the most common mushrooms in the world

Collecting artistic tools and inspiration

When it was time to return to the studio to begin painting one artist enthusiastically replied, 

"But I'm already painting!" 

One clever artist discovers a mushroom "canvas" 

Indeed she had discovered a Ganoderma applanatum conk with whitish pores that stain brown when bruised allowing for line drawing. 

Artists can etch upon fresh specimens creating the effect seen above.

Curious young explorers

Back at the studio, the artists get to work

Another experiment we conducted was the use of only one color of paint. Using black paint on white paper provided the artists a chance to focus on the medium's novel application rather than the mixing of colors.

In art, a mess is the surest sign of success!

They explored painting with their hands as well as the use of stencils.

Triangular stencils created interesting
lines and negative space

Hands were an example of "Nature's paint brushes"

Finishing touches

This composition takes on a new dimension

 with the controlled application of water

After the painting was over the children enjoyed a sweet treat then requested to spend the remaining class time collaging. Remembering past class activities the children decided to work together to construct boats for future adventures.

What does your tube sound like? The children
explore the varying effects of acoustic resonance

Constructing boats with glue and miscellaneous crafting items 

Applying glue with a stick - its a 'glue stick!'

Here are some of the completed paintings from the afternoon:

Finished painting with a hexagonal design feature created
through the use of a stencil

Leaf prints

Finished works hung in the studio to dry

The largest collaborative piece of the day

We loved our afternoon of exploring and
creating together

Join us next week for a new and exciting Art + Nature adventure!