O is for One More

The last butterfly was drawn on dark green paper. This one is on bright pink. It was interesting to see the different effects created by the background color as well as the different color choices I needed o make in order to get this image to pop. In both, I really like the rich texture I achieved, and a certain luminous quality.

We tried this in my senior class with wonderful result - easy to work with materials, simple design = fun and success for all. Also, a little lesson in symmetry.

Irene M

B is for Blue

If flowers are my current focus, the color blue has been a constant inspiration throughout my work throughout this year.

This summer I taught a workshop for young teens on the Art of Fashion, this time teamed up with another instructor whose focus is natural dyes. She grows indigo and madder in her garden, and uses her plants to teach about dying and printing on fabric. Our collaboration resulted in a fascination with indigo – and the resulting blues it can create.

To prepare to teach my section of the workshop –which includes illustrating clothing designs and creating fabric designs and patterns, I spent time learning about not only indigo but many other blue pigments – and experimenting them in my work.

I’ve always been curious about the sources of pigments used by artists f the past - those who could not just hop to the art store for supplies. What I learned through Google searches and books, was a great enhancement to my understanding, my classes, and my respect for the incredible amount of work needed to create colors for paints and dyes.

Today's painting combines blue and florals - and is part of the series I am developing. The fashion figure is the work of a student who painted a pattern on paper and turned it into the fabric for her dress design. Good work.

G is for Grapes Leaves

As I mentioned earlier, I took a painting class this summer with the wonderful Elena Guttman. In her Dynamic Abstract classes we explore different artists and apply her teachings about their style to our own work.

In a recent class about Picasso, we not only fractured shapes, but colored each shape with lights and darks and selected color.

I needed a subject to practice this technique. What should I draw? I pondered this as I looked at the sky I could see through the curtain of grape leaves that were curling over our arbor. There they were - lovely curling shapes, tendrils, overlap, gorgeous shades of green and sky.

I spent days working this image using hard color pencils on soft paper. Each area is painted individually. An interesting and difficult assignment - but worth the work. Its very different from my usual work. I havent't yet really incorporated this into other images - but maybe soon.

R is for Resist

This being November and Oregon, it has be RAINING .... a lot. The grey skies and constant broken light inspired this fun project which I call "Make it Rain." I used this in all of my art classes last week with consistently great results.

First, we create a place - in my senior classes I demonstrated a street of houses on a horizon line. These were colored heavily with bright colored oil pastel. I reminded students that any area that was to remain white needed to be covered with white oil pastel. Then we covered the entire image with a coat of black water color. Voila! It's raining.

We had great results in all the classes. My younger kids followed the houses on a street pattern. My older kids took the opportunity to create their own imaginary and highly original "places." Almost everyone loved the effect of the watercolor resist.

Maybe next time we will bring on the sun.

O is for Open-ended

o·pen-end·ed

(ō′pən-ĕn′dĭd)

adj.

1. Not restrained by definite limits, restrictions, or structure.

2. Allowing for or adaptable to change.

3. Allowing for a spontaneous, unstructured response: an open-ended question.

This month in my painting and drawing classes, my lessons prompts and rules are open-ended. In other words, I set some rules but leave the choice of subject or pattern or color to my students. They tell me often how much they love this freedom. An open-ended assignment means there are no wrong answers, no one way to work, and many options for expressing ideas. 

Open-ended assignments are a little daunting at first, and then an idea will hit. "Can I do this?" "I don't know ... are you able to do this?" 

They are a way to generate many ideas and explore design elements. This assignment was to create four images, on one page. Each had to follow the same "recipe": 

    3 Triangles, any size

    5 squiggly lines (squiggly to be interpreted by the artist)

    7 circles

    COLORS; red yellow and blue. White for blending if desired and sharpie for outlines.

The results that come from these instructions are strikingly unique. It is so much fun, at the end of class, to look at all the ideas that have come to life on our papers. We are going to do this again next week - but in a new medium and with a new instruction added for a fun twist.

Open-ended assignments are definitely an opportunity for my students, and for me, to discover what we want to create, to stretch our imaginations and learn new techniques - all at the same time. 

The art of this page includes mine (at the top) - I did a full page in prep for the class and then "doubled the recipe" on one to see what would appear. Then I colored it.  Notice how the sky treatment reflects the one in my H is for Hippie post.

 I loved that the kids had the time to complete their full pages. I think they are beautiful. And, they truly demonstrate the idea that Creativity is Intelligence at Play.

M is for Makery

Makery is a new word to me. The idea and the word has popped up, literally in my own neighborhood and I can see it becoming a new trend. A makery is a place where tools and training are provided in a work space - for a price.

I now teach classes in a "makery" - a shop where kids and adults can learn to sew or cook or bake or embroider or knit or draw or make earrings or  sausage or ... the possibilities are endless. There is another makery around the corner from the place where I teach.

A search on the word makery includes shops and studios around the country, and include words such as artisan, unique, DYI, handcrafts, "making things from scratch" and "homesteading skills to build self-sufficiency." My daughter has a school to teach cooking.

I have noticed shop front businesses where you can go to drink wine and create an instructor led painting; shops for painting pre-poured ceramics which are then fired for you. There are jewelry making classes at the bead shop.  I found one that is suited to "inventors of all ages." There are classes to teach how to make wine and beer, ones where you can learn to make preserves, pickles and jams, even cheese from scratch.

As a long time "maker" who learned many of my skills from parents, friends and relatives, I find it interesting to see a whole new business model popping up to provide the skills that were formerly taught in school and at home.

 Now that home economics and art and shop are no longer part of the school curriculum, these shops are a way that kids (whose parents have the means to pay for classes) can to learn the pleasure of working with their hands to create something that is truly their own.

As a life long and passionate "maker" of things,  I understand the satisfaction that comes from creative work, and I love the opportunity to share my skills. But, I see these cool shops as a reflection of how our world is changing. What were once essential skills of daily living, such as cooking, baking, sewing and knitting warm clothes, are now recreation. And now, the definite favorite of almost every school kid, art, is no longer free and a regular part of the school week. These shops are wonderful - but I am aware, even as I teach my lucky students, that the skills and the pleasure are pno longer available to everyone.

For those who can afford it - no matter how we come by the skills and pleasures of making things .... its a good thing.

The art on this page is a "kitchen art" piece with a touch of photoshop to soften the edges.

G is for Generating Lots of Ideas

Step 3

One of the fundamental aspects of creativity is the ability to generate MANY ideas. This is best accomplished without self judgement, and with a spirit of "whatever happens will be a lesson unto itself."

Because I am focusing on creativity in this AEDM challenge as well as in my classes, I am trying to learn to practice what I preach  - emphasizing the importance of play as part of the creative process. I also have lessons to plan.

I needed a simple project for my seniors today, and I am thinking about symmetry. So, in the spirit of letting the ideas flow, I began by dividing a page, writing my name is lovely script to fill one half of the space and repeating on the other side.

I liked the shapes, so I added lines to fill the space and create inner shapes.  I went over all of this with black sharpie. Then I colored with Caran D'ache crayons in a limited palette - remembering to do on one side what I do on the other. This would work for my seniors.

Step 1

Usually I paint over Caran D'ache with a brush. But I felt lazy and had an idea to try as a short cut. I wet a layer of paper towel and laid it over the drawing to see what would happen - and magic appeared. I created an accidental monotype print on the paper towel. Ideas began popping in all directions.

Step 2

First, I realized that this "printing" method would be a hit with my seniors. Easy to do, and a great way to talk about symmetry (and with great potential for a landscape with reflections for another day.)

Next, I realized that this is a perfect way to create unique fabric design in my fashion art classes. Then I started to play with the printed paper towel - bringing it into Photoshop to mess around. The results at the top are a digital painting created with lots of filters and techniques.

What a great night - I played for hours.

A is for Another

Creativity is intelligence having fun  ― Albert Einstein.

A is for another year, and as always, I am looking forward to both the art and the words that will result.

A is also for Albert, Einstein that is, and the quote (above) that I recently  came across.  Somehow, in just these five words, Albert has managed to say what I have been trying to express through my art, my writing and most of all, through my teaching, throughout my career.

I believe that creative thinking is key to a satisfying life, that being creative frees us to use our brains in wonderful and often unexpected ways, no matter your age. And I know that when I teach and when I work on my art, and when I write about it in  this blog, I am not only learning, but having fun. I hope you will too as you follow this month's journey.

Student Age 10

So, this November I will my focus blog and my posts around this quote. As I have in the six (!) previous years that I have participated in this challenge, I will allow the letters of  the alphabet to direct the theme of each days post. And of course, I will  share images of art that I create, both for myself and as lesson preparation for the variety of classes and students I teach.

I will write about what I  learn as I as I paint and draw, and include tips, insights, recommendations and resources that work for me, and for my students, old and young.  I will also share some of the fabulous work that is created in my classes.

My drawing of apples in a bowl was created for an autumn themed lesson. I chose apples as the subject because they are easy to draw, the shapes are what they are and almost always look great. They remove some of the "oh I can't draw" energy from my senior artists, and let the young ones have fun with something they are familiar with.

I used color pencils (Prismacolor are my favorites) because they are easy for my senior students to handle, and can be layered to create wonderful depth of color for my skilled Young Artists. I chose a variety of reds, greens and yellows and played with curving lines to create the apple shapes. Then I added layer on layer of color until they looked good enough to eat. Fun!

Do you want to participate in the Art Everyday for a Month Challenge. To learn more about it, and sign up to participate, SIGN UP FOR ART EVERY DAY MONTH CHALLENGE

Z is for craZy Turkey

The kids in my kids' classes this week were all about making art for Thanksgiving. They all seemed to want to make something to bring home and share with the family. Great idea.

I needed a project idea. I thought about doing a cornucopia, but somehow I wandered off to look at illustrations and photos of turkeys. This was where I found inspiration for my lesson of the week.

In my senior class last week, we had great success with patterning (snakes), not to mention that I am on a patterning tear in my own artwork. The other day I drew a big turkey on 14x17 drawing paper and let him sit on my table. I had no idea what it would become, until today, thinking about how creative my kids were, and planning for seniors tomorrow, I started to pattern, first drawing words and then filling the spaces with markers.

Since I am up to Z in my alphabet, there are many z's worked into the pattern, and a few notes on our family Thanksgiving - hiding in the feathers. As I was coloring, a name appeared - that both describes my bird and fits by blog post.

This is craZy turkey and she wishes you a great holiday.

I brought my drawing into Photoshop to smooth out the marker lines, ended up adding a filter. I love the results -

X is for Expect the best

 

As a teacher, especially of seniors, I am constantly hearing variations on the theme of "I'm no artist." Students come to class expecting to fail. I love the moments when they are surprised, even amazed, when their work seems good to themselves.

My attitude is not so different, except I expect the worst of weather when traveling to the Oregon Coast.

This day had been rainy and windy and kind of nasty - til sunset when the clouds parted and all of the beautiful light and color appeared. This is a photo of a beautiful summer evening. The beauty of the evening all the more special because is was so unexpected.

T is for Teaching Today

This is the second snake project I have worked on today. The first was in my senior class - where I actually taught a simplified version of the very LONG project I worked on yesterday.

Clearly, the inspiration of the week is reptilian, in honor of my grandson who is snake mad and turning four this weekend.

Patchistan Snake by Carol

Because of his passion, I have looked at snakes, talked about snakes, played with toy snakes, watched snake videos, read snake books, drawn snakes for him to color, and visited snake stores. It might not be my first choice of subject, but I guess snakes, and their shape and pattern, have gotten under my skin.

Yesterday I spent the day creating a four foot long snake word/drawing as a giant birthday card. I loved the process and I knew the patterning and simple shape would make for a great art project for my afternoon class.

Stanley Snake by Winnie

The results were wonderful (as you can see)  - and fun to do.

So much fun in fact, that as soon as I got home I knew I had to do another snake for myself. This one is smaller than my last, only two feet long.  I drew it with sharpie, colored with Prismacolor markers (I love to work with these), patterned with fine lines and gently tweaked the end result in Photoshop.

Today was one of those days where teacher and student are perfectly blended and rendered in full glorious color.

Thanks

S is for Sharing Student Samples

S is for students - and sharing their work for a second time on a lazy Saturday.

I have been working hard all day on a birthday surprise that begins with S. I can't show it quite yet, but here is a clue. It is too long to photograph in its entirety, and bonus clue, it is something special for my favorite herpetologist who is turning four years old.

So, with kids and art in mind, I will share a video I made of student work from two summer workshops - one called Fabulous Faces, and the other The Art of Fashion.

The students in these classes were between 10 -12 years old. I am sure you will agree that their work is stunning. My favorite images though, are the ones of the kids at work. 

K is for Kids

Today's project is a drawing I started in class with my kids this afternoon. This is K day.

I have the most wonderful students, but I feel a special bond with my older kid painting and drawing class. These young women (9-12) come to my class to make art , and their wonderful parents bring them and take them home from the Art Center where our classes are held in a wonderfully equipped art studio.

 I always look forward to this class because the kids are up for anything, and have great ideas and opinions of their own. And they work independently once the assignment is given.

Anyway, I'd planned flowers in pastel today, but I found myself telling them about the work that I am doing with word drawings. They all wanted to try. So, I worked along with them and drew this word picture on the subject of K, using fine sharpie on Bristol paper.

The kids' work (focused on their name, or their brother or Thanksgiving) is still in progress. ,

This new method has yielded unexpected opportunities to be creative. The drawing on the black background is my original drawing inverted. The results, up close, look like a tatted spider web.

The image above is a section that I cropped from my drawing once I had it in Photoshop. The drawing is the original black on white, but I added some strong whites and greys just for fun. I am now working on a color piece and I think it will be beautiful - or maybe, L for lovely.

Check back tomorrow and see what appears.

F is for Fashion Sketching

When I was a girl I drew pretty girls in dresses. Dozens of them, pages and pages of pretty girls in pretty clothes.

Now I teach a class called "The Art of Fashion" to young artists. This afternoon my students will be designing pajamas and robes and then sketching them. Fashion sketching is an art all its own, and I am needing to brush up on my skills, so this is today's work.

A coordinated outfit, robe and pjs. I would totally wear this.

E is for Experimenting Everyday

Keep Moving

Creating and teaching art everyday leaves lots of room for experimentation.

Lately, I am enjoying the "take a line for a walk"  technique I wrote about earlier. I keep coming back to this easy abstract approach whenever I am stuck for an idea.

To keep me moving forward, I set limits and rules on each piece - in this case (and usually) I limit my palette. I also used warms going one way and cools the other.  This allowed me to play with blending in different ways. Then, when I feel done with the color layer, I add line and pattern.

I really like these results. It is fun to do, adds the element of surprise at what appears, and offers a great lesson in color and blending when I share it with students. This approach is also starting to show up in my paintings.

Keep Moving is 9x12 on board with paint, oil pastel and caran 'dache

D is for Dark

Dark Street

It rained yesterday, and rained and rained. The extra long day, and the stay indoors weather allowed me lots of time to play.

Last week I had my Senior artists create Trick or Treat Street Scenes. We drew simple houses along a street, colored heavily with oil pastel, added a big moon in the sky and went over all with black watercolor paint. The results were terrific.

By Holly

Rain

One of the pieces (by Holly)  was so lovely it inspired me to revisit this project for myself (and my Monday kid classes.)
Dark Street was my result. I think the watercolor I used was too intense - it soaked the paper, but I do think I succeeded in creating a night scene. There is much I like about this image, and there was more time to play, so I  continued to work with it  - this time in Photoshop.

The second variation is called Rain. I just added some texture to the background and rebalanced the color and light. I love the things that can happen with digital tools.

Making art was a wonderful way to enjoy my dark and rainy day.

C is for Creativity

Redhead

Creativity is about the process not the outcome.

This is what I tell my students (many of whom complain that their work is "no good") at least twice a day.

Since my art students cover a rather broad range of ages (5 -101) and abilities, some of my creative energy needs to be directed at finding projects that allow each student to feel successful, and to create something that they see as beautiful.

One of the challenges with my 'senior class" is that many of these older women insist on making things the 'right way." This means brown tree trunks, green leaves, red apples, blue skies. Nothing I say seems to give them the permission they need to try a  green sun in a pink sky. So, sometimes, just to shake things up, I present a project that is not supposed to look real.

One way I inspire these lessons is by presenting the work of a favorite artist. (If a real artist can do it like this, maybe it's alright.) I love the work of Paul Klee. Showing his work is a way to begin to get the point across that things that are not realistic can be beautiful and interesting.

One of the many inspirations that I get from Klee's work is the idea of "taking a line for a walk." I have done many drawings in this way. The more comfortable I become with this style of drawing, the more I trust the outcomes. For some reason, when I use this method to draw faces, they always seem to be better proportioned, have more expression, and open the way for more creative use of color than any other method I use in my teaching. I taught an entire summer workshop using this method and the students' results got better and more beautiful and fun every day.

So, here is an example of one of my One Line Faces, enhanced with straight lines when the face/head/figure is complete. The color is Caran D'ache and I have added a little digital oomph in the background.  This is 9x12" on watercolor paper.

This brings me to a question. Do any of you teach art? Does anyone work with Senior Citizens? I would like to know how others teach senior artists.  Please post to the comments.  Thanks

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation: Art with Kids

It has been a very creative summer in my classes. Most of the work focused on learning many ways to paint and draw  faces (in the style of my favorite artists). Then, an awesome summer camp - five days of learning about the art of fashion.
The dresses shown are collages done with a fairy tale theme and every cool item found in our studio.


This video shows some of  the fabulous work done by my amazing young artist students. Really, I do not know who had the most fun.

Fabulous Faces and the Art of Fashion

I will be teaching the Art of Fashion again this fall, so sign up early. And, we will be painting fabulous faces in my Young Artists classes too.

To register,
please drop by the office or call us at (503) 823-2787. You may also register online by going to
Portland Parks & Recreation.

Great Children's Art Classes Begin in January

There will be painting and drawing and even monotype printing in the next series of my children's art classes at Multnomah Arts Center. There is even something new and different added for teens - Fashion Art.

Classes begin on Monday, January 6th so register now.
Young Artists—Drawing & Painting

Action! Brushstrokes! Beautiful lines and wild shapes! Develop skill in composition, color mixing and putting thoughts and feelings into your work. Experiment with materials such as paint, markers, acrylics, tempera, and pastels. Explore faces, places, flowers, fish, abstraction and more.

Monday Classes 

Ages 6 - 8

Jan. 6 - Feb. 3 $44 [4 classes]

416195 Mon. 3:30 - 4:30 pm
 
Feb. 10 - Mar. 17 $55 [5 classes]
416201 Mon. 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Ages 9 - 12 Jan. 6 - Feb. 3 $64 [4 classes]
416203 Mon. 4:45 - 6:15 pm

Feb. 10 - Mar. 17 $80 [5 classes]
416205 Mon. 4:45 - 6:15 pm

Thursday Classes 

Ages 6 - 8

Jan. 9 - Feb. 6 $55 [5 classes]

416207 Th. 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Feb. 13 - Mar. 13 $55 [5 classes]

416209 Th. 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Ages 9 - 12  

Jan. 9 - Feb. 6 $55 [5 classes]

416211 Th. 4:45 - 5:45 pm

Feb. 13 - Mar. 13 $55 [5 classes]

416213 Th. 4:45 - 5:45 pm

New! Fashion Art for Teens
This class is an introduction to the art (and business) of fashion. Through a variety of art projects, try your hand at fashion sketching, clothing and fabric design, display and marketing design. Working from lots of resources, explore sources of inspiration from history and from today’s influences, and the importance of design elements such as color, line and composition in visual presentations.

Ages 13 - 18
Jan. 9 - Feb. 27 $120 [8 classes]
416776 Th. 6:15 - 7:45 pm

 

To register,
please drop by the office or call us at (503) 823-2787. You may also register online by going to Portland Parks & Recreation and clicking “Register Now.” First time users will need to create an account with Portland Parks by making an online request or by calling the PP&R Customer Service Center at (503)823-2525, 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.

 

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Dd is for Done and Done and some Digital too

We've made it to the final day of the Challenge Month. November is almost done and December is just ahead with all the busyness, bother and pleasures it is sure to bring. So, I am glad that I have completed this task, but I will miss the daily-ness of thinking, planning, writing and creating.

Though I worried about my ability to fulfill my personal challenge of using the alphabet to structure my month's work, I find that I  have once again learned a great deal about my art, process and need for structure by doing things in this way. I still find that using the alphabet to organize my posts results in creative ideas - I don't fight myself, just let the words and themes appear. Then something always works out.

Today's piece combines monotype printing and some interesting digital tweaks. I won't share the process - just the results.  Thanks to all of you who have been following my work, and especially for the comments and connections. I am grateful to you all. Till next November ...