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

N is for Negativity

Its not that I am never guilty of it, in fact being negative about my own art defined me for many years. But now, especially as a teacher of seniors, all the negativity from my senior students is driving me nuts.

I am trying to figure out why, especially older women, can never find anything nice to say about themselves and their work. Its not that they don't know how - their praise to others is lovely and right on the mark. Yet when they look at their own work, they call themselves names (I am no artist!, stupid, ugly!) and refuse to acknowledge what others clearly see in their efforts. They never are even willing to acknowledge the simple fact of their effort and willingness to try. (BOO!)

Is this a cultural thing? Women of a certain age taught to be humble and self-effacing?  Is it true humility? Is it a way to get attention and praise? I don't know the answer, but the issue is not new to my current teaching situation.

I love embroidery - especially the beautiful and complex Russian embroidery I would often see in the homes of my husband's family friends and relatives. Yet whenever I commented on the beautiful work, the maker (always a woman) would say something along the lines of ... "oh it keeps me busy." Or, "its nothing."  Same for handmade sweaters and embroidered linens, and so much other work of women's hands.

This beautiful and handmade work is and was what inspires me to create - to make things - yet I long to see the well-deserved pride in craftsmanship that should accompany the satisfaction of creating something beautiful - and of working hard at something to achieve a completed piece.

That's my rant for the day. The art on this page is actually a digital creation based on a long-ago self portrait - of the me who was more negative about her work.

E is for Elders

I teach art to seniors. I was about to type, senior artists, but, based on my five years of experience teaching in an Assisted Living facility, almost none of my students consider themselves artists. In fact, as I have mentioned in this blog before, the most frequent comment I get is "Oh, I'm no artist." Yet, my ladies come to class, week after week. They learn, they practice, and mostly, they improve.

Some don't of course. My ladies (rare to see a man in class) are old. They come with a wide array of ailments that include blindness, dementia, arthritis and the effects of great age on the body and the ability to work. And sometimes they die.  But while they are with me, they form a group and not only draw or paint, they talk, they laugh, they share, and most of all, they criticize their work and praise everyone else's.

Carol M

I never wanted to teach "old people." My father, who did, always tried to convince me to teach as he did, at a senior center in Florida. I hated even going into the place. Yet, after he died, and my hair turned grey,  I felt the need to contribute something to my community and volunteered at the facility where both my parents ended their days. And somehow there, found not only a job, but a part of myself that is patient and caring and --- really enjoys the older people I have gotten to know.

Irene K

One of the major benefits of this aspect of my work is the effort I must put into preparing to teach each week. I need to consider the level of abilities and disabilities. I have learned many things about adapting a project. I need to meet the needs of  people whose vision is affected by macular degeneration, or fading color vision. I have learned to see beauty in the shaky lines drawn by hands effected by Parkinson's disease. I understand the value of repetition - both of projects and instructions. And, I always try to relate the project to events in the lives of my students - memories or current events and activities are great starting points.

I have learned to use strong black sharpie to outline shapes, vibrant NeoColor crayons for color, bright white, or neon color papers for contrast. In class, we keep projects simple, share the work of great artists who have reached great age, and experiment with different media and different processes. Monotype printing in my simplified style has been a great success. There is an awed reaction to the magic that happens when images appear as we transfer them from acetate to wet paper.

Most magical of all though is the work that happens. These examples are from last week when pumpkins were the subject. The rules were simple - at least one pumpkin (I provided a collection of cute little mini pumpkins and lots of pumpkin drawings for inspiration.) Those who could see it well enough used white pastel to outline on black paper - then we all used pastel for color. My intro drawing is at the top, the others speak for themselves.

 Many thanks go to MZ, whose help and guidance have been essential to our combined success. I could not do this without you.

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

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