preschool silk paintings

A couple of post ago, I showed some portrait works the preschool class did of their favorite stuffed animals. That same day, they also drew their sketches on a piece of silk that I then traced over with resist to paint the next week.

Well, they took them home this Tuesday and precious does not even begin to describe the final results.

Using dyes on silk was a great lesson for preschoolers. It gave them a great chance to explore color and was overall just a fascinating experience for them to watch what dye does when applied to fabric.

I only gave the three-year-olds red, yellow and blue dye. The rest of the colors you see on these works they created on their own.

All these amazing colors created by three-year-olds!!

"Lovie"

Once finished, I set the dye and then removed the resist in warm water. I then ironed the silk and adhered it to canvas for their families to hang on the wall.

Because who wouldn't want to hang these on the wall?

"Jemima Puddle-Duck"

If you want more details to the project, leave a comment and I will share them with you.

"Bunny-bun"

I hope the children enjoy these paintings of their favorite stuffed animal for many years. I think this was a wonderful way to immortalize their first loves for them to look fondly back on the rest of their lives.

Because who in this world doesn't remember their first beloved stuffed companion and wouldn't like a picture to remember them by?

"Rainbow Bunny"

lovely teen art from the holidays

I have one teen who every year loves to give her loved ones gifts she has created.

This year, her dad was a very lucky man. I can only imagine how touched he was as he opened the presents she made for him, they made me get teary eyed when finished in the studio.

First there was this piece, a large acrylic painting of a beach they enjoy here in Vancouver.

14 year old

This is something she had been working on by herself and brought to the studio frustrated. To be honest, it did not need much help from me, really just some encouragement that she was indeed on the path to a beautiful work of art and some simple suggestions on how to finish the work and put in the trees, breakers, and pier. 

This is even more stunning in person and I am sure it took her father's breath away when opened.

14 year old

And I have no doubt this work left him with a huge lump in his throat and more than a little teary eyed.

I had the elementary class wood burning and acrylic ornaments displayed on the wall, a project you can read about here and here. The artist was quite impressed and intrigued with the younger artists' works and asked to try her hand at the project too.

Another gift she wanted to create for her father.

She opened up here phone and showed me a picture she had taken that she wanted to use for reference, a winter scene with a log cabin.

I told her it would be a perfect subject matter for the project and she began to work. As she was working, I asked her about the picture.

This is the family cabin in Quebec. 

Every year at Christmastime, they meet up with all her father's siblings and their families here. Her father has six siblings and the cabin was built from a kit by the artist's grandfather with the help of all the siblings when her dad was just six years old.  This cabin has been apart of his life for almost as long as he can remember.

Can you imagine the significance that this particular artwork will have for her dad? What a priceless gift.

Now you can see why I got so choked up when she was telling me the story. 

I think she hit it out of the ballpark with these two gifts, but the young woman was not quite finished yet.  On the last class, she brought a print out of a photograph taken at her cousin's wedding this past summer.

She wanted to use it to create a mixed media project using image transfer.

As you all know, I love broadening my own creative horizons and find online classes an easy way to fit new techniques and ideas into my schedule. I was doing a quick course created by artist Ivy Newport called, Shades of White and had the first project using cold wax on the wall drying. This was a jumping off point for the young artist's project for her cousin.

14 year old

This piece is an image transfer with acrylic, conte crayons, water-soluble pencil, graphite, and cold wax. Believe it or not, there use to be a crowd of people included in the transfer who were at the wedding.  I think she felt a little guilty as she painted out her aunt to be honest, but what an incredible job she did melding the photograph and her painting together.

Yet again, amazing and I have no doubt will not only surprise the bride on Christmas morning but also become one of the most treasured gifts she received during the holidays.

( If you're inspired by this work, Ivy just opened registration again for Shades of White in January, you can sign up here if interested.)

This artist is a very talented young woman. A young woman who has a deep desire to create gifts with meaning for those she loves and does so magnificently.

still room in the silk painting workshop this sunday

When my youngest child, who is now in University, was in grade 4, her teacher asked if I would create silk painted scarves with the class for Mother's Day. Thankfully the woman I chaired the Art Docent program with was a silk painter and shared with me her extensive knowledge.

The project was not only breathtaking, but the kids LOVED it and in the end, had something that would be cherished by their mothers forever more.

I still get messages from some of those moms who I am friends with on Facebook telling me they still wear their scarves.  Mine is one of my most prized possessions.

I have been hooked on this medium ever since and it is by far one of the most popular things I introduce to children.

Over the past couple of years, there have been some very amazing works.

For some of the projects the silk has been put on canvas.

And others have been done as scarves, especially around holidays.

Like this special scarf created for Mother's Day. The artist created a self portrait and then a portrait of both her sisters. She also drew her mother's favorite mug including a hot cup of coffee with steam billowing up in the shape of a heart. 

These are the things her mother loves most in the world.  

Her mother loved the gift and hopefully dad didn't feel like chopped liver for too long since he wasn't included in the "most loved" scarf items....

Last Christmas several scarves were created for special people in each artist's life.

Like this budgie scarf for a grandmother how loves her pet birds.

When she opened the gift, she did not even realize her granddaughter had made it at first.  She assumed it was store bought! If that isn't a compliment to the artist!

Another artist created a scarf for her grandmother too.  

This  beautiful scarf was done all in purple because it is her grandmother's favorite color. It was quite amusing to listen to her describe her grandmother's love of purple, right down to wearing purple eyeshadow.

This artist created a scarf for her mother last Christmas of her childhood cat. A cat the mother loved dearly and has shared stories with to her daughter. It is painted in her mom's favorite colors, purple and pink.

And then this boy who created the most amazing abstract scarf for his mom.

Sounds like she was the envy of her friends when she wore it. 

This Sunday from 2-5pm, I will be running a workshop in the studio where each child will have the opportunity to create a stunning scarf for someone they love. A scarf that without doubt will become a cherished possession of the owner.

More importantly, there is a pride I see in the kids who create these wearable artworks. Last year Christmas morning could not come quick enough for the artist, not because of what they were going to get but because they could not wait to see the reaction of what they were going to give.

Yes. The true spirit of the season.

So I hope you will be able to have your child take advantage of the opportunity to create a silk scarf on Sunday. Like those kids who have done this before them, they will fall in love with painting silk.

(evident by how many students signed up already have done one or more before!)

But more importantly they will be excited this holiday season for all the right reasons, the gift of giving. 

Register at KudzuStudio.com

Sunday, December 13.  2-5pm. $100.00 including all supplies and appropriate for ages 5 and up.