October Owls

The Monday afternoon art class started off the year focusing on owls.

It is October after all.

I went to the library and pulled a lot of reference books on owls for them to mull over and then they started by creating sculptures.

elf owl, 7 year old

I love the elf owl.  The owl itself is just about life size.  For those who don't know (i.e. me before the artist starting telling me all about this species), this owl is very small and lives inside of cacti.  I love that this little boy did not worry about making the cactus actual size but put one in to represent the owls environment only.

barn owl, 10 year old

Oh these eyes!  How could you deny this little fellow anything?  So stinking cute.

11 year old

And finally the artist who after looking at all the books, took the bits and pieces she liked and created an owl out of her imagination.  Love the nest she decided to place the barn owl in too.

Once they finished their sculptures, I gave them an opportunity to paint their owls in acrylic.

elf owl, 7 year old

I expected the cactus to make another appearance, but love that the artist decided to focus in on the owl itself in this picture.  I wouldn't mess with him.  He may be small, but he is mighty.

barn owl, 10 year old

I love the simplicity of this work.  She did such a wonderful job keeping the lines and details to a minimum, which has a wonderful effect on the work.

11 year old

I have learned to trust implicitly this artist vision.  She usually takes a left turn after I introduce the project and although I can't always connect the dots as she is explaining her ideas, when left alone she creates surprising and amazing work.  I would of not thought to put a sunset with the owl, but I think it works wonderfully!  I love the moon up high starting to make an appearance in the sky too.

I don't have to wonder hoo had fun creating this work, from the amount of laughter in the room it was evident all of them had a good time.