mixed media bird sculpture

This past Friday there was a teacher work day at the schools so the kids had the day off. I decided to run a three hour morning workshop for twelve children where they were able to build their own mixed media bird sculptures.

Each child started off by cutting out two bird shapes out of watercolor paper. They each then folded a seventeen inch piece of floral wire in half, using masking tape, covered the wire and then stuck one end between the two pieces of paper and glued it all together.

Then holding onto the wire, they painted each side of the bird with acrylic paint.

While that was drying, they cut out wings and feathers and painted them too. Once everything was dry (students ate their snacks while waiting), they began to glue the pieces together.

Then I brought out a variety of different mediums for them to use and add to their birds. Ink, oil pastels, watercolors, charcoal, you name it, I think at one point during the day it was on the tables.

It was quite interesting to watch how each child used the materials and embraced the idea of process art instead of having a clear idea on the end product.

I had purchased some corks and a small piece of wood to create a stand for the birds. The kids painted both of these with watercolors. My thought was the wire would easily stick into the cork.

This was the only glitch in the day.

I could not penetrate the corks with the wire! I'm sure if the end of the day was not so near, I could of figured out a solution to get the wire stuck into the cork but with twelve children all unable to do it I had to think quickly to get the project complete.

So I brought out the glue gun and began to glue the wire on top of the cork. Thankfully in the end it worked.

The kids were all pleased at the end with their creations.

Gideon Rubin inspired portraits and other gelatin prints

I have been fascinated by the work of Gideon Rubin for some time now and when the curator of Seymour Art Gallery gifted me some photographs from her family collection of people no one no longer remembers, a project was born.

I am fascinated by old photographs, especially ones found in thrift stores and flea markets where the people no longer have names but just reference a moment in time. That is probably why I find Gideon Rubin's work so appealing, faceless portraits from another time.

class of 1947, Gideon Rubin

When I pulled out the photographs for the preteen class to look at, they were fascinated by the story about no one remembering the people within the photos. They spent a lot of time looking at them and made a connection that many of the photos were of the same two people throughout their lifetime. The girls decided they were brother and sister.  

Two of the students settled in on a couple of photos they wanted to use to create a gelatin monoprint inspired by the work of Rubin while the others focused in on creating some animal mono prints.

work in progress, 11 year old

These gelatin plates are something I made last fall and I cannot believe after all the projects throughout the year that they are still holding up great. They have been such a great addition to the studio and I cannot recommend adding them enough to your supply list. They are so easy to make too.

Believe it or not, the 11 year old was not very happy with this work of the little girl she created. She felt she ended up looking "fat" and not nearly as cute as the picture that had won over her heart.

11 year old

She was so frustrated in fact that once she pulled the print, I had her move on to an animal portrait in order for her to end the project on a positive note.

11 year old

Personally I loved her portrait inspired by Gideon Rubin, but at the end of the day it is not about what I like and so I am quite pleased she is so happy with her final animal print and hope one day she looks back on the portrait and realizes it is quite wonderful too.

On the other hand, this 10 year old artist was beyond pleased with her final Gideon Rubin inspired portrait.

10 year old

She chose this portrait of a woman because she really liked the hairstyle. I think she got such a wonderful monoprint from it. I'm not sure her mom "got it" at first, but the artist was so pleased at the end and in love with her work, which made me so very happy.

10 year old, portrait of a woman

She had quite a bit of time left in class after creating this piece and so her attention then turned to her favorite subject in the world, cats.

10 year old

Another artist who left the studio that night quite proud of her work was this 11 year old. I have no doubt this lovely horse is going to find a special spot in her home. She worked so hard on it.

11 year old

I always have the kids pull the ghost print with the leftover ink on the plates. Sometimes they are wonderful and the kids actually like them more than the original and sometimes they are "eh", but I do find students are always quite excited to find out what might be pulled with the leftover ink at the end.

In this case, the artist loved her ghost print.

Cats were the de rigueur of the day. They were also the focus of the 12 year old in the class.

12 year old

Those eyes! Who could resist those eyes!

12 year old

This cat maybe because it looks "so over" everyone purring about how cute the above cats' big eyes are. I love the emotion the artist captured in this piece.

I was pleased to see each student walk away from this project happy and proud of their artwork. I always find it interesting to see what each child takes away from a project or how they decide to tackle the project at hand. This night was no different.

I am so grateful for the jumping off point the gifted photographs from a friend provided, along with the beautiful work of Gideon Rubin. It made for some beautiful art created by the preteen class at the end of the night.

liquid watercolor birds

The campers in "Birds of a Feather" had a fun time exploring liquid watercolors one morning. I love the rich coloring the kids get using this medium.

6 year old

I had the kids start this artwork by exploring blind contour drawing. Always a little scary at first when they realize they cannot see the paper, but on the whole creates a lot of giggling when they see the final results. This time they created the drawing using water-soluble graphite.

6 year old

I love the use of blind contour drawing to get the first marks on the paper. It usually results in a drawing they would of never made otherwise and the students always have the opportunity to draw into the work and change anything they are unhappy with in the initial drawing.

7 year old

7 year old

When they were happy with their drawing, I handed out a palette of liquid watercolor in only the primary colors. I gave a quick tutorial on how to mix the colors to create their own array of colors and also showed them a couple of techniques they could do with watercolor, such as scratching, blotting and the ever popular adding salt.

6 year old

8 year old

9 year old

The water-soluble graphite added some nice tones to the color when the water hit it. I had not told the kids the graphite reacted with water and it was fun to watch their reactions as they made the discovery.

6 year old

7 year old

I have yet to meet a student who does not like exploring this medium. It is always exciting to watch them learn through process with this medium and I truly enjoy listening to them share with each other discoveries they make while creating art.

9 year old

Once the paintings were dry, I gave each child the opportunity to use a permanent marker if they wanted to highlight some lines.

5 year old

And then we called them works complete. They were each so proud of what they created during this process. But most importantly, they had a great time exploring liquid watercolor while creating these marvelous birds.

mixed media using vintage photographs

In the "Hello Vancouver" spring break camp, I decided to introduce a mixed media project that included a bit of history of the city,  so I referenced several vintage photographs to share with the students.

Most photographs were from 100 years ago!

The kids were fascinated by what our city use to look like and by what has changed drastically, (horse and carriages, dirt roads), and by what has not, ("the lions" mountain peaks and the famous cedar tree stump in Stanley Park).

I asked each child to choose an image that intrigued them to start the project. They put those to the side for a moment while they created a cream and white background using acrylic paint.

9 year old (looking down 1st street in Kitslano)

Then they placed some matte medium on the paper and placed a print out of their photograph image side down and let it dry. 

(We started a new project during this time and came back to this project later)

8 year old (entrance to Stanley Park)

Then using a bit of water, the artist began to rub away the paper leaving the image behind on the painting. I stressed that they would not know how much image would stay and that was part of the surprise. Some of the students had a very clear and detailed image while others barely had anything stay on the paper.

Once they had the image transferred on their artwork, the students began to add a drawing to the image so that the viewer would not be able to tell where the photograph ended and the students' original marks started. I found it very interesting how each student tackled this challenge, some created identifiable landscapes while others created very abstract works.

8 year old,  (Vancouver mountain range)

The students used water-soluble black pencils, charcoal, graphite, and white paint to create their finished works. I had some students go back into the image with a white china marker or a white gel pen to highlight parts of their original image.

10 year old (skaters on a frozen Lost Lagoon)

9 year old (Stanley Park tree stump)

I love the feel of these works the kids created and think they found it very interesting to look at photographs of "old Vancouver". As a history buff, it was exciting to show the kids how their artwork could not only be a beautiful thing but also an opportunity to teach something new to the viewer about what our city use to be.

10 year old ("the Lions" mountain peaks)

As the artist were finishing their works, I discussed with them the idea of adding words to the art. I talked to them about how typography can be an interesting addition to their art pieces and help finish a work or give the viewer a point of reference. Some of the students decided to try adding type and some did not.

11 year old (Grouse Mountain)

Either way, each and every student came away with a beautiful piece of art.

acrylic owl paintings

In the "Birds of a Feather" camp run through the North Vancouver Community Arts Council, I tried to focus on a different species of bird for each project. No art camp is complete without at least one acrylic painting project and for this one, I decided to have the kids focus on owls.

I had brought a file folder full of reference for them to choose from but stressed they could change things up to fit their visions.

9 year old

There was a burrow owl created by an artist with an astounding knowledge of birds. He was in his element in this camp and loved creating his artwork with accurate details of each birds' environment and personalities.

7 year old

6 year old

There were a lot of owls placed in the woods. One of the things I try to teach the kids is to start each painting by putting in the background first, so they can then paint over when placing in the mid and foreground. My hope is they realize how much easier it is to get neat finished lines when they paint over what is behind something instead of the other way around.

8 year old

6 year old

The other thing that I showed the kids was how to put in the woods without drawing each thing. They could paint some trees in after putting in a green background that they mixed on paper with blue and green. I think this technique created some really lovely wooded paintings.

9 year old

6 year old

We also discussed background, mid-ground, and foreground. I asked them to try to identify each in their compositions. 

8 year old

The kids had a great time painting these owls and I love looking at all the different interpretations of each child's vision. I'm so impressed with each and every one of them. They are "owl"standing!