kinda like jello

While the two older girls worked on their mixed media pieces, I had the 8 year old do some monoprints on a gelatin plate I made.   I'm so thrilled with the recipe I was given because I don't have to keep it in the refrigerator and it should last for a very long time! 

A VERY long time!!!

Best. discovery. ever.

And it was quite an interesting thing to an eight year old.  It has a great rubbery texture to it and it took all his restraint to not want to pick it up and wabble it all around but since I'm not quite sure just how durable it really would be in the hands of an eight year old, I quickly set the limitation that it had to stay on the table.

That did not stop him from touching it and picking up the corner and an endless stream of questions of what exactly was this stuff and how did I make it.

Telling him it was made with gelatin and glycerin did not do the trick.

But he seemed content when I told him it was kind of like jello.

Although I'm a little afraid from a couple of his remarks that he might go home and try to make a similar plate with flavored jello since at one point it mentioned something about if we did a flavor plate it would pick up the jello color too.

I probably should call his mom about that.......

Anyhow,  below are the results from his work on the gelatin plate.

First he cut out some shapes.  I had him stick with one shape of his choosing and gave him different material to cut from and asked they be different sizes.

I then gave him a variety of yarn and string.

Finally I put out three different Speedball waterbase inks and Speedball black ink on a piece of plexiglass with a brayer.

He rolled out the first color, put down his shapes, and placed a piece of paper over it then burnished it well with the back of his hand and pulled it off.  I had him put the paper face down and started a stack.

This direction befuddled him as much as wrapping his head around the fact he was printing artwork off something "kinda like jello".

But he went with me and then pulled all the shapes off the plate, laid down a new piece of paper, and again burnished it with his hand and pulled another print of just the shapes that were on the paper.

This led to exclamations of "COOL".

Again a bit befuddled when I told him to lay it face down on top of the first pull.

He did the same thing again with another color and pulled the same two prints.

I would of had him do a third color, but he mentioned he was getting a little tired so I changed gears quickly and had him just work on the first four pulls to completion.

We turned our pile back over and he laid out a second color ink different from the first ink on the pull and laid down his shaped and string again.  Then taking the first printed paper, we did the whole process over.  And then once he pulled off the shapes from the plate, took the second pull from the pile and printed over it again.

Are you following?

Once we finished all four papers, I convinced him to take two and do one more pull with the black.  For this I had him take a piece of copy paper and cut out a large "S".  The first initial of his name.

He then did the whole process again and below are the results.

Oops, almost forgot to mention that the lines you see were stamped with cardboard into the ink prior to laying the shapes down.  This particular print is sideways because he quickly learned the "S" had to be placed on the gelatin plate in reverse in order to print the correct direction.  

One of those "oopsies" that creates a whole new artwork when you problem solve with your imagination.  And looking at this picture I realize I am getting old because my memory has failed.  He actually did do all three colors before the black on this one!  He obviously mentioned he was tired a little after the third color was introduced.  

I hate old age and I love his "oopsie" print.

Below is the "S" laid down in the reverse.  I think this would be very fun displayed on his bedroom door.

I'm not quite sure why my camera read the black as purple, but that is really black- not purple.  Although I really like the purple so maybe next time.......

Here is one of the prints pulled after the shapes are taken off the ink with the original pulls.  You can see why I had him use papers with different textures because in this pull, they really show up.

And the final second pull once the shapes were taken off.  This one I had him leave at the studio so we can create another artwork with it.  Do you see the face within it?  I think it is going to make a very cool cubist work in the end.  I love this monoprint!

I am in love with the gelatin plate.  It's cost effective, long lasting, and the project possibilities are endless.  I can hardly wait for the next class to start so I can use it again!

Who knew "kinda like jello" could be so fun?

Take a hike

A portion of every weekly class seems to be spent catching up on what we all did during the time we were apart and a few weeks ago was no exception when one of my students told me about a trip she took to the Vancouver Aquarium.  A fantastic place but she was mesmerized by a person who was busy sketching while observing the tanks and she asked if we could do that too.

Well I can't take the kids to the Vancouver Aquarium for an hour and a half class, but one of the benefits of living by Lynn Valley Canyon is that I can take them on a spectacular hike two blocks from my studio!!

So I told her that the next nice day when we had class, we would go outside and do some Plein Air drawing.

Of course in Vancouver that could take six months of waiting! 

But lo and behold, this Tuesday night was beautiful!  And so I grabbed a couple of sketch books, some graphite, charcoal vine, and a very happy child who couldn't wait to give this new drawing experience a try.

We never made it to the trails.

We made it as far as half a block and realized we only had a half hour left in class!

I figure when the student says, "It doesn't feel like we've been gone for an hour", things have been quite fun in her book.

Things are really fun when she questions if you really know how to tell time because there is absolutely no way in God's green earth an hour has already gone by.

Where did the time go?

Well it started right outside my front door.

A lone orange poppy that I have no idea how it even got into my garden!

I had her warm up with the ever torturous blind contour drawing but she didn't seem to mind.  I had her label her sketches so we can go back and pursue some of her observations in a painting in an upcoming class.

She made it about six more steps until she happened upon the scraggiest of daisy plants I have ever seen in existence. But she saw beauty in it.   She spent some time looking at a tight bud, which was interesting when you really took the time to study it and I couldn't help but sense how Georgia O'Keeffe must of felt when sitting in her garden drawing and why she felt such a passion for making sure the rest of the world saw the beauty is such small things we don't take the time to admire. 

I probably could of made a better choice in regards to wearing white jeans while sitting in the garden dirt drawing and taking in the beauty, but that's a story for another day....

She then spent some time drawing a daisy in bloom and made some new discoveries when she really took the time to look at it.  Like the fact that each petal has three distinct grooves in it and that instead of coming to a point, it actually dips down in the middle.  We also discussed the symmetry of the center and while doing so got quite a treat when a small insect came to collect nectar and display it's very long tongue in all it's glory!

At this point, an hour was gone and she was questioning just how well I really was able to read my watch so we took off down a small heavily wooded trail that connects two streets a few doors down from my studio.  

We barely made it off the street when a flock of Chickadee's literally almost smacked right into us.  They congregated low in the shrubs near us, complaining quite loudly that we had disturbed whatever it was they had been doing prior to our arrival.  It was a great experience for this student to try to draw something that was moving constantly.  She got about 30 seconds before they all flew away in a huff looking for a place without giant two-legged creatures carrying sketchbooks.

So then we stopped to channel our best Emily Carr and sketch one of the giant old cedars lining the path.  We got right underneath it and worked on an unexpected perspective.  She worked on using line to create the textures she saw in the trunk and the branches overhead.  This was a very quick sketch because she by then realized I did in fact know how to tell time and our class was coming to an end quicker than we would have liked.

For something a little different, I had her place a fern leaf under the paper and do a rubbing so she could take it back and draw it at a later date.  She thought that was pretty cool, but she thought what happened next when she turned the page was even better!

What a great surprise!  Won't this be interesting for her to explore in water color later?  She was thrilled when she realized what had happen while taking the rubbing.

And then it was time to turn around and head back and we were both struck with the beauty of the path in the late afternoon sun so spent a moment to quickly put it on paper.  Directly in our line of vision was a large tree branch (Forest Trail is labeled in it).  We actually had to duck back under it to go home.  I think this is going to make a beautiful painting one day when she goes back through these sketches to flush them out.  I love the ghost print on top left by the charcoal when she closed the book too!

We headed back but she couldn't resist one more stop on the way.  The street drain of all things!

But I too thought the line pattern on it was quite lovely and am glad to see that she can find beauty in all sorts of mundane things we usually take for granted.  It will be interesting to see where she goes with this work and it was a great experience for her.   It was a great lesson in slowing down and really spending time looking at all the small details we are surrounded by in our daily lives. 

And of course, I came home with my arms loaded with more things than I started out with on our journey because as I have mentioned before, I'm a hoarder!

Sadly it was obvious a bird had met it's demise on the wooded trail as there was a large gathering of feathers.  Feathers I collected because I know they will be great for reference in the future!  Along with a interesting piece of bark and a few pinecones that I figure will make an appearance in a still life for the kids to draw at a later date.

This will not be the last time I tell a student to take a hike when they come to the studio.  And we just might make it the two blocks to Lynn Valley Canyon next time too!

Saying goodbye is so hard to do

Sometimes it is hard for me to watch a project walk out the door.  And such was the case with this cute Mother's Day project one of my students worked on to give her mother as a gift.

I love silk painting with children.   I have yet to see a child not come away with something beautiful and it works at all age levels- from the very young to adult.

So for Mother's Day, I introduced a project to one of my students where she would paint a silk scarf for her mum.  The hardest part was getting started and coming up with an idea for the repeated drawing on the scarf.

Seriously I think the hardest part of being an artist is the blank page in front of you.  That page sometimes taunts you as you struggle to come up with an idea to create upon it.  And such was the case when I asked this student to draw out her idea for the scarf.

So I started asking her questions.

What does your mum like to do?

ummmmmm

Does your mum have a favorite food?

ummmmmm

What does your mum love the most?

Her family and coffee.

BINGO!

We have an idea.

Now the challenge on how to execute it simple enough to trace with resist and paint with dye.

She sketched out a self portrait and then a portrait of each of her sisters.  I thought her idea of adding a collar to contain the portrait was brilliant, especially when she added each girl's name.

Above is the artist.  Once she had her sketches worked out, she sketched them onto the silk with a washable pencil to create a pattern.  Then once all the drawings were on the silk, we pinned the silk onto a frame I made from PVC pipe.  Once it was all pinned on, she began to trace over all her lines with resist.  This is the important part as you have to make sure the lines are solid so the inks do not "jump" across the intended placement.

I have a clear resist that dissolves with water.

I loved how she thought through distinctive features for each of the girls.  Evidently her middle sister has long bangs that are growing out and green eyes.  The heart on the "I" is very important to the artist too as she always dots her "I" with a heart, just like her mom did when she was a little girl.

I told you, this scarf is just eat 'em up adorable and it was soooo hard to watch it walk out the door.  No matter how much I really like this mom!

When the resist was dry, she began using the inks.  

Evidently the youngest sister is a little grumpy, hence the frown.  My insides just might of turned to jello when she added that detail to the work.  And she really does have this adorable little bob haircut when she comes to pick up her big sister from class!

Have I mentioned how hard it was to wrap this up and send it home with the artist?

And if that wasn't enough to turn your heart to mush, she added a cup of coffee to put within the design. 

Brace yourself......

This is her mother's favorite cup, with the flower on it.  And the steam rising in a heart!  Oh be still my beating heart.

The background and border were done in blue and purple because those are her mother's favorite colors.  She did the blue in a wash with water to create some interest and then added salt into the purple to create texture.

Honestly, there is so much thought and love in this scarf.  What a keepsake for her mother.  

Once she was done with all the dye work, I just had to heat set it with an iron.  Once the dye was all set, I rinsed it out in cold water to take out the resist and the pencil marks and then ironed it again to make it crisp.

There was one slight hiccup in that some of the white resist made her drawing hard to read, so I went over some of her marks with a thin tip permanent black marker.  By putting a paper towel underneath the silk, I could control it and keep it from bleeding on the silk where I didn't want it.

I had her make a stamp to create the wrapping paper and then she did some Suminagashi to create a Mother's Day card.  (sorry I did not get pictures of that to share with you)

But I will leave you with two more pictures of her scarf.  It was so long it was impossible to get a picture of it all laid out, but you get the drift.  And I'm sure you can now understand why I might of had a slight little cry when the work walked out of my studio door.

Sometimes saying goodbye is hard to do.