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Archive for the ‘Painting’ Category
Monday, May 20th, 2013
This month I’ve been saying a lot of ‘goodbyes’ to student staff members as they leave for summer break. It makes me realize how fortunate we’ve been to work with such a stellar group of student employees over the years and see them move on to careers in art, museums and education. We invited our very talented former Studio intern, Anna McNeary, to share this marbling paper activity she taught recently to children at ArtSpace Charter School in Swannanoa, NC.
 Anna McNeary working on her final Studio project, fall 2010 I spent a very fruitful semester interning in the Art Studio during autumn of 2010, while I was attending Smith College. Since moving on from both the Carle and Smith, I’ve continued to pursue opportunities in art education. After I graduated last May, I moved to Asheville, NC and began working in the after-school program at ArtSpace Charter School. ArtSpace is an arts-integrated K-8 public charter school in Swannanoa, NC.
ArtSpace is a great learning and teaching environment for any person who accepts art as a universal teaching tool, since the philosophy of the school is based on a belief in creative learning across academic disciplines. The projects that I tried with ArtSpace students were directly informed by my experiences at the Carle. Visual Thinking Strategies and the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching were often on my mind, and I gravitated toward open-ended, process-oriented projects intended to let the kids explore materials and experiment with technique. This approach to making art with children is, not surprisingly, very compatible with ArtSpace’s culture of learning.
I’m a printmaker, so some of my favorite projects drew on printmaking concepts. The transfer of images is perhaps the most central concept in printmaking, and it’s really what made our paper marbling activity so surprising and exciting. For those unfamiliar with the medium, marbling is the process of creating designs by floating pigment on the surface of a liquid substance, like water or oil. When you gently press a substrate like paper or cloth to your colored surface, you’ll get a swirly, psychedelic transferred design. Here’s an accessible and kid-friendly interpretation of marbling that I found and adapted for AfterCare.
Materials:
containers with seal-able lids
shallow pans
vegetable oil
food coloring
forks, spoons, skewers
sturdy paper, such as card stock
In a few containers with tightly seal-able lids (mason jars work well), I combined about 1/4 cup vegetable oil with a generous amount of food coloring. I shook up my “dye” vigorously enough to get it looking pretty homogenous. When I arranged our workspace, I put down plenty of newspaper over two long tables, and then put our supplies in the center. I set out two rectangular cake pans filled about halfway with water, our jars of colored oil, spoons, forks, wooden skewers, and a stack of light-colored card stock. I knew this activity had the potential to be messy, so I put the marbling station in the center of the workspace so that kids could surround the materials from all sides, and then quickly transfer drippy paper to the newspaper at either side.
I had a few eager marblers right off the bat, and once we got going, more inquisitive kids joined us. I had them start by spooning drops of oil onto the water. For the sake of keeping our designs from getting too muddy, we had a pan for warm colors (orange and red) and cool colors (blue and green). After they had added enough for the surface to be fairly crowded with colorful blobs, we used the forks and skewers to stir the oil into swirly patterns. Then, one by one we each touched the card stock to the liquid for about three seconds. It was such fun to see the kids’ thrilled reactions to their beautiful marbled prints–their enthusiasm was palpable, and soon we had a quick-paced marbling factory running at the back of the classroom!
The kids were responding to one of the most captivating things about printmaking, which may be my favorite part of the process: the small moment of suspense before you see the print you just pulled. Will it be beautiful, weird, unexpected, perfect, or all of those things? It’s a joy to watch kids have that experience, and it’s a great reminder of why art education is so important.
For more information about The Art Studio Internship Program, CLICK HERE.
There’s still time to submit your caterpillars to our CALL FOR CATERPILLARS contest! CLICK HERE for more information and how you and your child can enter.
Tags: Anna McNeary, marbled paper, studio internship
Posted in Activities, Elementary School, Painting | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
I’m just back from a trip to Syracuse, New York area, where I worked with the students at Manlius Pebble Hill School. I taught 2 bookmaking sessions with 3rd graders in the morning and 2 printmaking sessions with 4th and 5th graders in the afternoon. Fortunately, I remembered to pull out my phone and snag a few shots at the end of the last session of the day! Here are some of the beautiful and diverse monotype prints by the 4th and 5th graders.
We used Crayola brand Artista II washable tempera in magenta, turquoise and yellow. Any additional colors on the paper students created by overlapping different colored plates. The students worked in reductive monotype, inking the whole plate and using tools to remove select areas of the paint.
To make the colors more transparent I mixed the paints with a good amount of Speedball brand Screen Printing Transparent Base. This is the best brand I’ve found to make tempera paints more transparent for printing or painting.
Thank you to the art teacher, Linda McGinley for all her help, and to the students at Manlius Pebble Hill School!
Tags: 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, Manlius Pebble Hill School, Monotype Printmaking with Kids, Possibilities in Print, student outreach
Posted in Elementary School, On the Road, Painting, Printmaking | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013
This past Sunday afternoon, author and illustrator, Melissa Sweet came to The Carle talk about her newest books, A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin and Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade.
In addition to giving a color-mixing watercolor demonstration, Melissa had the great idea to offer a mini kite workshop to celebrate spring!
Guests decorated colorful pieces of crepe paper, and after a few simple steps, many kites flew wildly on the patio and in the apple orchard. Fortunately, most of the snow from last week’s storm melted, the sun was shining and there was a nice steady breeze to guide the kites through the air.
We used the super easy kite tutorial from the blog Better in Bulk. Click here for the kite directions that worked like a charm. We added the streamer tail with construction flag tape and colorful plastic bags for some extra pizazz to the kite’s simple design.
After the kite workshop, guests gathered in the Reading Library to hear Melissa discuss her process, read her books, and even do some facial expression sketching exercises in mini sketchbooks. Melissa told us that for her newest book, A Splash of Red, in addition to working with watercolor and collage, she carved and painted pieces of wood to include in one of the illustrations of Horace’s paint brushes and pencils, how cool!
Below is large pop-up Melissa made from old posters attached to a folded piece of cardboard. She encouraged everyone to use materials around their own homes to make their own towns, jungles, or underwater habitats.
Melissa, thanks for such a special day!
For more information about Melissa Sweet visit her website www.melissasweet.net.
For more information about her newest book, A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, including videos, articles and educator resources, visit www.asplashofredbook.com
**Don’t forget to enter The Carle’s Call for Caterpillars Contest for the chance to win an original doodle by Eric Carle! Visit www.carlemusuem.org/call_for_caterpillars for contest details. Submissions must be postmarked by May 31, 2013.**
Tags: A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, Better in Bulk Blog, easy kites, Kites for young children, Melissa Sweet, mini kite activity, watercolor
Posted in Activities, At The Carle, Painting, Special Guests and Artist Visits | No Comments »
Saturday, March 23rd, 2013
Therese Brady Donohue, Director of Picture Book Theater and founder of The Amherst Ballet is leading an exciting workshop called Paint, Shape, Create! for ages 9 through adult here in the Studio on April 20th from 1-4.
Inspired by works in our last exhibition Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle, participants in this upcoming workshop will channel Eric Carle and their own inner artists as they paint on aluminum foil and then experiment with shaping it in strips and composing the strips on a painted canvas.
Therese, well known for costume and mask design and construction as founder of Amherst Ballet, told me “For eight years I have worked with reproducing Eric Carle’s picture book images, adapting them into puppets and costumes. I am always interested in taking a technique and creatively using it in different ways. When I saw what Eric had done as an independent artist taking his signature textures and applying them to foil and creating dimension, it spoke to me as a fun technique to introduce to artists of all ages. It is not complicated and does not require in-depth talent to experiment with this technique. This is also a good technique for educators to use in the classroom up through high school.”
With that in mind, Therese and I thought that this creative process would be a great opportunity for an intergenerational class experience in which young artists, parents, grandparents, artists, and educators could work side by side and learn from each other.
The Carle has offered parent/child and family programs before, but with this workshop the elementary-aged artists can participate with or without their parent present. By age 9 some young artists are clear in their creative passions and are ready for an opportunity like this.
Therese and I are both excited about the creative expression and layered learning that will happen this workshop. If you or someone you know in our area might be interested in this workshop learn about how to register (carlemuseum.org/register ) today! We’ll need to have at least 5 participants registered by April 12, and space is limited, so don’t wait!
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Don’t forget to enter The Carle’s Call for Caterpillars Contest for the chance to win an original doodle by Eric Carle! Visit www.carlemusuem.org/call_for_caterpillars for contest details.
Tags: aluminum, April 2013, class, color, Eric Carle-Inspired, foil, paint, Picture Book Theater, relief sculpture, Therese Brady Donohue, visual texture
Posted in At The Carle, Classes, Collage, High School, In the Studio, Middle School, Mixed Media, Painting, Professional Development, Special Guests and Artist Visits, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, March 15th, 2013
It feels good to be back at The Carle! I’ve been scarce for a while because a very young person has come to live with my family and I took some time off to get to know her. In the past two months I’ve learned that life as a working mom of 2 kids under 2 years old is super busy but full of learning. I’m grateful that I get to spend time at home and time at The Carle learning about how toddlers explore materials and use them to make discoveries about the world.
While I’ve been out for most of our last Friday morning Materials Play for Toddlers series in the Studio, I wanted to share some pictures that were captured in a few of the sessions:
Pictured above: marbles, tempera paint, liquid watercolor paint, & black construction paper placed in the bottom of a plastic paper tray. Below, paper circles, cookie tins, tempera and liquid water color paint. Shake rattle and roll!
***Safety Note: if marbles are a choking hazard in your setting try golf balls or ping pong balls.***
Below: plexi mirrors, washable markers, water-soluble oil pastels, wide cups of water and brushes.
Truck Printing! Tempera squeezed into trays, toy cars and rolling stampers, black paper taped to the floor in the shape of a road. Secondary colors (violet, green and orange) chosen so that the mixture of the 3 would resemble mud.)
A buffet of beautiful ingredients: (colorful paper dot confetti, raffia snipped to smithereens, reflective plastic Easter grass, plastic newspaper bag shreds, white feathers, yarn scraps, clementines box mesh, (in other words, all the bits we had laying around) . . .
. . . pressed and sprinkled onto contact paper (paper frame attached first). This is my own sun catcher experiment. My guest’s compositions were less ordered, more spontaneous.
I hope this inspired some experimentation and creative fun with your toddlers! Happy mess-making!
Don’t forget to enter The Carle’s Call for Caterpillars Contest for the chance to win an original doodle by Eric Carle! Visit www.carlemusuem.org/call_for_caterpillars for contest details.
Tags: Beautiful Stuff, contact paper, February 2013, Friday mornings, January 2013, marble painting, markers, materials play, mirrors, paint, painting with children, reflection, sun catchers, toy trucks, water play, window art
Posted in Collage, Found Materials, Infants & Toddlers, Mixed Media, Nurturing Creativity at Home, Painting, Preschool, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 13th, 2013
Hi! I’m Sarah Johnston and I work part-time in the Studio and conduct Student Outreach Programs for The Carle. Diana and Meghan invited me to contribute to the Studio’s blog about once a month, so I’m excited to start sharing some of my ideas with you. I have a background in art education and taught elementary art for five years in Chicago before relocating to Western Massachusetts with my husband in 2011. I hope you enjoy my first post!
There is something very magical about making the first footprints, snow angels or other marks in a fresh blanket of snow. It often makes me think of a blank canvas just waiting for an artwork to emerge. This project captures that magic in a slightly different and more colorful way. The materials you need to snow paint are ones that you most likely have in your home already, even if you are snowbound. So if your family is looking for something different to do in the snow, give snow painting a try.
The Materials:
- Condiment style bottles (we purchased ours from Target)
- Food coloring and/or old and dried out markers
- Snow!
Part of the fun is mixing up different colors of “paint” into your bottles. I found that about 4-5 drops of food coloring in around 6 oz. of water will give you bright enough colors. The process of making the paint could even be used as a quick lesson in color mixing and discovery. As a former art teacher I often looked for ways in which children could discover on their own how colors mixed to form new colors. The food coloring box may only give you some of the colors in the rainbow so you might have to mix the other colors. What happens when you add a drop or two of red into yellow? What colors do you think you need to mix to make purple?
If you don’t have food coloring in your kitchen I found another way to make quick and easy “paint” when we were purging the Studio’s marker collection. Older and dried out markers may not have enough color to draw with anymore, but if you drop one or two markers into your bottles with water then you will have some other vibrant colors to paint with. Once your colors are mixed up it’s time to go outside and try painting on the snow. The bottles should give enough control to write, draw or just spatter like Jackson Pollock.
Have you used old markers successfully in art projects? I’m always looking for ways to reuse regularly discarded materials, so I’m going to continue exploring the possibilities of reusing old markers. Hopefully I’ll share with you my findings!
For another outdoor painting activity, check out our link to How to Make Watercolor Wash Collage Papers.
Don’t forget to enter The Carle’s Call for Caterpillars Contest for the chance to win an original doodle by Eric Carle! Visit www.carlemusuem.org/call_for_caterpillars for contest details.
Tags: family activities, markers, materials, outdoor activities, painting, reuse, snow, Winter
Posted in Activities, Elementary School, High School, Infants & Toddlers, Painting, Preschool | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
Reid, our January-Term intern, designed and hosted a really fun special Studio activity last week for Museum guests. Here is her report on the planning process of the project and her reflection on the day.
When brainstorming for my Special Sunday activity, I knew right off that I wanted to experiment with the way we use light to make images. In the studio, our large windows provide so much beautiful natural light, and I wanted to utilize this feature in the activity. Meghan and I were bouncing activity ideas off each other when we came up with the idea of tracing shadows. Upon further elaboration we came up with the idea of using found objects to make shadow collages, tracing the lines, and finally painting over the drawn images. Initially I was having trouble deciding between collaging and painting, and this project combined the two!
Once I knew what I wanted to do, I began to plan out what materials we would use. I played with different kinds of drawing tools, paints, and paper to find the perfect combination of supplies. In the end, I decided to use Staonal crayons with tempera cake paints on large pieces of watercolor paper. I found the paint appeared bold and bright on the paper and didn’t smudge the Staonal, so the tracings remained intact.
We put out baskets of found and natural objects that would cast interesting shadows. Each visitor could choose up to 4 objects at a time, and when they were done with those they could trade them back in for different pieces to trace. We had natural objects like stones, pinecones, and seashells, along with found objects like ribbon, bottle caps, and mesh. It was important to have a variety of different shapes and sizes available.
On the day of the project we were lucky enough to have gorgeous sunny weather. Of course, because of New England’s unpredictable weather, we were prepared to use an overhead projector as a back-up plan in case the sun wasn’t out. We arranged the back of the art studio so that the tables were pushed to the right side; this area was set up as the painting area, complete with paintbrushes, water, sponges, and of course paint!
The left side of the studio was the tracing area. This is where visitors would put down their paper on the floor or sit on a chair and trace on a stool to arrange their objects and trace the shadows. We had cool shades that had previously been crafted by staff members on the windows already, and we moved these so there could be some interesting shadow patterns on the floors for the visitors.
The cool thing about this project was it could be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be, depending on age level, ability, and interest. I didn’t want something where the guidelines were super stringent. If a child didn’t want to draw on the floor, they could just paint at the table. I made sure to emphasize that when talking to the visitors. There were no rules to this project; the point of it was to allow the materials and the environment to inspire and to create.
I would say this project was definitely a success. It was exciting to see the families collaborating with each other and having fun with each other’s work. This activity was able to engage visitors of all ages. I was delighted to see how creative the children (and adults!) were with this project. Some visitors were very abstract with the images they made, while others used the shadows to create scenes out of their objects. All in all, it was a very fun afternoon in the art studio!
Tags: Alexandra Reid, light, shadow play, studio internship
Posted in Activities, At The Carle, Drawing, Elementary School, Found Materials, In the Studio, Middle School, Mixed Media, Nature, Painting, Public Art Program | 2 Comments »
Friday, December 14th, 2012
Four Easy Pieces © 2011 by Eric Carle
Hello educators! I’m really eager to tell you about a new Professional Development workshop I’m developing as a companion to the Museum’s exciting exhibition: Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle.* 
Eric Carle is primarily known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar and over 70 picture books done in his colorful collage technique.
This exhibition, dedicated to what Eric himself calls his “ArtArt:” paintings, sculptures, and personal sketches that he has been making privately for more than 60 years, offers a view into another side of Eric’s life and work.
© 2000 by Eric Carle
Having heard from Eric about the motivation and process behind his “ArtArt,” I began to think more and more about the relationship between work and play and where the two merge with children and materials. This relationship is one we try to cultivate through much of what we do here, so this exhibition provides a great opportunity to share our ideas and experiences!
© 2011 by Motoko Inoue
In the workshop on January 26th 2013, we’ll get our hands messy painting a variety of surfaces such as paper, vinyl, and cardboard. Then we’ll view the exhibition and a video of Eric reflecting on his independent art together. After, we’ll sculpt our painted surfaces into window hangings, mobiles, and more as we discuss Eric’s inspirations as an artist. Participants will leave with ideas for the classroom and an understanding of how his creative process might inspire students to think “off the page.”
Educators will receive 4 PDPs, but you don’t have to be an educator to participate. All participants receive a 10% discount in our Shop on the day of the program.
Here is the essential info again:
Beyond Books: Art Inspired by Eric Carle (4 PDPs)
January 26, 2013. 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
$50 (Members $45) Registration is required. Please click here for more information.
I hope you can join us! If not, check out our other upcoming professional development offerings here or learn how this or other programs can come to you, here.
Learn more about Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle, in the West Gallery through February 24, 3013, here. Support for this exhibition has been generously provided by Peter and Helen Bing.
Tags: ArtArt, Beyond Books, Eric Carle, exhibition, tissue paper
Posted in Collage, Drawing, Elementary School, High School, In the Studio, Middle School, Mixed Media, Painting, Preschool, Professional Development | No Comments »
Friday, November 2nd, 2012
My order of finger paint arrived from Discount School Supply in time for last Friday’s Materials Play for toddlers. To get the kids started I put dollops of warm colors in a tempera cake palettes and invited them to paint on the windows. As they needed more paint I offered a few more colors. A couple of children preferred painting in large white trays placed on our low table.
Finger painting paper was available for making prints from the paint if desired.
Everyone enjoyed their experience! To those who are thinking “no big deal, people have been finger painting since forever,” here is my confession: For YEARS (a decade) I have been avoiding finger paint. However, now that I have my own 19 month old, I see what I’ve been missing!
My previous rationale for avoiding finger paint stemmed from my view of children, my approach as an artist/educator, and honestly just not having many extended experiences with 12-30 month-olds under my belt.
I believe that from the start, children are learners, capable of making sophisticated meaning of their experiences and the world. My goal as an artist educator is to craft approachable creative experiences that help people:
discover how the visual world works
observe like artists
solve problems like artists
explore ideas through materials
My thought was that if young people think like artists and are capable of discovering that red mixed with blue equals violet, why would I not give them materials that operated like ‘artists’ materials? Somehow, painting with fingers seemed beneath my students. Beneath me. I perceived finger paint as cheap, producing dull colors, and too basic. In other words, not a ‘real’ artist’s material.
I have successfully offered “more sophisticated” painting experiences for older toddlers with brushes and either liquid tempera, tempera cakes, or watercolor paint in a limited palette of colors. Creating the right physical setup was important in those experiences too. While they weren’t wrong, those experiences weren’t designed for a young toddler who’s sensory interests don’t always mesh with brushes and a palette of paint.
A few times I’ve tried making homemade finger paint. The recipes I tried were inexpensive and offered a nice sensory experience, but proved not ideal for discovering how color works. The color was faint, they got chunky if I cooked them too much, they separated in the refrigerator and stained my daughter’s hands. Not impressed.
Then, a little while ago, I saw pictures by my daughter and her classmates on the wall in the toddler room at daycare. The colors were bold! There were areas where the colors were light, and areas with intense, saturated color. There were areas where colors mixed, and areas where they weren’t. Surprise, surprise. They were made with finger paint!
Sure, other non-toxic water-based paints could be and have been used as finger paint, but toddlers can really get messy! This is something I of course knew and experienced, but didn’t actually KNOW until I started painting with one in my own house. With white walls.
Many of the teachers I’ve worked with know that I’m the last educator to choose paint for its washability. Often the pigment in washable paints becomes pale when it dries. I’m generally a process over product person, but I do want colors to be satisfying, so I’ve usually chosen non-washable paints for my classes. As a parent, however, I’ve come to realize that washability in some of our home supplies allows me to relax and be in the moment with her. I’ve learned that finger paint can grant many of my wishes!
I’m still a finger paint novice. So far, I like Discount School Supply’s Colorations Finger Paint but I’m interested to try Crayola’s because I like their tempera paint. I’m also willing to give this homemade recipe a whirl. I’m not excited about finger paint paper, so different kinds of paper need to be tested.
Are there other brands of finger paint or types of paper you’d recommend? Any recipes you’re happy with? My daughter and I have lots of experiments to conduct!
Tags: Colorations, Crayola, Discount School Supply, finger paint, homemade materials, homemade paint, paper
Posted in Infants & Toddlers, Materials, Nurturing Creativity at Home, Painting, Preschool, Printmaking, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Monday, October 22nd, 2012
Just in time for Halloween, the Art Studio came alive with creepy, crawly, hairy, spiky creations in yesterday afternoon’s Special Sunday Monster Mash Workshop. We were very excited to host artist, educator and author Susan Schwake for the day in the back of the Studio, where she lead the workshop and signed guests’ copies of her amazing new book, Art Lab For Kids (available for sale in The Carle Bookshop).
Susan runs a gallery/studio/art academy called Artstream Studios in Rochester, New Hampshire, where she’s been teaching art to children and adults since 1993. She describes the book as a collection of all the successful art lessons she’s taught over the years.
 Artist and Author, Susan Schwake The Texture Monster activity is just one of many drawing, painting, printmaking, paper and mixed media lessons featured in the book. Susan’s husband, Rainer Schwake took the beautiful photographs of the step-by-step process of each lesson. It would make a great gift for the young artist in your life and I highly recommend it for any parent or educator looking for fresh ideas.
If you’d like to make your own Texture Monsters like the ones we made in yesterday’s workshop, you’ll need cover weight paper (we used 11″x17″ white) and wax crayons or oil pastels in different colors for doing the rubbings. You could use store-bought or homemade rubbing plates for this part.
Next, use watercolors to fill in the paper with areas of color. The wax or oil will resist the watercolor paint, creating a neat effect. Allow the paper to dry completely before cutting or tearing out shapes for your monsters.
Use a large sheet of sturdy paper a the support for your texture monster collage. We used 12″x18″ sheets of construction paper and guests chose from black, pink, yellow or blue as the backgrounds. Use your imagination to arrange your shapes to make friendly (or scary) monster characters. Making monsters is great activity for a family Halloween party or and would make festive home or classroom decorations. Art Lab For Kids suggests taking this activity a step further by making monster birthday or get well cards.
Susan has a few more books in the works which sound pretty exciting and we look forward to having her back for another fun workshop in the future! You can follow Susan Schwake on her blog Art Esprit , her website SusanSchwake.com and purchase a signed copy of her book in the Carle Bookshop or here.
Photo credit: Studio Intern, Gabby Rosenberg
Tags: art, Halloween, Monster, Monster Mash Workshop, Special Sunday, Susan Schwake, Texture Monster Activity for Kids
Posted in Activities, Mixed Media, Painting, Public Art Program, Special Guests and Artist Visits | No Comments »
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