A Room for Art

Winter Session January -March 2012

2011-12-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

Afternoon Art Classes for Children

tempera monoprints
Tuesdays K-Gr 2 Jan 10, 17, 31, /Feb 14, 28 full

Wed K-Gr 2 Jan 4, 18, Feb 8, 29, Mar 21 full

Thurs Gr 1-3 Jan 5,19, Feb 9, Mar 1, 22 full

Wed Gr 3-5 Jan 11, 25, Feb 15 Mar 14, 28 space

Thurs Gr 5-8 Jan 12,26 Feb 16, Mar 15, 29 space

Thurs Open Studios:Feb 2, Mar 8
3:30-5pm
All welcome siblings, friends, parents, relatives, $5 fee
-no lesson, just use materials available
-drop off if children can take care of their basic needs-bathroom and entertaining themselves

There are a few changes:

-the every other week pattern will be interrupted a once a month so I can do Coyote Club on a Wed afternoon at Habitat (check out the Winter Habitat newsletter for details). There will be an Open Studios on Thursday the weeks I do Habitat on Wed.

-there will be a new Tues K-Gr 2 class that will run Jan/Feb only (5 classes) There will interruptions here too because I have a13 yr. old with braces! (lots of appointments)

What's the same:

-$100 for session (5 classes), sibling discount 10% off total

-studio door is on the right of the house down the driveway, always open but push hard!

-make sure I am there before leaving your child, unless kids come independently

-new families please fill out contact information.

-fees due first day of class or before.

I don't ask for a deposit but please let me know ASAP if your plans have changed!

Fall Classes 2011

2011-08-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

I know it's Fall but I'm still looking for that ocean at the Cape. May the beauty of the landscape, the light and colour, inspire us as the days shorten and our lives get busier!
I hope you all have had a great summer and are refreshed and ready for the upcoming fall schedule.

My schedule of classes is changed a bit so look closely. If you are interested in fall classes let me know by email and I will send you the registration information. I will be sending the schedule to my email list as well.
Age groupings are flexible and might change a little as families sign up in the next few weeks. I try to keep classes to 8 or less students so let me know soon if you are interested.

Art Classes for Children
-every other week for a total of 5 classes per session
-fall, winter, spring sessions
-1 1/2 hour each
-grouped by age
-$100 for 5 classes
-Fall session starts week of October 3 and ends week of Dec 12
-classes include drawing, painting, collage, printing, assemblage, sculpture
-see past blog entries for specific examples of art

Fall 2011
Wed and Thursday Classes
3:30-5pm
115 Robbins Rd, studio entrance off the driveway
Once a month Tuesday Open Studios: families welcome, self-directed use of materials

Wed Kindergarten-Gr 2
Oct 5, 19, Nov 2, 16, Dec 7

Thurs Gr 1-3
Oct 6, 20, Nov 3, 17, Dec 8

Wed Gr 3-5
Oct 12, 26, Nov 9, 30, Dec 14

Thurs Gr 5-8
Oct 13, 27 Nov 10, Dec 1, 15

Tuesday Open Studios
3:30-5pm
$5 fee
Oct 25, Nov 29

ArtCamp 2011

2011-08-29T08:01:00.001-07:00

ArtCamp is a time to experiment with materials and ideas, collaborate on group pieces, be outside and play with the elements. The morning runs from 9am-noon. We had great weather this year, inspiring student artists. I am grateful for the efforts of everyone who took part. Thanks!

Themes of ArtCamp 2011
Week 1 Animal Architecture
Week 2 Somebody Else's Garbage: transforming found materials
Week 3 Disguise
Week 4 Stories

The Flow
-gathering play activities
-meeting and games, stories, intro to art project
-art project
-snack
-freeplay or games at the park

Freeplay
-chalk
-weaving
-tent construction
-big clay
-bubbles
-ramps and balls
-waterplay
-pipe cleaner construction
-building with cups
-drawing
-blocks
-food colour mix
-painting

Animal Architecture Projects
-spider webs
-bird's nests and eggs
-bird paintings
-big clay (potter's clay recycled)
- mat board marble runs

Found Material Projects
-magazine and paste paper collage
-transform a box
-foam core scrap assemblage
-mat board marble runs

Disguise Projects
-animal camouflage: paperclay animals with backgrounds
-mix a family of colours
- monochromatic paintings
-papier mache masks

Story Projects
-The Fisherman and his Wife: wish collages
-Jack and the Beanstalk: giant paintings
-The Elves and the Shoemaker: little people from wood forms and felt and fairy houses
-Aesops Fables, The Tortoise and the Hare: Shadow puppets and stained glass windows

In Praise of Paint!

2011-08-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

"whenever you have fun you have to take a bath" (wise words of a student this spring)

The last spring class is all about paint! We pray for sun and get outside where paint can be off the paper, in the air and on the skin. Children and paint are a wonderful combination. Paint moves and so do they! The outdoors allows us to relax about the mess and find more ways to see what paint will do. Colour, motion and viscosity are infinitely entertaining. It is truly a SENSORY experience!

Kinds of Painting
-splatter
-marble
-body

Open Studios Every Other Friday at 3:30-5pm

2011-04-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

Please note the change in Open Studio start time: 3:30!
Fridays 4/15, 5/6, 6/3
115 Robbins Rd Studio door off the driveway
This Friday 4/15 watercolour /pastel resist

sometimes Gumby shows up!

As always this is a session for children parents, siblings and friends to come and do their own thing with materials available. Drop off is fine if your child can take care of themselves (bathroom, sharing, basic happiness etc) I will help with problems if urgent but I don't do any lesson. Sometimes I do my own work. It's very relaxed. $5 material fee

Summer Art Camp 2011

2011-04-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

papier mache marionette

Happy Spring to all!

Summer Camp Plans are underway. All weeks are fully enrolled as of 5/18/11. Email me at annwynne@verizon.net if you are interested in a spot for your child on the waiting list. I will send a registration package toward the end of the school year.

Thanks, Ann

Summer Art Camp 2011
Mornings 9-12noon
Children 5-11yrs old
Maximum 12 children per week

115 Robbins Rd Studio and back yard and Robbins Farm Park
Art Projects, games, stories, nature exploration, snack
teenage assistant
drop off and pick up at 115 Robbins Rd, studio door off the driveway to the right of the house

Themes:
Each week will have a loose theme that will allow us to use a variety of art materials, read great stories and focus our games outside. Sorry I can't tell you exactly what they are.(I'll let you know soon) Last year I used the elements- water, fire and light, earth and air. My guiding principle, no matter what the theme, is immersion in the elements. I also want to use my natural history experience at Habitat to exploit the flora and fauna in the neighbourhood. I promise that your children will run, get dirty, get wet, explore and make something with their hands daily! (to look at last year's camp go to blog archive under August 2011)

Camp Weeks
July 5-8 (full)
July 11-15(full)
July 18-22 (full)
August 22-26 (full)
Fee: July 5-8 $160
July 11-15,18-22, Aug 22-26 $200

Past Camps:

big bubbles

ramps and balls in the backyard

balls at the park

looking for natural objects that fit on a penny

sun paintings

Clay collaboration- mountains, river, forest

sculpey salamanders with tempera background camouflage

tempera paintings for rock surface, charcoal cave drawings

Process vs Product

2011-03-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

Some of us teachers, artists, early childhood educators love to ponder this question when thinking about our work with children. In an art class, it is a question about what is valued by the teacher and students. What really is the goal of the art making? How do we know when we have done well? as teachers? as students?
It's an interesting one and helps us keep searching for the right path in the shadowy, entangled, ever changing forest of educational philosophy! There are so many people who say they have the answers. Who do we believe? There isn't even an art MCAS test!? What are we to do?

Process vs Product
Let's state the opposing camps in an extreme way:
Process
-art is about experimentation
-the product doesn't matter to the students or the teacher
-children always should direct their own work
-sensory experience is everything
-nobody needs sculpture made out of toilet paper rolls or egg cartons

Product
-art is about learning correct methods from experts
-the product is the sole purpose
-adults define what a good product is
-good art is technically difficult and requires discipline
-nobody needs sculpture made out of toilet paper rolls or egg cartons unless it is well crafted

I'm kidding about the toilet paper rolls. I love recycled sculpture. (It's just difficult to find the right gallery space in most of our houses where we struggle to find a place for our kids' cleats, boots, backpacks...)

Obviously neither of these camps represents the whole story. It is not an either/or situation. There cannot be an art-making process without a product nor a product without a process. There are products that don't last (like Andy Goldsworthy's beautiful leaf installations) but art making is always about the MAKING.
Art-making requires many capacities- intellectual, emotional and physical. It requires work and play, action and non-action, skill and experimentation.
Every teacher has to strike a balance between these sets of variables almost on a day to day basis. After all we are human, ever-changing beings!
Often young children value their products differently from their mothers/fathers and teachers who are looking for something they can relate to as an adult. They might choose something really ugly to be proud of because it means something in their imaginative world. Don't we all shudder when we see a gorgeous painting made brown by one more layer of paint? That brown layer may have been the conclusion of a story that drove the painting throughout the process. The more I watch children paint the more I see them engaged in the changes that occur in the paint as a result of their actions rather that the finished product. (dry tempera is rather dull)
On the other hand children sometimes want to make something happen in paint and they don't know how. In this case a new skill/method can open up a whole new set of possibilities for a child.

I like what my art teacher mentors in Toronto said about kindergarten paintings. They called them souvenirs of a process. Like all souvenirs, sometimes they are valuable in themselves and sometimes they are valuable only because they remind us of something meaningful that happened in the past.

What do you think about this?

Examples of Process-Oriented Art

No Product That Lasts: Big Recycled Clay
-children's themes
-big scale
-tactile, fluid, changeable
-collaborative
-storytelling
-ideas in 3D
-learn the properties of clay

Edward de Bono, Children Solve Problems: Detailed Drawings
Inspired by the book Children Solve Problems by Edward de Bono students designed 'fun machines'. The ideas were recorded as large black and white drawings. They were asked to show how the machine worked in as much detail as possible.

Plaster Casting from Clay: An Ancient Process experienced first hand
Students created clay bas reliefs in small square boxes . We then poured plaster to create a negative version of that surface. Here is an example of an informative process (casting is such an important concept in the history of western art but how many of us know how it is done). This was a simple version of the process and the products were surprising and interesting for us all. (what will that deep hole in my clay create in the plaster cast? Wow it's a giganitic projection!) Most of them were not products that were important in themselves.

Spring Session Mar 21-May 30 2011

2011-02-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

The theme this spring is Mixed Media! We will be mixing it up by combining printing, painting, collage and building in different configurations. When the snow finally mets we will head outside for extreme painting- Large and Messy!

I am teaching Monday, Thursday and Friday, as of now the classes are:
Mon K/Gr1 3-4:30pm
Thurs Gr2/3 3-4:30pm
Fri Gr2/3 3-4:30pm
Mon Gr 2/3 3-4:30pm
Thurs Gr 6-8 3-5pm
Fri Open Studios 3-5pm Everyone welcome- friends, siblings, parents

1 1/2 hr classes $100 for 5 week session
2 hr classes $125 for 5 week session

Let me know if you are interested, the age of your child and which day would work for you. The schedule might change slightly after I hear from returning students.
Thanks, Ann

Andy Goldsworthy Project at Peirce

2010-12-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

Andy Goldsworthy Project
Peirce 4th Grade
Fall 2010

1 Children and Nature
As our lives become more and more supported by technology it is so important to remain connected to our earth in its natural state. We are still animals and are dependent upon the ecosystems that feed us. There is a growing body of educational literature that offers powerful arguments for the necessity of childrens’ connections to natural settings, for time to dig in the earth, climb trees, build forts and run wild away from cars, screens and indoor activities. The work of Andy Goldsworthy inspires all of us regardless of age. It offers one way to connect us to the natural world. It reminds us of the wondrous pattern, texture, colour and form everywhere in natural settings and invites us to participate.

2 Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy is a contemporary artist who not only is inspired by the natural world, but uses entirely natural materials to make his art. Often the only lasting part of his work is the photograph. He is a master at finding powerful, universal forms on our earth and creating his own variations of these forms in different materials. We used his book, A Collaboration with Nature as the starting point for the grade four classes’ experimentation with this kind of art.

3 In Class
We started indoors to view the souvenirs of his outdoor process – well crafted photographs of his installations made from sand, rock, leaves, ice and wood.
Each class spent an indoor session looking at Andy Goldsworthy’s photographs of his outdoor installations, then built with a number of natural materials. We started with what students first saw in the images and then had a discussion about what forms were repeated in his work- holes, serpentine lines, cones, circles, spheres, zig zag lines, wavy lines, radial patterns and spirals. We talked about what the word collaboration means, how one collaborates with Nature and how Andy Goldsworthy differs from other kinds of artists.

4 Being There
Andy Goldsworthy works at the seashore, the woods, by a river or in a field of snow, often in his native Scotland. We worked at our local Menotomy Rocks Park. (morning field trip)
Getting to know a place takes more than looking. To really be present in a natural setting all the senses have to be engaged. Andy Goldsworthy talks about taking time to be in a place in order to be inspired. (Fourth graders know how to do it- roll around on the ground, pick things up and smell them, climb on rocks) Being late Fall and a little chilly we ran patterns in a out of the pine bank then lay down and listened and looked from a different perspective.

5 Large Group Searches and Collections
Pairs of students used a paint chip from the hardware and hunted for colours in the environment that closely matched those on their chip. Similarly students searched for a variety of lines and shapes.
As one large group, we foraged for sticks, made three piles defined by value: light, medium and dark, then used the entire collection for a cooperative arrangement. Ms Karwowski’s class made radial forms, Ms Hayes’ made a long river of sticks.

6 Small Group Process
A group of 4 or 5 students, with a parent chaperone, set off to find their own space to build an installation that they would then share with the entire group. This involved searching for a place, agreeing upon the place, collecting materials, formulating an idea and then building.

7 Small Group Products

8 Debriefing
Everyone met back at a central location and then the tour of all works took place. Builders explained whatever they liked about the process then fielded questions and comments from the other groups.

Come see a more complete display of the project up in the Peirce library now!

Thanks

Thank you again to the Peirce PTO who has allowed this project to be a yearly tradition. Thank you to the students for their energy, interest and willingness to explore. Thank you to Nicole Hayes and Jessica Karwowski who see the value of outdoor excursions and are willing to do all the organizing to make this happen. Finally thanks to the great parent volunteers who made this possible by helping with the in class session, being group leaders at Menotomy and taking many photographs:

Kristen Garrigus
Laila Moore Niles
Gayle Namchuck
Chris Hurley
Patricia Lynch
Brenda Kokubo
John Soares
Karen Scopetski
Maria De Francesco
Alison Romeo

Ann Wynne
annwynne@verizon.net
aroomforart.blogspot.com
For a look at more pictures email me and I’ll send you the album!

Thanks, Ann

Winter Classes 2011

2010-11-28T06:21:00.000-08:00

Winter Session 2011 Jan 3-Mar 21

Draw and Build

This Fall we’ve worked with the theme Paint and Print. (see previous post) This winter with Draw and Build we will do more 3D work, coupled with different kinds of planning on paper- invention drawings (fantastic things we’ll never make like a spaceship), sketches for 3D pieces we will make and drawings themselves that we turn into something 3D eg. books. (We’ll draw for its own sake too !!)
To sign up for classes please email Ann annwynne@verizon.net. Tell me the birthdate of your child and which class(es) you are interested in.

Every other WeekClasses:

Mondays K/Gr1 3-4:30pm 1/3, 1/17, 1/31, 2/14,3/7 Note class on MLK day 1/17

5 classes $100

Thursdays Gr2/3 3-4:30pm 1/6, 1/20, 2/3, 2/17, 3/10

5 classes $100

Fridays Gr 2/3 3-4:30pm 1/7, 1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/11

5 classes $100

Mondays Gr 2/3 3-4:30pm 1/10, 1/24, 2/7,2/28, 3/14
5 classes $100

Thursdays Gr 6-8 3-5pm 1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 3/3, 3/17

5 classes $125

Open Studios

Drop in, adults , siblings, friends welcome, children arewelcome on their own as long as I have a phone number and they can take care oftheir own basic needs, $5 material fee, experiment with available materials

Fridays 3-5pm 1/14, 1/28, 2/11, 3/4, 3/18

Wednesday Workshops

Guest teachers are invited to work with different age groupsaround a theme for 1-5 consecutive weeks. Workshops will be held in the RobbinsRd studio.

Architecture Workshopfor Gr5-8 with Eileen Murphy McNamara

Wed. 3-5pm

Mar 2,9,16 changed from original!

3 classes $75

Join Eileen, Brackett Art Squad Chair, mother of three,watercolorist, fine artist and architect for a 3 week workshop that willinclude exploring architectural concepts, a design challenge and solutionsusing drawing, painting and model making.

February VacationCamp 2011

2/21-2/25

5-10 yr olds

9-11:30am

Mon-Friday $150

MWF only, $90

T,TH only, $60

Let me know if you are interested ASAP. I will run this if Iget a minimum of 5 children per day.

The theme is Light and Colour this vacation week (we allneed it during a New England Winter) As with my summer camp I will use theoutdoors as much as possible so come dressed for the weather. Hopefully we willhave some great snow!

Inside: Games, stories, art making, experiment with mirrorsand flashlights

Outside: Building, ice and snow experiments, scavengerhunts, games

Art Project Possibilities

-shadow puppets

-make your own slides

-colour changer play telescopes

- watercolour

-tissue collage

-stained glass (plexi and acetate)

Other Offerings

Arlington Center for the Arts

Watch for the winter catalogue. I’ll be teaching a coursecalled Critters Real and Imagined onTuesdays from Jan 17 to Mar 15 ,3:30-5pm for Kindergarten to Grade 2 students. The course will include 2Dand 3D work inspired by the amazing diversity of animals, their adaptations forsurvival and their visual beauty (I did not come up with the term critter!)This is offered at the Center, not my studio.

(I will be doing a similar session at Brackett Afterschool on the Tuesdays following Mar 22-May 17 for K- Gr 5)

Arlington Community Education: Paste Paper and Bookbinding

This is the blurb for the course I’m doing in March:

Enjoy theprocess of decorating paper with colour and texture. Paste paper is a durable,versatile handmade paper that we will use to make simple books, collage,origami and finally, hard cover bound journals. The paper- making is loose andexperimental while the bookbinding is measured and organized. Something foreveryone! Held at the instructor’s studio 115 Robbins Rd, Arlington. Studiodoor is off the driveway. Material fee $20

Thursday evenings 7-9pm

Mar 10,17, 24, 31, Apr 7

Birthday Parties

Candlesinside, pinadas outside, paint and materials everywhere!

I have beenenjoying collaborating with families in celebrating their children’s birthdays!We discuss possible themes, art projects that will work with the particulargroup, families bring the food and I supply the games, stories, goody bags, anart project and a bound accordion book that holds drawings the guests do duringthe party

2 hrs,weekend morning or afternoon $200

Some of thethemes/projects:

-butterflies/bigtempera paintings

-stainedglass/plexi and acetate

-sculpey clay

-A Poodle inParis/dog watercolour paintings

-colour/ foodcolour and water play/watercolour painting

-faces/recycledmaterials sculpture, bookbinding

Otherpossibilites

-buildingchallenges(towers, bridges, insulating pods)

-recycledmaterial sculpture

-free playclay (potter’s clay used in large quantities, no product)

Paint and Print Fall 2010

2010-11-28T06:08:00.000-08:00

This Fall all classes have been using lots of fluid media- tempera, acrylic, watercolour paint and block printing ink. There is something universally appealing about liquid, probably because our bodies are made up mostly of water and we couldn't survive without it. Its physical properties-the ability of the molecules to stick to each other, paper, cardboard, skin and to take on the shape of the container in which it is put is infinitely fascinating. (just watch children playing with water).
Most children love paint and are ready to experiment with it in their own way. Through this experience they get to know how paint behaves in different situations. Gradually they will move from only experimenting to using what they know to make the mark they want. But it is a long, lovely, bumpy road and there will always be some element of surprise (thank goodness!)
I can't praise enough the tactile/visual component of this journey! At Habitat we talk about 'being there'- our mission is to help children connect to natural settings. This means being in the present with all senses engaged. Similarly in the art studio, painters are seeing and feeling, present with the task at hand. (this is what we try to achieve!)

Fall Classes Running!

2010-10-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

There is a chill in the air, it's Fall and paint and ink are moving in the studio!
Five classes are running this Fall: Monday K/ Gr1, Thurs Gr 2-3, Fri.Gr 2/3, Thurs Gr 6-8 and Thurs Adult Block Printing (ACE).

Children's classes are starting off with BIG painting: Tempera paint, long armed brushes and large paper:

collaborative class painting with long brushes

starting individual paintings

adding colour

Upcoming:

Open Studios: Friday Oct 15 3-5pm Everyone Welcome Tempera paint on paper and simple recycled structures

$5 material fee.

WednesdayWorkshops

Collograph Workshop with Suzanne Lefebrve for middle schoolers

3 Wed: Nov 17, Dec 1, Dec 8

Join Suzanne, ACA, Habitat teacher, fine artist and printer for this interesting process of building a plate from textured cardboard and other materials for relief printing

Architecture Workshop with Eileen Murphy-McNamara for Gr 5-8 students

3 Wed: Winter 2010 TBD

Join Eileen, Brackett Art Squad Chair, watercolourist, fine artist and architect for a 3 week workshop that will include architectural concept, a design challenge, solutions using drawing, painting and model making

Arlington Center for the Arts

Open Studios Oct 16 and 17 12-5-pm

Come say hello and see what arlington artists and artisans are doing!

Fall Classes 2010

2010-08-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

Fall Classes 2010 October 4- Dec 17

Afterschool Art Classes for Children

Children will:

Have opportunities to experiment with a variety of materials, be inspired from nature, fine art and each other, learn drawing and painting skills, play, invent with everyday materials, make 2D and 3D pieces, develop a visual vocabulary, begin to understand the Elements of Art: line, shape, colour, value, texture, space, composition, form

Every other week, 3:00-4:30pm or 3:00-5:00pm, Mon, Tues, Thurs or Fri

Grouped by grade level, K-middle school

Monday Kindergarten/Grade 1

5 classes $100, 3-4:30pm

10/4, 10/18, 11/1, 11/15, 12/6

Tuesday Kindergarten/Grade 1

5 classes $100, 3-4:30pm

10/5, 10/19, 11/2, 11/16, 12/7

Thursday Grade 2/3

5 classes $100, 3-4:30pm

10/7, 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 12/9

Friday Grade 2/3

5 classes $100, 3-4:30pm

10/8, 10/22, 11/5, 11/19, 12/10

Monday Grade 4/5

4 classes $80, 3-5pm

10/25, 11/8, 11/29, 12/13

Tuesday Grade 4/5

5 classes $125, 3-5pm

10/12, 10/26, 11/9, 11/30, 12/14

Thursday Grade 6-8

5 classes $125, 3-5pm

10/14, 10/28, 11/11, 12/2, 12/16

Open Studios

Every other Friday, $5 material fee, 3-5pm

10/15, 10/29, 11/12, 12/3, 12/17

Open to all ages, siblings, parents, time to play with materials available

Looking Ahead- Children’s classes:

Winter Classes: Draw and Build -Jan 3-Mar 21

Spring Classes: Mixed Media -Mar 28- June 10

Wednesday Workshops

Class series led by guest teachers, teachers and courses TBA in September

1-5 consecutive weeks in duration

Block Printing Workshop for Adults

Arlington Community Education, meets in the studio

5 Thursdays $65, 7-9pm 9/30- 10/28

Call 781 316 3568 or Arlington CommunityEd.org to register

Birthday Parties and Adult Workshops

Look under pages on this site

Leaf Printing Workshop for Adults

2 Thursdays $50, 9-11am 10/21 and 10/28

Make a leaf inspired set of cards and an accordion book using simple block printing techniques

Send me an email to sign up

Open House

Friday Sept 24 3-5pm

Start the weekend of Town Day with art and camaraderie!

Transform a milk jug into a puppet; make a structure from recycled materials, have a snack and a drink, bring a friend, join a class, sign up for a workshop, pick up a free coupon for Open Studios

To sign up for children’s classes please email me with the following info:

Child’s name, parent’s names

Birthdate and Grade

Class preference

Whether your child is available for the other time slot for his/her age group. If not what other days he/she would be available.

This will assist me immensely if some classes do not fill and I have to shuffle them!

Please sign up by Sept 17 and classes will be confirmed by Sept 24

A final registration package will be sent after Sept 24. Fees due on or before first day of class. Cheques are payable to Ann Wynne. Receipts will be sent electronically.

Fall Classes Posted Soon

2010-08-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

yesterday

today

I am back from the ocean!

Stay tuned for information about the fall. After school Fall classes will start in October for children from Kindergarten to middle school. The schedule will be posted in the second half of August. I will have an Open House in September. Look in the Arlington Community Ed Catalogue for the adult blockprinting course I will be teaching.

We had a busy and productive July at A Room for Art. See previous post.

Summer Art Camp 2010

2010-08-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

The Summer is for immersion in the Elements: WATER, SUN, EARTH and AIR! So here at a Room for Art that was our guiding principle. Each week was inspired by one of the elements.We played with and made products from related materials. We found or made up games somehow related to our themes. Art projects were mixture of 2D and 3D work.

Week 1 Water

We were lucky to have this theme during this very hot week! Water is Good! Children are drawn to liquid. They play with paint, water, soap as artists and scientists learning about the properties of each. It is very useful for an artist to know these physical properties: water molecules are sticky, water flows down hill, the surface of water has tension, different paint moves differently, there are a finite number of layers of tempera you can apply to a piece of paper with out ripping it(this is tested regularly). Painting as a child is about watching paper and paint interact and being amazed by how the colours, the texture, the layers appear as the brush, sponge, fingers are moved in different ways

-water play with tubes and funnels

-big bubbles using string frames

-ice races

-atomizer games at the park

-blue mix collaborative painting

-tempera paint monoprints on plexiglass

-watercolour and crayon resist fish paintings

-papier mache fish

Week 2 Sun/Light

Light and Shadow play a major role in most art. Anything visual is dependent upon light. This week we played with looking at light: how it creates colours in a soap film, how light travels through transparent materials and does not for opaque, how objects create varied shadows outside and played with a shadow screen by making our own silhouette puppets

-light table free play

-big bubbles

-shadow drawings turned into mixed media paintings: pastel and watercolour

-sun paintings using hot colours

-papier mache suns, read excerpt of science book describing composition of our important star, the sun

-food colour mix

-3D construction with transparent materials

-shadow puppets: create characters from Native tale How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun

-perform the play for parents

Week 3 Earth

The decomposers under rotting ash logs in the back yard were a great inspiration this week. Looking for these tiny, sometimes quick moving, creatures encouraged everybody to look closely. Drawing them was another opportunity to observe. They may be small but they are major players in the creation of soil! They also have fascinating bodies so different from people's. Most artists depend on nature for their inspiration either directly or indirectly.

Using clay as a play medium is a favourite of mine. It allows children to build on a large scale, experiment, stay loose, not expect a finished product, learn about the medium and tell stories. It is kinetic and tactile and tenacious. You can use force with it and it talks back!

-decomposer search in backyard: slugs, millipedes, centipedes, pill bugs, earthworms

-sketch what we find, read A Pill Bug's Life

-read A Log's Life about the recycling of plant material by decomposers

-free play clay- build big with potter's clay, reuse clay

-Read The Salamander Room, model sculpey salamanders

-Paint tempera backgrounds for the salamanders to 'hide in'

-ramps and balls outside (gravity play)

-sew nature journals

-built the earth's surface collaboratively with clay: water, forest, mountains

-plaster casts with clay moulds

-cave paintings like early man: made a rock coloured background with tempera, used charcoal to create a hunted animal

Week 4 Air

We barely scratched the surface of this theme. There is so much beauty in in things that use the air for movement. The wind in the sail of a ship, a bird in flight, a floating bubble, a mobile. we looked at a lot of bird images this week, tried to see the simple shapes that make up the shape of a bird. We played with air through experiments with straws, balloons and streamers. Our big project was the marionette. The construction required a lot of time and unfortunately we only started to experiment with making the marionettes move. I think there is a lot of promise in making functional art, especially the kind that supports the imaginative play of children

-bubble domes on plexiglass- homes for plastic animals

-straw painting- using air to move paint

-worked into dry straw paintings with watercolour and pastel

-bird bas reliefs with cardboard and tempera paint

-air experiments: lift and suction

-sound games

-bird cut paper collages

-papier mache marionettes with cloth bodies- characters that fly

-sew journals called Looking UP- sky sketches, face sketches for puppet

-ramps and balls- giant marble runs

-sky paintings: mix a set of colours- monochromatic blue abstract

Games at the Park: A reason to Run!

-Giant's Cave

-Hawk is Watching

-Car Wash

-Colour Search

-Turtle Egg search

-Element Game

-Bat and Moth

-Oh Deer

-Maple Seed Mix Up

-Birds and Worms

-Hot Potato

-Shadow Tag

-Hide and Seek

Building Big at Bishop

2010-06-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

For an invitation to view all the pictures email annwynne@verizon.net

Bishop Clay Project June 9-11, 2010

For three days I had the privilege to work with Ms Martin and all the students at Bishop School on a clay project designed to give students the opportunity to use large quantities of clay, experiment, change direction and get to know the medium a little better. The Greek myths, which Ms Vaishnaw read in library class prior to the clay session were used as an inspiration. (The stories are as BIG, like the clay) No products were kept so clay was reused by each class. It was interesting that most students after building with much effort and focus and producing some amazing forms were quite happy smashing their work. (in fact this has a joy all its own) Student built individually and collaboratively.
The time was short, something that our wonderful art teachers have to deal with everyday. Classes are 40 minutes so a student is lucky to have his/her hand on materials for 25 minutes (getting in, getting out, talking about the project) Even so the classes did a good job of digging in and seeing what the clay can do. Students built Cylopes that fell over and figured out that a free standing figure has to be balanced in some way. Some would start with a grand plan of building a volcano or the temple on Mt Olympus and realize they needed to collaborate to get it done. The process was a continual stream of trial and error. Some persisted with their first idea, others changed direction constantly.
Many students, but especially the younger ones, were completely absorbed in the way the clay felt. We joked about spas that offer mud baths and how some children would willingly jump in for full immersion! One of our challenges was to keep the clay moist enough to work well so we had to introduce water and that was a pleasure for these students. Students experimented with slip (a mixture of water and clay) for joining and smoothing.

Most importantly students got to play! I think it is important for children to have rich materials that allow them to express their own ideas. Versatile media like clay let children make their ideas concrete – physical and three dimensional. This grounding in the three dimensional (literally clay is the earth) gives them models for the more abstract work with words and numbers that they are asked to do at an increasingly early age.

Thanks to Robin Cassel, Alison Vaishnaw and the Bishop PTO, Deb Martin, Deb Chisolm and the students of Bishop School.

Hurrah for children! Hurrah for clay!

The following are my notes for the classes

Class Agenda

Introduction-

I’m happy to be here as a guest in Ms Martin’s Art Room at the Bishop School. I am a Brackett parent and I teach art in my home studio in Arlington Heights.

As Ms. Vaishnaw has told you in library you are going to work with clay in art class- lots of clay. You’ll start with a cube like this and I’ll give you more if you need it. See what you can do with this medium. See what the clay can do (demonstrate)

Can you make something tall, flat, round, long, thick, thin, rough, smooth, hollow, solid, layered? What other textures can you make? Artists know the properties of the media they use. Here are some ways you can change the shape of clay and I'm sure you will invent more. (roll, flatten with heel of hand, squeeze, rip, pound, poke, attach)

The Greek Myths are our starting point. They are stories about BIG things

-big land formations

-big gods

-big battles

-big revenges and secrets

How can we make these images in clay, 3D?

Have fun, experiment

Limits

-the only thing small about this project is the time we have. When it is time to stop you will have to stop.

- clay stays on the boards

-you can work alone or together if everyone is happy with the arrangement

-at the end of the class you will gather the clay to the center of your board for the next class to use

-hand washing will be outside in the water bins (can’t use the sink with clay) Use the towels to dry your hands

Materials

-clay cubes in plastic bins (200 lbs-clay boards

-bins for hand washing (5)

-towels

-scrapers

-cups for hydrating at the end of the day

-key images from myths

Images from Myths:

Mount Olympus

Gleaming palace

Gaea Mother Earth

Uranus Lord of the Universe

The Titans and Titanesses

Mountain thrones

The Cyclopes

Ugly sons of Uranus- 50 heads and 100 arms

Tartarus- deepest darkest pit

Cronus and Rhea

Pontus-boundless seas

Volcanoes, Trees, flowers, crevices, sprites, beasts, early man of Mother Earth

Cronus swallows his children

Zeus is hidden in a cave

Amaltheia- fairy goat

Siblings of Zeus- Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, Hera

Weapons- trident, sickle, invisibility, lightening bolts

Cronus eats his children

What else do you remember?

Summer Camp! and Fall Classes

2010-06-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

Summer

The end of school is near and the time for camp approaching! Thank you to all who have sent in their registration packages! There is still room in the July 6-9 weeks and the July 26-30th week. For a description of the camp scroll down to the February posting below. I'm looking forward to it.

Look who is living in the backyard! A red back salamander. He has moved under the logs away from the paint this spring!

Fall

I will be posting the fall class schedule in August. I will continue to do afterschool classes on all or some of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. I might do a combination of every other week classes and a series of a 4 week class that comes every week and completes one specific project. It's helpful to me to know interest ahead of time so let me know!

Sometimes One Colour is Enough

2010-06-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we read Jack in the Beanstalk for a painting inspiration in the K- Gr 2 age classes. I was thinking about magic seeds-small and dry that hold potential life curled up waiting to expand and grow. Seeds each spring continue to surprise us and remind us about the magic of new life. Jack had a bean that became a pathway into another magical place. Anyway this didn't work too well with a number of classes then with one class I read the story but also showed the children images of vines. Then we brought out the paint.

I gave them a limited palette blue, yellow, black and white and asked them to see how many greens they could make. The mixing was popular. Then they painted vines. Here are the results

Anatomy of an Art Project

2010-04-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Summer Camp July 2010 Update:

There is still space in week 1 and 4. Scroll down for more information

Magritte- Inspired Magazine Collage 4/28

As for all projects I poke around for inspiration suited to the group at hand. My class of students from Gr5- Gr7 had just finished transforming a clementine box into some kind of assemblage and the Surrealists were one inspiration. I like Magritte' s paintings as an invitation to play with scale and strange pairings of objects. So we continued with his ideas of inside and outside being mixed up, physics being defied to create crazy dream-like environments. This time we used magazine images and other paper on a background of watercolour wash. The magazines are very attractive because they scream popular culture, sometimes it's a challenge to remember we are making collages and not just cutting out all the images we like. That is where Magritte helped us focus on choosing images that, together, would make a whole that surprised, raised a question, presented a mystery. Any kind of cut paper exercise is great for allowing time for composing elements on the page. Composition is a combination of a few rules and a lot of intuition. One teacher I had in a life drawing class said good composition is being intentional(I'm not sure this is a complete definition) So we spent two classes on this project.

1Looked at images of Magritte's pantings and cut from magazines, forming seeds of ideas

2Painting backgrounds suited to our plan, drying them and arranging and finding more images

3Gluing! (finally)

Spring Session

2010-03-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

The Spring Session of children's classes starts the week of March 22. Classes are every other week on Tues, Wed or Thurs. from 3- 4:30 pm or 3-5:00 pm. Children are grouped by grade level. K/Gr1, Gr 2-4, Gr 5 and older. The current schedule is Tues K/Gr 1, Wed Gr 2-4, Wed Gr 5+ and Tues K-Gr 2

Summer Vacation Art Camps

2010-02-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

Summer Art Camp
115 Robbins Rd Studio, Robbins Farm Park
4 weeks, morning program 9am-12pm
5-11 yr olds
10 children Max

Week 1 July 6-9

week 2 July 12-16 FULL
Week 3 July 19-23 FULL
Week 4 July 26-30

Each morning includes art, games, stories and a nutritious snack
Fees: $160 for July 6-9 and $200 per week for the other weeks

Weeks are loosely organized around a theme (Sometimes we go off on tangents-we like tangents)
Last Summer they were: Colour, Water, Flight, Patterns, 3D construction
Themes are chosen to focus games, stories, and art projects. We get our inspiration from fine art images, natural objects, being outside and each other. Projects are chosen that use versatile materials and invite experimentation!

For more information: annwynne@verizon.net 781 646 8880