thefireflyjar

Illustrating Whimsy

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:07:00 +0000

My daughters kindergarten class was spending the week learning about Dr. Seuss. Inspired by Dr. Seuss' fanciful inventions and musical instruments, we did an illustrating workshop designing our own inventions of whimsy. We looked at other whimsical/fanciful inventions by kinetic sculptors like George Rhodes and Rube Goldberg to inspire our drawings.

flying hearts

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:21:00 +0000

Inspired by a Sacred Heart my friend brought back from Mexico- we created our own flying hearts with little charms for our special valentines!

building a castle

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:40:00 +0000

What better to do with all those boxes left over from the holidays? With a group of 7 students we constructed and painted a castle, created a dragon, and made our own little figures: kings, princesses, knights, wizards, and jesters to live in the castle.

merry christmas charlie brown

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:13:00 +0000

I made Charlie Brown Christmas trees with a group of k-3 graders as part of a holiday workshop. I made the armetures with wrapped wire and popsicle sticks. The children cut and glued the needles and decorated their ornament with sequins and glitter.

Totally Awesome Paper Sculpture Kit

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:46:00 +0000

I just can't bring myself to buy regular birthday gifts: toys with little pieces, plastic, the stuff your kid asks for from the Saturday morning cartoon commercials. Its the kind of stuff i find myself wanting to throw away when I find it on the floor around the house.
Anyway, I have a lot of fun creating unique birthday gifts. It is something that Hannah and I have been able to work on together.

This is one of my very favorite creations: The Totally Awesome Paper Sculpture Kit!!!
We used those Saturday morning commercials as inspiration for our box design: i.e. "Trick-Trick-Trick your your Bike!!!"

Paper Sculpture is a great activity for children. It gives them the opportunity to problem solve and think about 3-d forms by using staples and tape (which the the kids "totally" love).

This kit contained rainbow colored card stock, tape, scissors, a stapler and staples, and some fun little extras like pipe cleaners and puff balls.

sand pipers

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:38:00 +0000

created for a fundraiser bennefitting the Missouri Theater.

Each artist was given a old instrument found in the theater to turn into an artwork.

Dale Chihuly

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:16:00 +0000

Dale Chihuly

the glass ceiling at the Bellagio

Chihuly is a glass blowing artist. He creates large sculptural installations with glass forms that are brilliantly colored and in organic shapes.

At Lee Elementary School, we created our own sculptural installation inspired by Dale Chihuly.

We used tissue paper and acrylic medium to create our organic form.

All of the forms were hung in the entry way of the school.

The contributing artists to this sculpture (the students) were able to share their

work with the school, and experience how an individual piece becomes part of a whole work.

Bubble Wand o0o0o0

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:14:00 +0000

simple bubble wand gift for a magical friend...

wire, bamboo, beads, and a bottle for your potion

(you can put glitter or marbles in your bubble solution to make it special)

Awesome & Handmade

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:11:00 +0000

the best gifts are the ones you make.

Progression (Painting)

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:33:00 +0000

These paintings were created with help from a few talented 6th and 7th graders.
We were asked to do these canvas paintings to hang in St. Paul's Episcopal Day School.
We used the school symbol- a cross inside a circle- as our inspiration for these sybolic-season paintings. We used monochromatic color schemes to create the sections of the cross, both inside and out side the circle. The painters were able to experiment with color mixing, changing light to dark, and dealing with intesifiying and neutralizing colors.

Spirit Houses

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Spirit houses are mainly found in S.E. Asia: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand. They are placed outside of homes and businesses as a place to provide shelter and honor the spirits.
I am fascinated by this tradition. To me, it makes life more mystical, more fantastic, a reminder to daydream about the forces at work in nature.

I look for opportunities to do workshops about Spirit Houses. I love referencing ideas of magic and the unknown into the creative process. Dealing with spirits and teaching, well... that's a little tricky. I will talk about the tradition of Spirit Houses, and then loosely use nature and nature spirits/fairy houses- things fanciful, as the intent for our project.

These large groups of houses were created by 60 first graders at Shepard Elementary. These houses were displayed outside the school for a week. This gave the students the opportunity to create a piece of a whole for an outdoor installation.

This house was one of my favorites, it has wings!

This smaller group of houses is in my yard. My daughter and I made these houses during a small workshop I hosted this summer.

Teaching Painting with Monet

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:34:00 +0000

Monet is one of the artist I use to teach painting to young artists. His loose style and use of color makes his work the perfect inspiration for young painters.

When teaching painting I always give the students several sessions to work on their paintings. This shows how an artist builds a painting and the progression of work through time.

With younger artists I use specific paintings, for example Monet's Waterlilies, shown here, painted by a group of children 6 and under.

With older artist's, this group being 6-7, we used photographs as our subject and Impressionism as the influence for our style.
I like the students to be able to take their own photos; this makes them photographers and painters.

Painting is learned, just like riding a bike. Think of Bob Ross, he could teach anyone to paint.
I love being able to give children the experience of making a beautiful and successful painting.

Looking at Christo

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:13:00 +0000

You may know Christo and his partner Jean Claude, the eccentric artists who have wrapped everything from a building to a coast line. Their work is easily recognizable: large sheets of pink nylon fabric floating around Islands, his orange Gates in Central Park, NY, and his large yellow and blue Umbrellas.

To celebrate Christo and his work we did our own wrapped form- homage to

Wrapped Monument to Leaonardo da Vinci Piazza Scala,
Milano, Italy 1970

Wrapped Table and Chairs,
St. Paul's Episcopal Day School,
Kansas City MO 2009

Andy Goldsworthy

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:21:00 +0000

The kids loved looking at Andy Goldsworthy. They were amazed at the different ways he manipulates natural materials. We talked about the sculptures being temporary, that weather, and wind, the sun and water would change or destroy the work.
For this project the students were broken into two teams to design and create their environmental sculptures.

Alexander Calder

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:08:00 +0000

The Star, 1960

During my summer sculpture class we looked at some of my favorite sculptors. I love Alexander Calder. Calder is a great artist to introduce to children because of his simple shapes and sense of humor. If you are not familiar with Calder's circus or the toys he designed they are worth checking out. It is Calder's whimsical side that makes me love his work so much.

Fairies

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:31:00 +0000

Where do fairies live..... under mushrooms, in trees, discarded shells, and among the rocks.

This is a fairy tree we made this summer. We created tiny, delicate fairies with wire, pipe cleaners, silk flowers, beads, yarn, and bits and pieces from my found object treasure box.

This project is an adaptation to a fairy project made by my friend Levi at Lee Expressive Arts School, in Columbia MO.

Treasure Box Collage

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:38:00 +0000

This is a simple kids collage project that has beautiful results. Start with an inexpensive frame, I painted this one black, and discard the glass. I use a very thick hand made paper (because I like the texture) to hot glue to the back of the frame. You could also use cardboard or any other strong backing.
I have a treasure box, my box of found objects, little odds and ends, sequins, buttons, shells, coins, etc....
I hand out a small pile of items to each child, then while they are working I let each of them come and pick out a few special pieces from my treasure box.
White glue works to hold the objects.
I like to accent with a little glitter.
The glitter is sprinkled on the collage and sticks to the extra glue on and around objects.

Georgia O'Keefe Water Color

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:12:00 +0000

Using real watercolor paper is essential when doing watercolor paintings with children. It is important to use good materials to get good results.

We looked at Georgia O'Keefe's paintings to inspire our work. My young artists did a beautiful job.

Wayne Thiebaud - Yummy Cakes!

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Looking at painter Wayne Thiebaud, we painted colorful cupcakes with thick frosting and lots of sprinkles.
Wayne Thiebaud is know for his use of repetition, texture, and simple shapes. His paintings look good enough to eat.

Louise Nevelson

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:11:00 +0000

“I just feel that I'm in tune with the right vibrations in the universe when I'm in the process of working.” -Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson is definitely one of my very favorite artists. She used found objects, mainly wood, to piece together large sculptures painted in one color. The use of a single color really gives emphasis on the design, form, and texture.
Each child made one sculpture box for this project. We used cigar boxes and found objects to glue inside.

Firefly jar

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Make your own firefly jar......

I came up with this project during one of my summer classes.

The theme for the day was a camp out. We built a fire circle in

the class room, with a tissue paper and glow-stick fire. We put up

a tent by hanging sheets from ropes strung across the room, and

we made firefly jars.

The fireflies are made with small pieces of pip-cleaner, folded in half

to make the body.

I used glow-in-the-dark pony beads for the tails, and cut little wings

out of some patterned white vellum.

We cut leaves out of some nice heavy weight paper in different

shades of a sage green.

Arange your leaves and bugs in the jar and ta da!!! a cute permanent jar

of fireflies.

My Monster Art Class....

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:17:00 +0000

Suprise box

Grouchy Tote

Mini monster doll

Recognize your monsters

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:40:00 +0000

A guide to common monsters.

"shadow puppet monster"

"tp mummy monster"

play dough and googly eyes - "the blob"

"feathery tickle monster"

ink blot monster- "the thing that goes bump in the night"

to prosperity in future endevors

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:12:00 +0000

prosperity ship.......

i am finally getting more time now that my piglet is getting older and bigger- perhaps i can begin posting again.

La Calavera

noreply@blogger.com (christine) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:36:00 +0000

To celebrate the season we decorated skulls, calaveras. Calavera's are a common image associated with dia de los muertos, nov 1. my daughter and her friend sadie painted these wonerful paper mache calaveras.

thefireflyjar

Illustrating Whimsy

flying hearts

building a castle

merry christmas charlie brown

Totally Awesome Paper Sculpture Kit

sand pipers

Dale Chihuly

Bubble Wand o0o*0o0*

Awesome & Handmade

Progression (Painting)

Spirit Houses

Teaching Painting with Monet

Looking at Christo

Andy Goldsworthy

Alexander Calder

Fairies

Treasure Box Collage

Georgia O'Keefe Water Color

Wayne Thiebaud - Yummy Cakes!

Louise Nevelson

Firefly jar

My Monster Art Class....

Recognize your monsters

to prosperity in future endevors

La Calavera

Bubble Wand o0o0o0