masks and spiders and wool... oh my!

On Tuesday the kids continued their mask project by covering their plaster casts with paper mache.


That was supposed to be their whole project for that day... however, they can be speedy little things when they want to be and they had come up with another project they wanted to try... basket spiders.

Their wonderful teacher went looking through her supplies and found black reeds and weavers.

Then the project began...



And then she got out some wool that they could use to decorate their spiders... and a bit of silliness broke out...


Here's Clara's undecorated spider...
And Alex decorating his...
Clara named hers "sweater legs" and it is really cute... she's almost done with it so I'll have to take a photo of the finished product.

After the spiders were finished... it was time to get silly with the duct tape...

I'm not sure any of this was really a good idea...
... but they did it to themselves... and they survived! :-)

the mask...

Okay... since it isn't a post about our Tuesday art class without a photo of Alex in a silly hat....

here you go....
Today we started our "life mask" project.

The kids started out by pairing up... the boys worked together and the girls worked together. After that, the first person to have their mask made coated their face with vaseline. Then it was time to add the wet plaster gauze strips....


They kept working until their faces were nearly completely covered....
Then once it was dry.... it was time to remove the mask!

Here's Alex checking out plaster Alex....
While they were working the instructor showed them photos of Lincoln and Washington's life masks. They were all pretty excited about them.

Their instructor is going to fill the masks with plaster this week so they'll be dry by our next class. Next week they'll paint them! I can't wait to see the finished product!

a tisket... a tasket....

... an almost finished basket....
(yes... that's my basket there in the front, next to my ever-present phone)

Four the past four Tuesdays we've been taking a homeschool weaving class with some friends. The first week we worked with back strap looms. I would post photos of our projects but in order to do that Alex, Clara and I would have to actually finish our projects. At this point I'm afraid that they may be so hopelessly tangled that we may just have to happy with the weaving we completed in class.

Back to the baskets.... the first week of working on our baskets we wove the bottom. Last week we did the sides... this week we finished the top and painted or stained our baskets.

Here's Alex working on the top of his basket...
Look... his finished "hatsket"...
Fashionable, no?
Here's Clara working on hers...
Then it was time to paint...
and paint...
and then paint some more....
I stained mine. Alex painted the rim and stained the rest.

Clara painted the whole thing...
I really need to take photos of our finished baskets! I'm so proud of them! The kids did really well with the weaving and their painting. It was so much fun and I'm very grateful to my friend who arranged the class for us!

the creative quest :-)

Last week I had the good fortune to attend the winter trade show of the Craft and Hobby Association. I was there with Memory Makers Magazine and Deann of DiScTalkRadio.

Anyway... the last day of the show was a slow day for me... all of my obligations were done. And it was a slow day on the trade show floor... so I wandered a bit out my scrapbooking comfort zone and started looking at the other craft sections (Joyce, I peeked at some quilting stuff too). At some point I ended up in the Crayola booth and I started chatting with one the men who was working in the booth. It turned out to be a great conversation. He is an art professor at a college so I asked him all kinds of questions on how to integrate more art into our homeschool day. He gave me some great ideas of things he used with his classes and how he adapted them for his grandchildren.

The one that struck me to most was his take on an artist study. He said that in his class last term, he ordered one pink lawn flamingo for each student. They were to study their favorite artist and decorate/adorn/whatever that flamingo to reflect something about that artist's style. He told me about the Jackson Pollock inspired flamingo that his grandchildren did. (Random note: while googling Jackson Pollock I came across this... not sure what this site is but it was kind of fun.)

What a fun way to add some excitement to an artist study for kids! Who knows, I might even order a couple of lawn flamingos (they might look nice in Alex's garden he wants to do for the garden walk... LOL!). His class this semester is doing this project using old shoes, so he suggesting saving some old shoes for future projects... he also suggested that old toys and dolls could be fun as well.

I'm really getting excited about the possibilities of this approach to art appreciation studies! He really stressed nurturing creativity now and the technical stuff can come later. I think I can do that! LOL!

If anyone out there does this too... leave me a note! I would love to hear how your project turned out!

Atelier Homeschool Art...

... and a little bit of a trip down memory lane. :-)

Angel asked the other day about Atelier Homeschool Art... so I thought I would just post about it.

First of all... we have only used one level, so my commentary here is restricted just to Level 1. We have all three modules. This is our second year with that level because we've been working through it rather sporadically. I didn't purchase the art prints... not regretting that yet, but we've only done one of the artist appreciation lessons so far. I also didn't get their package of art supplies. At the time I picked up Atelier, we were living in Texas in the 'burbs, so I just watched the Hobby Lobby sales for the items I needed and went in and purchased just those items that were on sale. Now we're in the city and not only do I not go to the art supply store as regularly, I usually have to carry everything home. That tends to change my opinion on buying the supply packages for things. :-)

Level 1 is pretty basic... but still enough of a challenge for my kiddos. We enjoy the instruction we get from the DVD. For most projects, the instruction is step by step. I just stand ready with the remote so I can pause it while we work. As for your question, Angel, about getting enough instruction from a DVD. We've never taken a formal art class.... but I can't imagine that it is the same as an actual class. BUT... they are getting great instruction.... much better than I would be able to do on my own (if left to my own devices, the projects I tend to tackle lean more toward crafts v. art). We also have no room in our schedule to add a formal art class. I would love to at some point, but at this moment we have too much time tied up in gymnastics, dance, music lessons, etc.

I also enjoy being able to do the projects along with them rather than needing to "instruct" them. I'm there to help out and since I'm doing it too, I have the familiarity with the project... but I'm not actually teaching them how to do it. I love that since it's DVD based you get to see in large full color format what it is you are trying to do. And, they show a classroom of kids doing the project too... which helps confirm that there are a lot of different outcomes for the same project (if you have a perfectionist in your home like I do...lol!). Oh... and one more thing... the prep time is practically zero. I purchased all of the art material before we started school last year so I just look at the materials sheet for the specific project we're getting ready to do and grab just those items.

I love their projects... (here's my trip down memory lane... this is from 9/06)... in this project the kids learned about color mixing while learning about Picasso and creating their own version of his work...
Here were worked on line drawings by drawing a familiar character... the cat in the hat...
This I just posted the other day... but here the kids learned to tell a story through a series of pictures...
I love Level 1 but I think we've spent enough time on it... I'm ready to finish up and move on to the next level.

So... my summary (sorry, I ramble).... Atelier is a great program if you don't have access to or time to take an art class. Honestly, I would probably still use it even if we were taking a class. The kids love it on those days when they need a break to do something "fun" and I love how easy it is to use!

I hope that helps Angel... if you have more questions... please let me know!

the queen of hearts....

Yesterday the kids begged to do another project from our art curriculum. So, we got out the Atelier Homeschool Art stuff and started the next project.

The assignment was to do "action strips" where the pictures told the story from the nursery rhyme, The Queen of Hearts, in four panels. We read the nursery rhyme and even acted it out. Clara was the Queen of Hearts, Alex was the knave who stole the tarts and I got to be the king who scolded the knave. They had a great time acting it out.

After that, they began to draw...

Here's Alex's finished product...
and here is Clara's...
They really LOVE this art program and I love that it's DVD based. Usually I do the project along with them, but yesterday I didn't.