<WR & OT> My own fame?
Faith L. McCammon
detests school & no amount of reasoning, begging, talking, grounding, etc.,
will convince her she has to take those _very_ intelligent brains of hers &
put them to good scholarly use. I went through this last year w/ my son,
Michael, but he's not as extreme w/ this attitude as his sister.
A telephone call Monday from Jade's teacher after school had me talking w/
her for a long time. Somehow, & I'm still trying to figure this out, I was
talked into coming into her classroom every couple weeks to teach an art
class. (Hmm, I didn't see that one coming. I thought we were talkin' about
Jade's lousy grades!)
Then she informs me that she is best friends w/ the principal (who recently
took a job higher up the education ladder), & that the principal informed
her that I wrote a novel & that I'm an artist. She told me that Jade talks
about me constantly, too. I'm wondering how the principal found out that I'm
a writer & artist. The only way is my three children that are in school.
Michael comes home & tells me that the music teacher wants a copy of my
book. Laughing, I inform him that he must tell her my book is making the
rounds of lit agent offices, that I have short stories published in print &
online. "I know that mom, but she wants a copy of your book when it's
published. She also wants to read your stories."
Last night Jade arrived home jabbering excitedly that her teacher wants to
read my stories, can I send some of my stories w/ her to school?
Guess that's what happens when you have jabber-mouth kids & live in a small
community??
So, this leads me (in my rambling way, good thing my stories aren't written
this way, LOL!) to wondering what the heck to teach these 7 & 8 yr old kids
for an art class? Anyone have a suggestion of something simple, fun, &
inexpensive? I have to foot the bill on this one & my funds suck canal
water.
I know, I know, I'm an artist & I'm asking what sort of art project to do w/
these kids?? I have four kids & I'm asking this question? Well, I'm an odd
person, that's why. I have no experience w/ children other than my own. I'm
backwards w/ other people & clam up the minute someone I don't know or I'm
not comfortable w/ addresses me. The strange thing about other kids is that
I don't know how to talk to them or work w/ them, but kids are drawn to me
like a magnet. Weird, huh?
Most of my art is painting & various pencils & inks. My kids have the same
art interests so I'm sorta at a loss of what to do w/ the eleven munchkins
in Jade's class. I thought maybe some of you might have an idea that is
tried & true.
Guess that's all. I think I'm gonna go out for my power walk now & ponder my
weird fame. <bg>
--
Faith
***You know life sucks when your cat walks across the keyboard & writes a
better story than you do.***
Gerald Clough
My approach to what kids will *really* like and be impressed by is that
they are too often handed kiddie versions of real things, and they love
it when someone gives them something real, something not "kiddied down".
For example, instead of giving a kid one of those cheesy, useless,
personal injury lawyer approved "tools" that runs on batteries and only
cuts thin balsa (put the "useless" modifier with lawyer or tool,
whichever suits you), give the kid a real (it doesn't have to be
expensive) jig saw, and teach them how to use it safely. (I also find
that, much like the common phenomenon of playing with the box, rather
than the toy that came in it, fifty feet of good rope will keep them
occupied indefinitely.)
Back to your art presentation. I suspect they've never used anything
but tiny watercolour brushes or fingers. How about bringing some large
(but cheap) sheets of paper (or an end roll of newsprint that can be had
very cheap or free from any small-town newspaper) and handing them wide
brushes and water-based paints. The brushes don't have to be good,
artist brushes, just 1-1/2" paint brushes. Let them do life-size
portraits of each other, limited to wide brushes. I'm sure you can do a
quick one to get them started. It's big; it's fun; it's pretty cheap; it
forces a good deal of abstraction with the wide stroke; and someone else
gets to clean up the mess. I bet they'll think it's cool to stand up and
make big, bold strokes like a "real" artist.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Clo...@Texas.Net
"Nothing has any value unless you know you can give it up."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Russell
collage, sand-n-glue pictures..... Ever see the show 'art attack'? If so:
That kind of stuff. If not, well, the aforementioned kind of stuff is what
they do on art attack (I think that show single-handedly manages to support
the companies who make white glue. Not in the show's own use of the glue,
but through the purchases of people who are trying one of their projects
<hint, PVA glue is white glue - when I worked in my mother art supply store
people were always asking me what PVA glue was...>)
Oooo, I know! Wax relief pictures! It was an art attack project from a
season or two ago. Just messy enough to let them think they are being
allowed to run wild in the creative sense, while not leaving you with a huge
clean up, and the results will get their parents to ooo and ahhh with
sincerity. And to top it off, the school, if they have any kind of art
instruction at all, will likely have all the materials for this...
How to:
You need:
- A sheet of plain paper, any size (I like to do this on large pages, but if
you've only got an hour or so, you might want to stick to 8.5 x 11, but tell
them how on their own they can do this on a larger scale to get a really
amazing result). Ordinary paper, not construction paper or thin card.
- If you want to 'mount' the picture afterwards, you will need construction
paper or card of the same size as the plain paper, or a bit larger (if you
want it to look 'framed' you need the larger paper, if you just want to
re-enforce the end result paper of the same size will do)
- Crayons
- Watercolor paints, any quality (dollar stores sometimes have cheap sets.
So, if the school doesn't have watercolors you can get 5-10 sets and arrange
the students in groups to share the paints).
- Cups for water
- Paper towel
- Paint brushes or popsicle sticks.
- White glue (as well as rubber cement if you intend to mount the pictures)
Have them draw a picture of anything they'd like. Tell them to fill up the
*whole* piece of paper with crayon. They can't just draw a sun in one
corner, put in some grass, and have a flower, while leaving the rest of the
page blank, they have to fill in the blue sky too. Encourage them to use
lots of colours, and be non-traditional in their use of colour (red grass,
blue sun, etc...) if they want to.
To sneak in some art appreciation you can bring in an art book with some
pictures by... drat, his name escapes me... the guy who cut off an ear for
the sake of art. Show them how he used lots of colours together to evoke the
feeling of another colour when viewing the picture from a distance (like how
his self portrait has yellow and white <I think> mixed in with the blue of
the background). You could also show them works by other artists depending
on the available time.
Once the page is coated in crayon they need to wad it up into a ball. Yes,
that's right, they need to scrunch it once or twice, in order to 'crack' the
crayon.
Once that's done you can set them up with the watercolors. They need to pick
one colour, use the brush or popsicle stick to put a puddle of colour on the
page, and then take scrunched up paper towel to 'mush' the paint around the
page. They give that a moment to dry, and then repeat with another colour,
again and again until they have coated the page in paint. At this point the
cracks in the picture are highlighted, and they ought to be saying "Oh cool,
look at that!!" as they work on their masterpieces.
For the finishing touch, after the watercolors have dried they take the
white glue and using an index finger they coat the page in one layer of
white glue. Then they let that dry. For an added 'neat' factor, tell them to
let the excess glue dry on their finger, and make sure to tell them not
touch that finger, or use that finger to touch anything, until it's gone
clear. Once it has, have them tough things around them with the glue coated
index finger and the uncoated index finger. This passes some time while
their picture dries, and it makes getting the glue off their hands a lot
easier. All they have to do is peel it off (meaning you don't have to wait
ten minutes while 30 kids wash their hands in the middle of the project).
Once the pictures have dried enough that they aren't tacky to the touch they
can be mounted on the card/construction paper with the rubber cement. There
are two ways to mount these pictures. a) they can re-crinkle the page a bit
(not fully crunching it up, just slightly encouraging the page not to lay
flat) and press only the valleys of the page onto the rubber cement covered
mounting paper.
b) they can coat the mounting page in rubber cement a bit at a time,
starting at the top of the page. they coat, press the picture down, coat the
next section, press the picture down, coat the next section... etc... This
gets the flattest result.
Voila, a picture to be proud of. :)
hth
-Melanie
---
Copyright 2000 Melanie Russell - All rights reserved
For full terms of use see: http://www.penciled.com/copyright2.htm
*Note!: By using this post you agree that you have read those terms and
agree to be unconditionally bound by them.*
Typical Usenet use (i.e. distribution and editing for the purposes of
replying) is freely allowed while this post is on Usenet.
Materials being replied to (anything prefaced with one or more ">" symbols)
are the property of their attributed authors. By use of this text you are
unconditionally bound by any usage limitations, fees or charges associated
with use of the quoted text.
By using my text on a website and/or in a reply you are agreeing to be
unconditionally bound by these terms. If you do not agree to these terms, do
not use my text.
tan...@my-deja.com
get some clear glass Christmas balls - you can usually find them 6 for
around $3.00
fill with potpourri, and tie some ribbon and some dried flowers (or hot
glue them) to the top
or get two or three colors of acrylic paint, thin them a little and
swirl them around inside (one at a time after the previous one
dries) and they make a really nice marble effect
Or...
Melt some white almond bark, dip nutter butter cookies into the almond
bark - two or three times, and dry on a sheet of wax paper or tin foil.
Before coating is completely dried, use drops of colored chocolate to
decorate them and make the look like snowmen- you can use redhots or
jimmies or licorice strings... can do the same thing with butter
cookies, and make them look like Christmas wreathes. Have the kids
bring in styrofoam 'plates' like meat comes on. Wash really well in
soapy water. Then use paints to decorate and finally, spray with clear
acrylic paint. They can take a fancy plate of cookies home to their
parents.
Or smething my mom did with us - and my favorite to date -
get some cheap styrofoam balls, a pkg of stick pins, and some curly
ribbon. Have each of the kids bring in a hunk of brightly colored cloth
from home. Cut all the cloth into small pieces (about an inch or less,
square or funny shaped, doesn't matter) and then use the same old
'gluey' stuff you use for papier mache - but instead use the fabric
in place of newspaper. In the end, use the curly ribbon, made into a
loop and stuck in place with the stick pin, and you have a really great
Crhistmas ornament. We made dozens of them that year! And all my aunts
and uncles still have them hanging from their trees when the season
rolls around.
Good luck! It sounds like SO much fun!
sonya (I can't wait until my tiny children are a little older)
In article <8s6vvv$jaqjj$1...@ID-50387.news.cis.dfn.de>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Faith L. McCammon
Faith
"Melanie Russell" <ta...@guess.com> wrote in message
news:1xFF5.66500$YG5....@tor-nn1.netcom.ca...
William Penrose
<mc...@belmontcty.net> wrote:
>for an art class? Anyone have a suggestion of something simple, fun, &
>inexpensive? I have to foot the bill on this one & my funds suck canal
>water.
Tell the staff that you're a performance artist, and then show up with
a chainsaw. That'll cool things in a hurry.
Bill Penrose
Merle Finch
<mc...@belmontcty.net> wrote:
<snip>
>So, this leads me (in my rambling way, good thing my stories aren't written
>this way, LOL!) to wondering what the heck to teach these 7 & 8 yr old kids
>for an art class? Anyone have a suggestion of something simple, fun, &
>inexpensive? I have to foot the bill on this one & my funds suck canal
>water.
>
>I know, I know, I'm an artist & I'm asking what sort of art project to do w/
>these kids?? I have four kids & I'm asking this question? Well, I'm an odd
>person, that's why. I have no experience w/ children other than my own. I'm
>backwards w/ other people & clam up the minute someone I don't know or I'm
>not comfortable w/ addresses me. The strange thing about other kids is that
>I don't know how to talk to them or work w/ them, but kids are drawn to me
>like a magnet. Weird, huh?
>
>Most of my art is painting & various pencils & inks. My kids have the same
>art interests so I'm sorta at a loss of what to do w/ the eleven munchkins
>in Jade's class. I thought maybe some of you might have an idea that is
>tried & true.
<snip>
You should probably stick to what you're most comfortable with--the
painting, drawing, etc. When I took art last--in college--the
instructor put an old boot with ragged laces in the middle of a table
and we all had to draw it from our own perspective. That might be a
little boring to children of that age, though.
I'd go for color and no reason it couldn't be done with crayons and
paper. A pack of colored paper from Office Depot is about $6 and the
teacher should already have the crayons. If you put a colorful little
display on the table and lead them in drawing it, it'd get you through
this time.
You could even do the boot thing but have the kids color it the way
they'd like to see it instead of b&W. Sort of gives them an idea about
"artistic license." ;-)
---
Merle Finch SAS Institute, Inc. Cary NC USA
Opinions expressed probably never reflect those of SAS Institute.
Faith L. McCammon
"William Penrose" <wpen...@customsensorsolutions.com> wrote in message
news:39e7a0fc...@news.anet.com...
> On Fri, 13 Oct 2000 08:42:48 -0400, "Faith L. McCammon"
> <mc...@belmontcty.net> wrote:
>
> >for an art class? Anyone have a suggestion of something simple, fun, &
> >inexpensive? I have to foot the bill on this one & my funds suck canal
> >water.
>
> a chainsaw. That'll cool things in a hurry.
>
> Bill Penrose
ROTFL!!
Hugh Watkins
>Guess that's what happens when you have jabber-mouth kids & live in a
>small
>community??
kids tell all every where
sign of a good school - teachers listen to kids
>
>
>So, this leads me (in my rambling way, good thing my stories aren't
>written
>this way, LOL!) to wondering what the heck to teach these 7 & 8 yr old
>kids
>for an art class? Anyone have a suggestion of something simple, fun, &
>inexpensive? I have to foot the bill on this one & my funds suck canal
>water.
http://www.ekstrabladet.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=109661
the sort of pics the Danish kids see in old newspapers
have a browse
http://www.google.com/search?q=art+projects+for+seven+and+eight+year+olds&btnG=Google+Search
see
http://hillsborough.extension.ufl.edu/fcs/ages_and_stages_of_developmentnew_page_3.htm
>>Seven-year-olds have more capacity to play alone than they had at six,
and they enjoy solitary activities such as reading and drawing<<
pencil and paper
do not teach them
suggest themes
>>They are avid collectors of anything and everything from stones to
bottle tops.
<< so improvised matierials
eight year olds
>>Both boys and girls like cooking and baking and show an interest in
foreign places and children from different times. <<
cooking clay shapes!
>> When working with eight-year-olds, adults must remember that they are
very social and like to be with peers.
They gossip and talk constantly, passing notes from one to the other. This
often gets out-of-hand when they are in group situations.
* In addition to their tendency to judge others, eight-year-olds are
increasingly self-critical. For example, many children who liked artwork
at six or seven may give it up at eight because they see the difference
between the quality of their drawings and those of a friend. <<<
so serious need of encouragement!
Hugh W
Faith L. McCammon
Faith
"Hugh Watkins" <Hugh_W...@net.dialog.dk> wrote in message
news:fc.0073fb6b004272653b...@net.dialog.dk...
Faith L. McCammon
Faith
"Merle Finch" <me...@wnt.sas.com> wrote in message
news:yijnOZpCtOLKAz...@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 13 Oct 2000 08:42:48 -0400, "Faith L. McCammon"
> <mc...@belmontcty.net> wrote:
>
> <snip>
> >So, this leads me (in my rambling way, good thing my stories aren't
written
> >this way, LOL!) to wondering what the heck to teach these 7 & 8 yr old
kids
> >for an art class? Anyone have a suggestion of something simple, fun, &
> >inexpensive? I have to foot the bill on this one & my funds suck canal
> >water.
> >
Hugh Watkins
>You should probably stick to what you're most comfortable with--the
>painting, drawing, etc. When I took art last--in college--the
>instructor put an old boot with ragged laces in the middle of a table
>and we all had to draw it from our own perspective. That might be a
>little boring to children of that age, though.
not if you asked them to draw the person they imagined wearing it!
Hugh W
Merle Finch
Great idea! And it made me LOL. Thanks. :-)
Hugh Watkins
>Great idea! And it made me LOL. Thanks. :-)
yes then put them all;l up on the wall and ask the kids to speak for them
just play
and the kids learn lots
high art is essential intuitive not imitative
and even Picasso admired and learnt from kid art
Hugh W
Dick Harper
> for an art class? Anyone have a suggestion of something simple, fun, &
> inexpensive? I have to foot the bill on this one & my funds suck canal
> water.
Here's some info about a program going on here. The artist is
working with disabled adult students, but many of the ideas are
transferrable.
PERSONAL ART
"I could do this all day," one artist said.
Fairfield artist Gail Salzman is leading an eight week
painting workshop for adult consumers of developmental services.
VSA-Arts Vermont and Northwestern Counseling and Support
Services/Developmental Services (NCSS/DS) sponsored the workshop.
An exhibit of paintings from the workshop opens with a public
reception Monday afternoon (March 27) in the City Elementary
School Gallery. The Gallery is a space with a beautiful skylight
next to the cafeteria.
VSA-Arts Vermont is the organization formerly known as Very
Special Arts.
Called "Painting Your Personal Stories," the class was an
exploration of lines, shapes, colors, textures, and patterns. Gail
used some of the same successful techniques as the ongoing St
Albans CAN! community workshops and residencies.
Eight artists brought in objects they called their "personal
treasures" from home to trigger thoughts about how shapes and
colors and textures enter into artwork and express a meaning
personal to them. "It was a pretty even mix of excitement about
the media itself and how to talk about their own personal images,"
Gail said.
The participants explored the language of art to express their
own personal stories. They began with cray-pas (an oil pastel) and
colored chalk to create small drawings of the people, places, and
objects that had special meaning in their lives. As the artists
learned new techniques and became more familiar with the
materials, they worked on progressively larger scale paintings.
The final 3' x 4' paintings were created in acrylic paint
"applied with rollers, sponges, house painting brushes, smaller
art brushes, and even hands and fingers," Gail said. "Some
paintings may seem abstract, but they are strongly representative
to the artists."
Hilda Bonnett painted her outdoor garden with sunshine, dirt,
grass, and flowers.
Patricia Bray branched out tremendously and also was
particularly inspired by flowers.
Danny Bruce was particularly interested with the dogs and
horses that live around him and figured out how to express those
in new shapes and colors.
Clarence Hoague made great sweeping fields of red and green
with the paint rollers and was particularly inspired by and
included a blue image of his wheelchair.
Sports are important to Andrea Magnan who used images of
softballs, softball bats, and other sports equipment.
Jeff Moss used his collection of wrestling cards and figures
as an inspiration. He also conveyed his feelings of the Vermont
flag.
Vicy Poquette proved to be an abstract expressionist. She was
involved with and excited by how the colors moved around the page.
Christine Sanders made beautiful hearts and color combinations
that radiate outward.
"The way the participants worked together and responded to
each other and encouraged each other was creativity in a group
process at its best," Gail said.
The public reception is at St Albans City Elementary School on
Monday, 3:30-4:30 p.m. The public is invited to this free exhibit.
The paintings will remain on display through March 31 before
moving to the Main Street display windows at Franklin Lamoille
Bank, April 3-14. The larger works will also be exhibited in the
All Arts exhibit at the Maple Festival.
Local companies donated the paint rollers, large brushes, and
all the large paper. Interested artists may call Kelly Errion
(524-6555, extension 462), the coordinator of the project in
Franklin County, for info.
--Dick