Spring Art Show

After 16 wonderful weeks of art class, the time has come to gather, celebrate, and appreciate the children's creative work. My goal for the spring art show was to bring this community of budding artists together and show this exciting collection of our recent experiences in the studio.
With a week of erratic weather, I crossed my fingers and woke up Saturday to find a warm and sunny backyard- just waiting to be filled with the vibrant artwork of children.
Here are a few of the displays from the show:

Printmaking Collection and Garden Bench

Marble/Golf Ball Painting
Finger and Texture Painting
Collaborative Easel Painting
All Class Painting
Clay Work
Watercolor Quilt
Group Watercolor and Ink Work
When the show began, families arrived to view the artwork, munch on some snacks, and enjoy the company of friends.





Thanks for the fun semester... see you soon!

Last Class of Spring Session

For the last class of the session, we worked on finishing our projects to get ready for the art show. The children began class by adding to their sculptures with more scrap materials, paint, and glitter.


When they were ready to move around the studio, the children worked more on the large group painting to get it finished for the art show.

I recently found a low bench (a friend was giving away) and thought the kids would have fun painting it. I asked them to help me paint it so that we can put it in the garden when it's finished. Soon, I'll coat it with an exterior sealer and add it to the kids area outside.

Hard at work to prepare for the show!

Sculpture Building

This week, for a 3-D experience, we worked on sculpture building using re-purposed items. I offered the children a base for their work, glue, and various 3-D materials that I got from SCRAP (Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts) in San Francisco. This is a great project to do when you have a bunch of random items around the house that you would otherwise throw away (wood scraps, broken jewelry, old keys, bottle caps, etc.)
The toddlers work is more flat like a collage, but as they get older they will begin to experiment more with stacking and building.



For most children, the gluing is the most exciting part! In these early stages of art class, I try not to limit their use of glue because it is part of their creative learning experience. As they continue to use and learn about glue they will eventually learn how to self-regulate as well.


After most of the building was done, I offered the children smaller collage parts and glitter to add to their work.



In two different classes the children discovered the scissors and became very interested in cutting.



The older class missed out last week on the floor mural, so I brought it outside towards the end of class for them to work on.
For the next two classes, I hung the mural on the wall and offered the kids rollers and scrub brushes to paint with.


With each class, the canvas gets more and more interesting!
I hope to see you next week at the spring art show!