Open Studio MAKERS!

Young MAKERS take advantage of our STEAM MakerSpace whenever they get the chance - and you wouldn't believe what they CREATE!



This is play-based learning at its core: child-directed creative thinking, planning, problem solving, assembling, and building, all more essential to the developing mind than anything that can be learned in a classroom. 






What's important is that "...art teachers and students welcome silly ideas," says Dr. George Szekely, art educator, author, speaker, and advocate for meaningful, playful art-teaching methodologies.  We do invite silliness here!


So... a cereal box headdress invented by a 5-year-old can be an amazing creative endeavor. For this hat, balance, size, and fit all had to be considered in the design so that it successfully fits and stays on one's head.



Here is a group of Makers with their assistant, Miss Robin. This is their studio, and we (the adult-type people) are their assistants. Notice the seriousness of their work (yes, play is work).




These two makers used cardboard tubes to create. (Cardboard tubes are our most popular crafting item, by the way.) The marble run took a lot of planning and testing, as well as learning how to use folded tabs to create 3-dimensional structures.







Tubes and boxes were used to create this handy-dandy organizer,









this multi-organizer and key-holder,










and this car with moving wheels and removable steering wheel. 

Here we have a magical unicorn marionette...


...and here we have a tiny cookie jar for Oreo Minis and other mini-cookies.









This young maker has invented a pompom machine. It has a number of various components and features, including school bus stickers on pompom the output (input?) section on the top.









She also invented this colorful ridged critter using corrugated cardboard, a tube, duct tape, and paint. 

This little maker attaches selected items to a bubble wrap "canvas" for a very unique mixed media work of art.








MakerSpace projects might range from large and elaborate, such as this South American rain forest with thatched huts,






to small and simple, such as a cardboard tube, decorated with paint, Washi tape, yarn, and string. 


Every piece is the creation of an inventive young mind; and each should be acknowledged and celebrated as such!

Animal Painting Projects

Lexie's Fox

This was a strange week. We started out with a broken heater, so art classes had to be cancelled. Then we had "snow days" nearly all week, with only one day of school.

The heater was repaired, but most students stayed warm and cozy at home; and who could blame them? 

Alyssa's Fox

Those who braved the wintry weather painted these furry foxes enjoying the falling snow.







These girls painted foxes a couple of years ago, so they decided to try some free painting projects.


Instead of foxes, they painted pets while used the same short-line technique to add their furry coats.

Brooklynn's Furry Cat

Sage's Fuzzy Dog

It's Raining Lollipops! by Sage

More Penguins!

Penguins are one of our favorite winter art subjects, and why not? They're so adorable!

This project involves throwing paint and smearing charcoal. In other words, it's messy and FUN! 

You can see how we made our penguins in our previous post, Penguins in Mixed Media. 


Quiz: Can you find the two penguins that are sitting on an egg? Can you figure out which penguins are chicks and which ones are adults?

Our artists ranged in age from 5 to 12 years old. 

A Snowy Collage

January is a great time for creating winter-themed art, so this week our Wednesday afternoon Adult Open Studio art class created these lovely Snowy 'Quote' collages. 



The art process involved many steps, including wet-in-wet watercolor, paint scraping, and painting tree silhouettes, which took a bit of practice.




We created our compositions and added a 3-dimensional quality (as an option) using foam 3-D dots. 

 
We used the dots to attach our assembled birch trees over our snowy scenes. The we added iridescent glitter throughout our snowy scenes. 





The last step was to select a 'snowy quote' to cut out, arrange, and glue to the artwork to complete the collage.

For more detailed step-by-step instructions, see our earlier post for this project right here: Snowy North Artwork.

Snowmen Having FUN!

This is not your typical snowman art. 

These snowmen are on the  move, having fun, and getting into plenty of mischief!

Our snowman art is based on the lovely illustrations of Mark Buehner in Snowmen at Night and Snowmen at Christmas. 


This fun art project is all about what snowmen do at night (imagination) while showing action (movement in art), and using soft pastel for shading (volume drawing)  and less common visual angles (perspective).

We started by looking at the books and making observations about the story line and the artwork, such as use of nighttime shading and highlights, depicting action, and unconventional angles. 

Then we decided what our snowmen would be doing and we roughly laid them in with swirls of white chalk.

We drew the moon on one side of the sky to guide us as we added shading and highlights to our snowmen. Then we shaded each ball of snow along the edge away from the moon with the side of a blue and/or purple soft pastel.




We filled in white on the moonlit side, and continued to add color and blend lightly with our fingers for soft shadows. 

We added snowman details such as carrot noses, eyes, buttons, skinny stick arms, and hats. 

Then we added details such as tennis rackets, jump ropes, a snow cone stand, piles of snowballs, a tire tube, and a toboggan! 

Lastly, we added to the illusion of motion and action by completing a background of icy wind, swirling snow, and wind-blown hats!

In the scene below, we see snow parents piggy-backing their snow children while enjoying the Northern Lights!

(These last two are my samples.)

Thanks to A Faithful Attempt for this awesome art project idea!