ALL FUTURE CLASSES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO AN UNEXPECTED MEDICAL ISSUE.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Great Wave off Kanagawa








December's class "The Great Wave of Kanagawa" is a project I have been long awaiting to do. I love Japanese landscape art from the 18th and 19th Century and this exemplifies this period beautifully.
I will instruct the students on the proper use of values in painting. We will learn about tints and shades and their application to achieve aerial prospective. I will talk about Japanese woodblock art of the 19th Century and its influence on the French Impressionist and how it revolutionized landscape art. I also will share from my private collection a beautiful example of Japanese Woodblock art done by a prominent artist of the time, Takahashi Shotei. The students will watch a short documentary on Japanese woodblock technique and I will also read a lovely children's book, "Hokusai, The Man Who Painted a Mountain" by Deborah Kogan Ray.

December 3rd - 9am to 12pm
December 17th - 1pm to 4pm

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

NOVEMBER 2011-Storytelling with Art


The art of Illustrators is often obscured by the story itself but in this lesson I will introduce the students to the importance of art in storytelling and how it makes our imagination come to life. After viewing examples of the most popular illustrators of our time, including one of my favorites Howard Pyle, we will illustrate a scene from the classic story Jack and The Beanstalk using watercolors.

November 5th-9am-12pm
November 19th -1pm-4pm

OCTOBER 2011- Paul Cezanne's Apples







At the peak of apple picking season I find it appropriate to introduce a great French artist, Paul Cezanne who was famous for his bold use of color and his lovely still lifes, many of which depicted apples. Students will learn about Cezanne and view some of his most famous paintings. We will then draw and color using rich oil pastels our own apple still life, hopefully before we eat them all!
Above works were done by students age 7 to 9.

October 8th-9am-12pm
October 22nd-1pm-4pm

Thursday, September 1, 2011

SEPTEMBER 2011 -Georgia O'Keeffe- Giant Flowers in Acrylics!










In this month's art project I will introduce the students to the great American woman artist Georgia O'Keeffe. After viewing some of her most famous works I will read a wonderful kids book, "Through Georgia's Eyes", illustrated by Julie Paschkis, and then I will demonstrate the use of acrylic paint.

Once a good drawing is selected the students will be allowed to paint on a large canvas a flower in the style of O'Keeffe.

Above drawings are done by students ages 7 to 10. The first image of the white flower is by Georgia O'Keeffe.

September 10th- 9am-12pm
September 24th- 1pm-4pm


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

JUNE 2011 - Gustave Klimt-"The Tree Of Life".


In this month project we will discuss the life of the great Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and the movement he so well depicted, Art Nouveau. Student will create an elegant drawing of a tree, in the ornamental, decorative and luxurious style of Klimt. The final product will be a beautiful 16" x 20" masterpiece created using different media.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Students Work from January/ February Van Gogh Class







Here are the results of the Van Gogh lesson! I find theses masterpieces to be extraordinary! I am so proud of all the hard work from my students!

Students Work from January/February Van Gogh Classs






Here are the results of the Van Gogh lesson! I find theses masterpieces to be extraordinary! I am so proud of all the hard work from my students!

Monday, September 13, 2010

September 2010 - Henri Rousseau and the Jazzy Jungle Cat!






In this month's lesson we will introduce three important art concepts. Line, shape and overlapping.

We will have a discussion on the works of French Artist Henri Rousseau which is reminiscent of the project.

The students will have a blast using their imagination in drawing and then with watercolors, painting the elements of design they create.

Anything is possible with this fun project!

October 2010 - Repousse' Reptiles


In October we will be doing a very exciting project that imitates the process of Repousse', a sculpture in relief or embossed metal.

I will discuss the history of Repousse', which dates from ancient Greece and talk about Mexican Folk Art and their use of this technique.

The students may choose between a lizard (shown here) or a snake.

This is going to be so much fun!

November 2010 - Aboriginal Dreamings


I am very excited about this class because I have a personal connection with Australia (My Mom was from there), and since I traveled there a few years ago I feel like have an even stronger attachment to this beautiful continent!

In this class we will have a discussion about the Aboriginal culture and their connection with their art work. Aboriginal Dreamings is their way to connect to the "spiritual world" which for them runs parallel to the living life.

The students will use their imagination in decorating the work of art. I will show them many examples of Aboriginal animal designs, as well as discuss briefly each unusual native Australian animal.

Artist concepts will include: drawing, design, composition, balance and use of paint.

December 2010 - Blazing Banyan Tree Alla Fauvism




December's class will teach the children using a fun subject the importance of negative and positive space in a design.

I will talk about the fascinating Banyan tree found in the Bayou.

Once the design is done and painted black we will color the positive space with oil pastels and add reflections.

Once the students realize how important the negative and positive shapes are in drawings, their skills will improve dramatically!

Artist Concepts: Negative space, blending and reflections.

January/February 2011-Crazy About Van Gogh!



This is a 2 part class discussing the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh.

There will be two projects and due to drying time involved it will be a 2 part class, January and February.

One project will be inspired by Van Gogh's painting, "Starry Night".

The other project will be inspired by Van Gogh's painting "Sunflowers".

The students will use primacolor pencils and chalk pastels.

The students will learn the importance of design, cast shadow and overlapping of shapes to give the work a three dimensional look.

March 2011 - Crazy Cactus and the Art of Mix Media








This month students will have so much fun using different media to create a whimsical cactus.