reading lunch

Today my big Adobe is reading to Phoenix - I love watching/hearing her read these books to him that I used to read to her when she was much younger. And, the second is bilingual, and she did a pretty good job of pulling off the Spanish pronunciation.

pictures with words at art works now

   This Thursday at Art Works, we learned how to make images using letters and words as elements of composition, to create lines and fill space.
   The first image is one of my demos. We discussed creating a 'skeleton image', a simple composition to then fill in and define using letter forms in various ways. The younger students simply used one or two letters, or their name. 
   We also talked about 'people, places, & things'. What is your image about, who is in it, is it you, someone else, where is it?

monster pinch pots at art works now

This Monday, I taught Kids Create with Clay at Art Works Now in Mt. Rainier, and we made monster pinch pots! Really fun. It was a very small class, I think folks are still shifting out of vacation mode, but we had a good time!
   I am teaching all Kids Create classes there the next three weeks at 4:30:
Mon. - Clay
Tues. - Fiber Arts
Wed. - Color
Thurs. - Drawing
Come join us!  $7 drop-in! Can't beat it!  Great vibe. Always fun.

successful first season & new friends for WMNG!

We had such a successful Fall season with the launch of Boundless Eclectic's new homeschool performing arts intensive, Words & Moves, Numbers & Grooves!  We worked really hard, then had a couple of serious rehearsals.  Our Winter Solstice Showcase was truly magical, and deeply appreciated by the audience.  I have not had any time to blog over the past couple months, but I will post a separate entry about our show soon...

We are really excited to have some new friends joining us for the rest of this school year & beyond.  Students from Anna Bernanke's homeschool tutoring group, the Mt. Rainier Student Group, will be joining us for portions of the day, and we will be tying in some of the academic work they are doing with our concepts for the the Winter season.  They got to come and join us for a trial of our offerings one Monday in December.  Here are some images from the first half of that day, when they experienced Words & Moves, doing improv, contact improv, and open mic. 

kids create with clay: winter trees

   I am subbing for some classes at Art Works Now this month before settling into a regular schedule with them, to be determined.
   For the next three weeks, I will be teaching all of the Kids Create classes, Monday through Thursday, 4:30-5:30.  M - Clay, T - Fiber Arts, W - Color, Th - Drawing.

   This Monday, we created bas relief winter trees.  Beautiful work!
   We started with making a slab, and the kids were given two options to approach the project.
 
This first image is my demo in progress.
  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of class, one of the students came up with a great idea for displaying the piece - using a picture frame style foot!   I executed the concept for each of the kids' pieces (as we were out of time!)

 

 

Here are my completed demo pieces. 

 

 

 

museum as classroom - 'our universes'

First week in the 'Our Universes' exhibit we discussed some background, common questions, and some misconceptions about Native Americans before moving into the alcove dedicated to the Anishinaabe people.  Below are some of the exhibit signs and displays for those in the class to review and finish drawings.

  

 We also discussed the  traditional roles of male and female elders in the community, men, women, and children.  After class we went to the children's play area, and these are a couple of books for supplemental reading.  The Birchbark House is a story about an Ojibwa girl (another name for Anishinaabe).  Raven is not specific to the Anishinaabe, but looks like a fun trickster tale. 

 

How Raven Stole the Sun is also a book that is mentioned in the intro of the exhibit.  When I looked for it in Amazon, I noticed they also have How Raven Stole the Moon.