INSECTS- Upcycled!

  

This Spring it was hard to walk anywhere in my neighborhood without seeing THIS: 

We were overrun by the 17 year cicadas coming up to say hi, loafing on our plants, enjoying the sun and making my dog very very full. Depending on how you feel about cicadas this was either a good time to hide in your homes or to venture forth as the local welcoming committee. At my house we welcomed them with open arms (or in the case of my mini-schnauzer, open mouth.)

So it was only natural to turn to art as a way to honor the little guys. Of course the 5-6 year old class preferred butterflies. Close enough! I got to use up my lemon juice containers to make insect bodies and we added little pieces of hardware and pipecleaners and cut cardstock wings. Sharpies work wonders on carstock. The insect goggles (thank you to my friend Eileen who donated a bunch of avocado cartons) were more free-form-insect-style. 

Pipe cleaners made great legs, antena, and even proboscises, their tubelike feeding structures!

 In any event, it was a really fun project and all the insect artists had great time! Aren't you impressed that I didn't try to make any insect puns? 

Picasso's Basement Parties!

Project #1 was all set up beforehand!

I'm happy to share that the party end of my Picasso's Basement venture is really taking off. I'm amazed at how much fun it is to bring cool art projects into someone's celebration! Each Artist is different and each party is different and these past few weeks have been chock full of 'em!

I went from a casual outdoor party to doing crafts for the kids at a 5K race, to a garden party where the guests became The Decorating Committee and helped create the coolest of birthday banner upon arrival! Even better, the Birthday Artist gets to keep it as memento to remember the special day!

The Glitter Station

I ran two parties this week for 6 year old girls and they were both so different! Framable Oil Pastel resist art and  Tissue Paper Stained Glass candle holders complete with tea lights and ribbons at one party. 

Alphabet Canvases at another  followed by butterfly masks at another. When I suggested painting symmetrical butterflies or making masks the Birthday Artist requested a combination and it was a huge success! Thankfully an outdoor party allows for use of the GLITTER STATION which I probably would have avoided indoors!

Painted Canvases Wait to have their Tape Letters Peeled

They look really cool, don't they? 

Take a look at the amazing cake that the family had made for them! Turns out it was baked by a mutual friend so if you're local and looking for a great baker please let me know.  Even more incredibly, it was delicious! And I think all the kids had a wonderful time. 

Guest with her art!

I'm happy to say I have a bunch of parties coming up! A couple have themes so watch out!

SNAIL HATS with Egg Carton Eye stalks

Make Your Own Comic Book Class!

After drawing our figures to show volume the artists strike a pose.

Here's what I've learned about teaching comic book classes. Kids who like comic books are not just your usual run-of-the-mill kids. First of all they like to read. They are smart. And I mean SMART.

Exaggerating expressions. A little too much?

They also tend to be FUNNY. Some of them are outwardly funny. Some are quiet and you don't even know how funny or clever they are until they start writing. As a teacher that's part of the fun. It's a fantastic surprise to find out what stories they have in their heads.

The proper use of a speech bubble

 I love teaching all my classes but I have to say I laugh A LOT in comic book class. The kids seem to have boundless energy and an incredible amount of energy for discussing comic books.

Look frustrated!

But they never stop surprising me. For one thing, they don't just draw comic books. They tend to be gifted artists with a wide range of skills.

                                       And in the end they produce these amazing books!

These are just a few of the books that have been printed in our class. 

More have just gone to the printer!

Stay tuned, dear readers,  to see what new printed comic books will be coming your way!

And to think...the next session of MAKE YOUR OWN COMIC BOOK CLASS starts next week!

Masks! Masks! Masks!

In my YOUNG AT ART class we read Elmer the Elephant and made elephant masks. 

Silly teacher that I am, I pre-cut the masks out for the kids and had them color them in. 

They did a nice job. 

But you know when the really shined? When I showed them how to cut eyes out themselves! I gave them a ton of round cardstock, a bunch of kid-friendly scissors, and some oil pastels. And they went MASK CRAZY!

CAT Mummies?

Yep, that's right. Cat mummies. 

In Picasso's Basement PASSPORT TO ART class the students learned about Cat Mummies. Apparently ancient Egyptians loved their cats so much that the term "you can't take it with you" did not at all apply to them. 

Giraffe mummy

We made our animal mummies out of paper towel rolls. The Artists covered them with gold wrapping paper and drew on them with marker. Fastest mummification ever!


But, wait! There's more!
We also took a look at Egyptian scrolls and statues and studied the gorgeous headresses. A little upcycled cardboard, some eye holes, and a lot of metallic markers and the Artists had some amazing headresses!

Excellent work, world travelers!