Art Fair/Reveal

The Art Fair was a huge success. I was really impressed by the number of parents that came out to see the mural and the kids' art that was displayed around the school.

Mr. Landon introduced me, and probably thought he was doing me a favor by not handing my the mic, but I did wish I had gotten the opportunity to give a huge thanks to the kids and all of their hard work. They totally rocked it!

I also wanted to talk about the meaning of the six character words growing in the gardens. It was meant to represent the little ones who come into Kindergarten like little seeds. Just like a garden they grown when nourished, and they are nourished with knowledge while they are in school. Each year they get a little bigger, and their characters ripen, until they are ready to be plucked from the garden and sent off to junior high.

Pablo Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one, once he grows up." I wanted to tell the kids that if they enjoyed making art with me, to do it every day, and they will continue to grow as an artist.

I loved inspiring the kids, and they showed their appreciation each and every day when they would give me hugs, and make me pictures. Thank you, kids!

Completed

The mural is done!!! The kids did such a great job. It turned out better than I could even imagine. I think my favorite part is the paper parts we cut out and collaged onto the canvas. I loved every minute it took to create this mural, and I can't wait to see what it looks like hung up on the wall tomorrow. They started hanging it as I was leaving today, and I just couldn't believe that it was done.

I hope the kids had fun too. They always seemed very happy to see me, and to get to paint. I think they were a little disappointed when it was all done. They wanted to do more.

We've been drawing monsters with the oil pastels, and there sure are some creative, imaginative kids at Hancock! They made some very scary, and some very adorable little creatures.

Today I set up a still life for the afternoon classes. They did an amazing job drawing it with the pastels. Such talented kids!

Almost Finished

Things are looking great on the mural. We are down to the last panel or two, and adding the details. In addition to the mural, the kids have been doing their own art projects to take home. The third graders spent one session putting color blocks all over their papers with crayons. The next session, they painted over it with black paint. Then they scratched into the paint to reveal the colors underneath. Very cool!

Working with Students

I have finally begun to work with the students on the mural, and on some art projects for fun.

I knew I couldn't have 30 kids all painting on the mini-canvases at the same time, so I had them draw sticks as they came to see me on the stage. The sticks were different colors, and determined which group they would be in. I then had them rotating to different stations with different mediums at each station. They chose a color page that I copied from a coloring book of famous masterpieces. They would then use the different mediums on their one coloring page. Watercolor, crayon, colored pencil, marker and oil pastels. Working on the canvas was also a station. They really seemed to enjoy this, and it kept everyone busy, and since the timer was set for just 3-4 minutes at each station, no one got bored.

The younger kids worked with me in their classrooms. I had them painting full pages of one color to be used for the lettering and details on the mural. I was a little worried they would be bored just filling a whole sheet with one color paint, but they all kept saying how fun it was. The older kids will trace and cut out the lettering for the big mural and we will adhere it with gel medium.

So far everything has been going really well. I don't have any down time, and actually feel rushed during my 15 minutes between sessions. It takes me the whole time to clean up and set up for the next group.

It's coming along very nicely. I can't wait to see what it looks like with the lettering glued on it.

Sneak Peek

Here are three of the eight canvases that will make up the whole mural. As I was taking them into the school, it was lunch time, and all of the kids were very curious about what I was carrying.

PAINT!!

My paint came today. Two big boxes of 1/2 gallon bottles of loveliness! I actually have no idea if this will be enough, or way too much. I think I will try to pick up some "Oops" paint at Home Depot and Lowes, if I see that they have any nice greens, just to fill in and accent. I'm so excited!!

The canvases are nearly all drawn out, but I will probably go over the lines with a Sharpie. My daughter pointed out that the sketch lines and the grid lines are confusing. Also, I have a feeling that with so many kids touching and working on each panel, the pencils lines might start to rub off.

I hope the kids love it! If time permits, I hope I have time to teach them how I made the small sketch, and then blew it up using a grid. I think that is a very useful tool that they can use for other projects throughout their lives.

Pencil to Canvas

So now all eight canvases have been stretched. What a job! I had no idea. Each one is 48" by 66". Here is what I have learned for the future:

I need a set of canvas pliers.

Unprimed canvas is probably a lot easier to stretch than pre-primed canvas.

If I can pay someone to stretch the canvas for me, no matter what the cost, it is worth the $$.

Each canvas took me at least an hour to stretch. Some of the wood took the staples very easily. Other pieces of wood made the staples just crinkle up, and they wouldn't go in. I went through a box and a half of staples.

Thankfully, they are FINALLY done, and I have begun drawing the grids on them, so I can transfer my small design to the much larger mural.

Frames and Canvas

I picked up the frames from Brian this morning. They look fantastic!

After shopping around for raw canvas verses primed canvas, I ended up getting primed canvas. It was about the same price as buying raw canvas and gesso, and saves me the work of having prime it myself. Even having it sent by Fed Ex, I have to wait a week before it will be here.

So I guess the first week of Spring Break I will get to have fun with my kids, and then I will go to work on stretching and sketching the second week.

Let the creativity begin!

Getting Started

I like to plan ahead, yet I am the worst procrastinator. I'm working on that.

Friday I went to Home Depot to buy the wood for the panel frames. Brian gave me a list of supplies that the Dad's Club would need to build the frames for me. I am so grateful for the Dads that volunteered to do this, since I have no experience in woodworking. At ALL!

I must have looked lost at Home Depot, because a teenager in an orange apron asked me if I needed help. I told him what I needed, and after looking a little lost himself, decided to ask another teenager for help. They both apologized to me, saying that the "lumber guy" was not in. A trip that should have taken 15 minutes took over an hour. Brian wanted pine. Who knew that Douglas Fir was pine? Not the teenagers helping me! Luckily the cashier knew that Douglas Fir IS Pine. Duh...I should have known that too.

Anyway, eventually I got out of there with my wood and dropped off the supplies at Brian's house. The Dads got together on Saturday to make them.

The mural will be 11 feet by 16 feet, so they made eight 4 feet by 5 1/2 feet frames. I will be stretching canvas on each frame and when we are done painting on them, we will put them all together to make one HUGE mural. I'm so excited. I think the kids are going to love making something to hang in their Multi Purpose Room.

I am now on a quest to find canvas, so I can start stretching...the canvas that is.

Stormy