Well we have been very busy! It's harder than I thought to keep up on this blog!
Check out all our current projects below.
Check out all our current projects below.

Our Family Trees
Fall and Thanksgiving get us to thinking about how great all of our families are and how blessed we are to have such wonderful students and families. So, with that in mind, each student created a family tree with the leaves representing the family members. Our concepts were; natural colors, texture, space, line, value and layering. P.S. these make a great Holiday gift:)
Fall and Thanksgiving get us to thinking about how great all of our families are and how blessed we are to have such wonderful students and families. So, with that in mind, each student created a family tree with the leaves representing the family members. Our concepts were; natural colors, texture, space, line, value and layering. P.S. these make a great Holiday gift:)
Mystical Clay Sculpted Creatures
for A Mystical Magical Christmas
I know, I know...it's too early for Christmas! Believe me, I feel that way too! However, art is such a long and wonderful journey that we needed to embark on our Christmas projects for several reasons.
#1. We were excited to get going on them.
#2. We had so many to do and didn't want to shrink the list.
#3. Because great art takes time and we like it that way.
So, above are two of our sculpted mystical creatures, a dragon and a pegasus. They will be displayed in the front window in a Mystical Magical Christmasy kinda way. Oh and Santa and the Abomidable Snowman too!
for A Mystical Magical Christmas
I know, I know...it's too early for Christmas! Believe me, I feel that way too! However, art is such a long and wonderful journey that we needed to embark on our Christmas projects for several reasons.
#1. We were excited to get going on them.
#2. We had so many to do and didn't want to shrink the list.
#3. Because great art takes time and we like it that way.
So, above are two of our sculpted mystical creatures, a dragon and a pegasus. They will be displayed in the front window in a Mystical Magical Christmasy kinda way. Oh and Santa and the Abomidable Snowman too!

A unicorn with the first wash of color, it took a color bath and then was wrapped in a baby blanket. More paint and fun will be added later, details, details! We have been learning about the color wheel a lot with this project.
Clay Ice Castles and Snowbirds
It's hard to tell but this is a picture of our kiln loaded full with clay ice castles and snowbirds. It's times like this when I get a little nervous and pray that there aren't any explosions! So, we have been preheating them for three days to get them nice and dry before the final firing. Wait till you see how awesome these ice castles are, you'll be AMAZED! We have really been working hard on our fine motor skills, patience and sculpting skills. Oh, but it's so worth it!
It's hard to tell but this is a picture of our kiln loaded full with clay ice castles and snowbirds. It's times like this when I get a little nervous and pray that there aren't any explosions! So, we have been preheating them for three days to get them nice and dry before the final firing. Wait till you see how awesome these ice castles are, you'll be AMAZED! We have really been working hard on our fine motor skills, patience and sculpting skills. Oh, but it's so worth it!
Ice Castle Paintings
I know this one currently looks like a weird volcano but it's not finished, so use your imagination for what I'm about to tell you. We are going to add ice castles in acrylic paint to this watercolor painting. Our sky was inspired by the Northern Lights aka the Aurora Borealis and was painted in the wet on wet technique. For the ice mountains we used watercolor pencils, our favorite, and tried to have light and dark blue values for the icy glacier look. Funny, we must have been inadvertently inspired by the movie "Frozen" but none of us have seen it. I guess it was all those Elsa's we saw during Halloween.
I know this one currently looks like a weird volcano but it's not finished, so use your imagination for what I'm about to tell you. We are going to add ice castles in acrylic paint to this watercolor painting. Our sky was inspired by the Northern Lights aka the Aurora Borealis and was painted in the wet on wet technique. For the ice mountains we used watercolor pencils, our favorite, and tried to have light and dark blue values for the icy glacier look. Funny, we must have been inadvertently inspired by the movie "Frozen" but none of us have seen it. I guess it was all those Elsa's we saw during Halloween.
Patterned Bird Houses and a Little Songbird
This is a fuzzy picture of another project we're working on, Patterned Bird Houses. So far, all we have is the base coat of paint. We will be adding patterns using a variety of brushes, colors and a whole lot of patience. We also will have a little song bird to go with it. It's funny all the kids have quickly figured out that the bird house is too small for our bird or any bird for that matter. Oh well, they're still cute!
Patience is a Virtue
When I mention patience, that is probably the skill we are working on the most. We really find ourselves competing with this fast paced computer age where instant success is so available. We are constantly reminding them that art is a process and slow is better, there are no mistakes just new paths to learning, challenges are good and practice, practice, practice while you learn to relax.
Over my many years of teaching, I have noticed that the students are more and more stressed and very hard on themselves. Even my own kid is really tough on herself. So, in the studio we are working on learning to be patient and nice to ourself. So, stop and smell the roses and relish every moment with your precious children.
Thank you for allowing us to teach them!
We have the BEST jobs in the world!
This is a fuzzy picture of another project we're working on, Patterned Bird Houses. So far, all we have is the base coat of paint. We will be adding patterns using a variety of brushes, colors and a whole lot of patience. We also will have a little song bird to go with it. It's funny all the kids have quickly figured out that the bird house is too small for our bird or any bird for that matter. Oh well, they're still cute!
Patience is a Virtue
When I mention patience, that is probably the skill we are working on the most. We really find ourselves competing with this fast paced computer age where instant success is so available. We are constantly reminding them that art is a process and slow is better, there are no mistakes just new paths to learning, challenges are good and practice, practice, practice while you learn to relax.
Over my many years of teaching, I have noticed that the students are more and more stressed and very hard on themselves. Even my own kid is really tough on herself. So, in the studio we are working on learning to be patient and nice to ourself. So, stop and smell the roses and relish every moment with your precious children.
Thank you for allowing us to teach them!
We have the BEST jobs in the world!