December Garden I

Yesterday school was closed due to icy roads (in Texas "snow days" are rare and we love them) and the garden was taken by surprise, a frozen still life with temperatures below freezing throughout the day. Lythrum in rich fall color, a japanese maple leaf on the icy ledge, a rose bud, icy daylilly leaves, and orange honeysuckle flowers.

Eraser Stamps Galore

Focusing on patterns that can be repeated for impact and producing more than one stamp per eraser, my daughter and I have been carving like mad. Cutting an eraser in half, I made a zig zag stamp using an exacto knife. It can be used to make a border or stacked. With the other half, I carved a feathery leaf using a linocutter and it can be used as a border or repeated in a pattern.

On the long, narrow side of an eraser, my daughter carved vines to use as a page border and on the tiny end, a simple star, so tiny it could give a checkerboard effect using alternating colors.

Carving stamps... an inexpensive luxury... great for providing texture and interest to art journal backgrounds. 

See all posts tagged carving stamps.

Mexico: Part II

We took a day trip by car to the Mayan pyramids of Coba, the only pyramids in the area that you can still climb ~ at Chichen Itza you can climb portions of some structures, and at Tulum they are all roped off as in a sculpture garden. Photos from Coba: view from the top of the pyramid we climbed and bicycle rentals.

Years ago, I would have wilted, out of breath, legs rubbery en route to the top. But my legs were strong. I was not winded. Almost two years of regular workouts have made a tremendous difference. My husband and the 9 year old practically bounced down the stairs ahead of us, fearless. The 6 year old descended slowly with me, step by step. My acrophobia [not fear of acrobats... fear of heights] did not stop me.

Mexico: Part I

A week of adventure, cobalt blue water, windy beaches, ancient architecture and warm Cokes. We rented a car and took several day trips, the first to the Mayan pyramids of Chichen Itza. Although we've traveled through many parts of Mexico, this was my first trip to the Yucatan Peninsula, and my first trip to a city focused solely on tourism.

Photographs from Chichen Itza ~ El Castillo, hand crafted mobiles, stones indicating archeologists have rebuilt the section, and a woman selling embroidered hand towells.

Weaving Paper: ATCs

A great way to use leftover cardstock...

[click image to enlarge]

To weave a paper ATC, just cut cardstock strips down to similar widths (you can estimate rather than be ultra precise). You'll need about 15 strips of 3" length and about 10 strips 4" length. Edges will be trimmed. It helps to work on top of a blank ATC to get the spacing right. Align the 4" strips that will make the short side of your ATC. Tape the tops of these 10 or so strips to the table so that they stay put. Then weave the 15 or so 3" strips, one by one, through the long strips that are hopefully staying put. Keep the "grid" tight as that makes the finished card stronger.

Above, a few woven paper ATCs from last fall. With my stash of cardstock scraps... time to try this with the kiddos.

You'll wind up with excess of 1/2" on each side. Attach to heavy cardstock of ATC size using Mod Podge. Place a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on top and set under a few heavy books (I like to use a world atlas or a bunch of Harry Potter books) for a day or so. When dry and flat, using an exacto and a ruler or scissors, cut to 2.5" x 3.5". I did not put any edging on the card, but if you are going to send it as a gift or it will be handled frequently, you might want to add edging or some extra Mod Podge along the sides.

For more on weaving paper, with bonus photos, see Weaving Paper with Kids, where my daughter and I do another weaving project!

Art Journal: Rhyme or Reason

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last,
"what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
~A.A. Milne

9x12" watercolor paper, vintage math text, catalog images, map, cardstock, gesso, handcarved star/diamond/box stamps, rubber stamp, Golden fluid acrylics, Neocolor II crayons, quote.

A loose art journal page designed around a photo transfer. I've been scanning a cadre of 35mm slides my dad found from the 50s-70s, making wonderful discoveries. The focus of this page is a photo of my mother and a girlfriend taken while they were at college. Such fancy dresses!

To use the photo, I printed it on glossy photo paper and painted a thick coat of Golden gel medium and left it for 15 minutes. With the picture side down, I rubbed the back of the photograph with a spoon for a minute and peeled off the remains of the photo paper, leaving a reverse of the image from the 1950's. I picked vivid detailed patterns like those my mom loved. The quote is from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, a childhood favorite.

Incorporating Art in Your Travels

We're off to Mexico next week. In the midst of the chaos we call packing, I've been thinking of how we add creativity to our travels.

For the girls, we take colored pencils and drawing paper, detailed coloring books, and blank notebooks for the plane and hotel room. We've started taking a box of 36 fine point Papermate markers, unlined wire-bound Hand journals (I mod podged patterned cardstock to the covers so the girls could have their own "look" to their journals), stick-notes, a mini-stapler, kid scissors, tape and clips, plus zip lok bags to collect ephemera along the way and document our days.

For myself, I'm happy with a ziplok bag of PITT pens, Sakura microns and gellyrolls, a wirebound 8 x 10" drawing pad and a lined 5 x 7" Moleskine. And a camera of course!

Art supplies also create a well needed diversion ~ during travel there is a lot of time "waiting" at airports, in hotel rooms, recuperating from a day of adventures. It's relaxing. 

We also play games in hotel rooms... my younger daughter invented a game called "library" with hotel note pads as library cards and an unplugged hotel phone as the librarian's telephone. Hotel notepads can be used for so many things; writing silly poems, doodling, hiding notes among the luggage, pretend "scriptions" for pretend doctors offices.

Here are some links about traveling with kids: Why Travel With Kids is an Enricing Experience from TravelBlogs.com, including contributions from Delicious Baby, Travels with Children and Traveling Mamas.

Do you have ideas for incorporating art while traveling?

Line Practice: Ideas Squared

Improve line control by... making lines. Look around the kitchen... find a ticket stub, an envelope you received, a tea bag and a magazine. Focus on details rather than big picture. The fonts on the ticket stub, the alignment of letters on a postmark, the logo on the tea bag, the UPC code from the magazine. Take a large piece of drawing paper and draw wavy lines to divide your paper into a bunch of sections of various sizes. No measuring! Grab a pen or marker. I like to use PITT pens or Sakura microns and colorize with Sakura gellyrolls or PITT brush pens or even watercolors. But just as much, I adore Papermate medium point pens.

Scope out interesting fonts on product packaging in your pantry, a simple children's toy, find a pattern on a sweater or wallpaper or fabric. Keep moving forward. If you find yourself waiting in a doctor's office, at a cafe, at the airport, in your hotel room (although more fun to try this in the lobby), look around. 99% chance there is something to draw. A gum wrapper, a receipt, the title page of a book, a gift card, coffee cup, advertisement, a packet of sugar. Just the text, logo or design, not the entire thing. So maybe the logo on the corner of the cereal box, not the entire 3D box. Get it? Notice how characters align left-right and top-bottom. The serifs on the fonts, or lack thereof. Give it 1/2 hour. Later, rinse, repeat another day.

And... if you haven't tried it, carrying a camera with you (looking for interesting things to photograph) will help you notice patterns and details, interplay of colors, light and shadow. Often things you would not have otherwise noticed. Check out Collection for more.

More ideas for pen & ink...

• Mandalas from the Road
• Mandala Black.Violet.1.2
• Abstract Mandala II
• Mandalas for Kids II
• Line Practice
• Line Practice: More Ideas

The Project Approach

My kids went to a Reggio Emilia inspired pre-school which followed the Project Approach. This pivotal experience shaped how we do so many things. Certainly how we do art. The school hallways were lined with art made by the students - often framed - all unique. The teachers documented the process of making art, with notes and often a photo of the child making that piece of art. 

Rather than the teacher selecting a topic and initiating a project on a specific theme, the project is developed based on interest naturally shown by the children. Children can learn anything from quantitative analysis to geography to physics using their inquiries as the launching point. They learn by learning.

Real life examples:

1. A kindergarten class did a Shoe Project; it started after the teacher noticed the children were curious about shoes - not because the teacher wrote a lesson plan with government-inspired objectives on shoes. 
2. A class of 5-7 year olds in Alberta, Canada did a Tree Project.

More on Reggio Emilia:

• Reflections and Impressions from Reggio Emilia
• Reactions to Visiting Reggio Emilia
• The original school in Reggio Emilia, Italy

More on the Project Approach:

• Doing Projects with Children at Home (Judy Harris Helm)
• Project Approach Resources(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
• The Project Approach (Sylvia Chard PhD)

More...

• How {Not} to Micro-Manage Kids' Art
• Eroding Kids' Creativity
• A Project List for Kids
• Little Projects for Creative Kids

The Project Approach can be used with children of all ages. It is gaining importance in the homeschooling community. Please check the inspiring and thorough Camp Creek blog for info on project-based homeschooling.

Acrylic Leaf Backgrounds

= < ATCs ARE MINI-ART JOURNAL PAGES > = < ART JOURNAL PAGES ARE GIGANTIC ATCs > =

Yesterday I shared our experience in making acrylic leaf prints with my 6 1/2 yr old with leaves from our garden. The art supplies were out and there was already a mess of acrylic paint to clean up... so I made some ATC backgrounds! After cutting watercolor paper to ATC size (2.5" x 3.5"), I pressed some painted leaves onto the paper, and then with a fairly dry brayer, I rolled Speedball thick-bodied acrylics on top of the leaves. You can roll the brayer along a sheet of newspaper to get a rough line, and go in different directions. The rough look comes from the brayer having very little paint.

Here's a fun hint: When you are making art journal backgrounds whip up quick ATC backgrounds with the same materials and set them aside, then add a quote or collage when you wish.