Community Art Project : Do It at Cotuit

It felt great to work on this life sized mural that connects artist while we are apart. Literally intertwines humans on the canvas and sparks art making in a time when it is easy to feel a loss for the arts.

https://artsonthecape.org/explore/community-art-project-the-connected-together-apart-mural

What is out your window?

Being stuck inside, we get a lot of time to look out....


We spent time talking with our friends in other countries about what they are seeing out their windows.

Kids are posting rainbows, People are waving to friends, Spring is coming and trees are starting to bud.

Some are just seeing other buildings and maybe just concrete or graffiti or trash.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to change what we could see out our windows?

Yay for Art! you can! You can change what you see! You can create the world outside your window!

And make it 3D!


Have Fun, Stay Safe, Be well!

Brighten things up!

Brighten things up!

There is a lot to say for the way your home is, will affect the way you feel. We talk about clutter, about keeping up with maintenance, making beds, etc...

But here let's take a moment to brighten things up with happy thoughts!

Make your home exude happiness on the outside! So it is contagious... yes, like COVID-19, but in a GOOD, HAPPY Way! Pass it on, so when you look out your door or windows you feel happy and when people look over they feel happy!

I envision cites full of happy windows :) Town where you drive down the street and everyone have happy things paint o their doors!

Smiley Faces!
Rainbows!
Hearts!
Spring Flowers!

Go For it!

Make sure the paint is washable. We used Crayola washable paints... but any will do. And you can make washable paint by taking tempera paint and adding liquid dish soap to it.

Drawing with Both Hands: Day 4

It is starting to happen...

you can't tell which hand I am using.

Not completely, but it is happening.

I am hoping it is happening for you too!  eep it up. 

Try using different materials. Try using different colors. 

Be well! Have Fun!

Stay Safe!

Safe Space Boxes

While we are inside for awhile, we can all need our own space!

No matter how big or small your living situation is, we all know what it is like to "need some space!"

Giving kids the opportunity to take a box and make a space that is just for them during times like these can be relieving. It can be a box that they fill with favorite items, memories, thoughts, etc. so they know they are safe in these uncertain times. It can be a pace where they are keeping all that makes them happy when they are worried about what is going on around them. When they feel anxious they can turn to their box to find items that remind them of things they love to do, be, see, etc.

Or the box can be a container. A place where they can draw a picture of how angry they are that they can't see their friends at school, crumble the paper and throw it in the box. A place to "contain" the emotions they don't like. Write it down and toss it in there,  to let the feeling out and not stuck inside so they burst.

You can also use larger boxes! Boxes you or your child can fit into! Make a place they can retreat to and take a break, destress, get time alone, etc. 

Make one for each kid or make one for the whole family.

Use any kind of materials: fabric, cotton balls, tape, glue, wrapping paper, paint, scissors, chalk, anything you have! String is nice if they want to be able to tie it shut. Be creative. It doesn't  have to be big, it just has to contain and be sturdy (so you don't have crying kids as they are working on it and their "safe place" falls apart... see the metaphor....yes, that would not be fun!).

And hey... parents can do these projects too! Doesn't hurt to get to experience what your kids are.... it helps us all understand each other better!

I will be posting our work as soon as my kids finish theirs :)

More box ideas:

http://www.beactivekids.org/assets/pdf/50_Things_Cardboard_Box.pdf

And keep yourself healthy. Mentally Healthy!  Be optimistic! Be hopeful!

https://www.capecodhealth.org/medical-services/behavioral-health/staying-optimistic-in-a-turbulent-time/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEWSFEED-3-17-20&utm_content=NEWSFEED-3-17-20+CID_5f4b87252020d06065347819e6860942&utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Take%20a%20look

CD Cover Artwork

This one goes out to all my music loving pre-teens and teens! So if we had a soundtrack playing right now as we experienced the COVID-19. What would the songs be, what would the lyrics say, what type of journey would we express by listening to the whole CD. Be imaginative....

I admit I love to go to Amazon Music and see what their playlists for different times of year, holidays, seasons, etc. But they don't have one for this.... so what would it be?

In the good ole days it would have been a "mixed tape", but today we would create a playlist. What would be the band's cover be or the Design that would go with it.

Design your CD cover for this experience.

And have fun with it. Go digital if you want to!

Love to hear your list of songs.

Be well and have fun!

Drawing with Both Your Hands: Day 3

How is it going? You can see they are changing. 

 I started using dark backgrounds because I started looking at shapes. Rather than thinking about how I am drawing a hand, I am thinking about what the whole shape is.

Is it round, is it a triangle?
Not- is that a finger and that a thumb.?

I zoomed in here so you can see how loose the line has to become when I use my left hand to draw. I need to let go of the way I created outlines to draw. I start looking at the positive and negative space.
https://whitney.org/Education/ForTeachers/Activities/115

And when you raw your feet, do it after you have drawn both hands. So you can draw upon what you just learned from the experience.

Keep going, be strong and stay healthy!

Push your mind and your skills!

Navigating a New Experience: Ship drawings or building ( all ages)

Imagine:  You are on a journey, exploring new lands. You don't know when you will reach land and get to see other humans again. Your crew is only those people living in your home with you. You may encounter stormy seas, have days where you are bored or tired of being with each other, other days when you rise to the challenge, listen to your Captain and overcome great challenges. We all must be careful in how we express our emotions on that ship because we don't want the crew to declare mutiny. We are depending on the strength of our ship, our team and working together.

Now Create:

Take time to create your ship and draw your team. Or even use boxes, recyclables, etc. build a ship. Name it. Name all the crew members. Decide if there are any rules people need to follow on the ship. Talk about how it is hard to not be able to jump in the shark infested waters and how you miss seeing everyone on land. But you are navigating the unknown and we are all brave on this journey.

Love to see pictures if you want to share!

Have fun! Be well! Express yourself!

Drawing with Both Your Hands : Day 2

As I promised, my day two drawings!

How is it feeling for you? Awkward? Be patient with yourself... just like the world around you right now! Add to the fun, try switching to your other hand to eat your meals or brush your teeth. It forces you to slow down in life and really concentrate on your brain communicating with your hands.

And when you are done you could write everything backwards like DaVinci.

Have fun and be well!

Drawing with both your hands....

So this one is for all my teen and pre-teen art students.

I love to tell my students about the time I was 16 and took course at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia on a scholarship one summer. I would trek down to Philly on the trains with my huge newsprint sketchbooks to stand at an easel for three hours and do life drawings. As if that wasn't enough, my professor had us doing a sketchbook assignment each night. So after I finished my waitress job, I would curl up with my sketchbook and draw again that day. Really throwing my learning curve into high gear.

The beauty of the sketchbook assignments was that we were trying something completely new. Something I had never tried before and something I had never heard of... reaching the other side of my brain!My more creative side of my brain! And all I had to do was teach my other hand to draw.... wait that doesn't sound that easy.

It wasn't.

Every night for two weeks, i drew both my hands and both my feet.  When I drew my left hand and foot, I used my right hand. When I drew my right hand and foot, I used my LEFT hand. ( and yes if you are left handed this will help you too!)

This theory of learning to draw are based on the book : Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.
https://www.drawright.com/theory

The first set of drawings was the normal experience of sketching and trying to draw hands and feet. I drew the way I had been taught to draw my whole life. I used past knowledge like riding a bike... it just came to me. Or at least I thought it did. When I switched hands, I reverted back to the days of childhood when you are learning that your hand has the ability to make a mark on a page. Yes, most of us don't remember those days we were so young. Yet, here I was wiser and able to retrain those ways of thinking, reprogram those braincells, rework the way I looked at line, shape, form, shadows, etc.  I took the time to re-learn how I made art, how my brain communicated with my hand, and how my eyes saw the world in relation to what I put on the page.

Ok... don't doubt me.. try it... take the challenge.

I will post my first drawing here. Take a look. Each day I will post my next drawing. Yes, I kept those sketchbooks all these years... not hundreds of years .... but many years. You will keep yours too!

You can do it! I believe in you!

(pencil is fine, but if you have charcoal or pastel try that too)

Email me your pictures, I would love to see your progress. And feel free to pass this on.