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Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
Make it: Paper Weaving. // Key concepts: Media discovery and exploration, shape, symmetry, pattern. // Materials: Watercolor set, 2-3 brushes in varying sizes; 2 large sheets of watercolor paper or white drawing paper (around 9x12; you can tear a big sheet of paper into smaller pieces if you need); glue stick; oil pastels or crayons. Remember: Break up this project into two or three sessions if you need to! Allow time for art appreciation, discussion, thought, and discovery. // 1. Spend some time looking at textiles, discussing different lines, shapes, motifs (such as diamonds, triangles, squares, stars, flowers, houses, etc.) and symmetry. An easy place to start would be a quick web search of “folk quilts,” “quilts of Gee’s bend” or “Native American textiles.” If you’re doing this project with your child, remember you can tailor it to his/her interests. 2. Using 2 or 3 different brushes, paint both sheets of paper, experimenting with washes, linear marks, and splatters, and let dry. 3. Take one sheet and cut it into strips width-wise. Take the other and cut it nearly into strips length-wise, stopping the cuts a couple of inches before you reach the end of the paper. 4. Use your pastels to draw some of the shapes and motifs you found in your quilt study onto the shorter loose strips. [Note: You might decide to do this after step 5 if it bothers your child that some of the drawing will be covered up by the weaving.] 5. Weave the short strips into the long ones and use a dab of glue on the ends to keep in place. Notice how the watercolor and pastel sections now interact with each other in different ways. Hang your paper “textile” on the wall and admire it!
ENJOY THE PROCESS. Want to know what takes the life out of art? It’s setting a goal and then hating your project until it’s finally done--and til it’s GOOD, by golly. Listen, unfortunately, this is often my experience when I’m designing, and I think it’s the same way for many other creatives. Of course we shouldn’t lose sight of a goal, but I consciously try to get away from the fear of failure and come back home to the excitement of exploration. This is especially important if you are just starting to learn about art and design. Give yourself--and your child--time to discover and explore media (the materials with which you create) without the pressure of a perfect end product. See what layering that watercolor and crayon can do! Try drawing lines, making splatters, smudging and smearing and blending. Then cut it into shapes and see what happens when you make it into a pattern! Then change one piece and create an unexpected aberration in the pattern! Allowing time for process is crucial for creating work that is successful and vibrant. If you have paper, a watercolor palette and a box of pastels, you have three words with which to communicate. But if you have explored, stretched and transformed that media, you have hundreds. For three good children’s books that communicate the importance of process, potential of media and joy of spontaneity, I’d recommend Beautiful Oops; Swatch: the girl who loved color (introduced to me by @cpcfam); and Mix It Up!
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Monday, November 21, 2016
SEE. Welcome to the pilot post of our Mixed Media Musings series! // Let me start with a disclaimer that I am not an art educator; however, I grew up with one as my mother. I received my BFA in Graphic Design, so I’ve had plenty of fine arts and design classes. These thoughts are based on things I have learned in school, in work, and in sharing what I do with my children. It’s a bit of a journal, so that you can see some of the things I think about when I explore art with my kids. Each will will include a directive, and starting next week, a project idea so that you can better put these thoughts into practice. // SEE. It’s pretty simple, isn’t it? When we communicate or express through art and design, we have an incredible platform for reaching others. We have to be informed by our own experiences as well as the commonality of our world and the human experience. So I’d like to challenge each of us to train our eyes to start seeing more clearly the world around us. Observe the branches on your child’s favorite climbing tree; how do they curve? Notice the green of the grass; it’s probably a lot more muted than you thought it was. Notice the rhythm of the street lights as they get smaller toward a vanishing point. Start to observe and articulate your own thoughts and feelings, and help your children do the same; notice the way that people around you interact. Think about literature or architecture that moves you. These are all things that inform what we create. In the next few weeks I’ll be posting about specific elements and principles of design that you can be looking for when you explore the world. In so doing, you will learn the language of art. Stay tuned! // I mean for this series to be interactive and the experience shared, so questions are welcome, and I’d love to hear what you think, see and create along the way! Please tag me and #mixedmediamonday!
Friday, November 18, 2016
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Hi everyone! I want to announce something I'm really excited about! Ever since I started chronicling #mixedmediamonday several years ago, I've had requests for more information on how to make this a bigger part of life and how to approach creating art with children. Well, #mixedmediamonday is going public! Over the next few months, I plan to post weekly a series of thoughts which I hope will serve as a guide for making art and design an integral part of the way you experience our world. Stay tuned! There's a colorful future ahead of us!
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Monday, November 14, 2016
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The election is over, and I've found myself in the pediatric ER with Farris in the wee hours of the morning. She's being treated for croup, and I am feeling tired and grateful to take care of her here in the quiet after such a whirlwind of media flurry. We had such a fun day together, made better by her pleasant demeanor. In this photo, she's holding her painting of the red ocean and the little green space where the mermaids hide. #mixedmediamonday #Farrisofthemall
Monday, November 7, 2016
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Headed down today for @dixie_design open house! If you're in the area, drop by! #Repost @dixie_design with @repostapp ・・・ Save the date! Next Tuesday, November 1 we are having a Holiday Open House at @mhjinteriors in Mountain Brook Village. Come preview our holiday collection and begin your shopping with @susangordonpottery @made_by_ak and @katherinebramlett
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