ArtMachine Classes in January!

Here is some information on two new kids classes beginning in January. If the class you are interested in is full, please ask to be added to our email list. Email me: artmachinestudios at gmail dot com.

**If you subscribe to my ArtMachine Studios Newsletter please note that the Encaustic for Kids class has been moved to Wednesday at the same time. **

This year I'm changing the model of classes to offer more technique based classes. I realized that so many of my students are already confident artists and what they really loved were chances to explore media and new techniques. So, to that end I have reduced the time spend on art history and basic art ideas, and increased the technique exploration opportunities. 

The format is also changing a bit, instead of an on going class that you can jump into at any time I'll be offering shorter blocks of classes on specific techniques. Each class will go for 5 weeks. When the 5 weeks are over I will start two new classes in a different technique. You can sign up again if your child is interested in the next class subject, or take a break for those 5 weeks.

Classes for the 5-8 age range will always be on Tuesdays, 8-12 year olds will always have class on Wednesdays. Classes will always be from 4-5:15.

Tuesday Class -Mixed Media Exploration: THIS CLASS IS FULL 

Tuesday afternoons for 5 weeks starting January 25th and going to February 22nd.

4pm - 5:15pm

All kinds of 2-D mixed media techniques with a heavy emphasis on collage. We will be using lots of papers, encaustic (wax), acrylic paints, coloed pencils, markets, etc... We will work on paper, wood, and canvas. 

Age: 5-8

$100 plus $25 supply fee per student. 

5 spots available only

Class located @ Golden Belt Studio 103

Sign up here: Registration form (this link is closed)

Wednesday Class- Encuastic for Kids: (The only encaustic class for kids in the area!)

Thursday afternoons for 5 weeks starting January 26th and going to February 23rd, no class on February 16th.

4pm-5:15pm

Basic encaustic (painting with wax) techniques including, painting, carving, embedding, collage, and drawing into wax. We will work on wood panel. 

Age: 8-12

$120 plus $50 supply fee per student

Students must be able to respond well to instruction, have good attention skills, and be able to be responsible with hot items and heating tools. Please make sure you child is prepared to work slowly carefully with items that could be dangerous if not handled in the right way. We will work with wax at 150 degrees and use a heat gun (highly supervised). 

5 spots available only        

Class located @Golden Belt Studio 103

Sign up here: Registration form

Registration:
If you would like to register for a class follow the registration link under the description for each class. Once I have received your registration information I will send you a pay-pal invoice for the amount of the classes. Once you have paid for you classes you are officially signed up and no one can take you spot.

If you don’t have a pay-pal account it is very easy and quick to set one up. If you have concerns about paying by pay-pal please contact me to talk about it.

Classes are filled first come first served. Please contact me to be added to the waiting list if the class you are interested in is full.

Golden Belt:
Golden Belt Studios is a large studio complex east of downtown Durham. Over 40 artists are currently working at Golden Belt and it is a great creative environment for your kids to learn in. 

Please make them aware that because other artist will be working in neighboring studios while we are holding classes, they will be expected to work calmly and quietly just as they would in their classroom at school. For directions and more information please follow this link to the Golden Belt website: Golden Belt.

Adult Encaustic Workshop in January

Exciting news! I'm offering an Encaustic Workshop January 28th & 29th at my Golden Belt studio (studio 103). Come learn how to paint with hot wax. It's sure to be great fun. Here's the scoop:

Description:

10 instruction hours with optional open studio time on Sunday. Instruction in making encaustic medium and colored waxes, and basic techniques, color theory basics and composition direction. All supplies provided for working in the studio: wood panels, heating tools, carving tools, paper, colored wax, encaustic medium, blow torch, brushes, tins for color, oil pastels, string, yarn, found objects.  You will take home multiple pieces from your work time.

Schedule:

Friday January 28th         

6-9pm - Introduction to encaustic, and first tries at the technique

Saturday January 29th   

10-12pm - Using color, embedding instruction, studio work time

12-1pm - Lunch Break

1-5pm - Studio work time, transfers, oil pastel, carving and incising instruction

Sunday January 30th       

 2-5pm - OPTIONAL open studio time (additional $50 fee)

Cost:

$275

$50 fee for additional Sunday open studio time

Registration:

6 spots available only! 

To register follow this link:  Encaustic Workshop Registration

You will receive a pay-pal invoice for a $50 non-refundable deposit to hold your spot. The rest of the workshop fee is due Friday the 28th when class starts. 

If the class is full the registration link will be closed. Please email me to be put on the waiting list for the next workshop! The email is: artmachinestudios at gmail dot com

What to bring:

A great way to add personality to your pieces is to collect collage material that you are drawn to. Paper, found objects, sticks, buttons, cloth, string, ribbon, photographs, flowers etc... You can also bring photocopies of photographs, text or images to transfer into your wax. Please only bring Xeroxed or laser printed images, not ink-jet. Color or black and white both work wonderfully. Coming with a stash of things you've collected will mean your pieces will be more interesting and more you!

You may also want to bring a lunch on Saturday. There are not many places to eat near by, but there is a microwave that you can use to heat food if you wish.

Do you know someone who would  be interested in learning how to paint with wax? Please share this information so we can be sure to have a full class! 

Thank you!

Art Camp Extravaganza!

Well, I am so behind on updating things here! Before it gets too long between posts, here is a brief report of three weeks of art camps at the North Carolina Museum of Art and my own little studio. It was a blast to teach these kids and also completely exhausting. I learned a ton and made a whole lot of new friends. Can't wait to do it next year!

Found and Ground Bound (6-8yrs):

This camp focused on making art with found objects. We painted with sticks and other collected natural bits and bobs; we made plaster tiles with rocks and things imbedded; we did small encaustic pieces with imbedded found elements; we collaged with leaf mold and glue and paper; we played a lot of art games and looked at tons of pieces in the galleries. 

On the last day of the week all the students set up tables to have an art show for the parents. It was great to read the signs listing and titling their creations. Everyone was so proud to show off all their hard work. 

Art Camp at Home: (Marlee and Elliot)

I wish I could have these two girls come over every single afternoon. Oh, the fun we would have!! Marlee and Elliot came each day for a week to make art till it came out of their ears. We worked on an altered book project all week, and in between made huge mono-prints, splatter painted, collaged, plaster tiles and did a little encaustic project. It was superb! 

Mold, Shape and Manipulate: (9-12 yrs)

We also made altered books in this camp. The kids loved getting to rip up and paint over old cookbooks. Except one kid who painstakingly kept every page of recipes he ripped out to give to his mom. We made pockets, bent wire clasps, glued in fold out pictures, and created creatures out of pipe cleaners that hung out of the books. We also did mono-printing, origami, and encaustic. Only three kids were brave enough to use the heat gun on their own, but all were completely enamored with wax when they left. 

This group really loved talking about art, so we had a great time in the gallery every day. On the last day I let them choose which gallery to spend time in, and they all wanted to see the Dutch and Italian art. After walking through the Italian gallery, which housed paintings from the 12th century and on, one student commented: "Mrs. Phaedra! Such a lot of killing happened then. Everyone is dying in these paintings!" I guess all those depictions of martyrs got to her. 

One thing I learned while teaching this age group is that kids are not being taught how to practically use a lot of the math and reasoning skills they are learning in school. For example, using a ruler to measure and cut a square was really hard for these guys. It just made me feel more strongly that art in school is much more than a fun optional experience. We need art to learn how to measure and cut, how to fold something straight, and how to make something in real space. How are we going to make new engineers, mechanics, builders, inventors, architects, and designers if we are not giving kids a chance to really use a ruler? 

Lots of hugs were administered on the last day, and I enjoyed being with all the kids so much I got pretty sad knowing that I'd probably never see them again. Hopefully they will remember some of our time together and at least they will be proud to be able to explain art works to their friends and family. How many 10 year olds do you know that understand enough about abstract expressionism to explain why a painting made of drips is art? 

ArtMachineStudios: A Fall Semester Report

I have two more classes to teach this semester and I am a little amazed that it is already over. I have loved teaching my little artists. I did not have any full classes this semester.  But I guess for starting off in a new town I think I did pretty well.  In my Little Machines class ( 4-5 yr olds) we had a fantastic time learning about some famous artists. We studied George Seurat, we made pointillism finger paintings, and we learned about mixing colors at the same time. We were introduced to Pablo Picasso.  We had a great time talking about his silly faces.  And we made some crazy face-collages of our very own.

Pablo's

Mine

Marc Chagall taught us about space and we made big dream drawings together.  We also looked at the use of the line in recent art history. We saw images from artists like Dan Flavin, to the well known Piet Mondrian, to the very minimal Fred Sandback, who makes his quiet installations using string.

Dan Flavin at the LACMA retrospective in 2007

Fred Sandback string installation

We explored the world of Van Gogh, reading books about his life, and made wet chalk drawings of a swirly night sky.  We also talked about the way he used color and aggressive marks in his paintings to make them so compelling.

Van Gogh, The Red Vineyard, 1888

At the end of the class I was pleased to hear my four-year old chanting, "George Seurat, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Vincent Van Gogh!" over and over to herself. I bet she's the only one in her pre-school that knows that little ditty.

With my Big Machines (7-10 yrs old) we dove right into mono-prints the first day, squishing paint, spraying water, and smoothing paper with delight. It was so fun to hear the exclamations of: "Wow! I love mine!" and "Awesome, this is so beautiful!" When one of the students said she had decided she was staying with me--for the rest of the night, in my house--when class was over, I knew it had been a success.

Over the course of their classes they tackled a very challenging blind contour drawing lesson, made their own decorative paper using all manner of utensils to apply paint, and created fantastic animal collages in the style of Eric Carle.

Our paper

They also loved learning about Abstract artists like William DeKooning, Jackson Pollock ("Those drips are so cool, this one is my favorite."), Cy Twombly, Alexander Calder ("He looks like a grumpy grandpa."), John Chamberlain, and Robert Motherwell ("Wow, that's a giant splat!").  While we worked we talked about school, what their Halloween costumes would be, and what they love about art. We do lots of laughing, encouraging, and collaborating. Thursday has been my favorite afternoon of the week.

Alexander Calder

Robert Motherwell

John Chamberlain

I have students signing up for next semester which starts mid-January. I can't wait to get started with some new kids, and some who are continuing from this semester. I am dreaming up paper mache sculpture in the style of Claes Oldenburg, Sistine Chapel drawings done lying on our backs under the tables, and more "teaching our eye-balls how to see" drawing lessons. I have just discovered a whole slew of new books to read in class, and I am ordering some art games from Amazon this month. I can't wait until January!

For more information on ArtMachineStudios, or sign your 8 children up, go here. :)

"Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness..." (Keats)

For me it is a new kind of September. We are beginning to see the edges of the trees change color and the morning temperatures merit a sweater. Not having ever lived in a place where the trees change in the autumn, I keep thinking "oh no, that tree is dying". I still have to remind myself that I am not in Texas anymore!

Oh! come October!

Today it is cloudy and grey in Durham. This is great for my nasturtium seedlings, but not great for feeling zippy and getting lots of things done. I certainly need that zippy feeling as I have lots of things to accomplish. Now that we are unpacked, and life has pretty much settled into a good rhythm, it is time for me to work. On my studio bulletin board I have three to-do lists. The first list is for my art making projects, it is full of things like: "color correct photos", "write blog about new pieces", and "work on commission". I also have a general to-do list, which is populated by things as varied as: "make jazz c.d for grandparents", "set up Skype", and "finish thank you cards".

The other list I have posted is the one I am most excited about. It is titled: "To-do list for art classes". Yes! I have been working hard to start my own little business teaching art classes for children. I have a terrific space, some interested families, and a brain full of ideas I can't wait to put into action. My days are full of making slide shows of art works sorted by color to use to teach color and art history together. I have been finding children's books about famous artists, working on my teaching philosophy, and writing answers to questions like "Why should a 4 year old take art?" It is so much fun and so much work. I am very excited to begin.

Here is where you come in: I need your help brainstorming a name for my classes. I would like to use "Art Machine" as part of the name. That way all my art related endeavors are connected. My plan is to add something to make it attractive to kids and families. All kinds of silly things rhyme with art machine, but I don't think I want to name my business: "Green Bean Art Machine". Do you have any ideas? I would love to hear your thoughts. If you wish you can leave me a comment with your suggestions. Thank you!

The classes are due to start mid October and I have a lot of work to do between now and then.

I will eventually get to the line item on my art to-do list that is: "write blog about new pieces". In the mean time here are a few more pictures to tide you over. I am off to write a lesson plan on the color blue. Enjoy your day!

Heart Sleeves (6x14)- Watercolor, colored pencil, paint pen

Stavanger: Birth (6x10)- Watercolor, colored pencil, paint pen