March 2019 Workshop Preparation

I am proud of this venue which was kindly provided by a church across the road from me.

I am having great fun preparing for the Children's Art Workshops which will be held the next two days. My venue is such that I only have to cross a (very busy) street with all the materials. So far there are 3 heavy bags and a bucket to carry. When I was much younger I also had to carry a little blind dog in her basket to class. Thank heavens for backpacks and shoulder straps!

Our theme will be Colourful Fantasy Birds, and I hope to see the children really use all those beautiful opaque acrylics! The first bird theme called "Fly with Me" can be seen on older posts. It as a very enjoyable and successful class.

 

For tomorrow we have books and scrapbooks filled with ideas, and also some completed paintings as inspiration. What I appreciate about children nowadays is that they do not copy the work of others. My classes are very much into individualism! So I am looking forward to see the results.

Besides good canvas and good quality paints, I have also invested in very good soft brushes. The acrylic paint will flow smoothly onto the canvas!

 

I am looking forward to the workshops, and will post photos after the classes!

The smaller children can use these stencils which I cut

from strong cardboard, to get started with their painting,

which will be on 300mm x 300mm canvas board (12" x 12")

These bird stencils can be used by the older students.

For inspiration only. A precious work by Isabel Le Roux

Using prepared stencils will help to prevent "artists' block" When I have workshops,
I must always take into account the fact that students need to go home
with a completed painting, even spray varnished if there is time.

For students who are inclined to prefer a design, I made a quick example. They can
 repeat one stencil all over their 12" x 12" canvas and use a single colour as a background.

I have to anticipate that students 13-16 will have different ideas on how a painting
must look. The smaller stencils can be used after the first layer, the landscape, is dry.

BOTTOM: Paintings of birds by South African artist Gladys Mgudlandlu ( 1917 - 1979)
Source: Bonhams brochure 20 March 2013

 





A Beautiful Owl Painting

I was so amazed when I found that my students researched "owls" on the Internet.  I heard questions like "Would they come and live here if we put up owl boxes?" "Are there other sanctuaries where we can see them?" I would be happy to know who handles owls and would be willing to receive a visit from the class.

 

When a subject is so interesting to the children, we carry the theme into a further session. For the acrylic painting class on owls, the journals were put aside. From the moment this girl started her owl, I kept well away. I only mentioned Sap Green as a possible colour to brighten the foliage, and reminded her that the white owl must really stand out in the painting and must not disappear in the busy foliage.

 

This went so well. Just look at the confident
and rhythmic strokes of the foliage!



A truly successful painting for a 14-year old!
Owl is camouflaged, yet well defined.
 

The best test to determine whether
 the tonal values are successful,
 is to look at the subject in black and white.
Yes, it worked a 100% and the detail can be seen!

And so, a confession: this young artist is my
granddaughter, a fifth generation artist in the family.
I hope to surround her with strong young artists continuously. I love the class dynamic and work ethic that we are establishing.





Kids and the Joy of Art

I have been a blogger since 2009 when I lived on, and chronicled the West Coast of the Cape. So much happens in ten years! Here I am now greeting you from the Durban Berea two weeks short of my 75th birthday. After a fine arts career of many years, I am back at my first love, namely teaching. To tutor children and open the doors to the art world is the greatest fun. My only real worry....how short are those school years! Do we have enough time?

 

In this blog I will take you through our many different lessons, which you may use too.

 

In this first blog post, I will show you a lesson I gave shortly after moving into a retirement centre. I made an instant connection with my pupils and knew that teaching would be my work of choice!

 

In this blog I will take you through many of our lessons. From each session I felt that I have learnt so much from the children.

The pure joy of creativity!

All the pensive guys



Enthusiasm and talent!



The children received a canvas board, sheet music and a photo for inspiration. I loved the individuality of the work.
This five-year old girl recreated a photo of a bird perched on a delicate porcelain cup.

Great! I love the border too!
 

Such a good day's work! the ages of the students
are from 5 years old to 14.



Great texture!

A bird in the hand are worth two in the bush!
Very original! It looks so musical!

From the first class I found this serious
concentration and joy in their work