Tag Archives: art

Members Only

The day we closed on the house, we walked across the street to become members of the Tennessee Valley Art Association. Because how cool is it to have an art museum for a neighbor? (seriously cool in case you don’t know)

haha it’s right on the wall in the hall up high

Every year they host a Member show where TVAA members submit their work to be shown in a group show. Ellie and I have pieces hanging across the street right now!

Soft sculpture! Fine Craft is a Thing.

The Tiger. Ellie enjoys watercolor.

If a Tree Falls…

We’ve still got quite a few trees that were killed in one of the big storms a while back. They drop limbs every now and then and the woodpeckers enjoy them. Occasionally, a regular-size storm pushes one down.

I knew this one was going to be next.

I knew this one was going to be next. It barely missed the blueberries.

Ellie made a surfer out of some of the pieces.

:D

heh

ETA: Ellie keeps walking over to the window to check: “Yep. That tree is still down.”

Cat Project

Ellie and I are trying a little embroidery.

First we practiced basic stitches.

pink on pink is the new awesome

pink on pink is the new awesome

Then the transfer pens got here (THESE ARE SO COOL) and we made designs for a bigger project.

We'll probably make them pillows.  Or maybe frame them in hoops since that seems to be the Thing To Do lately.

A day without cats is a day without…a lot of things really.

Disappearing ink pens don’t work for us when we do big projects because the humidity removes the marks them in about half an hour. I mark sewing projects with ball point sometimes. I’ve got my eye out for an iron-away marking pen.

Pro Tip: A stabilizing fabric behind the working fabric is important. I didn’t know this when I did that little house thing over Christmas and it won’t iron out all nice and flat. We’re using the light weight interfacing that I had in my machine sewing stuff.

I’m already thinking about embroidering stuff on my knitting.

Art Workshops

This summer, I planned to host three art workshops for some of our friends. This started because there were art experiences that I felt like Ellie was just not going to get in school* and I figured other folks might enjoy the same thing. Plus kid art is more fun as a group.

June completely got away from me, but I managed to pull off two in July.

All the porch furniture moved under a tree to create a lovely adult seating area.

All the porch furniture moved under a tree to create a lovely adult seating area.

For Painting (2D), we focused on objective v. non-opjective art and created a messy, group work flinging and rolling paint around. I layered a piece of paper for each participant in the bottom of a kiddie pool and then the kids flung a bit of paint around. We pulled it all apart and everyone took their section home. Then we switched focus to self-portraits.

Acrylic on Canvas Board - grown-up materials!

Acrylic on Canvas Board – grown-up stuff here

Sculpture (3D) was yesterday. We worked on sand casts, sand clay modeling (the stuff dries like rock so it’s great for prehistoric art lessons), and wire sculpture.

We used hands and feet to make the molds. (they are free and everyone coming had them)

We used hands and feet to make the molds. (they are free and everyone coming had them)

Ellie and my hands!

Ivey hands!

This one is great!  Wire is cheap and easy.  We added beads to make it kinetic. And colorful.

This one is great! Wire is cheap and easy. We added beads to make it kinetic. And colorful.

We had the best time! I want to do more. I don’t think I can manage once a month for our mainstream friends, but they have half-days at the end of each grading period so I’m wondering about hosting workshops those days. I’m also thinking about offering workshops whichever homeschool groups we land in.

I’ll email the sand clay recipe to anyone who asks – it’s good stuff.

*funding, class size restraints, the lack of a working sink in the art room, etc. etc. etc.