Each October, I like to offer an adult watercolor class that explores the colors and themes of autumn.  This year we painted pumpkins and loose florals after we created a fun swatch of autumn colors.  My Koi watercolor pan sets, though very affordable, never disappoint in their rich, saturated colors.  My goal is to teach students how to properly load their brushes with the right paint:water ratio, and then how to use the brushes to their full potential.  That's where the magic happens. 

Each student has her own flair with the paints, even though I demonstrate "my way" of painting.  I LOVE encouraging individuality within a framework.  I try to model laughing at yourself and reframing "mistakes." And I enjoy simply spending time with women who make creative expression a priority.  

Enjoy the slideshow...

When I choose an art project for my students, I think about what new vocabulary and drawing skills they could learn, what new media they could try, and how they can connect to the subject.  Sometimes I pull themes from literature or science.  This "Llamas in Perspective" lesson, adapted from a Deep Space Sparkle lesson, had it all!  

First we talked about the life and talents of the llama, particularly the Peruvian llama...how they are pack animals who help humans, how they spit when they are agitated and sit down stubbornly when they are overburdened.  I told the kids I use llama poop on my plants because it's a great "unscented" fertilizer! 

We practiced a llama drawing in their sketchbooks.  I love that many of the students said they drew them all week long at home.  We then talked about drawing and painting tricks that fool the eye into perceiving depth as we drew our scene together, step by step, and went over the lines with Sharpie.  Students were free to add their own little details, decorations, and paint colors to individualize their work.  We used tempera cakes, which are similar to watercolors, on heavy duty Bristol paper.  

Finally, we "embellished" our mounted picture with handmade tassels.  I told them that tassel-making is a "handicraft" that the Peruvians would do to decorate their llamas.  The lesson took two 90-minute class periods.  Check out the slideshows below.

TUESDAY CLASS

WEDNESDAY CLASSES

Afterschool Art Club is something new I've added to the schedule this year, and it's been a blast!  Twelve lively students gather on Thursday afternoons to create wonderful art, and for our first project, we created optical illusion "agamagraphs."  Pioneered by the artist Yaacov Agam,  this kinetic style art changes as the viewer moves.  Two of Agam's pieces can be found in the Mayo Clinic art collection.  I'm a big fan!

This project took 3 weeks of 75 minute classes to complete.  Each student created a starburst name picture on and an optical illusion "wormie" picture, which they colored with sharpie and watercolor on 140 lb. watercolor paper. Then we cut both into 1 inch slices and mounted them alternately to an accordion folded page.  The final effect is so cool!  If you stand to the left, you see one image and when you move to the right it morphs to the other image.  Check out the slideshow below!