Leaves are Falling all Around

This week in Introduction to Watercolor we found our inspiration from the fall leaves. Finally after two weeks of learning the color wheel and painting techniques we were able to see the kids' individual creativity shine through. We learned about warm and cool colors by drawing our leaves in oil pastel with only warm colors and then painting in the background with cool colors. We were able to use two of our new watercolor techniques-- wax/oil resist and wet on wet. We also talked about composition and how we can make choices about size, shape, color, and space to make our composition more interesting.

Everyone works at such a different speed that some finished and others will continue working next week. The paintings that were completed have been added to the "Gallery" so make sure you check them out.

Watercolor Week Two

This week in Introduction to Watercolor the kids were able to finish up their color wheels from week one. This may look simple, but the children had to mix many of the colors using their primary colors. I was pleased at how well they all did not only mixing secondary colors but also the tertiary colors. We also spent some time experimenting with different watercolor techniques. The students each made a booklet showing 6-8 different painting techniques.

This week we had a new addition to our class. Mariam is a Mountain View High school student who is currently working at an elementary school teaching art as part of one of her classes. She has volunteered to come in and help the kids. She is so great with the kids and we are lucky to have her. The kids can now get twice the attention during their class time. We are also happy to have Mrs. Linda Hess, an LHE teacher, joining the class. I think it is wonderful for teachers to brush up on their art knowledge so that it can spill over into the classroom. I am so happy to have them both.

Next week we will talk about some principles of design and put them to use in a mixed media Leaf Painting. It will be fun for the kids to apply the knowledge they have gained in an actual painting.

October Art with Bounce

Don't forget that you can still register for the October-December Art with Bounce classes up until a week before each class! We had tons of fun last month. For the October class we will be learning about warm and cool colors. We will create some fall leaf mixed-media art work using oil pastels and watercolors.

October: Leaves are Falling All Around
November: "Stained-glass Windows"
December: Once there was a Snowman

Wonderful Watercolors

This week we started our Introduction to Watercolor class after school at Lake Hazel Elementary as well as the Adult Watercolor Class. The first session in both classes was mostly getting familiar with the color wheel and using the watercolors.

It is so fun to see the kids as well as adults experiment and explore color. Next week in both classes we will learn some specific watercolor painting techniques and put them to good use in some mini-landscapes. Students, make sure you are starting to collect some photos that you can work from for your upcoming paintings.

Red, Yellow, and Bounce

Last Friday was the first of four Art with Bounce classes offered this fall at Bounce in Meridian. (You can still register for the last three!) The kids' ages ranged from 2 -5. They were so sweet and we had a good time together. We learned about artist Piet Mondrian. We learned about what things in his paintings were the same (repetition) and what parts were different (variation). All the shapes were rectangles, but some were big, some were medium and some were small. We also learned that when it comes to glue, a dot is a lot. The kids did a wonderful job using their glue properly.

I always like to emphasize to the children that they are all different and that is good. When we looked at the finished art work, we noticed how everyone had different pictures even though they all started with the same tools. Each picture was special and unique, just like each child.

Fall Registration Deadline

Friday, September 17 is the deadline for fall classes. That's tomorrow folks, so get it in today!!!

If you missed the registration deadline, and there is still room in the class, I will accept a late registration for an extra $10 late fee.

I will still take registrations for the remaining Bounce classes up to one week before each class.

Creative Elements Watercolor Scholarship

I will be offering at least one scholarship for the Introduction to Watercolor class being held at Lake Hazel Elementary. I would like for this scholarship to go to a child who shows an interest in art and otherwise would not be able to afford the class. To apply for the scholarship, send an email to:

Creativeelementsinfo@gmail.com

Please include a brief explanation about why you feel your child should receive a scholarship. All entries will be kept confidential and those who are awarded scholarships will be notified by email on or before September 22.

Bounce Scholarship Available

Creative Elements and Bounce have teamed up to make possible one full tuition scholarship to the "Art with Bounce" fall 2010 classes. Several years ago, my husband lost his job. It was a stressful and scary time. There were a lot of things that we couldn't do during that time because we just didn't dare spend anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. I know there are so many out there right now dealing with financial stress. Now I know most of you will think, "There's probably someone out there who needs it more than I do." So you won't apply for the scholarship. Please do it anyway! If you would like for your child to be able to take this class, but you just feel that it is beyond your budget right now, please apply!!!

To apply for the scholarship, just send an email to: creativeelementsinfo@gmail.com

Include a brief paragraph about the child or children you wish could take the class and why you feel you deserve it. All entries will be kept confidential and the winner will be notified by email.

It could be that you are a stay at home mom with several kids and there's just not enough money to go around. Whatever the reason, if it's not in your budget-- APPLY! :)

Winner will be chosen Friday September 10th.

Check out the Fall 2010 Schedule!!!

Go here to see all the fun things we will be doing this fall. I'm excited about this schedule because it really offers a little something for everyone. If you don't see what you are looking for, please email me and we will see what we can work out. Also, we can always do a customized class or private lesson if these classes don't quite fit your needs.
I'm really excited to be trying something new this fall. We are teaming up with BOUNCE in Meridian to offer some fun art classes coupled with "bounce time" for preschoolers and children who are home-schooled. If you haven't been there yet, you've got to go check it out. I have four boys and let me tell you. . . we NEED some BOUNCE time once in a while! :)

Fall Registration Deadline is September 17th.

What did we do?

Just wanted to post a little summary of what we accomplished our last two days of Drawing and Design and World Tour.

In drawing and design we learned about perspective. We talked about how things appear to look smaller, more faded, and softer lines and colors in the distance. On day two they worked on a one point perspective drawing that had to include some kind of road, path or river that went to a vanishing point, one cube like structure, and three objects each a little further in the distance. On day three we learned the proportions of the face. Eyes are in the middle-- not the top half. That is probably the most common mistake in drawing faces. The head is about five eyes wide. The edges of the nose line up with the inside corners of the eyes. The corners of the mouth line up with the middle of the pupils. The kids did a wonderful job on their self portraits. They are pretty young to be learning figure drawing, but there have actually been studies done that show that if you don't understand the body proportions by about fourth grade, that it becomes very difficult to change those incorrect images in your mind. That's why so many adults are "stick figure artists."

In World Tour, we finished up our relief carvings in Greece and then moved on to Tibet for some sand painting. We learned that in some cultures art is created as part of religious ceremonies and then swept away when it is done. On day three we were in France learning Impressionism from some of the masters. The kids looked at pictures of nature and then created Impressionist artwork using oil pastels and pointillism using tempera paint and a Q-tip. Kids are so used to using line to make their pictures. This was a good activity to set the lines aside and focus more on the colors.

Thanks again to all of the kids who participated and your hard work! Keep asking the magic question, "What if?" and exercise that creativity!!!

Thanks to all my Wonderful Students!!!

Today was the last day of the second summer session. We had lots of fun and learned a lot. I feel like I probably learned more than the kids this summer. Being the first year of Creative Elements, I'm still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work as well. I truly appreciate everyone who participated and hope that it was a positive experience for everyone.

I generally post pictures as soon as the class is over to add to our gallery, however, due to some unexplainable lack of preparation :), my battery pack went dead on my camera. Thanks to Jacque, we have pictures of our World Tour art work and I will post them probably on Monday. In the drawing and design class I took pictures with my phone, but will have to see if they actually turn out good enough to post or not. I will post about how we finished out our week another time. We are going on a family backpacking trip tomorrow and I'm pooped! :) Thanks again everyone!

World Tour and Drawing and Design II Underway

Today was the first day of our second session of classes. Rather than post pictures each day, I've decided to choose one or two from each child and post them at the end of the class. Here's a quick update of what we accomplished today.

World Tour: Our first stop was Greece and then a quick trip over to Rome. We learned about how the Romans took over Greece and kind of took over their art at the same time. We also learned that in the Greek and Roman cultures architecture was considered art. They would include relief sculptures and mosaics to make their buildings beautiful. The children then tried their hand at a mosaic. They found it took a lot of patience, but did a great job. We just barely got a start on our second project-- a relief sculpture carved out of sheet rock. We should have time tomorrow after that to swing over to Tibet to learn sand painting from the Tibetan Monks!

Drawing and Design: Today was a tough day for our drawing class. We talked about perspective and the different rules that we have to follow to create the illusion of distance in a picture. Then we learned one point perspective. It can be pretty confusing, but after some erasing and reworking, they are really getting the hang of it. At their age this is all just an introduction and will really help them to be more observant and aware of perspective. Tomorrow we will do some follow up exercises with perspective and then introduce some beginning concepts of figure drawing.

Fall Schedule Coming Soon!

I still have to finalize times and places, but "watercolor" is the word this fall. I will be doing a watercolor class after school probably at Lake Hazel Elementary for kids. It will be open to children from any school, not just Lake Hazel. If you can show me that there is enough interest to hold a class at your child's school, I may be able to work out an additional session at your school.

I have also been pleasantly surprised that several adults have expressed an interest in learning about watercolor. I plan on putting together a class for adults as well, but I need your input about what days and times will work the best. Also, I'm always looking for a location. We could possibly work it out to do it at a school, but if you have a room in your home or place of business that would work, you can choose to host the class and get your admission for FREE. Just leave a comment or send me an email.

Also keep your eyes open in the spring. I hope to be able to put together a clay class for children and one for adults in the spring. That one is a little more complicated to pull off, but I'm working on it. It would include different hand-building methods and then the opportunity to try your hand at the potter's wheel.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Today we turned to author and illustrator, Eric Carle, for our inspiration. We learned that art is a way to communicate feelings, thoughts, ideas, and stories. We also talked about the difference between 2D and 3D and introduced the term mobile and sculpture.

The children used several different processes to create a mobile retelling the events in the story "The Very Hungary Caterpillar". We made a furry little caterpillar, some yummy food for him to munch on, a paper mache cocoon, and finally a beautiful butterfly. There were lots of steps to complete with this project and the kids (and moms) did great.

Today was the last class in the Art with a Buddy series. We had so much fun learning about some of the different elements of art and some different methods for creating art. A BIG THANK YOU to all of the sweet kids and parents who took part in the classes.

If anyone would like to see another similar class offered during the school year, please let me know. Right now, I don't plan on scheduling an Art with a Buddy class until next summer, but I would do one during the school year if there is enough interest. Also keep in mind that you can Host an Event any time!

Get the Feel of It!

It's been a typical crazy summer week and I'm just now finding time to post about last week's Art with a Buddy class--Get the feel of it. We explored all kinds of textures. First we felt several items in a bag and tried to figure out what it might be by the texture. Then we made a texture encyclopedia by gluing all kinds of fun things inside a folder-- cotton, wool, sand, seeds, beans, tinfoil, etc. Then we went on a texture scavenger hunt using a crayon to rub over the different textures, making an "implied" texture on our paper. They finished up by making a picture using all the fun textures. It was fun to watch them running around the park, finding new textures everywhere. Part of being an artist is observing the world around you. This type of activity helps young children to recognized the similarities and differences in all the things around them.

Action Art

Today in Art with a Buddy, we took our cues from artist Jackson Pollock. He is the artist who made famous the term action art. His paintings were created by taking buckets of paint and dripping, splatting, and pouring the paint over a canvas that covered the whole floor. After spinning, jumping, blowing bubbles, and running, we talked about how fun it would be if we could capture that motion in a work of art.


The children got to try four different methods of creating their "action art" -- pulling strings, shaking marbles, dripping and blowing through a straw, and blowing colorful bubbles. They were so excited to try out the different activities and just kept asking for more paper to try another! It was fun and messy!


It is important for children to create abstract art in addition to making pictures of "things." Sometimes, as adults, we inadvertently teach our children that art needs to look like something to be good and when a child struggles to make it look right, they can get frustrated and the creativity shuts off. Abstract art is a wonderful way for children, and adults, to just explore the process of creating the art-- the colors, shapes, textures, values, and lines-- without the pressure of trying to make it look like something.

Mixed up Colors

Today was our first class in the Art with a Buddy series: Mixed up Colors. Everything was going great until the "color trolls" came and stole some of our colors. Instead of six colors we only had three. It was so fun to watch their little faces light up when they took their "magic wand" and turned yellow into orange, red into purple, and yellow into green. I love to watch this age group doing art because they haven't learned to compare their work to others like older kids do. They think everything they make is wonderful . . . and it is!

Featured Artist

Somehow I missed Annika's picture the day I uploaded pictures for drawing and design, so I wanted to feature her here! She was a fun student! Keep up the drawing at home and I'll see you in August!

Last Day

Today was the last day of my first sessions of classes. THANK YOU to all of my wonderful students. You are all wonderful with your own unique package of gifts and talents. Keep those creative juices flowing!

In Step into a Book on day two we read one of my favorite stories, "The Mouse Bride." It tells of a little mouse who is tired of being small and weak so she decides to find the strongest husband there is so that at least her children will be strong. She starts with the sun who tells her that the cloud is stronger, who tells her that the wind is stronger and so on. I'm sure you can guess where her journey leads her. We talked about how we can use our creativity to become strong when we are feeling small and weak. Besides having a great message, this story has the best illustrations I have seen in a children's book. It is incredible how he gives different things from nature a personality. On day two we did our "Happy Accident" activity, which you can see in the Gallery, to help the children practice using the watercolors. We also began brainstorming ideas of what things they could bring to life and give a personality. Their ideas were so creative and hilarious! On day three we did the actual paintings, and also a small activity about mixing colors. We also read "The Hello, Good-bye Window." The illustrations are done in a very bright fun and loose style. There are "happy accidents" all over the place. We talked about how sometimes we need to look through a different "window" and see things in a new way.

In drawing and design we tried out using white and black charcoal on gray paper by drawing kernels of popcorn. This was a challenging activity, but the kids did great. Then each of the kids set up their own still life of fruit and drew it in oil pastels. The biggest hurdle for most people to get over to be able to draw accurately is to learn to actually look and what they are drawing and draw it as they see it rather than defaulting to an idea in their minds that isn't accurate. The kids are slowly starting to get that concept and will continue to improve as they practice in their sketchbooks throughout July.

Color Comentary

Art is in everything. Like when you hear good music it is like a beautiful picture. --Jared

Art is like an old fashion movie because if you make a lot of pictures and flip them really fast then it would look like a movie. --Camden

Art helps me become more creative every time I make a picture. --Jake

Sometimes when I see a blank paper, I just look at it and then I see something else so then I make it. --Michelle

I look at a blank paper and then just start doodling. Then it becomes a story only just with pictures and as I draw it the story changes. --Annika

Art is color. No one can control your art except for you. -- Sam

Look At This

In Drawing and Design today we talked about the importance of observation. As the students came in they were given a small object and asked to look at it and then cover it with a tissue. They could all tell me what they saw, but not with too many details.
Then they looked at it quietly for a couple minutes. At the end of the time, they could tell me many little details about their object. One of the biggest obstacles of drawing well is getting past the "clip art" image in our head and really drawing what we see. Today was mostly exercises helping us to do that. We did blind contour drawings and then worked on sketching the same object. As we progress through the next couple of days we will focus on value and shading techniques.

Our quotes for the day were:

Talent is the ability to persist until you get it right.

Creativity is looking at the same thing as everyone else and seeing something different.

The first mark you make on a page is actually the fifth mark. (You'll have to ask your kiddos for an explanation on that one.)

Please feel free to leave a comment or question. :) Watch tomorrow for pictures to be added to the gallery!

There is a Goise in Boise

Our first day of Step into a Book was lots of fun. We started out by reading "Is There Really a Human Race?" in which a child questions his mother about the "human race" that we are in. He wonders if he is racing his sister, if Dad is on his team, and what would happen if he didn't get ahead, and many other concerns. Then his mother tells him that there are beautiful things to be seen when your last. She tells him to appreciate the beauty around him, help others, "bring art to this place and make the world better for the whole human race." We talked about how art is not a competition. Everyone comes in a unique package and we don't all express ourselves the same way. We also talked about how we need to step out of the "race" to open our minds to creativity.

Our featured book was "There's a Wocket in my Pocket". We read the book with our Golden Question in mind: "What if . . . ?" What if these crazy creatures came to Boise? What would we find? What if that creature was purple, or green, or furry, or feathery, or tiny, or angry. . . . "What if?" helps us to consider many options and not just to settle for the first idea that pops into our minds. You can see what creatures you might find lurking around Boise in our Gallery.

World Tour and Art with a Buddy Still Available

I am still accepting registrations for the "World Tour" class that begins on August 3. I'm still finalizing some of the projects, but the tentative "flight" plan may include a stop in Japan to study how the Japanese used printmaking as an art form as well as some Japanese calligraphy, then off to Rome to create some relief sculptures. Another possible stop may include France to study the art movement of Impressionism. Hurry and book your tour today! :) The deadline for "World Tour" will be Monday July 26th.

Since the "Art With a Buddy" class is once a week through out July, I am extending registration for those classes. I will accept registrations up through the Friday prior to the class you wish to take. OR sign up for all four classes and save money on each class.

Registration Deadline

Our first set of classes is coming up soon and it's about time for me to go buy all the supplies and get ready for the fun stuff! If you would like to register for Art with a Buddy, Step into a Book, or Drawing and Design Session I the deadline is Monday, June 21. If you are planning on one of those classes, but have not sent off a registration form yet, please email me right away and let me know you are going to register and then drop the form in the mail ASAP. I'm getting so excited to get to the fun part. It is so magical watching the creative wheels turn in a child's mind.

Congratulations to our "Fabuless" Scholarship Giveaway Winner!!!

You may have heard that Creative Elements and Fabulessly Frugal teamed up to offer a $55 Scholarship to one of their readers. Well, the results are in!!

Congratulations Michelle Pearson!!! I look forward to meeting you and your little ones!

Doesn't Quite Fit?

If you have other events scheduled during the class you want your children to take, you should consider Hosting an Event. This allows you to customize a class to fit your needs, budget, and schedule.

Don't Miss Out!

Don't miss out on your chance for a scholarship for your child to attend one of the Creative Elements Classes for free. Just go HERE and leave a comment or send an email and let the Fab girls over at Fabulessly Frugal know why your child deserves this scholarship.

Fabuless News!

My friends over at Fabulessly Frugal are teaming up with Creative Elements to make possible another Scholarship opportunity! Just head on over to Fabulessly Frugal and keep an eye out for details. Details should be available over the next few days. While you are there check out all the great deals these gals have found to save you money. I have literally saved enough in one shopping trip to pay tuition on any of the Creative Elements classes! (Yes, even the $100 dollar one!) They are local Boise gals and are great to help you get started in the world of couponing!

Register Now

Registration is open on all the classes for the summer. Space will be limited, so register early to make sure you get a spot in the class you want. Just send an email to creativeelementsinfo@gmail.com including how many children, their ages, and the class you want to register for. Check the 2010 Summer Schedule to verify availability. You will be emailed a registration form that you will have to mail with your payment. Your spot will not be held until payment is received.

2010 Summer Schedule is Finally Here!!!

I finally have a definite schedule for the summer. Check it out here. A big thank you goes out to Ms. Logan and Lake Hazel Elementary School for allowing us to use their building! It's going to be a great summer with lots of fun things planned. Find out how to register here. Register soon, space will be limited.

Getting Started

I am excited to be offering art instruction for children this summer. I have done workshops here and there in the past and I am in the process of creating new and exciting classes for the summer. As I finalize some of my plans, details will be available here on my blog. Here's a sneak peak of what you may see this summer.

World Tour where we will learn about cultures around the world and make art inspired by those cultures.

Step into a Book where we will create art inspired by children's literature.

Art with a Buddy where toddlers and children with special needs can come with a grown-up buddy and do art together.

Basic Drawing and Design Where upper elementary aged children can learn techniques to improve their drawing and creative abilities.

Everything is in the works right now, so make sure you follow the blog so you will know when the details are available. Also, leave a comment if you think you will be interested in a workshop this summer and what type of workshops you would like to see.