sand pipers

 

created for a fundraiser bennefitting the Missouri Theater.

Each artist was given a old instrument found in the theater to turn into an artwork.

Dale Chihuly

 

Dale Chihuly

the glass ceiling at the Bellagio 

Chihuly is a glass blowing artist.  He creates large sculptural installations with glass forms that are brilliantly colored and in organic shapes.

At Lee Elementary School, we created our own sculptural installation inspired by Dale Chihuly.

We used tissue paper and acrylic medium to create our organic form.

All of the forms were hung in the entry way of the school.

The contributing artists to this sculpture (the students) were able to share their

work with the school, and experience how an individual piece becomes part of a whole work. 

 

Bubble Wand o0o*0o0*

simple bubble wand gift for a magical friend...

wire, bamboo, beads, and a bottle for your potion

(you can put glitter or marbles in your bubble solution to make it special)

Awesome & Handmade

the best gifts are the ones you make.

Progression (Painting)

These paintings were created with help from a few talented 6th and 7th graders. 
We were asked to do these canvas paintings to hang in St. Paul's Episcopal Day School.
We used the school symbol- a cross inside a circle- as our inspiration for these sybolic-season paintings. We used monochromatic color schemes to create the sections of the cross, both inside and out side the circle.  The painters were able to experiment with color mixing, changing light to dark, and dealing with intesifiying and neutralizing colors.

Spirit Houses

Spirit houses are mainly found in S.E. Asia: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand. They are placed outside of homes and businesses as a place to provide shelter and honor the spirits.
I am fascinated by this tradition. To me, it makes life more mystical, more fantastic, a reminder to daydream about the forces at work in nature.



I look for opportunities to do workshops about Spirit Houses. I love referencing ideas of magic and the unknown into the creative process. Dealing with spirits and teaching, well... that's a little tricky. I will talk about the tradition of Spirit Houses, and then loosely use nature and nature spirits/fairy houses- things fanciful, as the intent for our project.

These large groups of houses were created by 60 first graders at Shepard Elementary. These houses were displayed outside the school for a week. This gave the students the opportunity to create a piece of a whole for an outdoor installation.





This house was one of my favorites, it has wings!








This smaller group of houses is in my yard. My daughter and I made these houses during a small workshop I hosted this summer.

Teaching Painting with Monet

Monet is one of the artist I use to teach painting to young artists. His loose style and use of color makes his work the perfect inspiration for young painters.

When teaching painting I always give the students several sessions to work on their paintings. This shows how an artist builds a painting and the progression of work through time.



With younger artists I use specific paintings, for example Monet's Waterlilies, shown here, painted by a group of children 6 and under.



With older artist's, this group being 6-7, we used photographs as our subject and Impressionism as the influence for our style.
I like the students to be able to take their own photos; this makes them photographers and painters.

Painting is learned, just like riding a bike. Think of Bob Ross, he could teach anyone to paint.
I love being able to give children the experience of making a beautiful and successful painting.