Summer Art workshops for kids

 Summer art workshops for kids! 

I have had so much fun lately designing some summer art workshops for kids. It is one of my favourite things to do! I love all the creativity and imagination that kids show as they create! It only encourages me to do the same.  I know that summer is a busy time, but I also know that kids can get kind of bored after awhile.  So, what a better way to spend some summer days than to create!  I began to think of ideas by going through my sketch books to see what I could come up with!  The first thing I saw was this fun little guy pictured below and that is how doodles in underpants came to life!  Why underpants?  Why not!  That was the beginning of more to come as I began to think of other fun things to create that would allow lots of room for imagination! That's what I love about the pieces that I created.  There is lots of room for kids to add their own flavours and also for imagination to soar.  I love to incorporate storytelling to my artwork and to see how the stories grow and get full of more and more nonsense as kids come together, each adding a dynamic part.  So I'm going to give you a sneak peek on a few of the things I came up with that I'll be teaching kids how to paint this summer.  Stay tuned over the next week or two for more info on class times and location .

Doodles in underpants 
We will be working with acrylic paints to create this fun piece of art.  We'll begin by doing a simple doodling exercise to design our own doodles in underpants.  After designing we take look at working with complementary colours and then transfer everything to a 16x20 canvas.





The no good, horrible, rotton, bad hair day 
We're working with mixed media to create this fun piece of art.  We will learn about face shapes, eyes, noses and mouths, and how to use napkins and paper to make art along with paint.  Come with your imaginations to create some no good, horrible, rotton, bad hair on your canvas!









The Master Collision
Learn about acrylic paint and about famous artists, as we look at the work of Jackson Pollock, Kinzsly, and Van Gogh.  Create the ultimate collision as the masters all collide in this 16x20 canvas painting!

Exotic birds gone doodled
This is a sketching workshop as we look at three different birds and learn how to draw them.  We also look at different colour schemes, lines, and patterns.  We'll use markers to fill in these fun exotic birds.  Each bird will be mounted on black foam board.








The floating house at sea
Come with your imaginations for this fun storytelling and painting combo class!  We will be learning how to paint this painting and collectively telling a story at the same time.   This is an acrylic paint on a 16x20 canvas.









The blended chameleon
This is a watercolour class where we will be working with different techniques with watercolours, using salt, rubbing alcohol, and ink.  We will be drawing the chameleon step by step and learning how to blend one colour into another. Watercolour paper

Stay tuned for more info for registration and location.

Stevie's wonderful rhymes

It's been forever I know since my last post and yes lots has happened and I will have to fill you in,but I haven't stopped creating just taking it all at a slower pace. I was going through some of Steve's rhymes that he teamed up with my artwork and it made me sad and happy. So I thought it was time to do a blog post again sharing some of these pieces!!

A Fun Twist For Your Gardening: Introducing The Doodle Garden

At last a blog post! I must say, this spring has been a bit of a blur!  I finally feel like things are becoming normal again!  We have been busy with our book, "On Top Of the World" going into schools and doing book reading events!  It has been lots of fun and great to have my husband as my partner in all this!  I love the way he draws kids in with his fun music and quirky self!  Unfortunately I haven't been overly inspired to do much blogging lately!  Hoping this is the beginning of that all changing.  I tend to go where the inspiration hits, and sometimes that isn't always a great thing!  I can end up leaving things unfinished in all this.

But with the nice, sunny, warm weather, I have been inspired to work on my gardens.  Now anyone who knows me knows I am not a gardener!  I don't like it and I am not good at it.  However, I DO have a vision and it involves paint.  That puts a whole new twist on gardening for me.  Last year I  began a new concept "The doodle garden" and this year I plan on going BIGGER with this concept! So here is a little sneak peek of the doodle garden we are working on.  There is more to come once I work up some more of my backyard!  Poor Steve!  It's a good thing I married an easy-going guy!  So here you go....a few early pictures of our doodle garden.

I will make sure to post more as we get things done!  Happy doodling!

Trish

Creating Boxtrolls: A Creative Lesson In A Local School

Today I had the joy of going into a public school and doing an art workshop with a class of kids.  It was so much fun!  I did a demonstration with clay and we created mixed media box trolls.  I recently watched the Boxtrolls movie and loved the claymation that they used.  It really was quite interesting and very creative.  So, I decided to create my own box trolls.  In the movie the trolls each lived in a box and took on the name of the box that they were wearing.  So, each child made their own box and designed their own label.  It was awesome to see so much creativity coming out of the students and that each one was unique in its own way.  I love how you can give kids a pile of materials and they make use of them making things I would of never think of.

So how did we create these one of a kind box trolls?  We started with some air dry clay and designed heads.  We moulded and sculpted eyes, noses, mouths, teeth, and even tongues.  I loved to see how some made hats, hair, and even accessories to go with their trolls.   Each face took on a personality of its own and I soon got to see the interests of the students coming to life in what they were creating.  After all you create what you like.

Next we took small paper boxes and had a smorgasbord of materials out for the kids to play with! They began to poke holes and make pipe cleaner arms, clay feet, decorative feather dresses, plaid tape ties, and much more. Some added paint and markers, and others used lots of tape!  There was no right or wrong way and they all looked great!

The last step was to allow the clay heads to dry and then glue them to the top of the box! There you have it!  A uniquely designed box troll.  My highlight was to be able to watch the kids create and to see how much they enjoyed it!  Give it a shot with your kids.  Believe me, they'll love it!
Happy creating.

Trish

A Sneak Peek Into Funtastical Studios Art Classes For Kids

Coming this fall I will be teaching some new classes to kids ages 6-10!  I have been busy trying and experimenting with lots of mediums to make this a funtastical experience for kids.  I love the diversity in art and the varieties of materials you can work with.  I know that kids love that too!  So, I have intentionally mixed up a lot of the media to allow kids to really experiment and get the creative juices flowing!  Each week the kids will be introduced to a new medium and learn new technique while having lots of fun.  This fall the theme will be artsy animals.  We will be looking at all kinds of different animals that we will re-create and even invent.  We will be doing drawing labs, printmaking, sculpture, acrylics,  watercolours, and more!  There will also be a fun art game to play each week.
Here are a few of the projects we will be creating!

Mixed media sculpture: creating your own creature 

Mixed media birds

Drawing lab: doodling your favourite animal/bird

Contour giraffes: watercolour

Paper Mache: underwater creatures

So there you have it.  I will be developing a few more ideas over the summer.  Keep watch on our blog, Facebook page, and website as we get closer to the fall.  We'll make sure to post how you can sign up if you live in our area.

Trish

Volcano Fun: A Creative And Educational Experience

So today I am throwing some science into art or maybe some art into science.  Science has never been my strong suit or something I have liked, but with a little creative twist it can be so much more fun!!!  My daughter seems to be fascinated with volcanoes, so after studying them a little bit we decided it was time to make one.  This is a fairly easy project that you can do with kids at almost any age.  They all love it and you can make it educational for them as well if you like.




This is what you will need:
6 cups of flour
2 cups of salt (yes that's right...cups)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
2 cups of water
laundry soap
vinegar
red food colouring
baking soda

Let the mess...I mean FUN...begin!

First, mix together the flour, salt, vegetable oil and water in a bowl.

Next you will put warm water and a few drops of laundry soap in a small water bottle.  You can add some red food colouring for a lava look if you like!  Add in 2 teaspoons of baking soda and mix them all together.

Build the flour mixture up around the water bottle to make the shape of a volcano.

Decorate your volcano any way you like.  We used liquid watercolours and made it a colourful volcano.

And get ready for the eruption! Slowly add vinegar into your water bottle and watch it bubble up and erupt!

It can get pretty messy so I would recommend that you have a tray underneath to collect all the lava!
Our kids loved this fun project and I'm sure yours will too!  Have fun!!!

Trish

Easy To Use Resources For Creative Young Minds: A Sneak Peek Into Our New Curriculums.

At last Steve and I have created some art and music books for you parents to use and learn at your own home!  We often have people asking us for ideas that they can use with their kids for art or music.  Finally we've got some practical ideas and guidance for you to use not only with your kids, but for you to use and learn from as well.

Introducing Art lessons for Kids, a step by step guide to teaching art lessons for your kids.  There are 8 weeks of lessons and in it you will see a diversity of art lessons, a complete list of materials, art games that kids love, and even my favourite snacks to serve.  We get our hands in all kinds of fun materials from clay to paint to learning sketching.  The kids will have opportunity to express their own creativity as well as learn skills along the way.  These are all lessons I have personally done with kids and have found to be fun and helpful for teaching children.

Steve has been teaching children and adults guitar lessons for years.  A few years ago he wrote Guitar Made Easy,  a teaching book to assist his guitar students in learning the basics of technique, chords, theory, and a number of other topics.   He's used this very method successfully with all his beginner students over the years.  At last he is making it available to purchase.  Even if you have never played guitar, this is a step by step guide that is easy for the beginner to learn with.  With his colourful pictures you will be able understand his explanations with ease.
Check out the photos below for a sneak peek into our new books.  They are selling for $20 each and you can purchase them on our website.

Happy Creating!!

Trish