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

10 Great Ways to Create A Culture of Creativity With Your Kids

Recently I had the opportunity to speak at a homeschoolers conference and share a bit about coaching an artistic heart in your kids.  As I prepared and gathered information on this subject, I realized it really was about creating a creative culture.  So today I've decided to share a few things I have learned and discovered along the way.

1. Creativity really starts with YOU!  Even if you think you are not creative, I beg to differ.  There is something inside of you that is creative in nature.  It may be buried deep down inside or perhaps it may look differently than you think.   The attitude you carry about yourself and what you can and cannot do speaks volumes to your children.  So I would say use your words wisely and don't put yourself down or your creative abilities.  Rather, be willing to try new things and see what it is you like.

2. Incorporate a creative space in your home.  Find a space that is not tucked away in a dark corner, but somewhere with light and that would be inspiring.  As I am sure you already know, if you have little ones, they want to be where you are.  I personally have had to make a space in my kitchen and empty out a nearby closet for art supplies.

3. Have an art caddy full of your favourite art supplies.  Have these readily available and the kids will use them much more and you just might as well!  On my art caddy I have some things that are a must in our home (liquid watercolours, markers, oil pastels, glue, glitter, acrylic paint, watercolour paper, pencils and stamps).  DIVERSITY is great!



4. Invest in a sketchbook for you and your children.  Honestly, being able to just doodle for 10 minutes a day has made such a big impact in my creativity.  I also find that my children love to get their sketch books out and do the same.  Sometimes they will draw pictures from something they have just watched on TV or something that they see.  It's a great way to encourage creativity throughout the day.

5. Speak to your kids about their artwork.  Don't just assume you know what they are drawing or painting.  Instead ask them to tell you about their painting.  I also suggest that you be specific in saying what it is you like about their artwork.  If it's the colours, or the lines they used, the uniqueness that they show in their drawing, then make sure to tell them.

6. Encourage their style.  I could do a whole other post on this topic alone.  For now I will just say to help them develop their style by seeing what it is they like about their art, looking at other artists work they like,  and daily doodling without any preconceived ideas about what they should draw. Encouraging their uniqueness.  Look for their personality traits in their creativity.

7. Take time as a family to create together.  The kids love this and you may find yourself smiling too! Do family drawings and paintings together where everyone adds their own flavour.  Pick a project that you could all do and even add storytelling or music into the mix.

8. Put out drawing prompts for your kids to get inspired (I did a post on this in the past).  Some ideas you could try are to glue googley eyes to paper and have them finish the picture,  place their toys out for them to sketch, start a picture and have them finish it,  or have an inspirational wall with inspiring pictures for them to incorporate in their drawings or paintings.



9. Create with the season you are in!  I love that we are approaching spring and summer because there are so many creative things you can do outside.  From creating a really colourful doodle garden, to gathering and painting sticks, painting stepping stones that tell a story, to making an imaginary land with cardboard boxes under a big tree. (hmmm this is topic to blog on more!)

10. Display your kids artwork!  Somewhere as we get older, we can lose that excitement of wanting everyone to see what we've just created.  As a kid, you can't hang up your artwork fast enough.  As we get older that changes and we don't want anyone to see what we just did.  I think that's really sad. It's all part of a journey and what you and your child create is an expression of you on that day and time.  So I say display!  Have things such as a wire to hang artwork on, frames, cork boards, a clipboard wall filled with artwork, or make some of the artwork into a journal for keepsakes to look back on.  I only wish I had a journal like that, that I could look back on and see what I had done as a little girl.  Celebrate the creativity!

So there are just a few things that you can do to create a culture of creativity. ! I hope you enjoy and happy creating!!!

Trish

What It Takes To Keep On Rhyming (A Post By Steve)

For those of you who have been following us for a while on our Facebook page , you'll know that I (Steve) have been trying to do a rhyme to end each day with.  As a musician and music teacher, I tend to always be thinking of and looking for different words and rhymes to use for lyrics.  So I figured that doing rhymes each day wouldn't be too difficult for me.  But the reality is,  after the first few weeks I started to find myself struggling to keep at it.  I found it difficult to get inspired.  I found that always doing the 'funtastical' rhymes didn't always fit with the mood I was in.  And so, I finally decided to just start doing poems of whatever would come to mind.  Some are thoughtful, some are fun, some are just plain dumb (ha, I made a rhyme and didn't even know it)!   But that's ok.  I'm sure the reality is that for every 100 rhymes I come up with, I may get one that really is good.  But the other thing for me is that if there is one that encourages you, or brings a smile to your face, then that rhyme is a success.

Too often I can tend to focus on the numbers.  I love stats and tend to follow our Facebook stats quite a bit.  It's easy to get caught up in the numbers and how many likes, comments, or shares I get on any one particular rhyme or post.  But why is that?  Why do the numbers represent success?   Which then makes me ask, what really is success?  Is success seeing lots of people saying how much they love what I'm doing?  Is success seeing money come in from our creative endeavours?  Or is success deeper than that?  Perhaps success is really just being able to do something we love, and bringing a smile to someone's face as we do it.  Perhaps success is the little things, not the big numbers.  For me, it encourages me to know that something I have written might have brightened someone's day.  Even if it's just for one, then that encourages me to keep on going, to keep on rhyming.  That's what keeps me going when I don't feel like sitting down and writing.  I love hearing your stories and comments of how you look forward to the bedtime rhymes each night.  I love knowing that in some way I have brought light to your day.

So I will continue to rhyme.  Some will be good, some will be not so good.  But each will be a success in their own way.  Even if the success is just the fact that I took the time to do the rhyme!  :)

Steve

Staying True To Your Own Style

Maybe it's just the sunshine we have been experiencing lately, but I have been in the mood to paint. So much so that I could have easily cleared the art store out of canvas.   I have sketch book after sketch book full of ideas and paintings just waiting to happen.  This week I did two simple ideas came to mind.  For me, I love when I can find a meaning in what I paint and I also love how often others have their own interpretation as well.  I always say art is the one universal language that can speak to anyone.

Trying to stay true to my style, I set out to paint these two new paintings.  However, while painting them I found some of my old mindsets trying to set in again.  I had to battle them and let's just say it wasn't easy.  What do I mean by old mindsets?  I began to think about what I thought people would like to see on my canvas.  I began to look on the internet for inspiration (which for me is a big mistake). While looking, I seem to loose my unique style and instead try make things look like what I see.  In the process of that,  I start feeling really frustrated and it steals the joy of painting.  So once again I knew I needed to turn the computer off and look through my daily doodles instead for inspiration.  Let me just be clear... if you look on the net for your inspiration I am not putting that down.  People get inspired from other people's work all the time and I believe we are made to inspire one another.  I just can't do that.

As I began to let my style come out through my doodles I began to feel much better about what I was painting.  There is a lot that goes into planning a painting.  Not just the idea of the painting, but how to compose a painting.  How to make it look balanced and pleasing to they eye.  What colours work together and having proper perspective.  Maybe at later date I will blog more on composing a painting but for now here are the two new paintings I have created.  Enjoy!

Free to fly

Free to fly 

fly to the sky

Nothing holding back

Breaking free from that shack

Beat to your own drum

Beat to your own drum

Don't just let the crowd lead you

Nothing new will ever come

If you don't try something new.