Playing With Mixed Media

From time to time I like to play with mixed media.  For those who are unaware of what mixed media is, it is a whole bunch of different art mediums put together to make one piece of art.  What I really like about mixed media is that you can experiment with all kinds of things and make one big mess!  It is a great art project to do with kids!  A word of caution: if you are not in the mood for lots of mess and play, then perhaps don't attempt until you are in the mood.  What I really love with mixed media is that you can't mess up your piece of art.  You just keep layering over and over until you get a look that you like.

There are some rules, like anything, but you can totally break them all!  One thing to keep in mind is you do want to try to make a piece that is pleasing to the eye.  Sometimes the best way to know this is to try some different things.  If you are using a lot of texture, colour, or symbols, you will want to make sure they are balanced in your picture.  They all draw attention so see what works as you layer different mediums on your canvas.

I usually start with either a board of some kind (cupboard doors or old pieces of wood work well) or a
canvas.  Today I am using a canvas.  I have already painted the whole canvas using different shades of blue.  You will also want to have a dryer (I use a hair dryer) available to dry your work in-between layers.  After I have a base, I begin to cut out or rip out decorative paper images.  I glue these on by either using Mod Podge or make my own mixture (white glue and water).  Today I have the idea of houses in mind, so I've begun to take different paper, burlap, decorative tissue paper (my favourite) and rip out or cut the shape of whimsical houses.  I also love to use name tags.  Oh, I should mention that before I glue any of these down, I have already glued a layer of tissue paper over the whole canvas to give it some really cool texture.



I begin to glue down my houses by adding some paint.  I add some distressed ink (works awesome and I highly recommend) and I use my ink pad to line some of the edges of my houses.  I continue playing with paint and things kicking around in my craft closet, such as bubble wrap, and create some neat pattern.  Really, you can spend a fortune on mixed media!  There are tons of really great stamps available.  I recommend Tim Holtz stamps!  There also are keys, stickers, and lettering that you can put on.  The sky is the limit!  I will be doing one like that in the future, but for now I want to show you that you can also use what is kicking around your house!

After I have layered enough and painted enough I take out my trusty paint pen and begin to doodle my homes making them more defined.  I also use some indian ink to do this.  After adding a few touches to my sky and some gold ink splatters, I call this finished.

So there you have it!  Really you can't go wrong.  Just be free to create, and have fun!  If you have some little ones around, include them in on the fun they will love it!
Happy creating!

Trish

Teaching and Creating With Kids

After having a few years off, I have recently returned to teaching art lessons for kids, and after completing my first class it all is coming back to me.  I realized how much I really love watching kids create and being able to have some input in teaching them more about art.  How can you not have fun when you are offering a smorgasbord of art...or in other words a smorgasbord of messy!  So on today's blog I am going to share with you a bit about teaching and creating with kids.

The first step to teaching art to kids involves having a plan!  I have learned that having a good pre-planned lesson is very important.  Not only having a lesson planned, but also having first done the project that you are planning on doing with your students.

I try to come up with fresh and new ideas for kids to create.  Ideas that allow them to try a variety of mediums.  I find that most creative people tend to like dabbling in a few different mediums and the best way to find out what you like is to try new things.  So I like to give my students the opportunity to work with a different medium each week.  I find the same goes true if you are doing arts and crafts at home with your children.  They love to experiment and try new things and create new big messes!
Going through the aisles in art stores and craft stores there is so much material out there it can be overwhelming as to where to begin.  So I mostly design my lessons around what I have an interest in and the overflow of what I myself have created.  I find that creating themes works very well too.  The themes I choose also revolve around things I enjoy. I find it much better if you are teaching about things that you really have an interest in and the kids too begin to catch your passion!

One of the most challenging thing I find in teaching kids is planning enough projects for a class.  This is challenging because you have some students that finish very fast and others that take twice as long as you had thought.  So I always come over prepared with extra projects.  But I have also learned to set reasonable time frames for the kids to complete a project and those that are done early have to sketch or wait for the others.  My first experience in running a camp was a real learning curve for me as I had one student who finished everything very fast.  I wanted to accommodate him so I kept coming up with more and more projects for him to do.  Let's just say that by the end of the camp I was exhausted and learned this isn't the best plan!

I have also seen the benefit of making the lessons fun! Although I do desire for them to learn new skills, I also believe in having lots of fun while doing so.  I often come up with art games that allows the students to grow in skill but also play at the same time.  This also gets everyone working together!

Having some incentives are always a good thing when you are teaching theory.  They may not all love coming to a Saturday morning class to hear about art theory so I throw some candy in the mix and theory isn't so bad!  I also keep it to a minimum and we do as much hands on as possible.

My most favourite thing is to encourage my students in their uniqueness!  I love it when people embrace how truly unique and special they are!  After all there is not another person like you!  I love to see my students creating from their own style and the uniqueness that is in them.  If you are comfortable in who you are you often are comfortable in what you create.  So I love to comment on at least one thing that I love about what the kids are creating!

So there are just a few tips that I have learned about teaching kids art!  There is much more to share, so I am currently writing a Funtastical Studios Art Curriculum Volume 1. that should be available  to purchase in early spring!  That will include art lessons from start to finish as well as some more of my tips on teaching!  Stay tuned for more.

Happy creating, and for those that have little ones, have fun creating with them!  Enjoy the moment!

Trish

 Week one: liquid watercolours!

Teaching watercolour techniques. 

Just look at what you can do! Rubbing alcohol on water-colour.

Lucy's ink on watercolour.

Doodling with oil pastels.

A fun game of musical watercolours!

Anna-Grace gets all the left over paint.  She's a little too young for this class, although she wouldn't think so.

Creating in the Snow

How much do I love winter?  Not that much!  I think I could easily adjust to living in the summer all year round, however that just isn't going to happen in Canada.  So as long as I live here I need to make the best of the winter.  I must say, winter can be very pretty and wondrous!  That is if you can get past my frozen toes, shovelling snow, and getting into a freezing car.
This week there has been a lot of snow falling, leaving a fresh patch of snow on the ground.  With everything so white I thought we needed to add a little colour to winter.  So the kids and I went out for some creative time in the snow ! You should try it.  It may just brighten up your winter day.  I know it did for me!  Check out some of the pictures of the day down below!

First things first time to create a doodle snow garden

I love seeing cardinals in the winter so I decided to plant one in my garden

Hello doodle garden welcome to winter 

Liquid watercolours show up nice in the white snow.

Sprinkling the snow with the rainbow.

Colour blending in the snow.

Snow makes a great brush holder.

Hello colour!

Status Quo...NOT!

I recently took my kids to the theatre to see the movie The Penguins of Madagascar.  I love to watch movies and my kids are no exception.  We have an extended collection of kids movies on our shelves.   Even though if I had my pick I would have chosen an adult flick, I am often pleasantly surprised when a children's movie just kinda grips your heart.  I have many times sat on my couch watching a movie with the kids to hear the inspirational music they play (you know the kind). The kind that makes you believe that you can do anything!  And I sit back holding back the tears thinking this is stupid, this is just a kids movie.

So once again I was pleasantly surprised when the very first scene of the movie Penguins of Madagascar opened and it began to speak to me.  So much so that I thought this is a blog post! Hence the post today!

 A must at the movies. I love to pour the m&m's into the popcorn.

Scene1: The penguins are all in a line in Antarctica and they are following the next penguin ahead of them in the formation. Three cute and cuddly penguins (Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski) kind of get out of line. They notice an egg rolling down a hill in danger.  Mentioning it to the other penguins, they all stay in their line stating it is safe in line but unsafe out there, and the reality is a few eggs don't make it.

The three penguins decide to break formation and the status quo and go after the egg. This begins their great adventure.  After rescuing the egg, it hatches and Private is born. Sorry for all who haven't seen the movie if I've ruined the opening part for you, but that is only the first 5 minutes.  There still is 80 more minutes of adventure to watch.

For me, as I watched this scene I could feel emotion building up in me as a saw a parallel being made between my life and the movie.  I saw the formation of penguins as the status quo and what everyone typically does...following the leader and playing it safe.  I could  feel momentum rising up in me as I saw the penguins get out of line and go for the adventure, go out into the unknown and sometimes unsafe places.  The line (status quo) in my life is also called comfortable.  But one thing I have come to realize, being comfortable doesn't make me fulfilled.  I love the part in the movie when they went out to save an egg that may have otherwise died.  I think of that with others as well.  Sometimes stepping out to help someone else may lead to an adventure you didn't plan, but the outcome of helping someone can be so great!

The movie continues and the penguins get themselves into adventure after adventure and end up....(not going to tell).  It really made me ponder my life and ask myself where have I settled for what the status quo is?  Because,  I believe none of us were made for just the status quo!  We were made for so much more.....( I hear a swichfoot song coming on).  We were made to make a difference and to have a life of adventure.  To break formation and go after what is in your heart!  As artists and creatives, we are meant to set the trends.  Do you create what everyone else does or are you willing to step out of the line of familiar and create something that comes from deep within?  I have decided that 2015 is not going to be about following the status quo but stepping towards what I believe God has put into my heart.  SO, I challenge YOU to do the same!  You can do it because you were made for more!!  No matter where you have been or what you have done, God has a plan and purpose for your life and it is good!  Where are you staying in formation when you need to get out of the line?  What is your status quo?
Be blessed Trish
I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.

Inspired by the movie a doodle began and turned into a painting

A reminder to me to live the adventure of life

I've Been Pondering...Who Are We? (the musings of Steve)

I've been doing a lot of pondering lately.  For those of you who know me well, you will know this is nothing new.  I ponder many things.  Pondering is my way of processing what is going on around me and in my life.  It allows me to come to some sort of understanding for the matters at hand.  And at the end of a year and as we are looking forward into 2015, I tend to ponder that much more!

One of the things I've been pondering revolves around Funtastical Studios.  Why are we here?  Why do we exist and what is our purpose?  If you've been following the blog at all, you'll know that we've been on quite the journey this past year.  We spent the summer at our trailer relaxing, creating, and spending time with family and friends.  We've been working hard at developing our Funtastical Studios business and creating new ideas and products.  We've had the successful launch of our first children's book "On Top Of the World" which sold out very quickly and we're waiting now on our second shipment of books to come in.  But at the heart of everything, why are we doing all of this?  

The trailer!  Our home for the summer.

Trish doing one of her wonderful creations!

Our children's book, 'On Top Of the World."

The best answer I can come up with is that we are dreamers.  We always have been.  Our dream revolves around making a living through our creativity.  It also involves encouraging others to be who God has created them to be.  To encourage and help them live out their dreams and to restore hope to those who have lost hope.

For us, our dream revolves around the arts because that is how we are wired.  It also revolves around fun because that is a big part of who we are.  We love to play.  We're big kids in many respects.   

  

It involves our family.  Our kids are a big part of our dream.  We want them to join with us in living out not only our dreams, but also their own dreams.  How does that look for us?  Well, honestly right now we're still figuring that one out!  Part of it is by allowing them to create on their own, and paying attention to how they are wired.  Part of it is by allowing them to participate in what we are doing.

It also involves adventure.  Stepping out into a dream is not easy.  There are many obstacles to seeing the dream come to pass.  There are risks that need to be taken, and mindsets that need to be shaken.  But the reality is that if we play it safe and don't take the risks, we will not be alive inside.  There will always be a part of us that wonders...what if!  We don't want to live with 'what if.'  We want to live the adventure.  We'd rather live life full and free as opposed to being filled with regrets.

And finally, it involves encouraging you in the same way.  We, by no means, have arrived yet.  We are early in our funastical journey.  But did you know that you are a part of us living our dream?  You, just even by reading this and following us on social media, are helping make our dream a reality, and we want to somehow be a part of seeing your dream become a reality as well.  As we head into a brand new year, I'd like to encourage you to dream big!  Find what makes you come alive inside.  Pursue your dreams and go for it!  The adventure is waiting for you!  And can I encourage you to share your dreams with us as well?  Post them on the Facebook page and interact with us.  Feel free to talk with us about the joys and struggles.  Let's encourage each other as we live out our dream!  We absolutely love it when we see people commenting and becoming part of our Funtastical family!  So thank you for being a part of our dream.  Let's journey together as we live our lives full of adventure, fun, family, and destiny!  Happy 2015!

Steve