Do Art Make Stuff

charlotte noruzi special guest artist

"Is the author of Grow Watermelon Grow and Urban Iran here today?" asks Jacques Anthony immediately upon arrival to class. Now I know someone is reading the flyers. We were so lucky to have artist/writer Charlotte Noruzi visit our class! Charlotte is author and illustrator of the autobiographical children's book Grow Watermelon Grow and has co-written and compiled a fascinating book on contemporary art in Iran with a focus on street art and illustration called Urban Iran. Both books have a unique cultural feel and the most beautiful art work (some of my all time favorite).

Charlotte read her book to the classes and for the older kids, did a presentation on the process of making her children's book. She covered the gamut from inspiration to manuscript to thumbnails to teeny tiny dummy to finished art to final book. It was a great way to show the children how an artist thinks and works while doing a big project. After the presentation we all made watermelon and fruit prints (inspired by the watermelon prints in Charlotte's book).

artwork by Sadie age 5

You can purchase a copy of both books by clicking these links. I also have a couple of copies in class if anyone missed out. Grow Watermelon Grow and Urban Iran by Charlotte Noruzi.

more from the mandala class

Right before the mandala class I went out for coffee. On my way back low and behold I found the perfect scraps for the class - soda can boxes. I love the look of bright color on cardboard. There were fun "let's just see what we can do with these" last minute creations. Below Katherine, our high school volunteer, paints some circles.

the mandala show

The children's mandalas are now posted on A Million Mandalas for Peace. Thank you Melody for making this wonderful project and giving us this special opportunity to contribute.

mandala by chloe age 8

making a million mandalas for peace

mandala artwork by maya age 8

This week we were making mandalas, art in the form of a circle found in all cultures of the world and considered sacred by some. Mandalas are especially prevalent in eastern religious cultures but are also found in western culture especially in the form of the rose window. Our assistant teaching artist Melody is working on a project called A Million Mandalas for Peace where she is trying to collect a million mandalas and is posting them on her website. As of today she has 290. The idea of this collection really excited the kids and they were eager to add to Melody's project. I will be submitting one for each child to Melody soon, adding 20 more to her collection.

melody teaching the 4,5 and 6ers about mandalas

artwork by kora age 5 and cate age 5, making mandalas

artwork by bridin age 8. bridin produced and produced on this project. she has a lovely color sense.

artwork by mikey age 8 and jacques anthony age 9

I am amazed by the drawing above started by Mikey who was later joined by Jacques Anthony. I love the way they went about this. Obviously they took the idea of a million very seriously and actually counted these mandala peace signs (oh and by the way, it's not finished). Mikey always approaches art as play, as an activity not to produce a work of art but to have an experience of play. Jacques Anthony is similar and incorporates a lot of story into his work. The thing that is most impressive to me about this piece is that it has a sense of design, graphics and light and dark. It is not merely a counting exercise buy demonstrates elements of art.

kids do art for kittykind!

 

artwork by Camilla age 7

This week Ann Simkins a volunteer for KittyKind and a photographer visited our class. KittyKind is an animal rescue and cat adoption organization with an adoption center at the Manhattan Petco (14th street). Spring is kitten season, when most unwanted kittens are born, so Ann needed our help - artwork to encourage the public to adopt! Our ad savvy kids covered all the bases using humor, good argument and emotional impact to persuade people to adopt. The artwork will hang at the Kitty Kind Adoption Center at Petco throughout the year.

Below are some shots Ann took in class. To see all of Ann's photos click here.

maya gives it to us straight!

camilla appeals to her public through emotion. the poor kitty is crying.

inspiration notebooks

At the beginning of the semester I give each kid their own inspiration notebook. They are used as a storehouse for collections, experiments and ideas. The kids collect, draw, scribble, glue, mark and make art that can later be used to inspire more art work. It's a source of self excitement. Everyone should have one!

Along with working in notebooks as a class activity, they are great to work in while we are waiting for everyone to arrive or if someone finishes a project early. The kids always know they can work in their notebooks. Last year Mikey used his for a page by page  illustrated story. Other kids have used them for thumbnails for murals.

Camilla is new to the class so I had Mary and Marisa describe the idea behind making the notebook and wow! did she get it! "This is why art inspires me..."

artwork by camilla age 7, inspiration notebook
I love how she is talking about texture and feeling, how the silver is expesle (special). I was amazed! She came up with doing it this way completely on her own. She is so clear with what she is doing and thinking.

answers to some questions...

artwork by chloe age 7, self portrait

My friend Heidi who is a teaching artist emailed the following questions on the portrait project:

"when you did the self portraits do you use mirrors, imagination, or photos as reference? Did you use paper, and how do you set up the paint (always a challenge for me especially with a large group) and what brand tempera do you buy?"

1) We used mirrors from the dollar store and talked about the shapes of eyes being like lemons and what things really look like as opposed to a symbol. If they got the idea with the eyes I was happy.

2) I never use photo reference EVER. Not for my work and not for the kids. There is nothing like looking at the real thing. There is energy, dimension and life in reality that is not in a photo. I also encourage them not to pencil first. You need to learn to live with and deal with what you put down naturally. However I do make exceptions if the child feels uncertain.

3) We used heavy paper. The same paper we use for murals. Thick like cover stock, maybe a little heavier (I never remember the pound measurements of paper). Strathmore makes it in rolls and you can get it from Blick.

4) We have metal pallets that we set up ahead of time at a paint station with white, flesh and basic colors we know they want and leave space in the pallet so they can choose some of their own colors. Always encourage mixing.

5)For paint we used Blick tempera. You can catch a good sale and it is very good quality. I recently ran out of black and had to buy some cheap stuff at a craft store. Not only was there not enough pigment in it (it looked grayish) but when Evan used it to paint the top of a box it peeled the next week. The sides of the box painted with the Blick tempera did not.

Hope this helps!