How to teach painting to toddlers

How to teach painting to toddlers? We recently had our 16 month old grand daughter visiting from Wichita...and I wanted her to have her first painting experience in my studio while she was here.

Important points to remember:

• Have your camera ready to catch the artist in action.
• Have several old washcloths and a bucket of water handy.
• Get everything set up before you bring the child to the painting 'center'.
• Use only non - toxic, water based poster or tempera paint!
• Don't use water colors. They are too frustrating for young kids as the colors make 'mud' quickly.
• Limit the number of colors to 2 or 3, with white, to start with. For more 'attractive' finished pieces use colors that are adjacent on the color wheel, like purple, red and blue. If you want to have the child use colors that are opposite on the color wheel, like purple and yellow, use one color then let it dry before using the second color. You may still get a little mixing (therefore brown/grays) but not nearly as much.
• Tape up a really large piece of heavy paper, illustration board or scrap mat board on a wall. Make sure it is really securely attached. And try to keep the tape only on the back or the very edges of the painting surface. Or use a child's easel if you have one...they are great gifts.
• Use chubby brushes, with short handles.
• Lids from ice cream pails work great as palettes, if you want to wash it or toss it. See below.
• Put a paint shirt on the child, and an apron on yourself and wear old clothes both of you!
• Let the child 'have at it' - show how to dip the brush in the paint and then on the paper. Give praise!
• Encourage explorations - of color mixing, line and mark making. Please don't worry about rinsing out the brush between colors. Kids will lose interest quickly and mixing paint is most of the fun...as you will see on the palette!
• Let the child paint her/his hands and 'print' them on the paper, too.
• Most toddlers will be 'finished' quickly!
• Let the painting dry. Come back to it later to add more or frame it up! Preschool paintings are especially cute framed with a photo of the child making the art work in a double mat inside one frame. One more idea: use a thick paper palette - like another piece of illustration board or mat board and frame that with the art and the photo!

Have fun!

Holiday Glow Art Sale & Show Visual Art Grand Forks

Oh, my gosh, I can't believe the whole summer has happened! We had a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating our daughter's wedding in June, a grand daughter's baptism in July and lots of other fun but more normal summer time events: water fights, time at the lake, garage sales, etc. Monday I start with my weekly art kids!

I've created a whole series of 44 nostalgic paintings called "Whimsical Snapshots of Life on the Prairie". Included: a windmill, oil rig, small town bank, bar, jail, clothesline, horse, cow, chicken and coop, '57 Chevy, Model T, vintage farm truck, sunflower, wheat stalk, grain elevator, grain bin, dilapidated house, barn, night sky, milk truck, one room school house, school bus and many more. I'm listing them on etsy a few at a time...

I have the artists in place for the second annual Holiday Glow Art Sale & Show. The sale will be Nov. 12, 5-9pm and Nov. 13, 1-5pm. Fourteen artists will have 10 open houses to show their art in cozy and informal settings. Refreshments will be served and no admission charged. It will be a wonderful time to shop for special Holiday gifts!

1000Markets.com Pottery Art Sculpture

http://www.1000markets.com/users/jackiesart

I've listed abstract, simplified ceramic sculptures on my new shop with 1000Markets. Check it out! I also listed two other fun and funky pottery pieces - a 'flower bed' - it holds a little terra cotta pot that is perfect for a mini-cactus or a bedding plant. And I listed a frog plant stand - it, too, holds a little terra cotta pot. It is one of my 'Perfect NM (No Maintenance) Pottery Pets'. Froggy comes complete with a removable tag that promise good behavior!

I've also updated my website: www.jackiesart.com and my etsy shop: www.jackiesart.etsy.com. Cool, unusual and unique items that you won't find any where else. Happy shopping!

January art - inspiration from the cold?

Minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit! Is it possible to draw artistic inspiration from the cold weather? In North Dakota we try not to let the temperature restrict our activities too much. We go to work, shop and some people play outside...cross country ski, hockey, skate. I'll do my daily walk outside if the wind chill temperature is zero or above. Otherwise I head to the fitness center.

But what kind of inspiration can I or my young students or others with artistic leanings draw from the icebox that we live in? Everything is white - the ground, the roofs, the trees, the sky, the exhaust coming from our constantly running furnaces, the breath we exhale. Snow beneath our feet crunches and squeaks as we step on it. We hear the beep, beep of snowplows in reverse, or the grinding of our neighbors' cars or snowblowers trying to start. We keep our hands covered as everything outside is too cold to touch. The only smells are of gas and exhaust. There is little else to jolt our senses, to stimulate our creative juices. We need to draw from deep within - like Frederick the mouse in the children's story - to remember colors, sights, sounds and smells that we want to convey in our art. These will warm our heART until spring comes to the north...and it will, just not very soon!

Happy New Year!

Pottery Pets and Flower Beds

Pottery pets and flower beds...my newest ceramic creations are for sale in two local gift shops. I've been so busy that I haven't had time to take photos and get them posted here. I'm starting my weekly art kids next week and have lots of ideas that I want to explore with them this year, including fused glass.

Today we are getting company for the weekend. Our daughter, Jennifer and her little girls, Taylor and Haley, are coming for a slumber party, according to Taylor. My birthday is Monday so they will celebrate early with us. A couple of my sisters will visit this weekend, too. One of them on her way to a wedding and the other is coming for the Brittany Spears concert. That is a big event our city is geared up for this weekend.

Our middle daughter, Sara, is engaged! They have set June12 next summer as the day they say their vows. It is fun to be planning a wedding again!

Soon I hope my life slows down a bit and I can get some pictures taken, my website updated and write about more interesting things in my blog!

Abortion, Visual Art, Weaving Coasters

Some babies die by accident, none should die by choice. Wake up, abortion supporters in this country...let's not kill our youngest! Life is a miraculous gift and there are so many couples who cannot concieve. Let's encourage and support pregnant women so they follow through, carry their babies to term and give them up for adoption...bless the lives of couples who are suffering heartbreak and heartache and emptiness for want of a child. Give the gift of live to them!

Another topic: school starts soon and that means new art will be created by lots of kids. I'm excited to get my students started! We will start on Sept. 14 - I just can't decide if I want to start with some basic color theory or the principles of design. Actually, we'll probably review the art elements first and then go from there. I have lots of returning students and a few new ones, too. It is always fun to have new students as the group dynamics change and that is fun for all.

I've got a set of coasters on my table top loom...plan to get those off the loom this week and knot up or sew the edges, depending on how my time goes the rest of the week...my 'list' is long! I really want to get a denim rug woven on my floor loom, too but it needs warping first and that is SUCH a big job! I almost feel too old to get down on my hands and knees to get it done. I wonder if I can pay someone to warp it?

Last night when I was walking the ice cream truck came down the street. It had the music blaring to alert the kids that it was in their neighborhood. The not-so-seasonally appropriate song it was playing? Silent Night!

Our rabbit trap has not been successful all summer...but our window well was. Eric found the fur and skeleton of a dead rabbit in the window well last week. One down, 10,000+ to go!

How to Create a Sculpture Project Using Wire and a Sock: Visual Art That is Abstract and Easy to Make

My art kids were really curious about how we would turn pantyhose into sculpture (most of them didn't even know what pantyhose are - I asked them to check with their moms and bring in any old pantyhose with runs!).

We used a 3 foot length of strong yet bendable wire (it has to be able to hold its shape), one leg of pantyhose, white glue, Gorilla Glue, one inch foam brushes, a small block of pine wood (about 5 x 5 x 1), dried split peas, white rice, chow mein noodles and black eyed peas, big wood beads (you could use big bright colors ones, instead, and glue them on after spray painting) and spray paint (I favor gold and silver because they are so 'showy' for the kids). You'll also need a drill for drilling two holes in each wood base.

Before the kids arrived (actually the night before) I used gorilla glue to secure a wire (each end of it) into each wood base. Be sure to moisten the drilled hole in the wood with a drop or two of water before you apply the glue to the wire end and push it into the wood base. I pushed it all the way through the wood and bent it back underneath to secure it well.

Each student put the sock on their wire, pulling it over the top of the wire, down the length of the wire, and stretching it to pull it over the edge of the wood base all the way around. Then they pulled on the wire to bend and curve it - until they were pleased with the shape of the sculpture.

Next step: paint the whole thing with white glue. Let it dry and paint it again. Let it dry and paint it again! Lastly paint areas of it and place or throw (the most fun!) peas, beans, chow mein noodles and rice at the gluey areas. Some of it will stick. If you have too much glue some of the dried 'textures' will slide with the glue as it runs down, creating a nice line! Glue big wood beads for feet on the bottom corners - or all the way around - of the wood base. Let the sculpture dry again.

Take it outside and spray paint - voila! An wonderful abstract sculpture that was easy, messy and fun and inexpensive to make!

Yay! New listings on my website shop!

Oh, what a relief! New listings are up on my website. I still have a couple of stoneware bowl sets to list, but I'm thankful for the new items that are up! Take a peek and let me know what you think.

Mother's Day we are celebrating with our daughter and her family. Her youngest has been sick with throwing up and diarrhea all week so we are praying she'll feel better soon. Maybe she needs Grandma to rock and sing the ABC song to her (even though my singing voice is atrocious, she hasn't ever looked at me and asked me to stop!).

I've been having some fun on Facebook - mostly shocking the younger people who wonder if FB is being taken over by the 50' something crowd! One of my daughters has blocked me from seeing her 'wall'...hmm, is there something I should know that I don't? Or maybe mothers don't need to know everything! I remember that was my attitude when I was 20' something.

Have a wonderful weekend.

PS I've been posting new items on my etsy shop, too!

Glaze kiln loaded

I just fired up a glaze kiln - its almost 2am and I had a hurry-up glaze session going tonight. I taught a kids' pottery class today so as soon as they finished I cleaned up that mess and started glazing. One of the sculptural pieces in this kiln is sold - pending approval of the final appearance - and it is needed as a wedding gift. The purchaser is flying out on Wednesday so I need this sculpture out of the kiln on Tuesday, hence the rush job.

My daughter, Amy, came down at midnight and helped me finish up so that was awesome. She also made homemade chicken dumpling soup for supper! I have several styles of flower vases/centerpieces in the kiln, pasta dishes, dipping bowls for salsa, flavored oils, wasabi, etc., larger bowls, some madonnas and a couple other sculptures. I hope things turn out - glazing always makes me nervous. I'd so much rather just make the pieces and let someone else worry about glazing them!

We are missing our granddaughters - it was SO fun having them for a week. I'm putting together a photo album of our time together and will send it along with some things I forgot to pack and a few little gifts I got on sale.

I'll post photos here of my new pottery - be sure to come back and check it out!

Granddaughters visit!

Taylor and Haley are here visiting for the week. My kids' art and pottery classes are canceled because of Easter and spring break so this was an ideal time to have the little visitors. They are age 3 and 1. We've been outside to play, although it is still chilly most of the snow is gone, and to the indoor playground. Taylor went with me to the dentist today and thought that was great...she was really good while we were there. Yesterday we went to the library for story time. The story teller noticed we were new and asked Taylor, "What is your name?" "Hannah," Taylor answered. For whatever reason she always tells people her name is Hannah!

She has enjoyed making birthday cakes in my pottery studio - she takes a wad of clay and lays on it with her belly to flatten it. Then she adds a bunch of buttons for candles, we sing 'Happy Birthday' and have a pretend party. She went into the bathroom to wash her hands later as I was putting the clay and tools away. After a while she yells in a sing-song voice, "Grandma Jackie, water is going everywhere!". I rushed in to find she had plugged the sink drain and water was indeed going everywhere, and had been for quite some time! Grand Forks hasn't been flooded this spring but my basement has!

NCECA in Phoenix

I laid awake all last night in our hotel room in Phoenix thinking over my experiences at the NCECA conference the last three days.  Besides being lucky enough to win a couple of nice door prizes, I met up with a friend I met at Anderson Ranch a few years ago and had lots of shared experiences with our daughter, Amy.  We met quite a few new potters, listened to some interesting lectures and discusssions, watched demonstrations by other ceramicists and potters, and learned about new tools from vendors.  All in all it was a wonderful time - I hope to make good use of some or all of the new information in my work and with my young students.  Hopefully, they will benefit from my time here, too.

Winter won't leave!

Winter won't leave! So I'm taking off instead. Headed next week for Phoenix and NCECA, a gathering of potters/ceramicists from around the country and around the world. It is my first NCECA time, but hopefully not my last. I was lucky enough to attend a few national gatherings of art educators when I was teaching for our local school district. I expect this to be just as exciting and rejunvenating!

I'm headed to my pottery studio in a few minutes to do some cleaning and make a few pottery flower bowls. I didn't get enough pottery made before NCECA to fire the kiln so my cup for the cup exhibit/auction won't be ready. I'm kind of disappointed because it is unique, some may say weird, but I like it. It is one of a kind and big enough to be a soup cup, with a handle and some nice texture. I'll post a photo after it is out of the glaze kiln.

I have a kiln full of kids' glazed pottery, but am going to let them help unload it on Monday. It is always fun to lift off the shelves and see how things have turned out. I really encouraged them to use enough underglaze this time around. They are usually in such a hurry that the colors are spotty and not even. Maybe they did a better job this time? We'll see.

The Red River level is falling here after the third highest crest in history. Not a drop of water escaped our new levee/dike system - awesome! Prayers were answered!

Flood Fight

The Red River is on a rampage again this spring. We have been flooded twice by this normally placid river. In '79 it unexpectedly filled our basement while we were gone. We had gone out to my sister's, 350 miles west of here, for the weekend. One of my other sisters called on Saturday morning and said, "I have really bad news for you...your house is flooded." We thought she was joking. She wasn't. We came home - the water was within 1" of our main floor. We threw everything into junk piles for the trash trucks to pick up.

In '97 the Red rose again to unprecedented, 100 year levels. This time we hauled everything out of our basement dry, much to the disgust of our teenage daughters who were enlisted to help. ("This is so crazy - we are miles from the river - it'll never flood our house.") It did...dikes broke and all the water gushed across our flat city. We threw only one bed that somehow we had forgotten about after setting it up against the wall to get it later. And we threw carpet and sheetrock and insulation.

Now our city has a dike protection system. We are counting on it this year...everything is staying in place in our homes. This will be the first time the system is tested...so we are nervous but hopeful.

We are praying for everyone in Fargo, North Dakota who are in the flood fight of their lives. Two of my sisters live there and they have been working 'round the clock to build sandbag dikes in their neighborhoods. I can feel their aching bodies and know what is going through their minds. It is an emotional roller coaster of fear and hope. Several of my art students live next to the Red in Grand Forks. They, too, are fighting the waters, as they are outside the protection of the new dike system. Please keep the communities along the Red River in your thoughts and prayers for the next several weeks until the river crests and subsides.

On another note, there are a few days left of my grand opening sale. My website now has an online store! Go to www.jackiesart.com and click on my gallery. Everything is 20% off through the last day of March.

Saturday musings

We are heading to our daughter, Jennifer's, shortly to meet up with them and our middle daughter, Sara, who is on spring break from teaching math in Wichita. I feel so blessed to have our family! I got to thinking about something I'd read a couple weeks ago about abortion, the killing of our unborn and how crazy our thinking has become.

Excerpts from another's writing: "We have become desensitized as a nation. The crime of killing an eagle is punishable by a fine of $100,000 or a year in jail. There are laws against harming an unborn eagle, but we allow the killing of unborn human babies. We save the owls, whales and trees but not our children."

I just don't get it. How can we, as a society, condone this? Let's save and protect our babies and place them in loving adoptive homes. Let them bless the lives of couples who cannot have their own children. Let's stop using abortion as birth control, support and help the women who are pregnant and don't want to be. Let's enable them, emotionally, medically and financially, to carry their babies full-term. Let's use some of the billions and billions of economic recovery dollars to develop programs for these mothers.

Praying for the baby killing to stop...and appreciating so much our family and the young people who come to me for art in their lives. May your Saturday be blessed!

Another Blizzard

Oh, my gosh! We are having ANOTHER blizzard! I cancelled all my kids' classes today and school is cancelled all over the region. I decided to work in my pottery studio and have been throwing a large bowl and matching small bowls for my nephew. He is getting married the end of May. I hope he and his fiance' like chips and salsa! My hands are cold from being in water and working with the clay. My clay is sort of hard so it is being difficult and has a mind of its own.

I'm hoping to make a bisque mold today, too, so it is quicker for me to make small mother and child figurines. I'll be able to press clay into the mold, so each one will still be individually made. But because it should be a quicker process, I'll be able to price them for less. I'm looking to price them right under $30...we'll see!

The yarn I ordered a week ago finally arrived...after I called the company yesterday and complained about the lack of service. I was disappointed because last time I ordered from them, I had the yarn the following day. I'm making clog slippers for everyone in our family. I've made one pair but haven't felted them so I hope the size will be OK. We don't have a top loading washer so I'm waiting to felt them at our daughter's house this weekend.

Stay warm and if you are in a sunny place, enjoy and appreciate it!

Yay! My online shop is OPEN!

My online shop is up and running! It is 3 months later than I hoped, not in time for Christmas shopping or even Valentine's Day gifts, but just in time for getting something special for St. Patrick's Day. Hmmm, I guess I do have a few green items!

Check it out at www.jackiesart.com. Go to my shop and check it out, OK? I'm offering a "It's Finally Up & Running" coupon, good for 20% off anything in the shop! You'll need to use coupon code JArt2009 when you check out (put it in the 'redemption code' box). The discount will be figured in for you. The celebration sale is on for purchases through March 31 only.

I haven't had time to list everything, like my gourd clocks and Lamples. I hope to get those in the shop in the next week or two. And I'm making a new kiln full of pottery so look for those pieces in the future, too.

Please let me know if you feel the shop is not user friendly - I'd love your feedback as I'm new to this and would like to get it right! Thanks!

PS I donate 1/2 of my sales to our local homeless shelter to help them in the good work they do in our community.

Florida sunshine

We're back from sunny Fort Lauderdale - and trying to pretend the snow is white sand! We loved the city, the beaches, the sun and the people. What a fun place to visit. We even took in three art museums and were impressed by all three. The art museum in Fort Lauderdale, tucked away near the public library, had a special exhibit of Picasso's ceramics. That was fun to see, even though most of it didn't look like it took much time to throw together! The Bonnet House, near the ocean in Fort Lauderdale, had beautiful grounds and lots of eclectic art that the owner and his wife had created, including murals on the ceiling, a la Michaelangelo. My favorite museum was the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. What a gem - they had a wonderful representation of art, including impressionists, contemporary, Chinese and lots of other artists. Don't miss it if you are in the area!

My students are all starting a pottery unit today - we'll be throwing on the wheel (attempting it, anyway), and some handbuilding. They are so excited - I think every one of them loves working with clay!

'catching up'

My shop on my website is finally close to getting up and running. I thought it would be done the beginning of November! Do any of you have internet shops, beside etsy or one of those similar hosting sites? We are using the service Zen Cart and there has been so much to learn. I can't even say I'm doing most of it. We hired a computer expert to do most of it, then my husband got involved, too. He's been spending hours and hours on it. Finally, it was my turn. I've been taking photos, writing descriptions, weighing and measuring everything. I think I've revisited each item about 4 times. When I need to put up a new product from here on out, I'll be a lot smarter about info gathering - and get it all in one shot! It is exciting nevertheless and I look forward to having a 'Grand Opening'!

My art students finished our cartoon unit this week - they've worked hard and did an awesome job. I learned a lot, too, so that's been fun. Some of my students seem to have a real talent for cartooning, so maybe we'll see their work on the comic page when they are older. How fun would that be??? For me, anyway!

Take care and may God bless you and yours!

Mini gourd clock photos

I'm posting more photos of my mini gourd clocks today. I'm hoping to start soon on a new idea I have that will combine my love for felting with ceramics and the images I like of mothers with their children or baby. I'm excited about it, and have been mulling over ideas about how to 'put it all together' for a couple weeks. We'll see how it goes.

We may have our two little granddaughters here for a week or so. That would be fun! We love having them at our house, except it is so quiet and picked up after they leave.

Our Valentine Art Show went well, although none of us sold a thing to anyone who intended it as a gift for their sweetheart. It was really cold that afternoon/early evening, like 20 below zero (F). Maybe we would've had even more traffic had the weather cooperated a bit. We're thinking of trying the same sort of 4-7pm show just before Mother's Day. We had wine leftover so we each took home a bottle!

I picked up my clocks -they'd been showing at the same place since Oct. All my ceramic clocks have sold. Two of the polymer clay clock faces had cracked so that was disappointing. I don't know if I did something wrong when I baked the faces or if the wood base I glued them to shrunk and caused the cracking. I thought the wood was really dry as we'd had it for a couple years. Disappointing but there's a lesson to be learned if I can just figure it out!

Gourd clock photos

I finally got a few photos taken *actually my hubbie did it* of two of my mini gourd clocks. We had a busy weekend with our oldest daughter home, with her two little girls. They are one and three years old and both of them are happy, joyous toddlers. We LOVE having them here!

Today I'm continuing my cartooning unit with my art kids. We learned about Charles Schulz and Roy Lichtenstein the previous two weeks. Today our artist is Keith Haring. After learning about an artist we are sketching in note books. Each student will have a collection of cartoons by the end of our unit. They will then pick and choose features that they like and put together their own, unique cartoon character. Hopefully, they will use the character in a short 3 or 4 panel comic strip. It has been really fun for me to learn about cartooning and some of the artists who are famous because of the cartoon or comic strip look of their work.

I hope to get the mini-gourd clocks listed on etsy after the Valentine Art Show on Thursday.