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| Students on our field trip |
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| Sketching |
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| Artist research |
Students then voted on the theme for our show, and worked on their final pieces over the course of multiple classes. They helped us create signs for the reception, sign the back of their pieces, came up with titles and artist statements, and we discussed things like what their favorite and most challenging aspects of this session were for them. We also discussed sequencing, and some of the things a curator would consider when hanging artwork in a show.
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| Discussing curating and sequencing |
Our theme, Save What You Love, stems from what we feel art essentially is. It's showing the viewers something important to the artist, whether it's a person, place, object, memory, idea, or feeling. Capturing, or "saving" that important thing in a single image. Our students have interpreted this theme in different ways. Some have chosen to share a favorite pet, an important memory, the feeling they get when they spend time with a loved one, or a fictional idea. Regardless of interpretations, their subjects are something that is important to them in some way, or that they feel joy from creating images of.
As far as the materials and techniques go, we were inspired by something basic, by the very first experience children often have with "art"- coloring books. The bold black outlines that have been laid down pay homage to this, and the delicate watercolors add a sense of lightheartedness, whimsy, and exploration that we often associate with childhood as well.
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| Opening night! |
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| Student sketchbooks |
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| Warm-up collaborative art exercises |
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My Pet, by C.B.
“My
guinea pig Lilly and me.”
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Jesus and
His Angel, by C.R.
“This
image is showing my love of Jesus.”
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Memory in
the Rain, by C.V.
“This
is a good memory of when my sister and I were
playing
in the rain- some of the drops were rain, some
were
snow. Our dad was in the house.”
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Spiders
Being Saved, by A.V.
“Save
the spiders, don’t kill them. The spiders
in
this picture are representing my family.”
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My Pets, by G.F.
“My
painting is about my three animals who I love-
my
dog, cat, and fish.”
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Elfie, by I.M.
“I
felt excited when I was painting this picture of
my
dog Elfie, who is holding her red bone.”
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A Dragon
Saving Ruth, by I.P.
“My
piece is about a dragon saving my cat.
The
dragon is like a sea dragon.”
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Spooky
Graveyard Party, by T.C.
“Even
though my creatures are spooky, they still like to
have
fun.”
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Family
Earth, by J.M.
“This
is the earth, my family, and my favorite toys.
The
colors I used for the people are their favorite colors.”
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| Mommy
& Me, by A.K.
“I’m
showing the love between myself
and
my mommy.”
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| Instructor pieces |
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| Collaborative pieces |
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| Earth Elements, collaborative piece by Earth Art students |
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| Things We Love About Wildwood, collaborative piece by Explore Wildwood participants |
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| The Earth Art instructors |
Congrats to all of our students for working so hard this session and on the smashing success of their first art show! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported them on opening night- we had a great time and hope you did too. Stay tuned for details on our next session of Earth Art classes (starting after the New Year) coming soon.
