Calligraphy Birds & Beasts with Wynn Yarrow

 

Calligraphy Birds & Bests

First Friday Art Club in November explored the Victorian era folk art of calligraphy animals.  Guest instructor Wynn Yarrow led this program and started the introduction with a Powerpoint presentation.

Sweeping Lines

Students were advised to pay attention to the sweeping lines of each image in the presentation.  There were swirly marks and swishy marks similar to cursive writing.  Some students noted that the marks looked like the Nike symbol.  Wynn handed out inspiration packets, which had printed animal silhouettes .  These silhouettes were easy to trace over blank sheet of paper and create personalized beasts. 

Cats & Dogs

Images of cats and dogs started popping up all over the conference room.  After an image was chosen, it was up to each student to personalize the drawings with the swirly lines we saw in the Powerpoint presentation.  

How do you draw a Peacock?

Students were also welcome to select books from the library collection to help draw a specific animal. Birds were this artist's fancy.

Modern Mouse

It was apparent that some kids had a vision they needed to accomplish.   
This student was fond of a mouse and became fully engaged in decorating her creature with significant calligraphic marks.

I enjoy watching younger students develop their skills.  Drawing is that special skill that everyone struggles with because they always compare with another artist they feel has more talent.  Wynn Yarrow does not allow this comparison in her classes.  There is consistent reassurance that imagery developed by an artist's hands at that moment is the highest skill and best they can do.  "Comparing is not the key to success, just an indication of where we might wish to go."

Monkey Trouble

As birds and beasts were developed in the class, students also learned how to 

create banners with Victorian era proverbs.  Using handouts for inspiration, 

Maggie used her own name to label her drawing.  

The Dragon

The youngest artist in this class finally discovered the joy of drawing.  

Something about this lesson resonated with Alex.  Here he is drawing a Chinese dragon.  When he finished, he boasted, "I feel I have the potential to be an artist!"

Giraffe on Safari

This Giraffe was another success story of the afternoon.  There were several attempts to get that silhouette just right, but Roni forced herself to make it happen without any help.  

Using a library book as reference, she tested patterns on separate paper before utilizing them in her design.  The giraffe's spot are so impressive!

Let me draw RIGHT MEOW!

Having a guest instructor gives me an opportunity to take pictures and record quotes from the students.  There was even enough time for me to draw and test out my own skills.  I had fun trying several styles within the same cat silhouette.

This wraps up another year of First Friday Art Club.  

We host a Make & Bake Gifts program in December in place of Teen Cooking Club and First Friday Art Club.  Space is limited, so sign up today to secure your place to create beautiful and delicious gifts for friends and family this holiday season.

Goodies for the Holidays!

Thanks for visiting.  See you in December!

xo,

Erica

   

harp & heART with Maryalice Little

Maryalice Little is a harpist who has been training as a certified clinical musician with Harp for Healing.  She inquired to have an opportunity to use her therapeutic music in a youth art program.  First Friday Art Club came to mind and we immediately got busy planning the event.

The beautiful harp

The plan we created was for Maryalice to play several musical pieces, each with a different tempo and rhythm, including recognizable music and improvisational sounds.  For each song or piece of music played, students were given a different implement to make marks on their page. We started the class with graphite pencils.  

Something Familiar

Since pencils are a familiar medium for most students, familiar imagery developed during this segment.  The goal for this class was to let the harp music speak to the heart and create marks on paper using a variety of media.  Making marks is a unfamiliar concept to students who usually have an assigned image to create.  It is very rare for students to test the range of mark making, but it is highly valuable to the artistic process.

Let the music lead the way

The Tate Museum website describes a mark with this excerpt. Mark making describes the different lines, dots, marks, patterns, and textures we create in an artwork. It can be loose and gestural or controlled and neat. It can apply to any material used on any surface: paint on canvas, ink or pencil on paper, a scratched mark on plaster, a digital paint tool on a screen, a tattooed mark on skin…even a sound can be a form of mark making. Artists use gesture to express their feeling and emotions in response to something seen or something felt – or gestural qualities can be used to create a purely abstract composition.

Process through the music

Thinking of sound as a mark, the room was full of inspiration.  Allowing the music to inspire the physical marks on paper set aside thoughts from the day, problems in one's life and kept students in the present time.  This process does not require much thought.  Process feelings and thoughts through the music and leave them on the page.

Dedicated mission

Even with a light and simple expectation for gestural marks on paper, some students had a dedicated mission to continue their daily sketches.  Sometimes comics shine in any medium.

Graphite to Color

After testing graphite pencils, students switched to colored pencils for another option with a different musical set.  This budding artist started to respond to my own erratic scribbling and let the shapes fly into repeat.

Marker Marks

Colored pencil transitioned to markers.  This was the favored media for most students.  This class preferred markers over all our media experiments.  "It's so close to painting." said one very vocal student.

Oil pastels

The last segment of the class introduced a mostly new medium to the class.  Oil pastels are fun to work with and glide over paper so smoothly.  "They make your hands dirty!" complained one student.  I was happy to hear they had the opportunity to experiment with oil pastels in the past.  Despite oil pastels making hands easily messy, they provide a blending option not possible with markers or colored pencils.

Free Flowing

Maryalice ended her musically inspired session with a free flowing, improvisational piece that jumped around and had no recognizable rhythm.  This student reflected that free flowing feel by experimenting with oil pastels.  She appreciated the texture the paper revealed when the pastel was scribbled across the surface.  This revelation is most often the spark for new work with an artist.  Test the waters and work with what floats best.

This wraps up another fun First Friday Art Club at the Southeast Steuben County Library.  Check back here in November to see the wondrous creatures developed during Calligraphy Birds & Beasts with Wynn Yarrow.

register today!

Thanks for visiting,

Erica 

Ps.  Maryalice will offer harp & heART to adults, 18 years and older, on Saturday, November 18, 2017 from 12-3 pm in the library for the Saturday Adult Art class series called Crystal City Creators.  Space is limited, so register today.

You won't want to miss this class!

Stained Glass Fake-Out

To get students ready for the new school year, I planned a relaxing project for First Friday Art Club in September.  I've seen fake stained glass projects and had them on the "To Do" list for awhile, but a colleague highly suggested this technique, having recently succeeded in the same lesson with a mixed age group.

Blueprints, tracings and color

In order to create a stained glass project, an artisan will create a drawing.  The drawing will then get scaled to the size of the window or project they are creating.  The scaled drawing is called a blueprint and used quite like a blueprint for architecture.  My students were given some time to sketch out a plan for their blueprint using office copy paper.

Careful coloring

Once the blueprint was finalized, each student took wax paper to create their fake stained glass.  I tried to equate the simplified techniques to actual glass preparation.  Students were told to "cut" their glass by tracing their blueprint with pencil onto the less waxy side of the wax paper.  The less waxy side of the paper accepts the marker ink better than the shiny side.  Once their drawing was transferred, color could be added to the composition.

"This part is my favorite."

The coloring phase excited everyone like the coloring pages that have become very popular.  I had some concern that this project would be too simple and quick for this age group, so I planned to let any quick workers make another.  Luckily that was not an issue.  Each student took their time planning their projects and placing the color precisely inside the lines.

Bold lines and Big shapes

I suggested to keep lines and shapes big and less complex.  No glass maker wants to cut sliver sized pieces of glass.  Adding the lead came or copper foiling would make the process almost unbearable.  With that idea understood and coloring wrapping up, each project needed to be taped to a matte board frame with the fake lead came applied afterward. 

Puffy Paint to the Rescue

The lead came replacement for this project was puffy paint.  I showed the option to outline the shapes in each composition with black sharpie, but also showed the puffy paint example and everyone gravitated toward that look.  By framing the wax papers first, the projects were less flexible and easier to take home, even with wet paint. 

Simple instruments

This project is achievable for many age levels and has been proven successful with varied ages in the same class.  Sharpie markers are suggested for their ability to stay and not smudge on the wax paper.  Rulers, copy paper, puffy paint and pencils were other simple instruments used to created this relaxing project.  No glass means no fingers cut!

Hold it up to the Light

Holding these finished projects up to a window let them truly shine. 

Simple and Sweet

Larger shapes to give the viewer's eye more to view would 

make this composition even more lovely.

Simplified Landscape

This artist skipped the black puffy paint at first, but then added it later.  Good choice!

Color every Inch

This artist chose to color every inch of her composition. I feel this was the closest resemblance to stained glass and would love to see it in glass form....

any makers ready to take on that challenge?

This wraps up another month of First Friday Art Club.  Join us in October for harp & heART with Maryalice Little.  There's still time to register!

Thanks for visiting!

~erica

Coil Creations

Coil Coaster

First Friday Art Club in August went in stitches.  Coil Creations was the fiber based theme, which proved to be more of a struggle than originally anticipated.

Just getting Started

The process to make a vessel by coiling is to take a base cord (we had clothes line, paracord, and very thick yarns to test), then wrap the cord with a thinner string and stitch with a needle.

That's the method!

There were fourteen eager students ready to create something that afternoon.  Many factors lead to a struggle with this project.  In general, kids do not sew or even hold a sewing needle in these modern, technology laden days.  It was hard for the students to understand the flow of the thread through the cord.

Round & Round

Sewing is a skill prevalent in my life and I had the 

assumption that this knowledge is shared in school.  I quickly learned that our tutorial with terrific pictures lacked the simple steps of moving the thread through the coils, keeping the string fluid and avoiding knots.

A table surface was helpful

 Luckily there were two other adults ready to help with the process, but the string kept defeating these makers.  Poor quality embroidery floss continued to knot upon itself, causing loads of frustration.  Good thing we had persistence to finish the project.

Tons of Time

This project took lots of patience on the part of teacher and student.  My sample, seen at the beginning of this post, only grew to coaster size, but some students were determined to make a true container.  This little pink vessel above seemed fit for a fairy.

Practice Makes Perfect

Some students learned this process on their own time at home.  After several attempts, they discovered their mistakes and were able to cruise through this class.  Practice makes perfect with any skill.  Pushing forth can lead to a beautiful final project, but I admit this time-consuming process is not for most.  Hands can cramp, needles can disappear on the floor, and string will always knot.  

Keep trying

While we put our struggles behind us, check back in September when we make Stained Glass Fake Out drawings.  This should be a relaxing project to prep the mind for the first days of school.  It will be a colorful experience.

Thanks for visiting!

~erica

Steampunked Costumes

Our annual Library Unmasked event occurs at the end of July.  In order to pump up excitement, we hosted a Steampunked Costumes First Friday Art Club.

"Antiqued" Apothecary Jars

To create some Mischief, I worked on antiquing plastic bottles to look like old apothecary jars.  The tutorial I found was perfect to create some decorative elements for the after-hours party.  Taking any bottle from home (Listerine became Mischief Powder), writing a label in marker, tracing it with hot glue for raised lettering, then painting the whole thing with acrylic paints and sponges created a mottled looking bottle perfect for any Halloween or Steampunk party.

Laser Cut Cogs

Cogs and Gears are pertinent elements in Steampunk.  A library staffer discovered how to laser cut using the Steele Memorial Library maker space. We made pins and had enough masonite left over to create some gears for this program.  Quite a lovely and easy necklace.

Cuffs for Protection

Cuffs were easy to create using toilet paper tubes and hole punches.  After cutting the tube in half to open it, this student covered it in gray duct tape, then punched holes and laced it up like a sneaker.

Geared up Gear

This hat was going to the thrift store donations, but was rescued to make Geared up Gear.  

Upcycled!

These plaid shorts were upcycled pajamas.  This student never created steampunk gear, but quickly caught the punking bug by transforming the shorts into a skirt with lace, trims and even made a hat to top off the ensemble.

Can't Get enough Cuffs

Taking old items and making them new, Upcycling, is the best way to create a costume on the cheap.  I stash trinkets and unusual items for programs like these so that there is something to inspire everyone.  Spray and acrylic paints also take those old items to a new level of cool.

Paint and Glue makes New

The kids who created in this program got excited to attend an after-hours party at the library.  Most were not familiar with the Steampunk theme, but quickly caught on and were ready to bring their best cosplay to the event.  We look forward to seeing their final look on July 28, 2017, 6:30-9 pm.

See you There!

Thanks for visiting.  Check back in August to view our Coil Containers.

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