Using stamps to creat art @WBCL

Initially I planned to use fruit to make prints in this session. But on rethinking the cost and waste, and the nice supply I had of foam stamps change was in order. Each table was set up with egg carton with 5 colors of tempera paint and a generous handful of small and medium stamps, paint brushes and wet rags.
We used heavy paper and off they went. We painted the stamps using a small brush as it make the stamping with paint neater, especially for younger kids. The quiet in the room as everyone concentrated on the work was notable. Great results too.

Making mache bowls @ WBCL

This was messy, it was gooey and they bowls turned out well for everyone. In making mache a number of times over the last year, I think we finally have the formula down. I shredded cups of white packing paper and used the blender to pulp it, then drained it and mixed the pulp with a few cups of commercial mache mix and 2 bottles of school glue. It was still a little wetter than we wanted but any dryer and it was hard to work with.


We first put plastic wrap over a small plastic container then damped some tissue paper strips and covered them with the colored mache mix. I gave every table a bowl of colored paper shred to use at the end to decorate the bowl on the outside. We used nylon netting to work with the final shapping so the mache did not stick to everyone's hands. It worked really well. Every project went home with their net so if any slippage occured on the way home it could easily be reshaped. In a few days they will be dry and can be lifted off the plastic container and used for dry items.

Train shirts & face painting @ circus art camp day 3

Historically trains played a large roll in the life of a circus so I thought it might be fun to paint one on a t-shirt as part of this week's camp. Initially I planned to have everyone stamp on the engine and cars then paint in animals but that seemed a little complicated for this large group. Instead I put on a pattern of the engine and 2 cars then gave them the paints to decorate things as they wanted. The older group used fabric paints and a special glitter for wet paint. They were a little concerned about the lack of wheels on the cars. Quite a few requested their wheels be drawn on as they were not sure they could do 6 circles of the same size. The younger kids just added the wheels and said " they don't have to be perfect, it is my art." Great attitude! The younger group got to use the paint markers with great results. They are easy to draw with so many embellishments appeared. The crayola ones are far superior to the other brand we tried out. We also used small tubes of quick drying fabric paint from Michaels. Again not as good as the so soft brand but many had glitter and got the job done. The kids were pleased.

Not many of the group had ever used face paints or designed their own faces. we first had them sketch out what they wanted on thier face then issued the paints, mirrors, q-tips and set them loose on each other. At first they were a little timid but all of a sudden the faces took shape. they learned how to put the paint on, how to take it off, and a little about painting safety. The results were pretty good. Take a look:





We ended the day making and decorating popcorn boxes which we then filled with popcorn and fresh roasted peanuts. What a fun way to end the day!

Animals & performers @ Circus on Stage art camp day 2

We started today with a group project using donated and recyclable materials --paper tubes, cardboard boxes, gift wrap, and lots of streamers. We created the cages for the animals in the circus to be made later in the day. I cut large rectangular boxes about 4" high for the tops and bottoms and got gift wrap tubes for the uprights. The kids glued them into the corners then made bars for the cages from streamers and decorated the boxes with the paper. A sign and they were done. Now who gets to take them home?

Our second project was to take coffee cans and a variety of papers, yarns and other bits and create the animals for the cages. We created lions,  tigers, elephants, bears, and horses. I heard the horses were getting a bit long in the face (piggish) at one point but in the end all the animals turned out great and were exhibited briefly in their cages.

I was afraid our last project would be a bit challenging but everyone did great creating wire sculptures of the performers and other circus items for their big top. Kathryn lead this one and I think her examples were the biggest creations of all. 


I will have slide shows of our entire day ready soon to share.

Clowns and balloons at Circus on Stage art camp day 1

Did we save the best for last? some of the kids thought so. The clown was a challenging project but everyone went home with one and the oohs and aahs when the clown was assembled were great to hear. We used a 2 1/2" foam ball, a cardboard cone form from OTC, ribbons, fabric, pom poms, wiggle eyes, yarn, and straw hats. First we created the head and put it onto a dowel then assembled and decorated the cone and added a body complete with bright fun foam mits. I am posting step by step directions on the patterns page.

Balloon animals and hats were our second activity of the day and Keighla led all the kids through creating great projects. I blew the balloons up in advance which was a bad thing/ good thing. The balloons lost a bit of air which made them much easier to work with for the younger kids but the creatures were not as firm. We did blow up plenty of the balloons at camp to do a few more.

Our last project was to create a poster about the circus or to draw and color a clown car. There is something special about giving kids large sheets of paper to use and seeing them go to work on the project. We don't seem to have any shy kids using only 1" of the paper. I think we even threw in a few bookmarks for some of the kids that were too fast for the group. Going home tired with lots of stuff to brag on.

Sunbursts, flying fish, Calder sculptures, and Picasso guitars @ 3D art camp day 3

Sometimes a project is just meant to be! This one looked attractive and had the potential for creativity so I scheduled it. What a great plan. We made the watercolor pieces earlier in the week then assembled our collage/paper sculpture of a sunburst adding paper curls and the results were definitely beyond what I expected. The kids liked doing the project and taught each other to curl paper and helped hold components so they would adhere to the paper.

We moved on to a sculpture in a can AKA Calder that is a lot of fun to do. We used tuna/cat food cans as a base with a styrofoam insert and clay over the top to seal it. We then created the sculpture from crazy straws, chenille stems, pompoms, beads and foam core cutouts.

Another project to complete was our paper lantern flying fish. This one kind of got away from us a little as we worked out the best way for everyone to create the fins and faces but in the end everyone had a fish and a huge smile. It was not as important to the kids that the fins be stiff as it was to the designer. It was a lot more hassle to attach the tissue to the thicker paper than to have fins that were a bit more loose. The loosest tail fin made of 4 pieces of tissue and no base paper actually looked wonderful and attached easily to the frame.

Our last project was a collage based on one of Picasso's guitar collages. We reviewed several that are one display at various museums and the discussion was centered mostly on the lack of color in them. Ours certainly did not lack color. We used a cardboard base and covered it with geometic shapes cut from scrapbook paper. we then added a foamcore chair and covered it with paper and ribbon. Lastly we added a blue denim guitar and embellished it with metallic thread, wire, buttons and other items. They turned out great.!

Watercolors and flying fish @ 3D art camp day 2

Doing water colors with spray bottles is really a lot more fun but the bottles present their own dilema: what to spray, your paper or your table mate? We used 4 sections of watercolor paper to create the basis for our sunburst collage. The campers wrote something about sunshine on the long one then painted all of them with a combination of yellow, orange and red and set them aside to dry. It was fun to see what happened when the painted areas were resprayed and how the paint ran as the papers were tipped.

The second project was our flying fish. We used a paper lantern as a base and made fins and all the details on the fish from tissue paper and paper crimp. Some are done but most still need a few finishing touches.

Butterflies & paper mache at 3D art camp day 1

We started this week off with 2 butterfly projects that really turned out well. We had a set of foam butterflies in a kit, a little hard to assemble but in the end a pretty good project. The 2 part butterflies gave us a bit more room to get creative. Students were encouraged to use the books on butterflies as a resource and create the butterflies by drawing, coloring and/or collaging them. Lots of great projects!

Our second project was to make a paper mache bowl from a berry box. This is by far the messiest mache I have ever worked with. We colored it in the mix and had them pat it onto the boxes so they could dry to be decorated on Friday. Lots of ewe..yuck--was heard.


The last project was one of optics using domed glass beads and stickers to examine which color and size magnifies more and if using a spacer alters the image more. They also got to have an old ribbon marble to examine.

Making a sculpture in a can @WBCL

They really used their imaginations on this one! This project is a take off on one of the Calder sculptures I worked with earlier in the summer. Each participant was given a tuna/cat food can with styrofoam inserted into it, an array of chenille stems, fun foam shapes, pom poms, beads and foam core shapes. It was interesting to see what they created and hear their descriptions. Some were mobile and one was very large--needed a straw to keep the shape of it.