Teaching/Learning Art

   "All children areartists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. " - PabloPicasso. 

    Truth be told, I am a prolific artist myself, so Imainly teach our children art through example. Almost all the art that ourchildren do is completely self-directed, and happens in either their free timeor during story time.  Their hands are always busy withsomething - drawing, cutting, molding, etc. We have a crafty table (formerlyour dinning room table) and many shelves next to it full of supplies - crayons,markers, scissors, tape, many different kinds of paper, paint, beeswax, sculptyclay, sewing kits and supplies, and many more odds and ends.  Our refridgerator is pretty much always covered intheir artwork.

  However thereare times when people hit walls, and try to make the leap to the next stage ofdrawing/painting and get stuck. You may already feel stuck as an adult or yourkids may feel stuck. This happens in our family now and then and when it does,I break out one or both of these fantastic picture books by  Peter H.Reynolds: The Dot and Ish. These  books are justwonderful for inspiring artists who feel they just can't draw, or that theycan't draw just perfect. Even though these are kids books, I am sure that theyare a good thing for people of all ages to hear when they feel stuck as anartist. 

  Now, if you arean adult that feels like you can't draw, I challenge you to check the book Drawingon the Right Side of the Brain out from the library and look at pages11, 12 and 13. These are the before and after pictures - before people tookthis drawing course and a few months after. It is incredibly inspiring and thisis a fantastic book to use if you are willing to put in the time to do theexercises. 

  I hit myartistic wall in middle school, and just felt like I couldn't drawrealistically at all. It wasn't until my twenties that I found this book andwent through all the exercises over the course of a few months. Drawing onthe Right Side of the Brain was absolutely pivitol for me, even thoughit was another 1 1/2 years before I really began to use this knowledge when Ifound my medium - henna.

  Another book toinspire you and your children is Lives of the Artists:Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought) byKathleen Krull, which I strongly recomend you read with an art reference bookhandy, since the book is filled with fascinating biographies but no actual art.Our art reference book is Art: Over 2,500 Works from Cave to Contemporary. 

  There are manypicture books we've enjoyed about art and artists, and some of our favoritesare Amelia's Notebook, and Charlotte in Paris, these are bothart journals two young girls keep.

  Creativitycan often be inspired by looking at a book with art  ideas, and we have awhole self of crafty books that the girls refer to a few times everyweek. The book most refered to from our Crafty Book Shelf is TheUsborne Rainy Day Book. The origami paper frogs on page 84 have been madedozens of times by Ella and Laurel. It always amazed me that Ella could look atthe book and follow origami folding instructions at such a young age. I'vepicked up many other similar crafty idea books at garage sales but this ispulled out the most.

  Klutz FacePainting is another book that the girls have used many times over theyears, usually when they have friends over. It's really fun to paint a person,but the black and red paint are really hard to get off if you paint them by theeyes. 

  KlutzLettering This book comes with lots of great stencils for both lettersand other fun shapes, and lots of ideas for fancy lettering. It has beenrefered to many times over the past few months to make reports and lettersspecial.  

 Klutz Hair: A bookof Braiding and Styles. I always wanted to learn how to French Braid myhair.... and this book showed me how. It will take you about an hour in frontof the mirror but it'sworth it. This book is also full of other, lesscomplicated hari do's, like a French Twist. This is a great book forencourageing girls to grow thier hair. 

  Klutz StencilArt is another fun crafty book that includes a stamp pad, stampers,and lots of fun stencils. 

  Can you tellI'm a huge fan of KLUTZ books? It just seems they make thins easier to learn.