Passion For Fashion Summer Camp

The most popular DMA summer camp this year has been "Passion for Fashion". The camp filled up fast with young fashionistas aged 9-12 years of age. I was invited to guest teach one of the days. HOORAY! My class title was "Applique Day!" Students were introduced to the Kuba Cloth from the Democratic Republic of Africa. It is made from raffia, and due to it's brittleness, requires frequent patching. This led to distinctive applique designs very unique to the regions people. As an added activity in the gallery, I told the story of an African wife who asks her husband to bring her a very rare cloth as proof of his love. It never ceases to amaze me that when I am in need of a certain type of story, it appears. What a blessing. The image below is not the gallery example I used, but it is very similar.

For years, I've merged the techniques of applique into all kinds of projects. One of my all-time, favorite activities is using felted, wool sweaters to create bag designs. So, it was a natural step to come up with a similar project for the fashinistas; felt purses with applique designs of their choosing. This is my simple example made specifically for the class. I wanted a project that would not be too intimidating for students who had never done any hand sewing, yet still allowed plenty of challenge for more experienced sewers.

Sadly, I didn't get photos of all the students purses during the fashion show. Still, I did manage to get quite a few to share here on the blog. 

 
After looking at all the finished purses, seeing how unique each one is, just like the young ladies who made them, I feel this project was a success. That's a pretty good feeling to have.

The Reader - What you read becomes a part of who you are.

This is my sculpture titled, 'The Reader - What you read becomes a part of who you are.' The reader is reading from my favorite childhood book, 'Stories from Hans Christian Anderson'. The book is opened to the page with the story, 'What The Moon Saw'. Every night the moon visits a lonely artist who lives in an attic room. The moon tells the artist to "Paint what I tell you, and you will have a fine picture book." Then moon the proceeds to tell the artist stories about what he had seen the night before as he traveled across the sky.

I made it for the Dallas Museum of Art's, BooksmART event June 9th. It was made with packing tape, my daughter who was the model, paper mache dictionery pages, gesso, and a light, blue wash. People of all ages were invited to write on it with a black sharpie the title of their favorite book - anywhere. I had enormous fun visiting with all the people and talking about their favorite books. Letting go of control over how, where, or what people wrote was not so bad. It was totally, creatively satisfying actually.

I took no photos during the event. Too busy. But others did, and I hope to get photos from them i the near future. Plus, I will post photos of the Reader once finished and sealed with a final coat of protective varnish.

Tree Spirit

Working with clay is not one of my stronger abilities, but I do love it. My tree spirit was sculpted with Crayola Model Magic over a wire and tinfoil armature. It took awhile to put down all the leaves and model magic drys quickly. So, the ground at the base of the tree had to be sacrificed, it was too dry to do much with, other than poking little holes into it with a fork.

 I used tempera paints, because that is what my students will use to make their creations. My preference would have been acrylics - it would have looked better when done.

The back of the tree. Model Magic dries to a spongy consistency. Weird stuff. it will be interesting to see what my students aged 9-12 will make with it next week.

Art Brush Buddy

Here's what you can do with all those old paint brushes. Make it into a Brush Buddy! The face was created with paper clay. This is so easy. I can't wait to see what my summercamp kids make with this idea. I had to use bits of felted wool from old sweaters, because I work with it so much.

By the way, the idea came from a magazine called Green Craft by Stampington & Company.

Spotted a Weird Flower in my Garden

A yes, there is nothing like experimentation - especially when you like the results! This "flower" was created from an old record album, coffee filters, wall paper paste, colored markers, rubbing alcohol, wire, old pastels and a few beads. I sprayed with a finish that will hold up outside.

My inspiration for the shape was a vase on display at the Dallas Museum of Art. My summer camp kids will start with a molded shape.  They'll finish it off into exotic flowers from mysterious lands, maybe even, from another planet!

I like that you can see the record label inside, "Spin-o-Rama".





The Case of the Curious Bird

I am always interested in trying new materials when making art. I guess you'd say, I'm "curious" about what will work and what won't. 

This bird is made with Crayola Model Magic, wire, and used softener sheets (wings). For color, I used watercolors exclusively, then smoothed over some glitter glue for sparkle! Over all, I'm pleased with the results. I'll take this birdie to my Sculpture Mania summer camp kids next week, and when I teach my For the Birds summer camp in July.

 Look how curious my bird is. Just like me!

Poof Owls

,  Sneak peek at a summer camp art activity for 4-5 year olds.

The owl was created using 4 layers of newspaper print that had been painted with white latex house house paint. Using a pattern I made, I cut out the owl shapes and stapled them together, leaving an opening for adding stuffing.

The children will draw on the owls face & feathers using oil pastels. After that, they will apply a color wash with tempera paint.

Once dry, the students will stuff the owl and seal it. Ta-da! Done.

Should be easy enough, yet satisfying.

Record Album Yard Art

I love working with old record albums. It is so satisfying taking these old relics and making something new with them.

Now, I do own a record player, and YES, a few albums get saved for listening pleasure. That still leaves a whole lot of scratched, and well... just awful albums out there. FOR ME!

Mwah-hah-hah....

Jean Paul Gaultier's Outstanding and Inspirational Exhibit!

Jean Paul Gaultier's exhibit has moved to it's next location. It left behind a big fan, ME! I am eternally grateful I got to see Gaultier's brilliant work! I was creatively inspired by it, and loved being a part of many fun events at the Dallas Museum of Art during the exhibition.

These photos show many of the items I made for storytelling shows during the Gaultier exhibition. Above is my Snowflake Queen headdress & outfit.  The puzzle pieces were glued on. Unlike the mask below, which was intricately wired together. For that reason, the headdress hasn't held up well. I can glue it again, so all is not lost.  I had the perfect story for this outfit and loved wearing it. The dress is vintage early 60's purchased at an estate sale. It fit like it was made for me. LUCKY me!

Here I am standing in front of the Gaultier inspiration for the headdress. The lighting is bad because flash photography was not allowed in the exhibit.

 The Bird Woman! This outfit took a long time to make!

Each "Feather" in the skirt had to be cut, ruffled by hand to achieve a slight curl, then added separately to the skirt. I lucked out on the shoes - found them at the thrift shoe. They were perfect!

Lily models a hat & coat made from old, felted, wool sweaters. The shape of the hat was inspired by both a Gaultier hat, and an African "Married Woman's Hat". Both hats were round and flat. I added the polka dots and divided the colors for a folk tale I tell.

The coat has hidden pockets under many of the patches. It is used to tell three separate tales. Since it's creation, I've added quilted cowboy boots, and umbrella. All are made of felted wool sweaters. My young audience members have loved wearing the hat and coat during storytimes - I never have trouble getting a volunteer!

Charles Demuth & Robots!?!

 This is a simple watercolor I made for a children's drawing story about a robot. For inspiraton, I used Charles Demuth's painting, "My Egypt". I rarely work with watercolors and found it to be very enjoyable. I have so much to learn about this common medium.

                                                                    My Egypt