Cardboard, Mania, Masks and More, OH MY!

 

Ethan made an amazing bird! The beak is three dimensional!

Jess did a mask of her kitty cat at home ;)

Little Nova made her own OUTSTANDING version of Elmo! The pipe cleaners were added onto the mask for texture and "furiness"

Chris is really inspired by The Titanic and made a wonderful three dimensional ship!

I love this photo, it almost seems as though it is out to sea! GOOD JOB CHRIS! 

HEHEHE! 

Tessa made a beautiful mascarade type mask, adorned with colorful feathers!

ROBOMASK!

I-Phone Mask! Apps included!  

I had to put this one in, the photo is just too cute!

Hello All!
   
Our second class was a great success! Adrienne and I had our little friends play around and create large masks with recycled cardboard material. Her and I helped the kids with the hot glue, cutting, and attaching, but the kids pulled some wild imagery from their minds, and made beautiful adornments on their own!

 
I was thoroughly impressed with the attention to detail, the precision and execution from their ideas to their projects. I really enjoyed their eagerness to create in three dimension! I wish that the class went on just a bit longer so I could of helped our kids expand their ideas on an even larger scale; building from their original plans, and creating more forms from it. I hope that one day we can create a whole entire costume that requires their whole bodies from these initial projects.

  

I hope you enjoy the photos from the class!

Little Sarah came in a little late so she worked on a large painting! 

She was very daring with her brush strokes, and wasn't afraid to experiment! I love it!

CREATIVITY IN ACTION!

Let the projects begin!

Chris and Adrienne working on his AWESOME SHIP!

Project in the works!

The Junk Experience:

   So Adrienne and I had our first class this past Tuesday. Her and I were a little nervous because we didn't know how many kids were showing up, but we were excited to meet all the participants. Fourteen kids came, all varying in ages. We had a five year old, to, I think an eleven year old. The overall experience was great! I was really happy with the kids and how enthusiastic they were about being apart of Onions and Gumbo! 

   For our first class we did a trash assemblage lesson. Adrienne and I primed and gessoed all of these found objects and recyclables and laid them about the table. We had each kid choose an object or a couple of small objects and use their imaginations as to what it could be possibly turned into. Well, lemme' tell you... the results were OUTSTANDING! I'm so excited to be a part in leading this group!

   Here are a few photos of the experience of "Junk Day".....

Organized Paints and Supplies

Found Objects

Doo Hickies and Knick Knacks!

Our Class!

Exploring the Knick Knacks!

Fashioning a remote control into a doll!

  

I love this photo!

He re salvaged an old chandelier and made it work again!

Decorating the dart board!

Stick Man! 

The inside of the VHS tape box!

Little girl working, and a re purposed lamp!

Drawing!

This little girl made a box from an old VHS tape cover, when you open it you will find a bunch of treasures /game she made up!

Figure made of coffee cups, old board game pieces, cassette tape  film, embroidery thread, and paint.

VHS Tape with cover made into mechanical looking monster.

Onions and Gumbo Art Class at Steel City Coffeehouse!

Alright Ladies and Gents,
Looks like Adrienne and I have a full class of chillens signed up, and we start January 31st!
We have also planned our first month of classes already, and thought I would share! You can also check out more information on the class at Steel City's website, here: Onions and Gumbo Art Class at Steel City!





Week 1 : Junk!
   This will be an experiment for all the kids and for Adrienne and I, where we explore the possibilities of re purposing found objects, recyclables, and donated junk! Our goal is to have the kids make free standing sculptures in which we will display in steel city. 
   I think this exercise will be a unique way to have the kids get to know one another, and collaborate creatively. Could it be possible that recycled milk jugs combined with paint, tape, and tree branches could come alive as a monster? Or maybe old silverware, and tin cans transform into a musical wind chime? Who knows, the possibilities are endless, and young people have an incredible sense of imagination, so what may start out as an ordinary, bland piece of junk, might in turn become one of your next great art piece hanging in your living room! We are excited to find out, that's for sure!

Week 2: Cardboard Mania, and Masks!
   So everyone has cardboard, here at Steel City we throw boxes into recycling daily, why don't we use it for some good ol' creative fun, am I right!? Adrienne has quite some experience working with kids in New Orleans as a part of  The Country Day Creative Arts Program (click the link to see what it's all about!) One of the classes she taught was puppetry! I think she will bring a lot of interesting ideas to this class, and the attitude that anything is possible! 
   With that being said, we want our kids to explore recycled cardboard to create LARGER than life sized masks for themselves. I suppose what I am imagining is a handful of young "bobble headed" kids running around. Adrienne and I discussed this class and are really looking forward to the relationship of costume/child and how it may create a new persona. There is something about stepping into a costume, or putting on a mask and how it can change the way you present yourself.  Maybe our kids will become more confident, wild, or simply present a characteristic they may want to show, but are too afraid to let shine. 


Week 3: Shadows!
   This class I am actually REALLY psyched for... in college I focused on performance art and the idea of the human form as sculpture. This week, "Shadows" will be a collaborative project with the whole class, including the teachers. When the kids arrive Adrienne and I will have lights and a white back drop set up. We want the kids to really play with the idea of  " shadow puppets ". Everyone remembers being little while tucked away in bed, flash light in hand, contorting our hands and fingers in a way to project an image on our bedside wall. Well, we want our kids to use their whole bodies as a group to create a scene together. This will be a class effort to experiment with their limbs, heads, torsos, and other objects to produce an image. Once we have all decided we will then trace our shapes, after tracing, we will block in the shadows with paint and as a group effort we will be creating a large landscape of forms against the backdrop to produce a life painting. I think this exercise will prove that in combination of working together and using our bodies as the material we can make a really beautiful piece of art, and in turn will be displayed in Steel City for all to witness!


I hope you may find these classes intriguing, Adrienne and I are really ecstatic. Her and I are looking forward to all the creative possibilities. I know that the kids will not be the only ones learning here.