PICASSO's BASEMENT

Watercolor Oceans

2012-03-09T08:23:00.000-08:00

Time for a new skill for my fabulous Middle School kids. They can draw and design. But can they feel comfortable with watercolor? Well, not at first but hopefully we changed all that last week.

One thing I've discovered is that until they play around with a new medium most kids use all kinds of paint the same way. Thick. Now here's the thing; once you master watercolors you can use them anyway you want. Go translucent, go opaque. Go to town. But the middle school kids needed to really understand what watercolor was about. Colors covering other colors or blending in or forming drips. Translucence. Cool unexpected things happening on your paper. And learning to control it as much or as little as you like.

Undersea Plant. Love the brushstrokes on the leaves!

I had them pick ocean scenes because I thought that would give them a limited palette to work with and because...well...it's an ocean scene? What's not to love? They looked at many photographs for inspiration. They picked sea creatures and closeups of a plants.

Horseshoe Crab

I had them do a drawing on the watercolor paper in pencil before they started to paint. I encouraged them to experiment on scraps of watercolor paper but they wanted to dive right in. Fine, so long as they played around a little on the painting.

It took a lot of convincing for them to realize they could leave areas unpainted, could lift color off once it was placed down. One student was really determined to paint over the pencil lines but I convinced her that the underpainting and the light coming through was what brought her piece to life.

Fabulous work, artists!

Lame Post (or THIS is your child's valentine's box???)

2012-03-07T19:04:00.001-08:00

That's right. It's time for the LAMEST posting.
I have a cold.
I am tired.
And so rather than showcase my wonderful students' artwork I will instead attempt to inspire you with just my own lame craft.

Every year at least one of my 2 children has been asked to decorate a box for valentines day so that at school the other children could fill it with tiny purchased cards. I've purchased those cards myself. You know the kind--the cheap ones that rip a little when you try to separate them and then get stuffed into teeny envelopes that don't stay properly closed. Well, that's the route I usually go as well.

But now I'm an art teacher. I have to raise the bar. I have a standard to uphold.

This year I decided we'd do it all by hand. Inspired by our new schnauzer we made schnauzer cards. We printed out photos of the dog and pasted them on red paper and cut them to the shape of his head. When recipient of card opened them they found a dog tongue holding a cheapo piece of chocolate. (You know, the waxy kind you get in bags this time of year at the pharmacy.) I would love to show you one but I we gave them all away. Although we did keep some of the cheapo chocolate...

We also made an excellent box to resemble our schnauzer.

Real Schnauzer. Do not confuse with dog box. Do not feed valentines cards.

It was made out of a shoe box, and two smaller boxes. (I think one was from a pot pie.) We cut a hole in the top boxes so that you could "feed" your valentines into the dog's mouth.

Valentine's Box that is virtually identical to real dog. Can you tell the difference? NO!
Open mouth, insert cards.

That's right. My son's Valentines Box actually eates valentine cards. Pretty cool, huh? Apparently the class loved it.

Am I going to wrap this up with a clever or wise comment?

Heck no. I'm taking 2 NyQuil and going to bed. Wake me when it's St. Patty's Day.

Mom Incorporated

2012-02-26T18:54:00.000-08:00

I'm now listed (at least temporarily) by a wonderful site called Circle of Moms on their Top 25 Creative Mom blogs. (See your opportunity to vote for me once a day on the circle at right.)

I started looking at some of the other creative blogs and began to wonder about what other mom-business owners find most challenging about working from home.
For me it's a no-brainer: shifting from Mom to Teacher and back again in my family's eyes.

I teach a thriving little art program from home.
You can see all the students' work on my other posts and on our Artsonia Gallery.
But when the students arrive and I head to the art room I boldly face (insert dramatic music)

THE CHALLENGES OF THE TEACHER/MOM:

1. My 13 Year Old Secretary
I've arranged to have my older son to answer the phones while I'm teaching. He tends to forget this when he is deep in the midst of some fantasy-oriented-computer-based-role-playing-game.

My secretary

It goes like this:

I hear the phone ringing ringing ringing.
I begin to call my teenager's name over and over.
The dog wakes up and begins to bark.
Paintbrushes fly.
Chaos ensues.

SOLUTION: A reminder EACH and EVERY time before class starts. Apparently teens can only retain their instructions for a 1 hour period. Who knew? Now I remind my secretary regularly.
Problem solved.

2. My Tiny Juvenile Delinquent
My 8 year old is a joy to have in class, says his Second Grade teacher.

In her class he's always studiously working, says his Second Grade teacher.
But at home the lines are blurred. Very very blurred.

Pint Sized Delinquent

It might look somewhat classroom-like but he knows better.

He knows it's really Home.
He knows where all the places are to get into trouble.
He knows if he reads my ART ROOM RULES list and adds the word "NOT" in front of each rule to the amusement of the other students he will not be sent to the Principal's office.
He knows where all the hidden items are that his Mom/Instructor says are not to be shared just yet.
Chaos ensues.

SOLUTION: The CRACK DOWN. After months of struggle I've discovered that 8 year olds are much like teens. They need reminding. And so each class I remind said 8 year old of how privileged he is to have a class in his house. How fabulous he is at being a role model for the other kids. And how if he doesn't knock it off he's getting booted out of the class.

Problem solved.

3. My Dog

Joxter

My dog also clearly sees me in the MOM role and he does NOT like to share MOM.

Students arrive. Doorbell rings. Dog barks.
He barks at the beginning of each class until he eventually settles down on the rug and becomes the class mascot.
For the younger groups I crate him in another room. He barks barks barks through class.
The phone rings and my Secretary doesn't answer. (See Problem No.1) and the dog barks more.
Paintbrushes fly.
Chaos ensues.

SOLUTION: TIME. Only time. I've had him for 3 months. He now barks less and less, he's used to the kids in the basement. He likes curling up near the older kids. Only the crate time during the younger classes remains difficult. All suggestions will be considered seriously!

So my questions to you Mom/Teachers/Business Owners/Bloggers:

What are your biggest challenges?
What solutions, if any, have you found?
And would you like to walk my dog?

Cigar Box Showstoppers

2012-02-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this project with the 6-7th Grade Picasso's Basement Artists. This dates back to November I think.

I had toyed with doing a particular project based on the art of Joseph Cornell who created beautiful delicate assemblages within boxes.

OK, I know I should have added a real Cornell photo here but this kept you reading, right?

Traditional Retablo

I also wanted to eventually do a project based on Mexican retablo art, devotional paintings often within a wooden box or frame to create a home alter. A recent trip to a wondrous cigar store left me only $25 poorer while I carted home 40+ stunning cigar boxes. I realized they would come in handy someday and I found the perfect project. I thought I'd wait on the Cornell and focus on the retablos.

But once I let the students loose in my art room, complete with old magazines, shells, vintage bottle caps, antique cards, little wooden findings and boxes of old door knobs, they let their imaginations take over.

I'm sorry to say I only have pictures of 2 of the boxes but they are pretty incredible!

Glad being a craft-material hoarder has finally paid off for someone!

My Big Fat Greek Vase

2012-02-22T18:33:00.000-08:00

How goofy is this horse? Goofy!

After years of being dragged through museums as a child and rolling my eyes in boredom at the Greek vases I have finally come to appreciate their beauty. You know what it took? A HORSE! The Greeks could make some darned nice horses. They were pretty and simply shaped and their teeny tiny hooves appealed to me. They were sort of comical. I can always appreciate something beautiful that is also a little bit silly.

So when I showed the Picasso's Basement artists the various black and red techniques used by the Greeks to adorn their showier vases I showed them many examples featuring horses. Like these:

I had considered having them make their own vases but I don't have a kiln and I already have a two-week project planned for the near future so instead I had made a run to the dollar store for a batch of terra cotta vases. Perfect. Cheap enough to buy extras.

The only paints they were given were black and red acrylic paints. We looked at typical Greek patterns. I encouraged them to paint horses on their vases. I made an example to show them. Here it is:

My Sample Vase

But as all great artists do, they followed their hearts. One of our artists is a well known (at least in his school) authority on Greek mythology. He painted Argo, the ship for which the Argonauts were named.

Our resident Greek Mythology expert

His original sketch for his vase

Here are some of the other gorgeous vases that were painted:

For more on Greek vase techniques please check out this excellent link at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Athenian Vase Painting

Hat Day with a nod to Ezra Jack Keats

2012-02-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

You've heard me go on and on about my love for Ezra Jack Keats. As a little girl I loved his book Jennie's Hat. The story was charming but what interested me the most were the pictures. Keats used beautiful papers and collage and simple drawings and I was completely enthralled.

So when I started teaching a preschool class I was jumping at the chance to share my enthusiasm for the book. It helps to have the most wonderful students in the world: attentive and interested young artists. We started by reading Jennie's Hat. I pointed out the endpapers in the books. The artists looked at the many hats pieced together with flowered papers. We discussed the silly things we could put in our own hats if we drew them: pizza, pets, grapes.

A Picasso's Basement Artist hard at work

The artists started drawing faces on large paper. Then they glued large cut out hats made of manila paper which was heavy enough to support a collage. Using magazine clippings they filled their hats. Pictures of flowers, cats, dogs, candy, ribbons, cookies. One young artist suggested we add glitter. Thank heavens we're in a basement! It was a glitter fest like I've never seen. I've never been a huge glitter fan but it worked perfectly for this project!

I think the artists did an amazing job.

Check out the fantastic hats they made!

Hat festooned with dog and hot-air balloon.

Flowers and Glitter and a fairy

Doggy wearing a hat!

A Dali Mustache makes the man. Or kid.

2012-02-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

The Picasso's Basement kids have known me long enough to know that I love to express my artistic inclinations through my clothes and accessories whenever possible. From giant ridiculous earrings to goofy hats to my love of all things vintage. So I thought it was time to discuss the artists that REALLY made an artistic statement by the way they dressed or adorned themselves. We talked about the crazy things some artists did and looked at pictures of Basquiat, Warhol, Khalo, and of course a whole heck of a lot of pictures of Salvador Dali.

I thought it might be nice to feel the part so naturally we all sported some lovely mustaches.

I had originally planned to have them draw Dali but thought they'd have more fun drawing themselves. I used a version of this project that I saw on one of my favorite blogs There's A Dragon in my Art Room in which the students did simple drawings with only one oil pastel, without using a pencil first.

Picasso Basement kids feeling their oats

Mustachioed artists

Then the students added mustaches and a few other touches with pipe cleaners.

I think they did an amazing job!

The Joys of Pinning!

2012-02-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

I am not usually inclined to recommend websites unless they belong to wonderful artists, teachers or cooks. OK, I take that back. I can blather on endlessly about an awful lot and I probably DO end up recommending sites. But not on my blog.

A Group of Boards on Pintrest

I must now make an exception. Pintrest. My new obsession. I thought it was just a cute idea at first: a site that allows you to pin virtually any picture or link onto virtual bulletins. I started with a few of my favorite subjects: Making Stuff, Vintage Cereal boxes, Roadside America, etc. Then I noticed that Art Teachers were using it to collect lesson ideas. So I set up ONE and only ONE board called Art for Kids. It grew. I started finding wonderful ideas. Crazy imaginative people were out there pinning and I could repin their pins. They could repin mine. Some late night frenzied pinning was going on. I became a pinatic.

Now I find it downright inspiring. AND helpful. I have many many art lesson boards now: broken down by grade, subject matter, even material. I found myself sort of getting to know other artists and instructors by their pins. I see a wonderful lesson and think "Oh, that Abigail is so clever" or "Wow, Thadeus is really edgy". And I steal their ideas. Legally. Woo hoo!

It might only be my virtual reality but Pintrest makes me feel organized and inspired. Heck, how often can you say that about a website?

If you're a fellow pinatic please comment and let me know what you like the most about it.

Happy Birthday to The Snowy Day

2012-01-29T19:28:00.000-08:00

While planning for the upcoming Winter Picasso's Basement classes beginning next weekend I've thought about how little Winter we've actually seen. I'm grateful this year: we have a new dog and while he loved our one snowstorm I don't really look forward to walking him in freezing rain or down icy streets!

This brought to mind one of my favorite books, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. There is no book that better captures the excitement of a day home playing in the snow. The dreamy yet crisp images. The crunching sounds of the snow under your feet. The neighborhood as it is transformed into a world of new sounds, sights and smells.

As a child I didn't know that this was the first book to feature a black child as the main character. I didn't know the author was white, that people were concerned about white authors portrayals of black characters because they'd never done it well before. I just knew that it was exciting and fun and beautiful all at once

Keat's characters and his art work stay with you. As a little girl I loved looking at the hats he created in Jenny's hat with fanciful textured collaged patterns. His simple shapes were charming but intriguing. His stories were of everyday events: making hats, painting a chair, playing in snow, putting on a pet show. Around age 8 I started writing my own books. Looking back they were very much influenced by the work of Ezra Jack Keats. Stories about pets in a pet show. Cut outs of people mixed with painted images.

The Snowy Day has turned 50. It makes me realize how important children's books and children's artwork is. That it can continue to excite, to make children want to read and to draw. And to run and play in the snow. Happy 50th to The Snowy Day. I am sure it will be just as exciting to a child in 50 more years!

WINTER CLASSES! SIGN UP NOW!

2012-01-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

Get your sketchbooks ready! After a nice long break from blogging I'm back. And I'm announcing my new line up of Winter 2012 Classes which start the week of February 6th.
I'm excited to add some classes and make some changes.

Some things to look forward to:

A guest sculptor will come teach tradition Inuit (Eskimo) soapstone sculpture!
My Middle School class on Saturdays will now run for 1 1/2 hours!
An additional Saturday morning class for kids in grade K-5!
A PRESCHOOL GROUP for ages 4-5 on Tuesday afternoons!

Please check out my full class and registration.

Sign Up Soon!

Each class is limited to 8 kids!

CLICK BELOW to sign up for classes!

PICASSO's BASEMENT REGISTRATION FORM

Please let me know by email or phone if your child is registering for classes so I can reserve the spot!

CLICK BELOW to email!
Email Paula! Reserve Your Picasso's Basement Spot Now!

HOLIDAY GIFT MAKING DAY and funfest!!!

2011-12-05T16:39:00.001-08:00

Here's my Holiday Craft/Gift-Makin'/Cookie-Bakin'/Game-Playin'/Snack-Eatin' Flyer!

ONLY $35 for a day of fun including snacks, games and many crafts to bring home and give as gifts! With additional time later for a rate that would make your babysitter blush!

Elementary School children please. Limited to only 10 Lucky Children (don't I sound like Willy Wonka?) so please contact me quickly as spaces are filling up!

Please email me or call with any questions!

paula@paulacohenillustration.com

HOLIDAY GIFT DAY on DECEMBER 17th!

2011-11-23T05:57:00.001-08:00

As the Picasso's Basement Fall Season wraps up I'm looking forward to HOLIDAY GIFT DAY AT PICASSO's BASEMENT. On Saturday December 17th from 10AM - 1 PM I will be hosting kids whose parents need some shopping time. We'll be making holiday gifts for family and friends, eating some holiday treats, and playing a holiday game. For more details on this please look for upcoming updates on Picasso's Basement Facebook Page.

In the meantime, here's a craft I created from an old Capri Sun Juice Crate, an old map, a little paint, a utility knife, and a good dose of Mod Podge paste and sealant.

My husband accuses me of living like a bag lady in my own car . So you can see I've filled it with some of the many items that usually sit under the feet of the passenger: pencils, tape, CDs, magazines, etc. Also makes a handy desk caddy. It's an easy craft to do with your children.

Better yet, send them to HOLIDAY GIFT DAY AT PICASSO's BASEMENT and they can make one to give to a loved one as a gift!

Oh Bookmark, My Bookmark

2011-11-21T18:32:00.001-08:00

Last class of the session for my 3rd - 6th Grade group and they specifically requested a free drawing day. I tried, oh how I tried, to let them have a day without any structure. But it went against my nature as an illustrator so I figured I'd give them something to work towards. BOOKMARKS.

Luckily I had these cool plastic sleeves I'd bought for my own promotional bookmarks when I remember I'm an illustrator.

All you have to do is draw something on card stock and have it fit in the sleeve. The kids had a lot of fun, created some really wonderful designs. OK, it was essentially a free drawing day, right? And I'll miss them until the next session in January!

And the Leaves That are Green Turn to Brown...

2011-11-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

This post title comes to you with apologies to Simon and Garfunkel!

Autumn, when all art teachers must make the kids work with leaves. Which is not a bad thing, leaves are beautiful. Like all things in nature, none are identical. They have different shapes and no leaf is JUST one color. The red ones have a touch of ochre, the green ones are a little brown or yellow. I decided we should really work with the mixes of colors and used this as an opportunity to break into my new Dick Blick chalk pastels and teach the kids about blending colors.

Black paper. Nothing shows up the vibrant chalk pastels like black paper. These chalk pastels were new to me, by the way: handled like a pastel but with a lot more dust, softer than a chalk. Exhibit A: See pictures of kids covered in chalk dust! But talk about vivid!

I thought it would be pretty to use several long sheets of paper to allow the kids to work with several leaves and mount them together. And learn a little about composition to boot.

First they "drew" their leaves onto the paper with Elmers glue. I asked them to use more than one leaf design on each page so they could work with their composition skills. I even encouraged them to overlap the leaves but that took courage and only a few did it. Still, excellent drawings! When the glue dried it created a resist to the chalk and they were able to color them in using a limited palette of autumnal colors. I showed them how to blend with just ONE finger.

And then we mounted them on colored paper. GORGEOUS!!!!

Happy Dio De Los Muertos from the Picasso's Basement Kids!

2011-11-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Featured Artist #1: Zeus

2011-10-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

Being an art instructor has given me the opportunity to see how different artists can be. Some work quickly and with passion, others have an incredible eye for detail and their creations come about slowly and with special care. Some children put all their humor into their artwork, some bring a love of decoration to the work. Some are experimenters, some are cautious. These differences are part of what make each artist unique and what makes each class exciting.

I thought it was time to start presenting the “Picasso’s Basement Artists” one at a time. Get to know some of them. See what they like and watch it appear in their art.

Zeus

Who will go first? Why, it was a no-brainer. It was the first artist to hand in his questionnaire (and yes, that is a reminder for the rest of you!) By the way, I asked all the artists to pick a “STAR NAME”.

Our first featured artist asked to be called “Zeus”.

Zeus is in 6^th grade and he told me a little about himself. He likes to play videogames, is a big fan of bacon, and his favorite book is (no surprise here) the Percy Jackson book “ The Last Olympian”.

Zeus’s art often reflects his love of mythology.

Cigar Box Birdhouse
"Palace of the Gods"

Shadow Puppet
"Zeus with his lightening bolt"

When asked what he likes best about creating art he said it was getting to “express your self and do awesome stuff.” And awesome is what he is all about.

He is incredibly prolific and comes up with inspiring ideas and makes them happen. Zeus has taught me that you can break a million rules and still produce great art. He churns out work with rapid speed, his ideas come pouring out of him and he is never without inspiration. He can talk endlessly through class, entertaining everyone, and STILL produces something incredible.

When asked what he wanted to do with his life he answered “anything that doesn’t have to do with typing”. I don’t think he’ll have a problem finding something.

Art is Basic: Art Teacher Blog Directory

2011-10-09T02:50:00.000-07:00

Art is Basic: Art Teacher Blog Directory

I know I've listed this before but here is a wonderful list of other Art Teacher Blogs, including listings of several friends who I know to have some fabulous art lesson ideas! Happy reading and creating!

Indonesian Shadow Puppets

2011-09-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Shadow Puppets on display at Picasso's Basement Gallery Show at the library!

Traditional Shadow Puppet

I'm going to cut to the chase with this post. No ramblings about how the Picasso's Basement kids and I "traveled" to Indonesia and learned about the culture and ate Indonesian fruit. Which we did. But what we really did that even I found miraculous was that we made SHADOW PUPPETS! You know those beautifully carved and decorated puppets that are manipulated with sticks? And are then shown behind a screen? Well, we made them! Sorry, I don't mean to gush but it was pretty cool!

MATERIALS:

Black Card Stock
Hot Glue Gun
Strong Balsa sticks from craft store (test them at the store: too thin and they will break)
Xacto knife (teacher should use this)
Scissors
Pencil
Markers that show up on black paper (Gel markers often do)
Fasteners from the stationery store (the gold kind that you poke in the holes and then bend back)

Artist with her mermaid puppet

Each artist sketched out their ideas and then drew them on the black card stock with a pencil (you could see the lines fairly well.) Then they cut out the basic shapes with scissors and brought it to me to use my xacto knife to help with some of the detail work. I encouraged details because it would add to the effect when a light was shined on them and the shadow was created. We cut eyes and mouths into them, made cuts for hair and fingers. I asked all the artists to be sure to add at least one appendage which was cut separately and attached with a fastener.

NOTE: If you are doing this project encourage the kids to make the appendages wide, at least in the spot where it connects with the body. The more delicate the appendage the more likely it is to break off. This is another prime example of my learning curve: I realized that appendages were too delicate about half way through the lesson.

Anyhow, after you attach the appendages with the fasteners the fasteners can be trimmed from behind (by an adult or older child only) with sharp scissors. The artists then embellished their puppets with the markers. We used the hot glue gun to attach the sticks to the puppets. And here they are:

Artists with their shadow puppets (complete with articulated tails, arms, etc.)
Posing unhappily because they REALLY wanted to put on their puppet show!

I have to say I'm so proud of the Picasso's Basement artists. They utilized so many new skills, were patient while waiting for help with the details, and were amazingly creative. I thought they would all make people. But we ended up with a monster, a horror movie character, a cat, a giant person, a mermaid, a pegasus, a hippie with his Love Bus, and (last but not least) Zeus with his lightening bolt! Fantastic work, guys! And thank you to my teen assistant who kept the peace through all of this!

Draw Like an Egyptian

2011-09-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, I know it's a TERRIBLE title for this post. Sometimes you just have to follow your heart.

Day 3 of Art Camp: Sarcophaguses

This was a very ambitious project for one day. Maybe too ambitious. But it worked out pretty well.

Sarcophagus and Mummy

It required the following:

Pictures of Sarcophaguses for reference
Pictures of Egyptian Hyroglyphics and Symbolism
Pencil
Brown Craft Paper
Craft Acrylic or Tempera Paint and brushes
Wide Permanent Markers (All hail the Sharpie!)
A pre-made snack
A lot more time than we had

We looked at many pictures of Egyptian art and architecture but in the end settled on some of the most fascinating elements: the burial techniques and the beautifully decorated sarcophaguses.

The children took turns lying on the ground on top of a strip of kraft paper and we drew their outline. Then we formed the shape into a sarcophagus and the children drew in their faces and body shapes. I asked them to look at how the hair was drawn, the headdresses, the facial features and the symbols used on the bodies. We discussed the symmetry of the design and I was excited to see one artist completely disregard this and make hers intentionally asymmetrical. The artists sketched in pencil first and dove right in to the paint. I bought a nice high quality gold and they loved using it.

As the paint dried we ate hummus, pita, and olives (along with fruit snacks and goldfish, of course) and played the mummy wrap game. This was a bigger hit than I imagined it would be and it was played several times.

Lastly we returned to our work stations and added detailing and outlines with our markers. A few kids chose to finish up their work on another day.

In hindsight I wish I'd saved this project for a regular art lesson rather than camp so the artists could have taken more into consideration: how to hold their arms, whether to give their sarcophagus a staff to hold, etc. But the artists created some very very beautiful work.

Art Gallery Show!

2011-09-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

I’m happy to report that the Picasso’s Basement Kids is having it’s fist Gallery Show at the Scotch Plains Public Library on Bartle Ave in Scotch Plains, NJ (for all you local art lovers.) The artwork will be on

view through Saturday, September 17^th.

Some of the Artists posing with me

Our Gallery Opening was this past Saturday. It was a huge hit thanks to the talents of many artistic kids and their very lovely and generous parents. (A special shout out to Lisa and Lorri who brought us AMAZING cookies and delicious sparkling juices and kisses to Claudia and family who trekked in from afar.)

Thanks also to the staff of the Scotch Plains Library who were lovely, helpful and generous with their time. And to any patrons we may have disturbed with our enthusiastic noise: my sincere apologies!

The children were excited to share their work and trade Artist Business Cards that I made using their Postage Stamp Self Portraits.

If you can’t make it to the show here’s a little sampling:

Some of the Shadow Puppets

Artists in front of their Sarcophaguses wearing the shirts they made in class

Postage Stamp Self Portraits

Russian Architecture

2011-09-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

Russian Architecture: Day 2 of Art Camp

Time to recap another day of my first Picasso's Basement Art Camp.

On the second day of art camp we traveled to Russia. We looked at Russian architecture, some of which is noted for it’s Byzantine influences. Many of the more famous structures feature onion domes, bold colors, and arches. Working with only recycled items (shoe boxes, food boxes, paper towel rolls, and soda bottles) and some plastic baseballs covered with Paper Mache the artists began to paint patterns with craft acrylic paint. When it dried later they became architects and worked as a group to assemble their structure with I helped them glue together with a hot glue gun. VOILA!

Russian Building

Snacks were just sad that day. The children helped me bake (what should have been) delicious Russian teacakes. Unfortunately, I’m not Julia Child and I measured the flour incorrectly. They smelled delicious but they looked like this:

Bad Teacakes

Good Teacakes

Luckily I had a little of the batter left and I added some more flour. The next day we were able to enjoy them.

Nesting dolls were the next order of business. I used manila cardboard to cut out the shapes of nesting dolls and the children made all sorts: animals, constellations, and EEEK! serial killers (because when you don’t watch the kids as you clean up, those pop-culture themes just creep right in!) But I won’t bother showing them here. The kids had fun with them but truthfully a good part of their energies that day were used on the Byzantine building.

Lesson learned: One good project is all anyone needs!

WHY THE NEW BLOG TITLE, PAULA?

2011-09-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

I am changing my blog title from Artburbia to “Picasso’s Basement”. The old title worked for me while I was finding my way in the art teaching world, balancing parenting, suburban living (which at times still felt foreign to me after my years in Brooklyn, New York), illustrating, and learning how to teach.

Now that I clearly have found my groove with this teaching business and I seem to be spending all my time thinking up new lessons it feels like it’s time for a change. My art classes are called “Picasso’s Basement” so it seemed only natural to pick that for a new title.

I’m curious to see if you like the change. What do you think of the new title? Is there a time that you found you wanted to change something in order to reflect what was happening in your own life?

Around The World With Picasso's Basement! First stop: New Zealand

2011-09-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

I’m incredibly excited! I am planning Picasso’s Basement first Art Show complete with a Gallery Opening. (Yes, I'm excited enough to feature BOLD TYPE!) It will be held at the Scotch Plains Library in N.J. on Saturday, September 10th from 1:30-3:00pm and the work will remain on view afterwards. Highlighted will be the art created during our weeklong Around the World Art Camp.

This was my first attempt at an Art Camp and I’m thoroughly convinced that I had even more fun than the kids! Each day we went to a different country, created a piece or two of art, had an appropriate (although at times disastrous) snack and played games. It was hard narrowing down the countries and I did my best to vary it up. This week I’ll try to do a post for each day. Most of the lesson plans were self-created and most of them were even successful. Less successful was attempting to get my older son to man the phones. Many thanks are owed to my wonderful teen assistant, Nancy, who helped all the kids and kept me from making too many mistakes!

OK: Here goes the week!

DAY 1: NEW ZEALAND, The Maori People and their art

After learning of how the Maori people traveled to New Zealand and were it’s first inhabitants we looked at their absolutely gorgeous art. Exquisite intricate carvings, amazing tikis, and beautiful tattoos. Virtually everything the Maoris wore, lived in, or used was adorned with incredible swirling designs.

The Artists looked at pictures of the Maori sea monster, the marakihau, a mermaid like evil creature that was thought to have a hollow tongue that could suck up the sea, boats, even men! Using pencils they sketched pictures of their own sea monsters and then created a finished drawing with oil pastels. Then, using a black tempera wash, they painted their papers. Pop! Nothing like a little water-based resist to make your oil pastel colors really stand out!

Following that we drew facial tattoos.
Even the Maori women tattooed their faces: in fact some still do. The kids enjoyed their tattoos a heck of a lot more than the “banana scallops” that we made (think Fried Plantain Ala Kellogg’s). Most of them chose Goldfish crackers instead. Ah well, more for me!

Campers sporting facial tattoos. I'm not sure if their parents were happy about this!

As a last activity we looked at the huge variety of tiki faces and everyone made a tiki necklace out of recycled paper. We “laminated” them with clear contact paper and by the end of the day we were a mighty festooned bunch!

Whoa. I’m exhausted just thinking about all we did! But I guess it wasn’t TOO much activity because they all came back the next day!

IN OUR NEXT INSTALLMENT: Picasso’s Basement’s trip to Russia! See you back here for more fun!

Step Right Up, Ladies and Gentlemen!

2011-07-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

I have a little thing for circuses and sideshows and carnivals. Everything about them: the colors, the noises, the barkers, the incredibly greasy food, and the brightly colored rides. I’m not in love with the huge circuses but prefer the smaller wackier ones. (And yes, I plan to use the work wacky at least once in all my blog posts.) I like the small town shows and the few existing side shows with promises of two-headed ducks and sword swallowers.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the artwork. Everything from old circus posters to carousel horses to the brightly colored rides. They are so uniquely American.

In Coney Island there is not only an operating traditional ten-in-one sideshow but there is also a class to learn banner painting. I dream of taking this class if only to be with others who love side show banners as much as I do. But in lieu of this I thought it would be fun to teach my Picasso’s Basement students about side show banners.

I had to carefully select the images to show them because some of the acts were pretty…well…out there. Early sideshow art could feature oddities that might not be suitable. We focused on people with special abilities and animal oddities: the tall man, the snake charmer, dancing ducks, and 3-tailed mice.

The students noted that almost all the banners had red borders painted around them. Since it wasn’t unusual for people to find that they’d been tricked into paying to see acts that were nothing more than taxidermied animals or mannequins, the banners often featured large circles bearing the claim “ALIVE!” to entice the patrons.

The children came up with all sorts of wacky (see! I told you) characters: Turtle Man (complete with top hat and briefcase), Pencil Sharpener Nose Girl, Flying Man, etc. We used large sheets of brown craft paper to give our posters an antique feel. First we sketched in pencil and later used acrylic craft paint that is thinner than tube acrylics but opaque and dries quickly. It’s also inexpensive and frequently on sale at local craft stores. It’s my new favorite for teaching but that will be another blog post!

Some of these are still being worked on but here's our first result:

THE FLYING MAN! ALIVE!!!!

This Is Not A Marker

2011-07-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

My students love markers. Why? Beats me. I do like using an archival non-bleeding pen for my illustrations but as a child I was never a marker fanatic. Always preferred pencils, paint and collage, etc. Perhaps the marker selection wasn’t as abundant when I was a kid. Did we only get tiny packs of primary colors? I don’t remember. But I do know what a challenge it is to get some kids away from the markers. Some of my kids challenge me when I pull out any other material.

So my goal for my last single summer class before my upcoming Picasso’s Basement Camp in August was to come up marker project that I loved and thought they would enjoy.

Let ‘em go marker crazy!

I did a little thinking and, although I did alter it, in the end I have to credit one of my favorite art teacher blogs called There's a Dragon in my Art Room http://plbrown.blogspot.com/ for this lesson. She leaves this project for her substitute teachers because it is so easy to set up. But I fell in love with it for several reasons:

It involves a lot of creativity.
It encorporates recycling. I’m a recycling freak.
It requires very little prep work. Always a nice factor in the summer.
It allows the kids to work with those darned markers.

First we read a wonderful picture book called Not A Box by Antoinette Portis. Simple plot: A rabbit is sitting in a box and is asked “why”. Because it’s NOT A BOX! It’s a ship. Why is he sitting on the box? Because it’s NOT A BOX! It’s a volcano! The book was for much younger children than those in my class that day, but I was surprised to find that they enjoyed predicting what the rabbit would do next with the box and were also quick to guess the moral: With some creativity and imagination you can make something into something else!

I dug through my collection of scratched and damaged CDs for this project, but also set out a pile of recycled soda bottle caps. I kept a hot glue gun handy at a safe distance from the kids.

I pre-glued the CD’s on large sheets of heavy paper using the glue gun. The Picasso’s Basement Artists were told that they weren’t CDs and that their assignment was to surprise me by turning them into something else by drawing around them. With markers. (Imagine the delight of those marker-loving kids!) I gave them the option of adding bottle caps.

I also suggested that they could title their work.

Gentle readers, kindly remind me that in the future I should specify that they put the title and their names on the BACKS of the drawings. Luckily in this case the titles seemed to add to the wackiness of the artwork! Here’s a sampling of the pictures they came up with:

The Space Craft

The Space Ship

The Eyeball

The Lady Bug

Please Draw!

2011-06-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Until I post my next exciting entry please direct yourself or your children to this link. It's so much fun! You can draw and paint on the computer, frame your picture. I drew a knobby knee-d chicken which I then placed in a bright insanely ornate virtual frame, and hung it in a gallery. What could be better?

http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/

Vivid Layers: Art Teacher Blog Directory

2011-05-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to some fine other Art Teacher Bloggers. Because you know I'm not the only one! (Insert smiley face here!)

Vivid Layers: Art Teacher Blog Directory

The Year of the Rabbit (Or “How to Make A Chinese Dragon Mask to please the finickiest of kids”)

2011-05-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

We like to celebrate a lot of holidays at my house. Usually they are actually the ones that pertain to our backgrounds (which for my melting-pot kids is anything from Russia, Spain, England, Ireland, and Poland) but sometimes we turn to outside cultures for our festivities. We’ve hung lights for Diwali and made Dia de los Muertos cookies.

And we always decorate for Chinese New Years. Except for this year. This year we forgot.

Months later my seven year old remembered Chinese New Year and he began to do what any poor neglected seven year old would do. He began to hound me to make something with him. He was quite specific. He wanted to make a Chinese dragon costume. A FULL costume. The kind that usually is worn by several people. No can do, I said. But I was willing to work with him to make the mask.

It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to make some again with my class! Here’s what we did.

MATERIALS:

Scissors
1 Milk Jug, washed well and dried.
Newspaper, torn into strips. Around 1- 1.5 inches wide, the width of one page. But any size can work.
Water
Flour
Acrylic Paint
1 Sheet Heavy white construction paper or craft foam
A few additional sheets of brightly colored construction paper

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MASK:

Upside-down jug with paper mache strips painted white and ready for color!

Time to paint!

Spend some time on the Internet looking at Chinese Dragon masks. Find some favorites and print them out for inspiration.
Cut the jug in half from the top to the bottom. We used the side with the handle as a “nose” (although we later decided to cut the nose off!)
Measure the child’s eyes and cut eyeholes and a mouth. Take a good look at a Chinese dragon mask picture to get the right shapes.
Make Paste of 1 parts flour to 2 parts water. There are other recipes involving glue or boiling that you can find online but this is the simplest.
Dip strips of paper into the paste, squeeze off some excess by dragging paper through your fingers but don’t make it dry. Apply it to the jug horizontally. Continue to add more strips, allowing for overlap. Do it until the mask is covered. Use shorter strips where needed such as between the eyes. Let it dry. It will take about a full day to completely dry.
Do the next layer vertically. Alternate layers. We made 3: one horizontal, one vertical and the top one was horizontal again.
Cover your paste and put in the frig between dryings. You can put it in the microwave for a few seconds each time you take it out.
You can start making shapes with your paper. We added horns, big lips and bulgy eyes.
You can do the last stage with white paper to make it more paint-ready but I just painted the last dry stage white before applying colors.
If it needs a little more drying use a hairdryer but at a distance.
Paint!

Once paint is dry you can glue in teeth, add strips of colored paper as a dragon mane, add feathers or whatever you like.

Here’s how my son’s mask turned out!

Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Blogging with Purpose

2011-05-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have been tuning in to read my rants about suburban living, attempts at self-motivation, and the stresses of parenting while trying to find a new direction in life may notice the focus of my blog shifting a little. What's happened, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. If you remember my very first posting (and I know you all read my blogs repeatedly and can recite them by heart) I said this would be the Year of Paula. Well, I’m as surprised as anyone to be able to say it really became just that.

Here is what I’ve done within the last 10 months in no particular order:

Passed the Art Teaching praxis test.
Received my certification to teach art in NJ which now requires me to find gainful employment. No more bon-bon eating for me.
Started sketch work on a mural being designed at the request of my town Mayor.
Started a home-based art program “Picasso’s Basement” where I have been teaching young children from my newly cleaned (although not quite renovated) basement.
Vacuumed the floor. At least twice.
Returned to the workforce as a substitute teacher in the local elementary and middle schools (High school schedule was too difficult to work out with my kids. Although that did not stop the automated system from attempting to retain my services as a fill-in for the male Gym Teacher. Those who know me may appropriately guffaw now.)

So here’s what you’ll probably see a lot more of in my future blog posts:

Art projects and lessons
Photos of cute kids “arting”
Photos of my basement
Craft ideas
My sketches

Here's what I promise you won't ever have to see:

Photos of me from behind picking up the mess left behind by cute kids who were busy "arting". Not to say I won't clean up but no photo of me taken from behind can be allowed to be publicly displayed. Photos of me from behind are THE main reason why digital cameras have all been equipped with a DELETE button. I promise you it's true. Check Wikipedia.

Here’s what I promise to not lose:

My sense of humor.
My appetite.
My mind. Here’s hoping.

STAY POSTED FOR CUTE KID PHOTOS!

No more checking YouTube for cute cat videos!**

Just check in with me!

**although those darned Scottish Fold kittens sure are adorable....

Inspiration Smells Likes Peroxide

2011-02-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

I am completely distracted in my own home. Oh sure, I can paint and assemble and color at home. But the ideas, the real thinking, the actual inspirations and subsequent designs just don’t happen there. Much as I’d like them to.

Here’s last month’s scenario: I realize I must come up with a new illustration in order to create a self-promotion piece. I know I need to start the idea process but as I putter about my house this seems to become my priority list:

1. Check email and Facebook. Must get messages out of way so I am free to work.

2. Clean drafting table.

3. Pick up every sock that my husband and two children have left balled up on the floor.

4. Snack to boost energy.

5. Check email and Facebook again. Someone important may need to reach me.

You can see where this is going. This all leads to a marginally clean house and a remarkably spotless yet empty drafting table.

The following day after discovering that cleaning products do not make me want to draw, I go to get my hair cut and colored. In order to cover the vicious gray that my hair has been blessed with since my early 20's my Miracle Worker, the phenomenal Russell of Russell Scott Hair Designs in Clark NJ, must gunk me up and leaves me to sit in the corner in shame with my head resembling and a putrid bowl of ice cream covered in Magic Shell. I look ridiculous. I reek. The Black Eyed Peas are pounding in the speakers and I am stuck sitting next to two Kardashian-wanna-be housewives who are deep in discussion about their jewelry.

BUT there are no balls of socks. No dishes to do. No one calling me “Mommy”. And so, sketchbook balanced on smock-covere lap, I find that my mind is actually functioning. In fact on that one visit alone I came up with a slew of sketches for a series of animal musicians AND a sketch for a painting of Coney Island that I’ve been thinking about for years. AND the start of this blog entry.

Here’s where I do and have done my best creative thinking:

1. Hairdressers

2. Laundromat

3. Doctor’s Office

4. At the drivers wheel when on long drives by myself (rare but precious occasions)

So fellow creative friends, where do find your inspiration?
Where do you do YOUR best thinking?

National Tiki Day

2011-01-31T10:30:00.002-08:00

I'll start by acknowledging that I am waaaaaay overdue for a new post. And believe me, more are on the way. But I have an excuse. My poor old emac computer (posthumously named Fergus) completely, utterly and totally fried itself. I'm talking toast. Flambe. It took 3 days for my attic to stop smelling like a weenie roast. Luckily some kind friends have helped me set up shop again and I'm back to work.

So until that new post is ready I give you some inspiration from my wonderfully creative 7 year old who, last week, declared a "National Tiki Day". It required the wearing of costumes during dinner, an abundant supply of fruit (perhaps to humor the hungry Tiki gods), and of course some great homemade tiki decorations.

Given that a busy day of football watching and shelf dusting was already in progress we had to use whatever supplies we could find to make our tiki decorations. "And what would that be" you ask? (Go ahead, ask!) Why, the cardboard inserts from toilet paper rolls and a strand of holiday lights. The results speak for themselves.

Museum Surprises (or how to get your child to turn off his Nintendo)

2010-11-29T20:09:00.000-08:00

7 Year Old Inspired by Durer

Thanksgiving weekend is often one big overload; too much driving, too much food. This year I decided to break up our annual upstate NY Food n’ Family fest with a day trip. As a child my parents often took me to Williamstown Massachusetts and I wanted to take my kids to see it. The drive, I remembered, was always beautiful, hilly, full of steep inclines. There were terrifying moments with Dad, in the driver’s seat, making hairpin turns at 75mph while pointing out the window to show me the sights.

We'd usually go to the Sterling Clark Institute. I told my sons about this huge museum packed with French Impressionists. Mostly Renoirs. I didn’t like Renoir as a child and I’m still not a huge fan. But I was always enthralled by the huge painting of Nymphs and Satyr by Bougereau and a naive wood carving by Gauguin that hung over a doorway.

Neither of these pieces was there anymore. Even the Renoirs were on tour. And the museum itself, while impressive for a small collection, was pretty…well…small. But what they do they do well. And they currently are running a fantastic Albrecht Durer exhibit. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/durer/content/exhibition.cfm His skill was amazing, his imagination mindboggling, his fantastical woodcuts and engravings were ground breaking at the time. But for a seven year old I wondered how a day in the museum would compare with a day full of TV and Wii games.

I’ll tell you how it compared. My boy fell in love with the artwork. There was a Durer Drawing Day underway when we arrived. He and I were handed pads of papers, portable drawing boards, some supplies, and the opportunity to sit for a lesson with a “real artists.” We concluded that WE were “real artists” and skipped the lessons. We headed in to see the drawings. My son came face to face with some amazing pieces, some fantastic symbolism. Three-headed spewing dragons. Angels battling demons. Odd looking roaming animals. What more could a kid want?

He didn’t want to copy Durer's artwork. He wanted to be inspired. People sat all over the floor, drawing in corners, on benches, against the walls. I saw many children that were clearly gifted and spent hours on one piece. My boy’s drawings were quick and constant. He plowed through the drawing pad. He refused to leave. I dragged him to see other artwork but he was too moved by the Durers. He came back and drew his own demons. Angels. Gravestones. Skeletons floating into the sky. We went back to my mother’s house later and he dragged out the paints. He painted more.

I bought him a book of Durer’s woodcuts. “My first art book” he said proudly. It was a good Thanksgiving weekend. My boy is inspired and I’m truly thankful.

The Children’s Book Bandwagon

2010-11-13T14:48:00.000-08:00

Detail of illustration of book I've written

Pretty much everyone is writing children’s picture books nowadays.

There are, of course, the celebrities: Madonna, John Lithgow, Julie Andrews, Kathie Lee Gifford, Tori Spelling…. Perhaps it’s their second career. I can’t fault them for that. I’m working on MY second career.

But my sneaky suspicion is that “how hard can it be?” popped up in their minds. Followed by “I bet this would make a great idea for a children’s book!” I'd like to think that my favorite children’s book authors never ever have that thought. They have a story to tell and the stories just happen to be for children. They don’t moralize. They don’t talk down to kids. And I’d bet that they don’t ever think “what child wouldn’t love to hear my story about a (insert favorite barnyard animal here)?”

This trend is not limited to celebs. I can say with great certainty that, myself included, almost everyone has thought of a “great idea for a children’s book.” How do I know? Because I’m an Illustrator. And practically not a week goes by that some friend or relative or friend-of-a -friend or friend-of-a-relative doesn’t ask me to illustrate their book. Maybe they’ve just been introduced to me. Maybe they’ve never seen my work. For all they know I could produce evil evil artwork that would make Hieronymous Bosch blush.* Doesn’t matter. They have a great book about a little (turtle, girl, rabbit, gender-confused child) that they know I can help them with.

I’ve only said Yes once. To a wonderful cousin who can write well and has good things to share with children. I really wanted to work with her and it’s been a great experience. In my experience most publishing companies prefer to find their own illustrators for books by first time writers. So truthfully the writers shouldn’t bother hiring me anyway. They should feel free, however, to recommend me to their publishers!

Right now I’m fine-tuning a few picture books that I’ve written. They have been pretty tough to fine-tune. Writing for children can be harder than it looks. I guess we can’t all be Tori Spelling, Bette Midler, The Prince of Wales, John Travolta, and Jimmy Buffet.

*I’m hoping to sprinkle my blog posts with references to artists. I know you all have all “Googled” your second grade nemesis, that good looking physical therapist you once met, that date that stood you up. So I know you can “Google” a few artists. If you don’t know Hieronymous then please look him up.

Metamorphosis

2010-11-06T19:40:00.001-07:00

This is supposed to be My Year. The Year I've Been Waiting For.

My children can officially dress themselves in weather-appropriate ensembles. They are now old enough that they cringe at the sight of me in a Halloween costume. Particularly when I wave at them maniacally from the curb. They can find their own snacks without setting the kitchen ablaze. These were my first clues that it had finally arrived. The Year of Paula.

Like Kafka's Gregor I plan to metamorphosize. Hopefully my resulting transformation will be more of a positive experience for me than it was for poor Gregor. For starters, I hope not to repel people. In fact, I hope the opposite to be true. Hopefully this year and this blog will be the start of a journey that will take me to new wonderful places and help me meet fantastic people. I hope to make it a positive experience for those around me and I want to pass my excitement on to the children I teach and those that I raise. And I hope to avoid setting off the smoke detector in my kitchen as much as possible.

I usually measure my year in school years. September to September. I don't think I'll ever stop measuring my years this way and since I intend to teach art in elementary schools, I suppose it's fitting. So from September 2010 to September 2011 I will attempt to do the following:

Update my illustration website. (Thank you to web designer Linda Bradler, designer to the stars. And me.)

Start substitute teaching.

Get certified to teach art.

Finish illustrating the children's books I've written.

Continue to keep my family fed in the half-hearted manner to which they've become accustomed.

Not get so distracted with all the above that, instead of art, I create roadkill.

Keep you updated on all of the above. Particularly the roadkill.