The Cloud Kids

Bookmaking Week!

2011-09-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

This was a very exciting week at The Painted Cloud! The kids learned all about the different types of books you can make and how they don’t necessarily have to consist of fastened pages. After discovering some new ways to construct a book they all made some AWESOME tunnel books, scrolls, accordion books, marbleized paper for their lotus books and books made out of fabric instead of paper! Some of our projects involved very precise and detail oriented instructions and all the kids worked very hard and ended up with really great results! Everybody’s work was very impressive!

Kesar's Accordion Book

Wolfie and Leo working on an Accordian Book

Quinn's "Pets" Tunnel Book

Leo's Scroll book

SUMMER CAMP 2011: COLOR

2011-08-14T17:33:00.001-07:00

SUMMER CAMP 2011: Surrealism

2011-08-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

The kids had lots of fun this week thinking up strange scenarios during our Surrealism camp. They worked together on exquisite corpses, looked for imagery in paint blots ala Max Ernst, made paintings inspired by Magritte's 'The False Mirror', made a surrealist movie, wrote surreal stories together, and more!

Surreal story by Kesar, Zoe, Benny, Wolfie, Oliver, and Clementine:

"I drove to The Painted Cloud and then The Painted Cloud turned into a big big field that had many big fruits and vegetables that were bigger than a house and then a giant snake came and was chasing me around and then it ate your head off and then I jumped onto the snake's back and put a prickly cucumber spine into his back. Then the class turned back into The Painted Cloud and then The Painted Cloud turned into a giant robot that ate cucumbers and I stabbed him in the back cause I didn't know he was a good guy and then the clouds made him a good guy again and the snake could fly so he flew up to the clouds and he found a mushroom and he ate it and a knife was in there and he got stabbed"

Surreal poem by Smith, Benny, Oliver, Beatrice, Ava, Wolfie and Kesar:

A cat was walking and then ate a snake and then turned into a snake

But then the snake ate noodles

Sometimes I eat noodles too much and my mommy says I'm going to turn into a noodle

And then the snake got sick and went down the toilet

And then a dragon ate the giant noodle snake

I was just sitting in a house looking at a golden ring with jewels on it

SUMMER CAMP 2011: Decoration & Adornment

2011-07-30T04:19:00.000-07:00

This week was very very VERY sparkly, glitzy, and razzley-dazzley! Decoration & Adornment was our theme and the kids made some of the most outrageous artworks ever! They made memory jugs, tissue paper flowers, necklaces, painted beads, Styrofoam-sequin-pipecleaner-ornaments, fancy collages, fancy stickers, fancy frames, fancy masks. . .!! glitter-glue-stamp prints, and lots and LOTS of pom-poms!!!!! Seriously abundant and beautiful.

SUMMER CAMP 2011: Perform!

2011-07-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

This week's theme was Perform! We looked at many facets of performance -- including dance, theater, improvisation, conceptual actions, poetry, song, interviews, light and shadow, character creation, and costume. Also, the kids performed three of Ben Vautrier's 58 Propositions (1. fold a page many times to the smallest possible size, 2. write as much as you can on one page, 3. hide this piece of paper (all now hidden somewhere in The Painted Cloud studio - forever?)) and answered the Proust Questionnaire (which you will find below). Needless to say - this week was a TON of FUN!!!

Please check here for a video compilation of some of the performances from this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JppQifPEEPI

For privacy this video is unlisted and unsearchable -- it can only be accessed via this blog. Enjoy!

******************************************************************
Wolfie: Living Armor
If a butterfly loses its wing I can put it back on. If a dragonfly loses its leg I can put it back on. If an orca whale loses its fin I can put it back on. I can put it back on - whatever! - I can put anything living back on.

Smith: Shield Man
There's this thing that defends me that's like an ice-cream cone and all the kids can eat it.

Camilo: Tiger Mermaid
I can do anything you want. I scare the little fish. I work in China.

Atticus: Five Face (Ghost, Zombie, Vampire, Mummy, and Werewolf -- that's five people in just one face!)
I'm so scary and like to drink blood and like to eat brains and I like to scare people and my ghost part is really angry and I can turn into a shark - and I can turn into anything!

Imogen: Luna
I take care of pets and save animals. Every night I turn into a werewolf.

******************************************************************
PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE

What do you like most about your friends?
Wolfie: That I can play with them a lot.
Smith: That they are nice.
Camilo: I like that sometimes when they have playdates with me.
Atticus: That they like to play with me a lot and they do stuff with me.
Imogen: That they're always around to play with me.

Your favorite thing to do?
Wolfie: Go swimming in the ocean or go inside of a museum.
Smith: Play with my family.
Camilo: My favorite thing to do is dress up.
Atticus: Be with my family.
Imogen: Go to the beach.

Your idea of happiness?
Wolfie: Snuggling and visiting my family.
Smith: My idea of happiness is yellow.
Camilo: My happiness is to do Halloween and Christmas.
Atticus: My familyn and going somewhere.
Imogen: Going to Cape Cod with my family.

Your idea of misery?
Wolfie: When me and Decker get into a fight.
Smith: Nothing.
Camilo: My miserable thing is when my mom shouts at me.
Atticus: When my parents come home late because I think something happened to them that's not good at all.
Imogen: If my cat got run over by a car.

If you were not yourself, who would you like to be?
Wolfie: I wanna be like a lizard that spreads out his neck. I would want to be him.
Smith: A chimpanzee. . . actually. . . a crocodile that eats only vegetables and stuffed animals. I would actually be a dog.
Camilo: Everything I'm going to be.
Atticus: I would be a mummy - but this time not dead.
Imogen: A mermaid.

Where would you like to live?
Wolfie: I would like to live in the ocean.
Smith: I would like to live in a dog house with a dog and sleep with a dog and eat dog food. and do everything with the dog.
Camilo: In a haunted house.
Atticus: I would like to live in a pyramid.
Imogen: In Maine.

Your favorite color?
Wolfie: Gold and blue.
Smith: Gold and red.
Camilo: All the colors.
Atticus: I like gold and silver.
Imogen: Violet.

Your favorite book?
Wolfie: I like my Bakugan book and Power Rangers book.
Smith: My favorite book is fairy tales - and some super heroes books.
Camilo: Rapunzel - I mean Tinkerbell - I mean all the books in the whole wide world.
Atticus: Harry Potter.
Imogen: The Velveteen Rabbit.

Who is your real life hero?
Wolfie: My daddy and me myself and my mommy. I want to tell you why i'm a hero. . . when decker locked the door and we got locked out of the house - i tried to climb over the back door and the back door was locked too and the window was locked too so we had to go all the way to the front and I jumped through it.
Smith: Myself and my mom because one time we found a ladybug in the subway train and luckily my mom had a piece of paper and she put it in the garden so the ladybug wouldn't die in the subway train and you know why my hero is me too? Because there were some ants in my house and I put two of those ants - luckily we had an ant farm and we did this today and those ants will probably eat up all the green stuff in there and I think one of those ants is hurt.
Camilo: My family and me and my grandma and my aunts and my whole family is a super hero family and I am the best super hero you will ever see.
Atticus: Myself because one time my fan broke down and it was not working and I banged it on the back and it was hot and mom woke up and the engine was melted so the bed could have caught on fire so me and mom could have been roast chicken and good thing I got it just in time.
Imogen: My friend Ruby.

Your favorite food?
Wolfie: Maybe I would choose - mint, honey, and that's it. And peanut butter and honey.
Smith: Peanut butter and jelly - P.B. and J.
Camilo: Pizza - wait pepperoni!
Atticus: Pizza plain and also with basil.
Imogen: Sushi.

Your favorite drink?
Wolfie: Water, sprite, and lemonade.
Smith: Apple juice.
Camilo: Apple juice.
Atticus: Ginger ale.
Imogen: Strawberry-lemonade.

What do you hate the most?
Wolfie: What I hate is eating beans.
Smith: Really stinky shoes.
Camilo: I don't like inventions and I don't like to go in a space ship.
Atticus: I don't like going to other pizza places other than Driggs - because they have the best pizza and one of the chefs there is my friend.
Imogen: Mushrooms.

A talent you would like to have?
Wolfie: Caring for pets so I could have a lot of pets.
Smith: I wish I could be good at singing.
Camilo: I really really wish that I can ice skate, but I don't have any ice skates, so someday Santa can bring me some ice skates.
Atticus: I want to have a talent that I could drive a car.
Imogen: I wish I could be good at playing musical instruments.

Your favorite name?
Wolfie: Sword Fly.
Smith: Smith.
Camilo: Milly.
Atticus: Scooby-Doo.
Imogen: Luna.

***

SUMMER CAMP 2011: Picasso & Matisse

2011-07-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

The kids made such amazing - amazing - things this week during our Picasso & Matisse camp. They made a mural inspired by Picasso's Guernica, they looked at and created cubist artworks, they thought about the relationship of color and emotion in Picasso's blue period, and they sewed cardboard guitar sculptures. Looking at Matisse - they created bold shapes and patterns in their printmaking and still-lifes, they painted with sticks, and made paper cut-out collages. We were so impressed with everyone's excitement and focus this week -- the kids' artworks are incredible!!!

SUMMER CAMP 2011: 3D Builders

2011-07-09T18:41:00.001-07:00

photo by Carrie Schneider

We kicked off our summer camp program this week with 3D Builders. The kids worked with paper mache, found objects, salt ceramic, wood blocks & shapes, pop-n-locks, pipe cleaners, beads, sticks, and yarn. They also learned paper sculpture techniques, experimented with balance while making hanging mobiles, and created temporary nature sculptures inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.
Also, we had a special guest this week -- artist Carrie Schneider -- who visited to capture some gorgeous photographs of our studio at work.

photo by C.S.
photo by C.S. photo by C.S. photo by C.S. photo by C.S. photo by C.S. photo by C.S. photo by C.S. Thank you so much Carrie!! :)

Gigantic Robots!

2011-05-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

animate!

2011-03-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

The kids from our Tuesday class made drawings for an animation!
Each child invented a character. They drew these characters as a "first frame" to begin a sequence within the animation. This character was then passed on to someone else to copy. The copy then passed to someone else to copy the copy. With each copy the drawing changes -- sometimes slightly, sometimes dramatically. By looking at all the drawings from the first to the last you can see the character change and move around the page.

Brendan shot small video files of each drawing in the order that they were made and used iMovie to animate them. You can watch the final piece by following this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp6iYBS4dvs

For privacy -- videos are unlisted on YouTube. They are unsearchable and can only be found via this blog. Please enjoy!

totem poles

2011-03-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

Over the last month the kids worked on making totem poles! First we looked at images of totem poles for some inspiration. Each child chose a creature and began working on it's head by paper-macheing a balloon and using cardboard and tape to add some three-dimensional features (such as wings, eyes, a wolf's nose, a crown, etc). We needed to apply two layers of paper-mache and then gesso for a base. Then the kids were ready to paint the colors and patterns. The only thing left to do was stack the heads!

Ranger and Smith's heads waiting to dry...
Xavier's dragon gessoed...
Elena painting her eagle...
Max painting his eagle...
Wolfie's dragon in progress...
Grey working on "a crazy one"...
Jack's guardian owl and Leo's eagle ...
Max's eagle...
Dash's bird...
Left totem (from top to bottom):
Silas = wolf
Gigi = woman
Dash = bird
Ranger = spaceship
Ethan = owl king (with crown)
Xavier = dragon
Jack = guardian owl

Right totem (from top to bottom):
Elena = eagle
Wolfie =dragon
Smith = person/knight/owl
Grey = a crazy one
Max = eagle
Leo = eagle

the artist is me!

2011-01-12T16:41:00.000-08:00

Today Smith is drawing New York City on one half of his paper and on the other half he's drawing a beach he traveled to for the winter recess.

Smith: This is the water and this is a building and I'm drying off. And this is my mom coming up because she was swimming... Now I'm going to draw the city, but I'm not going to paint it -- but why not?... I'm not going to put a boat on my picture because then people would think I rode in a boat and I did not... This is the Empire State Building. I thought it might be the other building --

Bianca: The Chrysler?

Smith: Yep, but it's too big... I'll draw a plane because I rode an airplane... I'm using an artist to draw because the artist is me!

WINTER BREAK DRAWING AND DESIGN CAMP

2010-12-30T13:41:00.001-08:00

During our winter break camp students were asked to think about about elements of design, such as composition, line quality, scale, value, and pattern. They were given a variety of unusual materials to create with, including old newspaper layout tape and letraset letters and patterns, fountain pens with india ink, carbon copy paper, vintage encyclopedia pages, and dayglo paper. The kids were fascinated by these materials and made some truly captivating work.
We also discussed foreground, middle ground and background, and the idea of things in the distance getting smaller. The kids were then asked to copy an animal/landscape image while thinking of these ideas.

exactly real, kinda real, and definitely not real

2010-10-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

Wolfie: What is Grey drawing?
Grey: This is definitely not a real thing.
Wolfie: I'm just gonna draw ordinary things.
Smith: Look at my jet and it has jets coming out of it!
Wolfie: Look what I did! I did the real circle parts on the wings.Smith: Look! Someone's sitting in it!
Grey: A pilot?
Smith: No, it's a truck-jet.Grey: What?
Smith: Nothing. . . Look! It's shooting into the air like a real jet-dog does!
Wolfie: I'm drawing the exact same thing [the toy-plane that I see]. First I'm drawing red cause that's the basic part of it.
Smith: I'm keeping the color right and kinda not right. I'm gonna draw this like real life -- like I'm on the sidewalk!
Wolfie: Look my lines got destroyed. My other lines just blended in with the colors, but look! That line got destroyed!Grey: I'm gonna cover up everything and see how it is. I want to turn that paint a color!Wolfie: What is that?Grey: I don't know. I'm just making something ... I made grey! I made my name!

***

watercolor alien

2010-10-07T19:29:00.001-07:00

Ellery: Look, it's an alien from a different planet. Planet Septune. It's holding...well, I don't know what it's holding, but in it's other hand it has a magnifying glass. It needs a magnifying glass because one eye is really damp.

Grey: What does "damp" mean?

Ellery: It means really black. It means ruined. It means rusty.
Grey: Is it just a robot?
Ellery: No, it's actually an alien.

Grey: Well, then why is one eye really damp?

Ellery: Because all my aliens have that. ... I can make it shooting a blue laser out of its eye. See?
Ellery: ...What are you drawing?

Bianca: Who are you asking? Grey or Elena or...?

Ellery: I'm asking myself.

***

making mountains

2010-10-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

That's a giant shadow. I'm gonna make a little mountain down here. there I go. Look! Look!
[in corner of page] I'm not finished until the whole paper is filled! I wanna be done . . . no I'm still working! I'm putting a little mountain between the two big mountains. Oo! Oo! I have a long space up here -- I can put a long skinny mountain. It's the tallest mountain you ever saw because I'm using up the whole paper and the paper is very long.
This one's really cool. I choose this one because it's blue and blue's my favorite color. And I like snow. That's the big shadow. See the big shadow? Oo! I like this! And see that mountain over there? It really looks like a real mountain! Not this one over here -- that was an accident -- but this one [real mountain = the smudgy violet area in corner]!
Oo! I still have a couple space. This is a tiny mountain that's going to become a giant mountain. I always blow off all the dust.

SUMMER CAMP: Week 10

2010-09-05T07:38:00.001-07:00

We had a fun and very full week! The theme for our camp this week was Nature. The kids created artworks using many natural materials. Our projects included: flower pounding; paper-making; dyeing fabric, wood beads, yarn, and string with turmeric, onions, cabbage, and spinach; weaving and embroidery; stick, bark, cork, and rock sculptures; bean mosaics; felted rocks; painting with beet and carrot juice and coffee; weaving pots for plants; planting rye grass; creating Andy Goldsworthy inspired nature arrangements; and salt painting!

This concludes our Summer Camp program for this year. Thank you to all of the kids who participated! We are forever enchanted and inspired by your personalities and artworks! xo

SUMMER CAMP: Week 9

2010-08-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

This week's theme was Fluxus. The kids made lots of fun artworks out of everyday materials and actions. They also made a lot of videos and performance pieces. I've compiled some of their videos and performances into one video that can be seen by following this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKApQ4SQYx0
For privacy -- this video is unlisted on YouTube. It is unsearchable and can only be found via this blog. Please enjoy!
This week we talked about art, artist, life, and audience as continuous. Here are some of the questions and answers from this week's conversations:
***
WHAT IS ART?

Elio: It's something that you make out of materials.

Mylie: It's like you paint, draw...you use lots of different materials.

Vieve: I think art is a creative thing that you make.

Sophie: I think art is putting a bunch of colors together on a piece of paper.

Cass: Art is something that people use to use materials and different things in different ways.

Wolfie: Something that you make and do.

Grey: Painting.

Stella: Art class.

Ayala: Something we do.

Ethan: Stuff where you do whatever you want. It's like a smart -- no -- it's like you can do whatever you want. Like lines... and you're free to draw.

WHAT IS AN ARTIST?

Wolfie: An artist is something that does all those things we just said.

Grey: A painter.

Ethan: A guy who does a lot of these activities with art. First, like different colors splatted. Second, like posters, and last -- posters that light up. I have a poster that lights up!

Cass: An artist is somebody that does stuff like really big sculptures and paintings and things we do in this camp, but much bigger and more complicated materials.

Sophie: An artist is an abstract person.

Vieve: It's someone who makes sculptures and makes art.

Mylie: It's somebody that makes cool things. Like statues and the Statue of Liberty. I went to see that!

Elio: It's someone who makes paintings and drawings.

Ayala: They paint.

Stella: I don't know.
WHAT IS LIFE?

Cass: Life is something that if I didn't have life I wouldn't be alive.

Grey: It's how you live.

Ethan: Life is like... if life wasn't real the earth wouldn't of been made...all the planets...and if
life wasn't real, food wouldn't be real...even this place wouldn't be real!

Sophie: Life is things like people and plants.

Mylie: Life is living.

Vieve: Life is a thing. It's the opposite of dead. And if you're dead you can't move at all and if you're alive you can play and do lots of things.
Sophie: Dead can sometimes move.

Elio: Air is in life, water is in life.

Wolfie: Something that you're in now.

Stella: Life is fun! Life is like nice things.

Ayala: It's sunny and we go outside to a lake or swimming or we go outside to a zoo or we go and have a walk!
WHAT IS A PERSON?

Vieve: A thing that can move and do things and play and it's a mammal.

Elio: A person is someone that runs, swims, plays, sees, smells, and jumps.

Mylie: It's somebody that likes to play.

Wolfie: A person is something that's living in life.

Sophie: A person is a living thing.

Ayala: A girl or a man.

Stella: A girl or a man.

Ethan: A person is a guy that has legs, that has eyes, hair, and for last...boys and girls are different to each other.

Cass: I'm a person and whatever you see me do that's what people do.

Grey: When I don't know I just put a question mark above my head in the air.

WHAT IF ART AND LIFE ARE THE SAME THING?

Stella: It would crash. It would crash the houses. What if we fell in a hole? In a dark hole we would disappear! I saw at the zoo the earth crashes but I said I don't want that to happen in this world otherwise we'd all be gone.

Ayala: Life can be like crazy and there can be the same thing and there can be art in the art class.

Mylie: You have to do the same thing that you have to do. A project would be the same thing as lots of things.

Sophie: If all art and life are the same thing it would all be a big blob.

Cass: I think I know how that would happen...lets say I was taking toilet paper rolls and I threw them into the pond. I'd take a paintbrush and paint and I'd paint all the trees and bushes and everything else would be filled with art and everyone else tried to do that for the rest of their lives.

Elio: The plants would be different colors.

Wolfie: Everything would be painted.

Vieve: All the people would be statues and all the plants would be statues and everyone would be in the museums.

Elio: Then no one would be alive.

Grey: Then boom -- it's all gonna be gone. Art's gonna be gone...except the ones that we have in here [at Painted Cloud].

Ethan: Life and art mixed together...I think art is a part of life cause look at streamers are made with art. Look at flowers! Even the moon! Outer space! Back in time! Black and white!... All those times were made with art!

***

SUMMER CAMP: week 8

2010-08-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

This week in drawing camp the kids really impressed us with their ability to pay attention to detail while drawing from observation, creating some very memorable self portraits and toy still lifes. We also made night time cityscapes, enlarged drawings on an overhead projector, reconstructed drawings, practiced pointillism and cross-hatching, and tried out charcoal and chalk pastels.

SUMMER CAMP: week 7

2010-08-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

The kids showcased their storytelling and design talents this week at our book making camp. We made collage books, hardcover journals, shaped accordion fold books, an edition of prints, a zine, and a bunch of other cool self-publications.

SUMMER CAMP: Week 6

2010-08-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

This week, during Ordinary to Extraordinary camp we had an amazing time using everyday materials and themes and transforming them into awesome pieces of folk art. We made hand stenciled t-shirts, drinking straw sculptures, family portraits, wood block towns, object shrines, and more.

SUMMER CAMP: Week 4

2010-07-24T19:22:00.001-07:00

We had a lively week with Pop-Art! The kids made comic books, posters, food-wrapper collages, bubble paintings, pop object sculptures, xerox self-portrait multiples, and paintings and sculptures inspired by Lichtenstein and Warhol. They also wrote a song about sillybands. Their song can be heard by following this link:
sillybands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAkJUNGm00c
For privacy -- videos are unlisted on YouTube. They are unsearchable and can only be found via this blog. Please enjoy!

***

SUMMER CAMP: Week 3

2010-07-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

This week's camp was so much fun!!! Our theme this week was Light. The kids made artworks in which light was a key component -- such as sun catchers, Lite-Brite works, wire, stick, and bead hangers, kaleidoscopes, and more... Throughout the week they put on several experimental light shows and the kids on Friday performed using their own shadow puppet creations.

Two videos of those performances can be seen by following these links:
lightshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRwR9k53l9I
shadows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fz8zy56EPw
For privacy -- videos are unlisted on YouTube. They are unsearchable and can only be found via this blog. Please enjoy!

***

SUMMER CAMP: Week 2

2010-07-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

The summer fun continues! We just completed week two -- our theme was Sculpture & Assemblage. The kids made works inspired by artists such as Joseph Cornell and Mark Dion. They created a lot of big three-dimensional artworks using wood, magazines, cardboard, papier mâché, pipe cleaners, straws, beads, found objects, and more!

SUMMER CAMP: Week 1

2010-07-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun this week starting off our summer camps! This week's theme was The Freely Made (inspired by Abstract Expressionism). The kids made works inspired by artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Franz Kline, and Jackson Pollock. The kids threw paint; painted with string, marbles, and house brushes; painted to music; made India ink drawings on phone book pages; made soak-stains; painted on the floor -- and more! We also had a great time running around on our back deck and in the sprinkler. Looking forward to the weeks ahead!

***

finding images in abstract paintings

2010-05-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Elena: I found a triangle in mine. It's a cute little triangle.
Smith: I found a dog bone ship. Ooh! Nice -- a little cave!
Leo: Look -- he has six eyes! Look at this alien! He's scary! Ha ha ha!Oliver: I found a "ti-ti" in mine!
Bianca: What is a "ti-ti"?
Oliver: Like in music class.Bianca: What does a "ti-ti" look like?
Oliver: Like right here is a "ta". I gotta lotta cool stuff here. We're getting it done!
Elena: Look at what I wanna do! Look at what I'm doing! Oliver this is fun!
Oliver: Yeah! (Oliver notices the hole in Elena's artwork) I wanna rip a hole in this -- how do you rip a hole in this on purpose? (scratches the paper with the pen) Oh! The paint comes off when I do that!
Leo: Oh! I wanna see what they're doing!
Smith: Me too!

Smith & Leo walk over to the table where Elena and Oliver are working.

Oliver: Look at this one too! Look! The road goes all the way around and connects back there!Smith and Leo return to their table.

Smith: There's a skeleton bone! Look! A gold stone... another funny gold stone shape... look at this gold stone...Elena: I wanna see! (Elena walks over to Smith) ... Wow!Smith goes over to see Elena's artwork

Smith: I wanna do what Elena did! Rip! (returns to his artwork) ... Look I made a little hole!... I made a giant hole!Brendan: What are you up to Elena?
Elena: I'm just not doing particular things. I'm just doing things that aren't real that are just shapes. That's what I'm finding.

***

shaking rock painting!

2010-05-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

hot or cold?

2010-03-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today we are thinking about the idea of "warm" and "cool" colors. At the beginning of the class we discussed why a color might be considered "warm" or "cool" and we looked at some colors together. We looked at how a color that is usually considered cool (blue, green, purple) or warm (red, orange, yellow) might really be the opposite (for example: a bright reddish purple could be warm). The kids then begin the project: to organize a pile of materials into a warm vs. cool collage.

Rene: Hot or cold, Time?
Time: Hot.
Rene: Hot or cold, Ever?
Ever: Cold, I think that's cold.
Time: Actually I think it's cold because it has some grey.
Rene: [to me] Hot or Cold? Bianca: What do you think?
Rene: Cold.
Time: I like Summer because you can go to the beach. [To Rene] Wouldn't it be cool if we could go to the beach together? . . . Hot or cold?
Rene: Cold.
Ever: This is my hot side and this is my cold side. This is cold because it's blue and this is hot because it's red. These are hot [points to pink pom-poms] and that is cold [points to a blue piece of paper]. Rene: [holds up a gold ribbon] This is hot right?
Time: That looks hot.
Izadora: This has to be Summer for tulips right? Do you think this is like a Summery one [holds up a green pom-pom]?Bianca: What do you think?
Izadora: Yeah!
Lola: This green has more blue in it so it's a cold color.

***

warm sun

2010-03-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

It feels incredible to have warm weather again! We were all so happy to get to play and make art out on our back deck this week! I hope you've all been outside enjoying the sunshine this weekend too!

synchromy

2010-03-12T10:41:00.000-08:00

rainbow rice

2010-03-11T16:12:00.001-08:00

Smith: We're making pictures of colored rice. I'm making concrete. It's a really messy job. My concrete is under glue.
Oliver: I'm drawing my mom because I love her. It has to be unique. Unique means it has to be different.Leo: Look what I've done. A little bit of rainbow.Smith: Everyone knows a rainbow.
Oliver: I do blue.
Smith: I made a purse right there. It has peanuts! It has exploded peanuts!
Oliver: I want some red.
Smith: This is kinda like pixie dust.Leo: I mixed the green and blue and white together.
Elena: What happens when I mix green and purple and white? . . . First I put green then I put purple then i put white and it made purple with a big white circle!Smith: Look what I made it's a pirate ship.
Oliver: I want some orange.
Elena: Mine's gonna come out beautiful!
Oliver: Mine too!
Smith: Now this rice is gonna stick to this piece of paper because there's some rice under this glue. It's supposed to be a building. Here's the monster. Here's his eyes!

****

left to the imagination

2010-02-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

Smith: Look what I'm gonna do.
Wolfie: I'm drawing with water!
Max: Look at mine. It looks weird. It's changing every color.Hugo: I want red.
Wolfie: (to Hugo) I have red too! (to Max) You're using blue!
Max: Yeah, that's because it's my favorite color.
Wolfie: And red and blue and yellow and aqua are my favorite colors!Smith: What's aqua?
Wolfie: A color.
Smith: I like making grey out of watercolors. Look at mine . . . it's 3 different volcanos trying to blow up the city. My volcano turned into a peanut. These are peanuts shooting out the volcanos.
The peanuts got stuck in there. Someone threw peanuts in there. I like this! I like water pencils! I like mine! The peanuts have some hot lava in them. If someone eats those peanuts they will blow up. Hot lava is supposed to be grey because the peanuts made them grey. . . I like how mine is kinda. . . . .
. . .
Bianca: Kinda what?
Smith: Well, you don't need to know!!

***

Winter Recess Camp: COLLAGE & ASSEMBLAGE

2010-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

Hi! Hope everyone has been having a great winter recess this week!! While some of you went away for the break, others were in town and took part in our winter recess camp! We had a lot of fun and the kids made a lot of awesome art. All of our projects for this camp centered around the theme of Collage & Assemblage. The kids made: boxes inspired by Joseph Cornell, Surrealist magazine collages, crazy-fun hats (some of the kids made hats to wear for P.S.132's 100 things day), a collaborative tape collage on the wall, touch collages, nature collages, bean and rice mosaics, water color collages, monochrome collages, and a sound collage! Thanks to all of the kids who participated: Elena, Sadie, Vivi, Leo, Alice, Mela, Mylie, Wolfie, Hugo, Smith, Rene, Cougar, Ranger, and Sophie!!

***

the colors in a monochrome

2010-02-15T16:44:00.000-08:00

Rene: You have to color the whole thing!
Time: I'm not going to.
Rene: I'm going to color in the whole thing!
Time: Are you going to color the whole thing in too, sis?
Ever: Yes.

Izadora: I'm just trying different kinds of purple.
Ever: This is green!
Time: No, it's light blue.
Rene: That means it's aquamarine, right?
Time: I don't know.
Rene: I'm getting the corners. Hey, this is black! Is this purple or dark blue? ... I'm not gonna be done until it's full...
... Ever is putting it on her hands and rubbing it around! She's making hand prints!
Chance: That's a good idea!
Rene: Yeah! It's really good idea!!

fiber collages

2010-01-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

Elena: That's funny music [we're listening to a Silver Apples CD]. Why's that music so funny?
Smith: I don't know why. Maybe because they wanted to laugh at it.
Tristan: Look what I did. I sticked it on. I'm making a beautiful thing for my mom!All: Me too!
Elena: Mine's really pretty! . . . Look at this really long thing!
Oliver: You have to pick an object and then glue it down. Right? You know why I'm using a lot of glue? Because I'm gluing a lot of things so my mom be really proud!Smith: I think she will be!
Tristan: I'm really good at cutting. I'm just cutting little pieces.
Smith: See what I'm cutting?
Tristan: Wow! Are you finished?
Smith: No. I'm trying to make an "A".
Elena: It's doesn't look like one.
Smith: That's because I'm not done yet.
Oliver: I'm done! I wanna make a second one! [a little later, after starting a second one] I'm cutting out very cool pieces! These look really cool, right?
Smith: I'm making it all the way across.Elena: Look what I'm doing. I cut some of it. I'm making something really pretty for my mom.Oliver: Me too!
Smith: Me too!
Oliver: I gotta glue mine quickly! ... I'm making this for my mom.Elena: I think she's going to love it, Oliver!!

***

gonna be terrific

2009-12-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

Tristan: Orange, purple, green, blue.
Elena: I'm doing purple and red. Purple is my favorite color.
Tristan: Sometimes purple is sad.
Wolfie: If you do it really red it blocks the blue. Get out of here blue! Mine is gonna be cool! [Wolfie makes spaceship noises] It goes into space and it can be a planet. [to Max] What's yours?Max: Mine is Optimus Prime.
Wolfie: Mine is called [thinks about it] Robotic Planet. It goes into space and turns into any kind of planet. And then it turns into a spaceship.Elena: I love getting messy.
Smith: Me too! It's my favorite thing in the whole world!
Elena: Me too!
Leo: Mine's a spaceship.Tristan: Mine is really messy.
Wolfie: Mine is gonna be terrific when I'm done. I want the copper. . . mine is copper! [spaceship noises] I'm mixing colors. I mixed red and silver. And I mixed red and copper. [spaceship noises]
Smith: This is the first plane to be in America.Wolfie: Mine is the first transformer to live.
Smith: I'm not done. . . I'm done!
Emile: Mine is the first plane to be in America. I'm almost finished.
Wolfie: I'm painting the bottom. Do you know what's the problem with that? [Wolfie shows me the jar of copper paint] The copper paint doesn't block that much. Mine's gonna be cool [spaceship noises]. The bottom is copper and the top is going to be really cool because it has a lot of colors. [spaceship noises] The people don't walk on it -- they just stay still because the robot has a rectangle that moves them.
Thank you for making our fall session so amazing: Marley, Smith, Emile, Max, Elena, Wolfie, Oliver, Tristan, Leo, Ranger, Gemma, Ethan, Jack, Mela, Alice, Charlotte, Henry, Jahaan, Audrey, Stella, Lily, Zane, Lola, Rene, Aden, Chloe, Kai, and Izadora!!! And thank you to all of their parents, relatives, and caretakers for your continued enthusiasm and support.

Happy Holidays to everyone! Have a great winter recess!!

button on thought

2009-12-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Chloe: I'm gonna make a UFO.
Rene: I'm gonna make a mother ship.
Kai: What is that?
Rene: Bigger than a real ship.
Kai: I made a super UFO. LOOK AT IT!!!Chloe: Do you know that if you have a dog you live longer?
Rene: Yeah, even if it's missing a leg.
Kai: Yeah, even if it has three legs [a little later] I made a hat! [button on head]Chloe: I'm gonna glue a thousand of them together. I'm glue girl! ... Look! The glue comes through the button holes because of the pressure!Rene: I wonder what happens when you clog the button holes...? [a little later] Guess what? I clogged it!

cannon caps and painty snails

2009-11-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Bottle Caps
Jahaan: I'm making a ship.
Henry: I'm making a cannon.
Charlotte: I'm making a cannon too.
Jahaan: I'm making a cannon too. My ship's gone -- it's broke.Henry: When the ship breaks it sinks and sinks and sinks.
Charlotte: I'm making a ship and when it's gone I'll just have to make another one.
Jahaan: I gotta put a lot of glue down to make an ocean. I'm gonna be done, but I'm not done. (to Henry) Hey, what are you doing?
Henry: I'm just getting a lot of glue on my stick. I'm spreading some glue on my cap.

Painting
Charlotte: Look! I'm making mountains!Henry: This blue is pretty with two blues ... Look! It's a snail!Zane: Look! It's a monster! It's a big monster! But it's not.
Henry: Did you see my monster picture? I'm making it all painty and I"m getting all painty.
Charlotte: I made a hand print!Zane: I'm making it bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and...
Henry: Look! It looks like I have blue gloves on!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

what tapes shape

2009-10-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Oliver: I'm making a rocket ship. Here's one leg.
Tristan: Leo! Look! That's "A"!
Tape is my favorite thing.
Oliver: Me too! I like to get sticky from the tape.
Tristan: But tape is not sticky.
Oliver: But it sticks to things. I'm gonna tape down the rocket ship to the groud. I'm making the oven in this spaceship. So I need a lot of tape. I'm really not done.
Elena & Tristan: Me neither! Me neither!
Oliver: I need a lot of tape to make the oven... Ta-da!
That's the spaceship and that's the oven, but I've still got more to do.
I really need to cover up my oven. Every oven has covers so a fire doesn't come.
Tristan: The fireworks light up in the night.
Oliver: Robot hand!I need red tape. Because I want it to be beautiful for mom. And mom loves red.
Tristan: Just your mom?
Oliver: Yeah, just my mom.
Tristan: What's your favorite color?
Oliver: Purple.
Tristan: My favorites are black and red.
Oliver: I need some black tape now.
Elena: This is where the trapeze flyers swing.
I'm making the circus. I'm using all sorts of colors.

Elena's:
Tristan's:
Leo's:
Oliver's:
Wolfie's:
Emile's:

Body Action Painting

2009-10-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Today we roll out a big piece of paper on the floor and give the kids paint. Most of them begin this collaborative painting project by painting their hands and feet first.
Tristan: My hands are squishy!
Max: I'm painting my feet red, red like blood.
Maayan puts several colors on her hands and then, like rubbing lotion onto her hands, mixes the colors together.
Wolfie and Marley begin applying the paint to the paper with their brushes in dramatic motions -- throwing their arms up, slapping them down onto the floor, and then smearing the paint back and forth.
Tristan: Samara, we're making a dirty picture! Bianca, we're making a dirty picture! We're making a dirty pictures! [laughs] It's funny!!!
Elena: Look! I colored my skin!
Tristan: Ooo...! Dirty picture! Dirty picture! [begins to run around] Running! This is a running picture!

Max begins to run too.

Tristan: Running the gym ... this is a gym! This is a gym! Bianca, this is a gym! Squish, squish, squish, run, run, run!
Oliver begins to run too.

Oliver: Running picture! Running picture!
While Max, Oliver, and Tristan run around the perimeter of the paper, Oliver and Tristan chant...

Tristan & Oliver: Running gym! Running gym! Running gym! ...
Oliver: We're skating!
Tristan: Running ice skate!
*
*
*
Thank you to Megan Brand, our guest teacher today -- for joining us and transcribing the children's actions and dialogue!!!

Fall Season Begins!

2009-09-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

We are two weeks into our Fall session. It's great to see so many familiar faces and newcomers too! This season we're going to be focusing on experimentation, materials, and processes. So far the kids have made touch collages (meant to be experienced with hands not eyes!); marbleized paper using water, oil, and dye; glittered rocks; bubble wrap prints; wax transfers; gestural drawings with India ink on telephone book pages; paintings with beet juice on fabric; and they've started to make flour paste batiks!!!

Check Painted Cloud's Flickr site for more photos!

SUMMER! 3D Constructions & To Notice Things

2009-08-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

Our fifth week's theme was 3D Constructions. The kids made sculptures from found objects, pipe cleaners, beads, and paper; created boxes inspired by the artist Joseph Cornell; created and photo-documented temporary arrangements of leaves, rocks, and sticks; and created soft sculptures from fabric, stuffing, and paint.
The theme of our sixth week was To Notice Things. During this week the kids created art while considering each of the five senses. The kids made touch collages; scratch n'sniff paintings; listened to sounds and then drew lines to represent those sounds; created two and three dimensional artworks from still-lifes and during a field trip to the flower garden at McCarren Park; and participated in a blind taste test of fruits and vegetables!

These last two weeks complete our Summer Camp series. It's been an extraordinary six weeks!!! Thank you to all of the parents for your interest and participation in our program. And a very very special thank you to all of the kids: Delilah, Elio, Ella, Finn, Gemma, Genevieve, Harper, Lucas, Malika, Mela, Mia, Oliver, Ranger, Simone, Skuli, Smith, Stella, and Wolfie, for your creativity, enthusiasm, and beautiful natures.

For more photos (including the photos that the kids took of their nature sculptures) please visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecloudkids

VIDEO:

Spirit of Fluxus/ Interviews

2009-08-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

This week's Summer Camp theme was Spirit of Fluxus. The projects for this week were inspired by the Fluxus attitude that art and life and artist and audience are one. Taking certain aspects of life as materials and inspiration for art, we set out to have fun and experiment! During the week the kids created videos, performances, and ephemeral works of art. Rebecca and I tried to document the kids as much as possible to make a record and an experience for others of what these kids created. Because there are so many videos and photos to share I've broken things up into sections in the hope that your computers will have an easier time loading each page. And still this is only a selection of our documentation! Please look here for more:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecloudkids

We started off by asking the kids a few questions...

What is art?

Finn: Like a sculpture. Clouds can look like sculptures.
Bianca: Does that mean that clouds are art?
everyone begins shouting out "yes" or "no"
Lucas: Painting is art -- and wood. A big piece of wood.
Finn: Like a sculpture?
Lucas: No. If it's smooth. Very smooth. And a circle.
Mela: Art makes me think of shapes.
Genevieve: Paintings and shapes and pictures with different materials.
Delilah: Paintings.
Smith: Paintings.
Finn: Carpets and rugs could be art.

When are you an artist?

Mela: I'm already an artist.
Bianca: Why?
Mela: Because I make art like grown-ups who are artists.
Smith: Sometimes you can dress up like an artist in dress up clothes.
Genevieve: You're an artist when you make art.
Delilah: When people like making art.
Lucas: The older the artist is the better they are because they know more.
Finn: A person is an artist when they're making art.
Bianca: When that person is not making art what are they?
Finn: They're not artists.

What is Fluxus?
Delilah was anxious to share what she thought, but the rest of the kids looked confused. We asked them to think about how the word sounded and to make a guess at what it might mean.

Lucas: It sounds like "flex" in the gym -- when you flex your muscles.
Finn: Sounds like things can bend.
Smith: I don't know yet.
Genevieve: Like flexing.
Lucas: Like flap your arms like a chicken.
Delilah: When people and when things don't last very long, and when they go away.

***
***

At the end of the week we asked some of the same questions...

What is Fluxus?

Genevieve: Where you do some art and sometimes it breaks and you do funny things like tie your hands together to make a painting.
Finn: The paintings where we tied our hands together made me mad and it was an example of art and life all together.
Smith: It makes things move. Like people and animals and insects. You need to drink water and we had lunch time.
Lucas: Being silly is art and I think messing up and putting together.
Mela: Fluxus is making art. Paper hats and like when we did the shaving cream sculptures.
Delilah: Art is anything and it doesn't matter if it's painting or art because everything is art. Like buildings are art and it doesn't matter if you can take it home like the shaving cream or the poem in the circle -- we couldn't take it home.

What is art?

Finn: Art is very hard to explain.
Bianca: Why?
Finn: I can't explain because it's very hard to explain. Art makes me think of sculptures and food.
Lucas: You can use lots of different materials to make it.
Genevieve: Art is when you make things and you use different materials to make it.
Delilah: You use scissors, pencils, lots of materials, and you can use tape and glue to stick it together, and with drawing you can use markers and pens and pencils and recycled materials and yarn, and you can tie dye and you can use food to dye.
Mela: Sewing and beads.
Smith: When you make pizza paper.
Bianca: What is pizza paper?
Smith: It's paper that you can eat.
Mela: You can make flower petals out of paper and color it whatever you want. Many different colors.
Delilah: Yourself is art.

***

Spirit of Fluxus/ Poem

2009-08-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

.

whale money fall spring giraffe seasons
sparkles camera winter squishy yellow stars
night carrots fit soft squishy sky

(said in a circle) by: Delilah, Finn, Genevieve, Lucas, Mela, and Smith

Spirit of Fluxus/ Happy & Angry: VIDEOS

2009-08-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

Spirit of Fluxus/ Sculpting with Shaving Cream

2009-08-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

Spirit of Fluxus/ Food Sculptures

2009-08-07T14:07:00.001-07:00

Spirit of Fluxus/ Sound & Action compositions: VIDEO

2009-08-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

Sound Composition

Action Composition

Spirit of Fluxus/ 6 Short Flux VIDEOS

2009-08-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

For this project we began by watching 6 selected films from 37 Short Fluxus Films on Ubu (we watched #'s 2. 4. 9. 22. 31. and 41.). You can see them here:
http://www.ubu.com/film/fluxfilm.html
Each child then had 20 seconds to make his or her own video piece. Here they are:

1: Delilah

2: Finn

3: Smith

4: Genevieve

5: Mela

6: Lucas

Spirit of Fluxus/ Painting with Hands Tied Together VIDEO

2009-08-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

VIDEO: Finn & Genevieve paint with hands tied together

Spirit of Fluxus/ Pots & Pans: VIDEOS

2009-08-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

SUMMER! Fiber Arts & Freely Made

2009-07-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

We're two weeks into our Summer Camp and it's so much fun!
Our first week's theme was Fiber Art. The kids made fantastic weavings with yarn, fabric, plastic, and sticks; made batiks; felted rocks; embroidered; and dyed fabrics with onion peels. The theme of our second week was Freely Made and our projects were inspired by the art of the Abstract Expressionists. We painted on the floor; painted with marbles, sand, and glitter; drew with India ink on telephone book pages; painted to the song "The Beginning" by Sun Ra; painted after meditating; and made "Soak Stains" on muslin with markers, temperas, and water. The week ended with a trip to the MoMA. At MoMA we paid special attention to the paintings by Kandinsky, Rothko, Kline, and Pollock (we looked at images of Frankenthaler's paintings at Painted Cloud this week too, but unfortunately the MoMA does not have any of her paintings from their collection currently on view). All of the kids had such interesting questions, observations, and ideas -- from Gemma describing one of the Rothko paintings as a grave, to Lucas pointing out a row of small white drip marks that slightly overlap a big black brush mark in a Kline painting.
Samara, Rebecca, and I are all ecstatic about how the camps have been this far and are truly looking forward to the weeks ahead. Thank you to Delilah, Gemma, Genevieve, Lucas, Mela, Mia, Ranger, Simone, Skuli, and Stella for making the last two weeks amazing!

building a rainbow

2009-06-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

webs and bamboo

2009-05-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the Museum of Natural History, last week each child chose an animal as a subject for a diorama. Ranger chose a spider, Sachie chose a panda bear, and Silas chose a giraffe. Today we begin by thinking about the natural environments in which these animals live...

Ranger: I know what sorts of environments spiders live in -- webs!
Bianca: How would you make a web?
Ranger: Lots of line!

Ranger moves his pencil back and forth many times quickly -- creating a bundle of lines. He then makes two more bundles on different areas of the paper.

Ranger: These are the webs!

Sachie: I'm looking for the colors that you see in the bamboo!

spotting a giraffe

2009-05-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Bianca: Silas, your giraffe is very tall!
Silas: Yeah -- it goes all the way to the top of the page!
Samara: I see that your giraffe has very tall legs just like the giraffes in the picture, but there's something else that makes giraffes very tall -- do you see what it is?
Silas: Their necks!

Silas erases the head that he has drawn and draws in a long neck and then a head at the end -- then he notices something else...

Silas: They also have spots!

Ranger: Put some orange in! Go all the way all over him!

playing sticks

2009-05-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Silas: Look! I made an instrument!

Ranger: You know what this does? It makes hot air!

Skuli: Hey, I heard a little sound from the one Ranger made!
Ranger (to Silas): When you blow these they fly up into the air, right?
Silas: Yeah!... This one goes around faster and faster and it makes you go up in the air.
Ranger: Yeah and it's electric.
Silas: It makes you go up to the sun!

Ranger: Mine is an instrument and it makes you fly in the air.

Skuli: Mine's a two headed duck. I'm trying to make it bigger -- I'm gonna add another benderoo...

toddler arts

2009-05-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

Though the focus of the Cloud Kids site is on our 4, 5, and 6 year old groups, there are many toddlers that come to the Painted Cloud every week too. The toddler arts classes are always so much fun -- these young children are so thoughtful and creative and make amazing art. This week I thought I'd share a few pictures from one of our toddler classes.

reddest red

2009-05-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Today in our Color Theory class we are thinking about the color red. I read a passage from Josef Albers's book Interaction of Color in which Albers discusses color recollection and perception. Albers says that the color red is different for every person: if a group of people are asked to think of the color "red" they will think of many different reds -- even if a group of people all look at the same red object still no one can be sure that each has the same perception.

In a box we have placed six red objects. We ask the children to come over one by one to see these objects and secretly point to the truest red.

Reuben comes over first and picks the red scissors. Mia is next, who picks the red ball of yarn. Finn picks the red feather. Last is Mela who picks the red scissors.

lively lines!!!

2009-04-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Today we are looking at the artist Sol LeWitt, his methods, and his use of lines. By only using a set of lines -- straight, arced, dashed, and wavy -- the children are asked to make a drawing. Skuli refers to our chart of lines often while drawing, and tells us some of his thoughts...

Skuli: ...I did another straight line. I turned it into that arc. The arc looks like a rainbow. I did a really new new one... but what is it?

Samara: It looks like three angles to me.

Skuli: I like Silas's one. I'm gonna make a new one. I made one like a triangle. What's that down straight line? It's straight and it's down.

Samara: Yes -- It's a vertical line!

Skuli: I've got more to do here... I made a circle line... I made a straight line... I did something to this arc line...

I made a squiggly line -- Silas! I want you to try that one!

and if you put two arcs together you get...

winter highlights

2009-04-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today ends our winter session. What an amazing group of kids!!! We saw so much exciting art and experienced so much positive energy. Thank you to all of the parents for your kindness, curiosity, and support. And a special thank you to Asa, Chance, Eliot, Finn, Lola, Mela, Mia, Ranger, Reuben, Sachie, Silas, Simone, and Skuli for sharing your time, ideas, and creativity with us and each other.

Here are a few highlights from our time together...

VIDEO:

double hot dog

2009-04-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

Silas: This is a sausage...I mean a double hot dog!

Now it's in a suitcase!

Now all of the owners are holding it -- lots of owners.

It's nighttime.

construction paper

2009-03-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today we are working on color experiment collages with colored paper. We have red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, and pink paper on the table. Lola looks through the paper...

Lola: Hey! There are only boy colors here!
Bianca: What are boy colors?
Lola: I don't know.
Chance: Oh I know! Boys like them! Boys like yellow, green, and blue. Those colors are actually girl colors too. Like, my mom likes blue -- it's her favorite color. I just say it's a boy color, but it's actually not because girls like it too.

Assigning gender to color is pretty complicated -- as Lola's uncertainty about "boy colors" reveals -- but it continues to be a prominent way for children to conceptualize society and understand our culture. When Chance realizes that he reflexively calls blue a "boy color" even though "it's actually not," he demonstrates an awareness of his desire to categorize as well as an awareness that gender is a construction.

music to painting

2009-03-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Today we are painting to music. We put on two songs from Charles Mingus's record Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus: "II B.S." and "Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul". The second the music comes on Sachie shouts out "Blue!" -- this sound/color association then triggers a memory that she uses as a subject for her painting. Skuli, Silas, and Finn all take to dancing while painting -- their brush marks flow with their movements. Ranger paints as though he's playing the instruments he hears -- hitting the paper with dots when he hears drum beats and painting furiously when the saxophone is riffing like crazy. When the songs end and the paintings are finished, we take some time to look at and talk about each painting. What follows are some of the comments made during our critiques:

Ranger's painting:

Sachie: I see it's really full.
Finn: I see a lot of dots.
Sachie: A dot would sound like "dunt" "dunt".

Sachie's painting:

Sachie: This is of me and my mom. We're going to the swimming pool and there was a rainbow and lots of dots in the water.
Skuli: What are the dots?
Sachie: They're the drops of water.
Silas: The little ones?
Sachie: Well, I picked up a brush and splashed it like when I was splashing in the water.

Finn's painting:

Finn: I was painting some parts to look slow when the music was slow and fast parts when the music was fast.
Sachie: The blue part looks like the pool in mine.
Ranger: I see lines.
Finn: But it's not much of a line because it's bendy too.
Ranger: Lines can be like that.

Skuli's painting:

Silas: I see some black.
Sachie: It looks cool down here because it looks like a giant!
Finn: We all used blue because of the music and because of the paint we had.
Sachie: I used it because of the pool.

Silas's painting:

Silas: Me and my dad were about to go in the rainbow but we saw all the cool playgrounds you could go in here. I painted all of my hands and that's how I did it.
Sachie: What are these sparkles on the bottom?
Silas: They're the guards . . . the music changed my painting. I wasn't listening to the music all of the time because I had to get other colors -- but then I went back to the music.

back soon

2009-03-14T07:21:00.001-07:00

Hi all -- I'm so happy that everyone has been enjoying this site. I'm sorry to say that I've been feeling a little under the weather so there won't be a proper post this week. If you haven't had a chance to see some of the older posts you can find them in the archive on the right side of this page, and there's a link at the bottom of this page to some new pics on Flickr (sorry nothing from Tuesday's group -- I forgot my camera -- another consequence of being a bit out of it this week). Until next time, here's a great pic of Sachie working on her Duchamp-inspired string drop piece!

chance Arp

2009-03-05T13:33:00.000-08:00

Today in class we are thinking about the role chance can play in creating art. At our meeting we look at a book of Jean (Hans) Arp -- an artist who used chance operations to create many of his compositions. The children look at the pictures and make guesses about how things were made and with what materials.
Sachie suggests that we might bring in a ladder so that each person can climb to the top and let pieces of paper fall to the floor for a chance collage. We thought this was a great idea, but did not have a ladder available. Instead, the children make chance collages by cutting and tearing paper, and letting these pieces fall to the floor from where they stand or sit.

(before)

(after)

scribble scrabble

2009-02-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

In our class before Winter Recess a conversation on scribbling arose...

Skuli: Look at what I'm drawing!
Silas: That's not really a drawing -- that's just scribble scrabble.
Bianca: Scribble scrabble is a way of drawing.
Silas: But [Ms. X] says that we shouldn't scribble scrabble because it doesn't look good.
Bianca: It sounds like [Ms. X] doesn't like the way scribble scrabble looks -- but that's just her opinion. Do you like the way scribble scrabble looks?
Silas: Well, I wish I could scribble scrabble.
Bianca: You can!

Today we follow up on this conversation by bringing in a book on artist Jackson Pollock to show to the kids during our meeting. As we flip through the pictures Skuli shouts out --

Skuli: That's scribble scrabble!
Silas: Yeah! It's scribble scrabble -- but it's beautiful scribble scrabble!

After our meeting the kids have a whole lot of fun making beautiful scribble scrabble.

mad Valentine

2009-02-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

Today we are spending some time making Valentine's Day Cards. Reuben tells us that he had a bad day at school and he seems disconsolate. He chooses to sit alone and work by himself.

Suddenly Reuben holds up a Valentine that he has been working on.

Reuben: I'm mad! . . . I'm not going to give this to anybody because I don't want anybody to be sad.

The process of making art is a positive outlet for Reuben's frustrations. He uses his artwork as a powerful mode of communication; he wants those of us who are in the studio to know how he is feeling. Reuben makes a strong statement by expressing his anger with both words and image. Furthermore, when he explains why he will not give this Valentine to anyone he demonstrates an understanding for the roles that context and presentation play in image communication. In this case, Reuben expresses care and love to others through the absence of this Valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone -- and have a great Winter Break!!!

good looking out

2009-02-05T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today Skuli is making a collage on a piece of lauan wood. He talks all the while, sometimes telling a thought directly to someone nearby -- at other times he speaks to himself.

Skuli: The green stuff is quicksand and the brown stuff is lava . . . you have to walk over the bridge . . . this is a circle . . . this is a mouth . . . the daddy turtle is in a haunted castle . . . the haunted castle has traps . . . the blocks make you crushed, the blocks squish you . . . the turtles never talk, their voices are so tiny because they're so tiny . . . that's a silly turtle, he only has one eye . . . these are paths . . . these are bridges for pirates!

A sewing project is beginning at the next table -- Skuli decides to go join in. Silas sees that Skuli has left his collage before securing the black strips of photo paper that lie on top. Silas grabs a role of tape...

Silas: I'm just taping this for him. I'm taping it down so it doesn't move.

Sachie seems concerned about the help that Silas is providing.

Sachie: Skuli, do you want him to do that?
Skuli: Yeah, cause I don't want to lose any of them.

Sachie and Silas each provide valuable support for Skuli. Silas shows concern for the preservation of Skuli's art, while Sachie is mindful of Skuli's authorship and intentionality.

orange you glad?

2009-01-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

Lola and Elliot

Today we are looking at and thinking about the color orange. Chance, Elliot, and Lola have all brought in orange objects and thoughts that they have been collecting since the last time we met. They each present what they have brought and then take turns with certain pieces from each others' collections. I ask the children if they want to group together some of the oranges -- remembering that last week Lola had made three categories of red from their red collections (bright, brick, and fire). Chance, Elliot, and Lola all begin arranging and rearranging the orange objects into what seems to be an endless number of variations. Wondering about the preferences and associations that each of the children may have with these particular colors, I ask if they would like to group the oranges into two groups -- a sad group and a happy group.

Lola promptly makes two separate piles.

Lola: These are sad. . .

and these are happy.

Lola then pushes the objects from the sad pile over to the happy pile.
Lola: Now they can be happy.

In no time, Lola demonstrates an understanding of the inconstant nature of our relation to color.

***

masks

2009-01-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

Today we have brought a mirror into the classroom for the first time. Asa, Reuben, and Finn spend time looking at their reflections, and then decide to create masks. Reuben and Finn quickly make masks out of paper, then use scotch-tape to stick them directly to their faces. Asa observes.
Reuben [to Asa]: You could make a mask too, you know.

Once invited, Asa makes a mask similar to the ones that Reuben and Finn have made -- but finds that there might be room for improvement...

Asa: It's too floppy for me when I first tried it on. I'm trying to make it not floppy. The wood sticks are supposed to go on my ears like glasses.
When Asa tries on his second mask he finds that it does not work the way that he had hoped --
then goes to get some thicker paper.

This should work. I hope it works.
Asa gets to the point where he is ready to make the holes for the eyes, but is not sure how to proceed.

I just can't make the eyes.
Reuben: Just poke the scissors through . . . I don't think that will fit your head.
Asa: Reuben, actually this is going to fit my head. It's giant! ...

I did it Reuben!
Reuben: That looks good.

By observing, testing out hypotheses, trying out materials, and asking for advice from his friend -- Asa gains confidence in his ability to think independently and work through difficulties.

"Let me be the one to do what is done." -- Robert Frost

***

zombies, mummies, big, and bigger

2009-01-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

Skuli: I'm gonna draw a zombie. One small eye and one big eye.
Skuli draws a small circle and then a bigger circle next to it.

As Skuli draws, his concepts expand. He demonstrates an understanding for the way that a circle can be used to represent many things. The zombie eyes can easily become a mummy family.
This [the dot] is the little brother mummy, this [the small circle] is the big brother mummy, and this really big one is the daddy mummy.
Silas: Well actually, that's medium, that's not big.

Skuli: I can draw a really big one.
Skuli starts with a circle and then continues around and around -- as his drawing spirals inward his circle gets filled-in [see filled in circle on the right side of the page]. Thus in this case the biggest circle is not the one with the greatest circumference, but rather the one holding the potential to make the largest circle should the lines unravel.

Skuli then moves on to draw "paths" around the mummies.

Silas, who has been watching from across the table, grabs a green marker and goes over to join in. This spontaneous collaborator seems to go unnoticed by Skuli, who remains focused on the changing field of ideas expressed in his drawing.

side by side

2009-01-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Silas pushes his sailboat between Sachie and Skuli's castles
As the kids come in and see the wood blocks on the table they begin talking...
Sachie: I'm gonna build something cool. I'm gonna make lots of cool things!
Skuli: Look at what I'm building -- it's cool!
Sachie: What is it?
Skuli: A spaceship.
Sachie: That's not easy!
Sachie begins building with the blocks and finds a bottle cap nearby.
Look at this!
Skuli: It's a bottle cap -- I can throw it in the garbage.
Sachie: No . . . I'm gonna use it!
Sachie places the bottle cap on top of some blocks she has stacked.
Skuli: Now it looks like a castle with that bottle cap!
Sachie and Skuli gain a lot by working side by side -- they delight in each others' innovations and receive encouragement from one another for thinking imaginatively.

***