“Krull” is something Hayden started calling me – I have no idea why – but for some reason it stuck – so much that I almost signed a painting Krull in my last painting class.

Now the “shop” part comes from asking my friends to help me finish a project and me sort of making fun of sweat shops…

Remember the Visions tactile mural that I started last year?

Well, I finally finished it — thanks to my friends – THANK YOU!!!

At my birthday brunch last week I asked me friends to help re-glue some pieces of this tactile mural. This was a much easier task than previous birthday requests of tree planting and gardening…

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Thanks again everyone! I presented the mural the students last night and they loved it! It will be hung in Visions over the next few weeks.

Warm fuzzies all around

Happy hump day folks!

We all decorated these gold foliage with sparkles and paper, but then I decided we should make a whole collage full of glitter and tissue paper.

So we did.

The result: glitter-rific awesomness!

There was a tiny glue spill, but it was perfect for impromptu tissue paper flowers! To make – just smash tissue paper scraps (people’s floor scraps are perfect) into balls on the paper – and voila!

Textured flowers!

We also made glitter designs. I had her follow my hand so she could understand the shapes that we were making.

Birds~

Swirls~

So much glitter!! (sorry for the blur, taken with my glittery hand holding the phone!)

This project was really fun for both of us and my student proud of her work!

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Have I told you how much I LOVE sparkles?!

What do you love? What are your favorite crafty projects? And lastly…how do you think this project would go over with my kids in Art Explorers? I think they’d like it, but it would be glitter maddness!

Anyway, hope you all had a happy hump day!

xo

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btw: I started this post while I was in choir today – our concert is coming soon! December 17, 2010 – save the date!

btw2: Kristin Chenoweth is incredible in Glitter and be Gay

This semester we’ve been working in clay, basket making (kind of hard~actually), and decorating hats.

I am working with a new student and she is amazing! We sing Italian arias to each other, she teaches me words in the five languages she knows, and I watch in awe as she skillfully molds clay into birds.

This is actually our second bird. The first bird was too wet, the wings broke, and we had to start over. I think this bird is even prettier than the first, as we’re really working together to create patterns for the feathers (made from beads). She creates the pattern on one side and I mirror it — all while singing.

She inspired me to set up a singing program for the Greenwich Village Singers to come in and do some volunteer singing. I told her we’d be performing this summer and she was thrilled!

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Do you ever have those moments where you realize how BIG the world is?
And how each person has their own story?

I do, and I love hearing other people’s!
And of course, sharing my experience from their stories.

I am so excited about the way this project turned out and think it was a huge success! I’m constantly amazed at the creativity of the students and am so happy to work with them. I’d like to do this project again, but this time painting “mini murals” so the students can take them home (this was their request!). I know it’s a big goal, but maybe I can finish them before the next semester begins.

Here are the latest pictures!
Enjoy!

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*It all started with this sketch…*

*And then turned to a watercolor…*

*Then to the painting…*

*Once the pieces were cut, we had lots of creativity!*

*Now we’re putting it all together…*

*Good thing we numbered these!*

I love how creative the students were!

*birds, suns, stars, moons, hearts, and glitter for buildings*

*trees of buttons, surrounded by flowers*

*Rainbows, boats, and lots of moons!*

*But it’s really coming together!*

*You can really see their personalities in each piece*

**Sorry for the blur, I was just so excited!**

I can’t wait to see what the finished piece turns out to be!

The students have asked that I create individual murals for them all to take home. They loved the fact that it was already painted out and that they could just add elements on top. We will also be stringing beads to wire, which I will add once the mural is stitched together. These will be used for the bridge.

I love the creativity the students have!

1. Monthly music with elderly
2. Weekly art with blind
3. *coming soon* monthly recycled art/environmental education with kids! which I’ll be team leading!

Friends, if you’re interested in any of these projects let me know! Sorry for the shameless plug, but I love getting people involved!

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In any case, I really enjoy doing the art class with the blind. The class meets weekly and students get to work on projects. While they may not be able to “see” they still enjoy working on art.

Class favorites include:

• Trivets - ceramic tiles placed inside gray goo that hardens into a nice square
• Wooden Boxes - painted baskets which can be decorated with anything
• Leather impression things – a really loud project in which the students take a hammer and stamp and smash the stamp to make impressions into the leather. did i mention this is a really LOUD project? bad if you have a headache!
• Place mats - sewing, gluing, painting onto fabric to make a place setting. or a small hanging piece.

When the team leaders found out I did murals for NY Cares Day, they asked me if I could help design a tactile mural for Visions.  So this spring semester the class will continue with the craft projects, but we’ll also be working on this fine art piece.

Inspiration- Last semester I worked on a lovely place mat with one of the students and made it as tactile as possible. She wanted a scene with a tree and fruit. We went through and picked out fabric for the background of the scene, the birds, and the fruit. The whole class loved the piece and they were able to feel and imagine each different element of the piece. This was a bit of inspiration for the larger mural we’ll do this semester.

New York Tactile Mural- We asked the students what they would like to have as a mural and they asked for elements of New York. Here is an unfinished painting of the mural design, but keep in mind it will be tactile. I’m also going to add in some animals and the students will have creative control of adding in any elements they wish to.

The plan-

• Sketch the mural out on canvas with puffy paint
• Cut up sketched mural into squares (this will be a large mural, probably 3 x 5 feet)
• Number the squares, so we know how to piece it together again
• Give each student individual squares with guidelines on colors to paint
• Students can fill in the colors with various tactile objects. (beads, ceramic pieces, fabric, sand, etc)
• When the mural is completed, I will sew it together
• Final mural will be sewn onto a bar so it can be easily hung

We start tomorrow, and I’m really excited! I’ve never done something like this, so I look forward to seeing the finished piece. I’m also happy with the design and think that the students will like the challenge.  It’s my typical “scene” with trees and a cityscape, but I’ve tried to “enhance” it. I tried incorporating things inside overall elements. I plan on finishing the sketch tonight and will add it. I’ll also try to post pictures as we work on the mural and I’ll also add the finished piece!