This Christmas I participated in one of the most moving, volunteer experiences ever. I was part of the entertainment for a Christmas Dinner.

The event was amazing and I’m already planning a costume for next year.

Here are some photos from the day courtesy of Michael McTwigan and Amy Drucker.

Thank you to everyone that participated. We *quite literally* brightened this school and neighborhood. While the volunteers were at lunch, I worked on accents and highlights, while doing this a little girl from an apartment building called down…“Hey! That looks real nice.”

Knowing that she will have a brighter view makes me smile.

Thank you to everyone involved!

Here are some snaps of before and after…

Pre-sketching last weekend…

NY Cares Day outside mural team…

Happy volunteers and indoor murals…

Finishing touches outside….(I had to leave early to pick up my cousin from Germany [posts on this soon!])

Happy students this morning!

I think it’s very inspiring to think about all of the volunteers around the city participating in brightening schools and doing what they can to make a difference. I even take a break from my regular NY Cares Art Explorer’s project so I can work with other schools.

Someone recently asked me if I thought of my volunteering as “work”. I didn’t have to think twice about that question. I don’t. To me, it’s something that brings me back to earth. There’s something about having a very hectic week and then taking a couple of hours on a Saturday morning to make art with kids or paint murals that reminds me that there is soooo much more to this life than the things I’m surrounded most of the time. I enjoy meeting people and I love trying new art activities with the kids. Plus, there’s this amazing bakery right by the train that has this amazing Colombian cheese bread which I get every week with my co-team leader. YUM!

Anyway, this year’s mural focuses on puppets the school uses to teach kids about “being a good sport” in different situations. Here are some sketches in progress. They aren’t finished yet and the crayons don’t really show the exact blues I want to use for the sky, but it’s a start!

p.s. perhaps not my best sketches, but it will be a fun mural and much prettier than these!

I found this project online. It was super easy, super messy, but super fun!

The best part about that day? Having one of the kids who just wanted to play on the computer actually participate in our project. He was not interested in making art with us AT ALL and was very adamant about not coming to class. Three volunteers tried getting him to come, but I managed to talk him into it. Seeing him excited about the project and promising to participate in future projects made my week. If you are in New York, come volunteer with us! Giving back is so, so rewarding. Thanks to everyone that participated and my great co-team leaders!

Hooray for volunteering! NY Cares Day 2011 is coming up! I’ll be posting information about my mural soon! 

What you need:

• Food coloring
• Vegetable oil
• Paper
• Baking pan
• Water

1. Take the food coloring and cooking oil and put it in a glass or cup to stir. I used these glasses at home, but at the class we used little craft containers.

2. Mix the oil and food coloring to make the colors you want. Stir it quickly like a salad dressing.

3. This part looks super cool…

4. Put enough water in the pan so it’s a thin layer at the bottom (my sample has too much). Add the food coloring/oil mixture to the pan. It should float to the top of the surface.

5. Take the paper and place it on top of the water. When you pull it off, you’ll have different swirls and patterns. To make more patterns, just take the mixture and drop it on the paper directly. Move the paper around to make shapes and things you like!

** Have a kind roommate help you out when you realize it was stupid to wear a nice camera while playing with oil and food coloring… have him document the rest of the photos **

The result? Fun paper! 

“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…

**

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!

**
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

**
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

Seriously.

I barely remember the past two weeks, it’s been something like this; work, work, work, work, sketching, sketching, sketching, sleep, coffee, coffee, work, work, work, sketching, sleep, coffee, work work, work, and trying to see people in between to maintain sanity!

But now, I have a tiny moment to breathe. To come up for air like my fish, Deadline.

One of my projects is done! New York Cares Day 2010 was on Saturday and the school I worked on received a huge makeover! From the garden, to books, to the murals, it’s hard to believe we accomplished so much in one day!

But we did! Here’s a walk through of the murals after they were complete~

New York Cares Day 2010

Before:

(we did touch up on these pre-existing murals)

After:

After an exhausting day – I’m proud of my version of Klimt’s “Tree of Life”. I hope this will be an inspiration to kids every day!

**

Not only did we paint the cafeteria, but we helped the school yard. Before it was a block of concrete and now there are several games for the gym teacher to lead! This morning, we received a big thank you from our happy students!

4 square thank you

To all the volunteers, thank YOU for participating! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Until next year’s NYCD!

all photos from iphones – thanks Alexxa for some of these pics!

Admittedly, at first I was very nervous about this year’s project because we have a very talented art teacher on board. He and his students have already painted incredible murals throughout their school and I didn’t want mine to pale in comparison! But then I remembered that this day is more about the volunteers and giving them an opportunity to feel creative and helping others – so I’ve sketched some ideas that can be easily painted (with a paint-by-color system) and that incorporate major artists.

These are still a little rough, but I think this will be a fun project!

Cafeteria~

The current cafeteria has these wonderful paintings of historical figures in a cafe. I wanted to continue this theme, but opened it up to being an outdoor cafe, leading into musicians playing in central park. From there it turns into a more music/Harlem themed mural. I looked up some different Harlem Renaissance artists. I wanted something colorful and lively – I looked up William H. Johnson and got the idea of the dance. This will lead back into a cafe in front of some live music by Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington on piano. I left the cafe part open, so the volunteers can draw in more characters on their own.

Stairwell-

To continue with the theme of artists, I thought it might be nice to go with George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon”. I’d like to keep a few of his elements, but again, allow the volunteers to add in more modern types of people. It might be a neat idea to ask the kids who they’d see in the park, and we could draw their ideas as well. This tree will go up the stairwell and lead into tree. I’d like to create our own version of Gustav Klimt’s “Tree of Life”. The tree will continue with his circular pattern, but I’d like to incorporate different types of typography and inspirational words. This isn’t sketched out as clearly, but hopefully this explanation helps. In the background of the tree, would be iconic landmarks around the world including the Eiffel tower and the NYC skyline. This is yet, another opportunity for volunteers/kids to add more of their own thoughts.

**

I hope the school likes it! Next steps will be sketching it out as a paint by color for the volunteers!

If you’re in New York – consider joining this project!!

What: 19th Annual NY Cares Day
Date: October 23, 2010
Time: 9:30-3:30 pm

Who: You and anyone you’d like to invite! (please note all volunteers must register, details below)

What we’ll be doing- painting a mural in Hamilton Heights (actually close to where I live now!). The mural will be a paint by color system, so for those without artistic experience, no worries! It will be easy. That being said, there will be room for creative expression, as long as it’s done for the kids. If we’re not exhausted, we’ll have an after party post painting.

If you’re interested, register online.

Once you are there, follow these easy steps.

1. Agree to the terms
2. Select, “Join a team”
3. Scroll down and look for the team called, Color Me Happy!

Those in New York – Join my team!

please note there is a $20 fee.

I didn’t do my typical sketched out-”paint by color” system for the volunteers. Instead it was a collaborative design by everyone that attended. Everyone found their inner artist and worked together. I think the results definitely brighten the room!

A few walls had circle painting (thanks Dandy for the idea!)
And they looked AWESOME!

And some people worked on their own projects – including a nature scene with a tree, rose garden, and sunset.
Sadly, I don’t have a full photo of this at the time!

When I wasn’t running around, I painted some abstract birds and shapes.

These connected to square painting and an imaginary world in the sky…

The teens claimed their wall with splatter painting, smiley faces, and hand prints.

and they definitely left their mark!

According to the teens, this is the “talking” room. I think the mural has plenty of things to talk about. I hope that everyone is proud of their work and that the teens can take ownership of this new, creative space!

The mural isn’t complete yet, but we’ll be adding the finishing touches sometime in the next couple of weeks!
Thank you all so much for participating today!!!!

I love it!

I think tomorrow will be messy and fun!