Under The Sea

Create a magical sea world with a textured watercolour background, some fish, a few bones and plenty of imagination. About the bones…it’s not that I have a particular fondness for bones, but this is my second project using them, and my daughter is beginning to find it a bit odd. She’s probably wondering where I’m heading with this since I’ve now covered chicken and fish. Quite simply, I’ve always wanted to incorporate fish bits in a project. I may have been inspired by the unique art which graces the walls of Joso’s restaurant and actually includes the odd piece of fish skin, along with a liberal dose of boobs and bottoms. But since they quite possibly make the best fish in Toronto, who am I to say what they should do with the leftovers.

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Pick Your Poison

Dengue Fever Virus (x 30,195) & Influenza A Virus (x 31,710)

Virus means poison in Latin, and is responsible for much misery this time of year. If you know someone who’s bedridden with Influenza or Dengue Fever, why not send them a get well card with your very own rendering of the virus? The lovely muted colours of your watercolour painting, along with your somewhat twisted sense of humour, will surely bring a smile to your sickly friend’s face while they continue on with their violent shivering fits and severe muscle aches. Naturally, you’ll want to mail your card to avoid any of these nasty contagions. All kidding aside, this was a really fun subject to paint because when magnified a few thousand times, viruses can be quite beautiful.

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Follow The Line

Follow The Line is a clever book by Laura Ljungkvist, which explores the idea of using one continuous line to make a drawing. Simply start at one end of the paper, illustrating whatever you like until you reach the other end. Just remember, no lifting or back tracking!  Shapes will be formed when lines overlap, which can then be filled in with colour at the end. You’ll need nothing more than a stack of paper, some markers and kids in need of something to do. Enjoy, have fun, and I bid you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and plenty of vices to see you through it!

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Paul Klee Project

Insula Dulcamara by Paul Klee, 1938. Image:www.artchive.com

The Swiss/German artist, Paul Klee, was born in 1879 and today would have been his birthday. He was a great admirer of children’s art, primitive art, and deeply influenced by music, which he studied for years. Klee’s work has been associated with many different styles including Expressionism, Surrealism and Abstraction, but he generally liked to work independently, coming up with his own interpretation of trends. This combination of skills and interests, coupled with his mastery of colour and experimentation with different media, made Klee’s work unique.

In this project, we will focus on Klee’s use of geometric forms, symbols and figures applied to dreamlike coloured backgrounds.

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Santa Jack Gift Tags

Legendary Santa and his many incarnations have been with us a long time. From Sinterklaas to Father Christmas, he has evolved into a plump and  jolly soul, overflowing with kindness and generosity. But it’s always refreshing to reinvent things, and when the spider-like Jack Skellington donned the red hat, I knew he was the one. Though initially a little misguided, with help from his friends he becomes the essence of kindness. His dashing good looks and humour make him perfect for gift tags, and children will have a lot of fun making him.

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Filed under Christmas, polymer clay

Japanese Paper Ornaments

This is the time of year when thoughts of plastic icicle ornaments dance in my head and send shivers down my spine. For I was a child of the seventies, when tinsel garlands strangled trees, spray snow ruled, and perky santa stencils adorned far too many windows. As a consequence, during this time when the ubiquitous homemade ornament is upon us, I feel there’s no reason why children can’t be taught to make beautiful ones. After all, you’ll be staring at them for weeks on end, and dusting them off year after year. While there will always be room for that first glittery pine cone carried lovingly home from kindergarten, these ornaments, made with delicious Japanese papers, will really stand out.

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Holiday Cards

With so many gorgeous greeting cards to choose from today, it may take something really special like Japanese paper to motivate you to make your own. Everything about these papers is inspiring, like their texture, patterns, colours and visible fibres. And if children can use a glue stick, they’re old enough to make these wonderful collages.

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Silly Creature Sculpture

“If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.” Ludwig Wittgenstein.

He’s got a point, and that’s what this project is all about. Making a silly creature means letting your imagination go wild and the sillier, the better. Think wings, multiple eyeballs, crooked and disjointed parts, anything goes. Then we can move onto something more intelligent.

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Autumn Leaves

I’ve filled a good 30 bags of leaves, and have chosen to ignore the remaining stragglers until spring. And by stragglers, I mean another 10 to 15 bags worth. My body aches, and while I thought I was in shape, apparently I’m not when it comes to raking. So I’m turning my attention to other autumn options, and found that a few pressed leaves and a little gold paint can look magical.

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Candy Wrapper Collage: For Dentists Everywhere

Trick-or-treaters beware. There are dentists out there proposing that you spend several hours in the cold collecting candy, and willingly trade it in for a paltry amount of cash. Your candy will then be sent off to support troops overseas. The purpose? According to Dr. Berdahl, it’s “a great way to prevent cavities and support the troops.” This is mean, mean, mean on all fronts. Unless I’m missing something, is off-loading candy onto troops a good idea for their teeth?  And isn’t pigging out on candy a childhood right of passage? Let’s just learn to brush our teeth properly, shall we, and get on with the fun.

The thought of giving colourful candy wrappers a second life really appeals to children. It gives them a wonderful and permanent way of proudly displaying what they collected and indulged in on Halloween, a time when my dentist actually gives out candy. Bless his soul.

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