Collaboration and Imagination: Adult Art Class Session Three

In the third class of the Colouring Outside Your Mind workshop for adults, we began by loosening up with a fun exercise called "Exquisite Corpse."  It is a term coined by surrealist artists in the 1920’s and 1930’s to describe the process of several artists (or writers, musicians, playwrights, etc) working together on a single piece without knowing what each one was making.  The basic concept behind this technique is for one artist to begin a drawing and then to conceal what he or she is making from the other artists in the group.  The next person in succession continues the drawing using only minimal clues left behind by the first person’s drawing...

The next exercise involved working with a partner to generate "shadow drawings" which were used later in the class as the basis for an abstract painting.  

After a short chocolate and chips break (!), the students were put to work "drawing their day"...what would your day look like if you drew it as a continuous line, without lifting your pen from the page?   These drawings were then painted with water soluble crayons.

These last images show the students painting their shadow drawings, and having fun with colour and texture!

Our last session is this Wednesday...check back next week!

After School Primarily Painting Class

Students in the Primarily Painting After School Art Class work with primary colours to learn colour theory.

Drawing without Thinking: Adult Art Class, Session 2

In the second session of the new "Colouring Outside Your Mind" workshop for adults, the students started the evening by mark-making, working on one sheet of paper, and then rotating around the table to make marks on all the other papers in response to what was already there.  

Next up, a series of timed drawings following different instructions, including: drawing with your opposite hand, drawing with your eyes closed, drawing without looking at your paper, drawing what you "see" when you press your hands on your eyeballs, etc.

Each student brought an object to draw, and they were to "dissect" the object, to break it down into its essential components, and complete a series of 4 drawings on one large sheet of paper.  Then they got to paint these, which was the highlight of the evening.  Some basic colour theory helped make their work pretty amazing!

Look for next week's installment of the Colouring Outside Your Mind workshop series, and please leave a comment here...

After School Art

Students in the After School Art Class - Artful Adventures - at Lynn Valley Elementary are experimenting with many different mediums.

For the 2nd session of the teacher workshop series, participants expanded on the theme of leaves. Teachers focused on the element of colour and explored the use of oil pastels.

Colouring Outside Your Mind - Adult Art Class

Over the years, the Artists for Kids has been asked by parents to add an art class for adults to their selection of offerings.  This Fall, the opportunity to do that arose.

"Colouring Outside Your Mind" is a four session workshop taught by two local artists, Mary Shaughnessy and Sarah David.  It runs once a week in November at the Artists for Kids Studio.  Our first offering of this course has 12 registrants, who come to the course with a variety of creative backgrounds, and a serious interest in trying something new and outside their comfort zone!  

Through spontaneous, playful experimentation, these participants will discover how to access their creative intuition, while learning techniques and skills with painting and drawing materials.  In a non-threatening, fun environment, they will be guided through a series of progressive sessions, keeping it purely abstract, and they will emerge at the end with some great tools for creative expression.

Session One - having fun with paint!

In our first session, the class dripped, drizzled and splattered, applied ink and paint with string and other "tools," and then blew paint through straws while listening to music.  The work they produced in this, and the next two sessions, will be used in the final session to create a one-of-a-kind mixed media collage.  This week we are using drawing media.  Check back next week for updates on their progress!

Straw-blowing art

Drizzle, Drip and Splatter work

Mark-making with inks on tissue

After School Art Class - Primary Pottery at Braemar

The fall session of After School Art Classes are well under way. Recently Ms. Water's clay creations class posed holding their newly fired masks.

Cultural Spaces for Kids

Wednesday, November 9, was an exciting day for Artists for Kids.

James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and MP Andrew Saxton came to our gallery to announce a $350,000 Cultural Spaces grant for the new Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art. When it opens next fall, it will be the first dedicated public art gallery for young people in Canada, and the new home of Artists for Kids.

The funding will enable our new gallery at 2121 Lonsdale in North Vancouver to be built within conservation standards required of modern art galleries and museums. Our acclaimed Artists for Kids (AfK) collection of Canadian Art will finally have a much-needed proper exhibition and storage environment.

This new gallery will mean more public access to our wonderful collection of Canadian art, as well as larger and better studio spaces, allowing us to offer more classes and more opportunities to meet artists.

Mauro Vescera, President of The Smith Foundation, thanked the Minister and those attending the announcement, and invited everyone to visit the space when it opens next Fall.

We Want Your Feedback

We are interested in knowing what types of After School workshops you would like to see? Leave a comment here for our consideration.

Thank-you.