First Lesson: Shading, Light and Shadow

I had my first session with my second batch of young masters
at Impressions Art Studio, Cluny Court.

Here are the works of the 8 year olds I worked with today.

They grasped the concept faster than any adult I've worked with.

I am starting to believe that as children, we are all gifted.
As we get older, we forget about the talents
that have been given to us.

•••

The subject.


The paintings.

The Brass Bird Ring

The latest ring in my store.
A beautiful brass bird landed in the secret garden!
She flew* in all the way from Hoi An, Vietnam.
The plants and their berries took an instant liking
to this special bird. So everywhere the bird goes,
the plants and berries are surely there.. There's a special everlasting
dew drop that follows the bird around, too.
Every time the bird gets thirsty, he raises his head
to take a sip from the everlasting dew drop above his head.

(*I found a bunch of these brass figures when my husband and I
took a trip last October 2010 to Hoi An, Vietnam.)

Meditation Ring

Welcome to my Secret Garden.
This is a place where things grow and bloom & flutter & fly!

Imagine a garden that never needs watering.
Yet everything in it still shines and blooms.
Glass, crystal, clay and semiprecious stone -
always alive and always so colorful!

There are no weeds in these gardens, I assure you.
A worm or two may pop up in some of them once in a while though :-)

~

A peaceful statue of Buddha is in the Secret Garden
where there is only pure silence. Animals, berries, plants
and visitors come to this area when they need to meditate
or want a huge dose of peace and serenity.
The plants have offered Love, Peace and Hope Berries
to Buddha while the plants in the area
seem to be growing so quickly!

This ring is best used when we need a reminder to return
to a more peaceful place. Stare at it to meditate any time of day.
It'll be quite handy since you have it on your finger anyway :)

The Buddha miniature is made of brass.

Balloon Printing

Experiment Number 11: Balloon Printing

You will need: acrylic paint, small balloon (inflated),
paper, scissors, paint palette

Print different blotches of colours
in different areas of your paper.

You can achieve this by using a balloon (like the one seen below).
Pour the different colours of acrylic paint on the paint palette.
Dip the balloon into your paint and stamp away on the paper!!!
It isn't a must to clean your balloon when switching colours.
Try leaving it smeared with the previous colour you used
and see what happens when you make a new print.

Once the paint is dry, decide on what it is you want to create.
Cut out the shapes of your design.

On a new sheet of paper, paint your background.
Once your background is dry, stick everything you've cut out
on the paper you painted a background on.

Have fun with this one!!! I did :)


I learned this from a lovely woman
that's teaching me how to be a teacher :D

Painting with Marbles

instructions coming soon...

Nature Collage

instructions coming soon...

This Dinosaur was made by my classmate
(in my Early Chidhood Education Course), Sze Ying.

She's got other works I've got to share with you.

Faux Mosaic

instructions coming soon...

Art Using Cotton Buds and a Straw

instructions coming soon...

Colourful Pasta Art

It's time for another art project!

Experiment number 10:
Pasta Art

You will need:
uncooked pasta, food colouring, paper,
white glue, acrylic paint, paint brush

Mix some food colouring with water in a bowl.
The more water you put, the lighter your colour will turn out.
Make sure that you add the colouring in drops.
It's more powerful than you think!

Leave the pasta submerged for 30 minutes.
Drain then rinse it in running water.
Place the pasta on newspaper and
allow it to dry overnight.

Prepare your background while the pasta dries.
Take your paint brush and paint, oh, but before you do that,
decide on what it is you want to make.

In this pasta art, I made a meadow.
I painted the sky orange. And the foreground, green.
After everything was dry - paint and pasta -
I stuck the pasta in place.
It makes pasta art a little more interesting,
don't you think?

I made another art work using plain uncooked pasta.
Not coloured. Here's how my snowflake turned out.

I learned this from a lovely woman
that's teaching me how to be a teacher :D

The Trees that Children Paint

Children start drawing dots, lines, then curved lines,
before they are able to draw a circle.

Do children also go through similar developmental
milestones in painting trees?

What I've observed to be amazing is that the children
I've worked with in my classes, have painted trees with the same elements. They are aged 8 and 9, they do not know each other
and they painted these trees in separate classes.

Here are the trees that all have branches sticking out of the trunk.
The nine year-olds painted trees with a home for woodpeckers.

I really wonder why.

•••

During another lesson on painting trees,
a child once again sketched a tree trunk with a round top
and branches sticking out of the trunk.
I decided to tell the child that trees don't always
have to be painted in a daytime setting
and that trees don't always have to be painted
with a round green top.

I then left her to paint.

I was happy that she painted something different.

So young...

...and she already has her own style.

Justine's self-portrait, Rabbit and Still life.

Oil Painting at Impressions Art Studio

I started teaching oil painting to children at
Impressions Art Studio
at Cluny Court a few months ago.
The first batch of children did a fantastic job!
I'm showing off their works which was done over
1 and half hour sessions each Saturday.

There's a new class that starts this Saturday.
Please call Impressions Art Studio at 6465 8908.
They are located at #02-25, Cluny Court, 501 Bukit Timah Road
(near Serene Center, above Cold Storage).
Visit their website at www.impressions-artstudio.com

The beauty and magic of oil
through the eyes of children aged 6 to 9...
(I hope their parents keep these paintings
until they're all grown up.)

Maggie, 6. Self portrait.

Maggie, 6. Paint-anything-you-want-to day.

Leandra, 7. Self portrait.

Leandra, 7. Paint-anything-you-want-to day.

Ethan, 6. Self portrait.

Justine, 8. Details of a cherry tree.

Animals by some of the children :)

Still life by Maggie and Ethan.