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.

Abstract Painting

The abstract painting session of my Saturday group was my last class
with this funny bunch. It took me so long to share
their final works...(I've been really busy).

Here their paintings with these simple instructions:
Paint anything you want
for as long as only you know what it means.

Coby's...

Claudia's...

Carolina's...

Kaylee's...

Landscape Painting

I had another lovely Saturday with
the oh so entertaining children.
The lesson was Landscape.

Carolina, 8, painted a snow-capped hill
with a nest on a tree.
I'm really liking this. Are you?

Coby, 11, surprises me every time we paint.

Yesterday, he asked for a ruler and in one breath, said,
"I want to paint the horizon while the sun sets
and there has to be a jail house with a cowboy
and his horse and I need a ruler to do the perspective!"

I love this painting and the colors he used.
And! kudos to his perspective.

Kaylee, 12, whom I now call The Awesome One,

painted this. I had nothing to do with it. She is so amazing.

Look at the details of Kaylee's painting by clicking on the image.

She really is The Awesome One.

Crafting & Cooking

I prepared my lunch at 11:30 today.
As I sliced the "pechay" ends, I heard my head say,
these are pretty rosettes!

I've been quite silent, so I thought it would be a good time to share
Experiment number 9: Pechay Prints

You will need: Pechay, paper, paint
(in this case, any type of non toxic paint will do)

Save the pechay ends and rub it on the paint
that's been spread on a sheet of paper (or plastic).
Stamp your paper with the pechay ends.

Voila! Now you have a little rose garden.
(Add the stems and leaves with a pen or pencil :)

Chelsea's Welcoming Tree

Chelsea is the second student, below 10 years old,
that is very aware and particular with light source.
I took the time to teach her how to blend and add depth
to her painting, even if it meant standing
beside her every five minutes.

She is very happy with her painting.
I am really proud of her! Look at the image below
and take notice of all the details and love she put into this painting!

Isn't it amazing?!

•••
Oil on canvass by Chelsea C.
3 sessions, Monday to Wednesday.
24~26 November 2010.

Chloe's Cake

Chloe: "I don't know what to paint."
Me: "Paint something that you'd love to see everyday
because it makes you happy."

Every year, a child looks forward to his/her birthday.
There really is a lot to celebrate and be grateful for.
Plus! There are lots of gifts to unwrap!

(This does hold true even when we're already 40 sumthin :)

•••

Oil on canvass by Chloe C.
3 sessions, Monday to Wednesday.
24~26 November 2010.

The Second Session

I thought that the children would find it fun if they painted one image
on four different canvasses. Coby was reluctant at first and insisted on using one canvass. In the end, he said, "it's so cool!"

He painted this and it's entitled, The Complexity of a Toaster.

Kaylee, painted a cow. Easily.
She reminds me of my friend, Soozee, who approaches
and tackles life in a very analytical way.
It seems to give them (Soozee and Kaylee)
great results.

Claudia's Peace sign. With her personality,
she could be one of the cool hippies from the 70s.

Coby finished ahead of everyone else

and asked for another canvass. This is Two Face.

Oil Painting with Young Masters

I've been teaching some kids every Saturday, for two hours, how to paint. I have in my class a thirteen year old, a twelve year old, a ten year old and an eight year old, all willing to go through my experiment of teaching them how to paint with oil paint. Classes are free of charge. I bugged some parents to "lend" me their children for four Saturdays, so that I can practice my teaching skills.

Experiment number 8: Oil Painting for Kids

You will need: An easel (I got mine from Ikea), Marie's Water Mixable Oil Colour Studio Set, paint brushes, a canvass
(all from Art Friend).

I showed the kids works by some famous painters. I also demonstrated a few techniques on blending colours and how oil paint behaves differently from other media. After a brief intro to painting, I was amazed after 2 hours. First, I thought they would use 1 canvass for all our 4 sessions. And second, I was honestly impressed with what they painted.

Carolina, 8, painted a volcano (this was the same week of the volcanic eruption in Indonesia). She thought about the light source and mixed her own colours.



Claudia, 13, had music on her mind.

She was singing throughout most of the session.

Kaylee, 12, is a sponge and absorbed everything I said-

how to blend paint and how to apply paint on the canvass.
This is what she did. Isn't it wonderful?

Coby, 11, is a gem. He knew what to paint,

how to paint it and stayed focused until he finished his work.

I was a bit disturbed with the "acid-was-poured-on-the-eyes-effect"

he tried to achieve, plus, the anarchy sign on the t-shirt.

After a few hours of nonsense thoughts,
I decided to stop analyzing his work and just
appreciate it. It's pretty good, right?!

I'm so proud of them! :D

My Husband Says I Now Have A Zoo

I can't stop sewing. It gives me so much joy :)

Try it out. Here's how.

I'm Going To Miss This Little Girl

Heather joined my teenage oil painting class*
for her last session. She made this really cool painting of a girl.

She also made this :D

•••
*I have a group of teens (and tweens)
in my free oil painting lessons experiment.
Will post about their classes very soon.

October ends. November begins.

Monster painting for Halloween.

Paper flowers for All Souls Day.

•••

Heather did all these, too. I'm going to miss having her around.
I've got one more session with her
then my Free Art Lessons Experiment
with her will be over. Now, what to do for our last session...

The Heather Update

Bleached art.

Creating another heart for her block print.

She had fun making these cupcakes.

An old friend came to join us, too! :)