Montreal

This ferris wheel at LaRonde Montreal, Quebec was HUGE!

I think Alex's pants were brown afterwards. My stomach did flip flops just watching Delaney lean forward and look down.

Cute penguins I photographed at the Biosphere.

These weather worn, old, paint flaking murals in Old Montreal were great abstract compositions when cropped. Found art.

Skaneatles Lake

I'm missing putting my feet in the chilly water of Skaneatles Lake. If you have the guts to jump in, it feels sooo good.

Savannah had the guts.

I swam a couple times, the water is crystal clear.

I love the sound of water lapping over the shore. That sound used to lull me to sleep many nights of my childhood spent on the boat.

More Art at ACRA

Last night I got frustrated with the blog software so I’m using something different now, let’s see how I do. Another project the kids love is Junk Art. I’m not sure when it started but it’s one of those projects that God help the person who ever tried to not include it on the calendar. I cover 2 large tables with all kinds of junk and then stand back. Here’s some of their work.Sidney and Bridget with their creation “Joe”.  Kali’s Junk Art, I wish I would have taken the time to get a better picture. There was much more that I didn’t photograph, I was usually too tired at the end of the day.

The last week we did needlepoint on plastic canvas, jute bracelets, beaded lizards and sun prints.  I was too busy to get any photos. Here’s some shots of the kids and the final display of art for the open house. Autumn and Molly working on papier mache. Serena and her God’s Eye.Phoenix, Delaney and Gryphon.Alex working on her cow.  Spin Art display.Handkerchief display. 

      Project Runway with Betty O’Regan. The kids were sent home with a box and a shopping bag full of their art on the last day.

More Art at ACRA

The art supplies are packed away until next year and most of the work returned to it's owner. I've had a few days to rest and reflect. Let's see if I can back up and show everything we did the last three weeks. First I promised a picture of the little girl who did the most work on her sewing kit, here's April, she's 6 years old and a bundle of energy. Love her! The kids love papier mache. I can't really explain it other than when else do you get to make whatever you want and make a huge mess while you're doing it? Here are some of the finished projects. That's a pie, a mouse, a crab and a cow. There were other animals, an ice cream cone and a couple cool rocket ships. These are called God's Eyes, a craft made with 2 sticks and yarn. I do these every year because the art director before me did them every year for 13 years and who knows how many years someone did them before her. It just wouldn't be ACRA without doing God's Eyes. Next we made some awesome stationery with printed leaves. I was really into this and made a bunch to use as Thank You notes. Oh yeah the kids liked it too. I figured out a way to make a 2 color print by laying the inked leaves face up on a large stamp pad and then laying the paper over that and pressing.
Ruth Bean and Lisa Riblett came in to do Weed Creatures. This is very popular year after year, here's just a small sampling of their work.

Arden Community Recreation Association

I'm working as the art director at the ACRA camp in Arden, with Jeanne Orr as my wonderful assistant. It's fun some days and down right grueling others. The rewards are obvious when the kids repeatedly say "This is so fun!" and the parents comment that their kids can't wait to get there in the morning to go to the art room. Here are some of the projects we have done so far. Spin art, do you remember this from when you were a kid? My twist is using colored cards. They don't seem to tire of this because of the surprise of seeing what it looks like when it stops spinning.

Watercolor with India Ink. The ink was done first, then wax candle drawings, then watercolor. The ink and the wax give the work dimension and the kids like playing with the different techniques.

Here are some felt sewing kits they made. The idea is to stock the book with sewing supplies and also use the pages to practice embroidery stitches. One little girl has put a lot of work into hers since this photo so I'll have to post an update.

Ken Mabrey, an amazing artist in the neighborhood came in as a visiting artist in the art room. He brought some of his original stencils and the kids stencilled on handkerchiefs with fabric paint dabbers . 38 handkerchiefs were stencilled that day! Some of them were made into vests the following day, I'll have to photograph someone wearing one, they were super cute with the stencilled handkerchief as the back. Painted Paper Collage is a 2 day project. First the kids paint with acrylic paint papers that will be used to collage with the following day. The painting day draws more of a crowd than the collage day. For painting I put out all kind of tools to paint with and make marks with like combs, sponges and large brushes. Here's some of their papers.

Here's some of their collages made from their painted papers.
Here the kids made their own stamps and printed with them.

This was just the projects for the first two weeks. Two other visiting artists volunteered their time to work with the kids and I apologize I don't have photos at the moment. I'm usually too involved to pick up a camera while I'm working.