Trends Modern Art

I'll be at the CHA Winter Conference & Trade Show tomorrow. I'll be there to cover the event for Mamiverse and of course, Modern Art 4 Kids. I am super excited to get on the floor and meet the people and companies who make all of the great art and crafting supplies that I use on a daily basis with my children and in the classroom, such as oil pastels, craft paint, watercolors and craft glue. And collage scrapbooking papers. And clay. And Mod Podge. And art markers. And color pencils. And....you get my drift!

We use so many different mediums at Modern Art 4 Kids that I'll be like a fat kid in a candy store! That said, I can't wait to get my hands dirty and take part in all of the fun make and takes, new techniques and tutorials! Keep your eyes peeled for all of the upcoming posts when I share about all the really cool things I'll discover over the next few days. I'm a total rookie when it comes to craft conventions, so I am prepared to have my mind blown. 


Yay me.

The image above is an adorable hand-painted rock from one of my art students. She gave it to me for Christmas. Can you tell what it is? It's a paint palette!

I did one of my first Day of the Dead art workshops of the season last week. It was so much fun! Sometimes I forget how amazing it is to teach art to children.

Some of you may be thinking, really? Are you trying to pull my leg?

No, I'm being totally serious.

There is something about creating art and working with children who have uninhibited creativity. They are very free, unafraid to take risks--they really lose themselves in their art! All that energy is contagious.

Sadly, adults aren't like that at first. It really takes a while for people to let go of themselves.

Anyhow, I was reminded of this fact this week. I taught a simple Day of the Dead art lesson to a group of awesome third graders, one of which was my son Cyan. I shared a brief history on how they celebrate this day in Mexico, we read a really cool children's book about the subject (which really made me have a thought--more on this later) and then we got to work creating our own sugar skulls with oil pastels. My son's amazing teacher even let us listen to the Lila Downs Pandora station, so we could really get the whole Dia de los Muertos vibe going.

The kids drew, colored, were very inquisitive and I got the chance to road test my Day of the Dead Activity pages that I posted about a couple weeks ago. They loved all of the cool shapes. The punk rocker was a fave, so was the large sugar skull. As a thank you, the teacher gave me some really pretty jade-ite skull earrings. So sweet.

Each one was so unique!

Love the bright blue around the eyes.

Markers on the Sugar Skull template looked like so much fun, I wanted to join in!

The punk rocker was in high demand.

Working hard at creating art.

The school girl calavera coloring sheet.

The teacher hung all of our creations on the classroom wall and it looked amazing!

Everyone used the same template yet they all came out very distinct and colorful.

Still wondering what to do with your students on Day of the Dead? Grab your Day of the Dead Activity book or come back on November 2nd when I'll have a really cool Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera calavera collage for you to share with your classroom!

Modern Art 4 Kids recently worked with Today's Urban Renewal Network for their annual Parent's Night Out at Christmastime.

We even got a little mention in our local newspaper, which was really cool.

During this art workshop, we offered two stations: the children could create collages (with glitter pens, which were a huge hit), as well as draw with markers. On the outside patio, Michael offered a paint workshop, which was the second station.

Needless to say, the kids made a beeline for the patio so they could paint with actual spray paint. I have no hard feelings. I don't blame the kids for wanting to experiment with spray paint!

We laid out a large square of canvas material. The children had the opportunity to paint with acrylics and brushes and/or spray paint. This is an activity that requires adequate ventilation as well as face masks. For this particular event, the word "Hope" was drawn on the canvas, so the children could have a starting point. There is nothing more defeating than staring at a blank canvas.

After so many eager hands touched it, the painting took on a life of its own, as all really good art projects tend to do. They added black at the end, to define the shapes and give the piece a finished look. Once the painting was done and it dried, Michael cut it up into large squares. He then stapled each panel onto its own individual frame. Several of the kids who worked on this project from beginning to end were rewarded for their efforts and got to take a painting home. They were extremely proud and happy with their accomplishment.

When you work with middle school aged children and up, you have to be prepared for a certain amount of attitude. Lots of times, they are perfectly happy to bypass whatever it is you have planned to teach them. They would much rather text or talk to their friends. But what I noticed was, the minute some of these kids became invested in their project, their attitude just vanished. They were really into their artwork, they were quiet, at peace, and focused. And that is quite a breakthrough. It also displays the power of art and creative expression in a person's life.