Book of Dragons Summer Fellowship

This was my 5th and final year doing a summer fellowship at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford. (Last because my kids have finally outgrown the program and it's too much of a commute from Philly to continue on my own.) 

For this project, we first read about folktales and myths featuring dragons and looked at different depictions of dragons from around the world. I had the campers draw dragons into foam sheets to make prints, and also each age group worked on a collaborate dragon collograph print for the accordion book that went on display at the end of the week. 

I'm very proud of all the great projects I did not only through these five fellowship projects, but also as a lead instructor with mostly 4th-6th graders, as well as instructing special classes in polymer clay to all ages, as well as Animal Drawing and Intro to Printmaking to teens. It's been a memorable decade with so many amazing students and fellow art educators. 

Links to fellowship projects from previous years at CAC: 

MEGAfauna, 2022 
Pollinators, 2021 
Whose Hoo Around the World, 2019 
Big Relief!, 2018 

Imagined Bugs Print/Collages by 5th and 6th Graders at CAC

I am having a fantastic summer teaching kids at the Summer Spree art camp at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford. This is a set of relief prints made with foam boards made by 5th and 6th graders. I had the kids draw bugs from their imagination into the foam and we printed 4 layers of color, adding pieces of foam or scratching in more marks and darkening the color of ink with each new layer.

We were originally planning a 5th layer in black, but the effects up until that point were so fantastic and we feared accidentally covering what was already there. So we switched up plans and decided to emphasize the colors and textures by cutting out and swapping the bugs and backgrounds printed in different color schemes.

What I love best about teaching at CAC is the ability to experiment with new project ideas and change plans in the middle based on what happens with the kids in the studio. These are probably the best prints by students I've worked with since the reduction prints I did with 6th graders at Kearny 2 and a half years ago.

Children's artwork can be amazing!

"Imaginarium" Summer Fellow Exhibition in Wallingford

THIS SUNDAY, Imaginarium Reception: June 24, 2pm to 4pm

Duke Gallery at the Community Arts Center

414 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford, PA 19086

Summer Fellows exhibit in the Duke Gallery of the Community Arts Center. The show will include all of the artwork for my newly released book "The Nautilus and the Ammonite", many works from my other book projects, as well as the debut exhibit of some of my new ceramics.

On view: June 23-July 20

4th Graders Turned Their White Line Prints Into Mixed Media Sculptures

This week was my last week teaching Summer Spree at the Community Arts Center. It was only a week-long session and I wanted the kids to do both some 2D and 3D art, so we took the white line prints they made earlier in the week, painted the back with watercolors (using salt and alcohol to add texture), cut them out, and attached bodies made of craft stems and beads. The kids also made magazine paper mache stands for their butterflies to perch on.

As always, this camp is a blast to teach. As I said to my co-workers at the end of the last day, I'm already looking forward to next year.

 

This last photo is of the butterflies made by myself and my assistant.