Art Tip

Lauryn's art.

I keep a whole section of art materials just for the rowdies to use when they come to visit. Kids do love to paint and draw, but almost all of my grandkids have experienced "artist's block."

They are all set to paint and they ask me what they should paint. I suggest things like bunny rabbits, kitty cats or merry-go-rounds. Their reaction is "I can't paint that", or "I don't know how...you do it for me."

To encourage them to explore with their art I tell them I would like to see how they paint a bunny rabbit, maybe by watching them I can learn something about bunny rabbit painting...things I would never have done...like pink and purple polka dots and squiggles for a tail.

So, instead of me sitting down drawing a bunny and them copying me we sit down and let the grandchild draw and I do my best fo copy theirs. It is a good experience for both of us. Funny thing...I almost always like their bunny best!!!

When life hands you lemons.....

Rowdy Grandma has been a little self-absorbed over the last few months. Shortly after my last post in July I was diagnosed with severe COPD. It was surreal, I have always been so healthy and active...and very experimental in my art work. One of the biggest disappointments with this diagnosis is what it means for my approach to art. I decided it was best to take a few months off and regroup a little.

Most everything I do in the studio involves harmful materials - I burn a lot of my assemblage and collage work. I use chemicals to patinate metals, aerosal sprays to preserve my pieces. Resins, oil paints, turpentine and paint remover...they are all harmful to the respiratory system.

So, guys let me caution you...when you use questionable materials, either in your own work or the art you do with the grandkids, ALWAYS USE A MASK AND ADEQUATE VENTILATION!!.....IT MATTERS!!

Taylor with mask and gloves...he's ready to create!!
Oh, and of course cool, protective eye wear.

There are so many fabulous art materials to work with, I am now taking classes in drawing and watercolor...although I may never be able to completely substitute fire for water I have found a wonderful local teacher and hope this is an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade and expand on the art I produce. I have completed some new works for local art shows and have not stopped working with the grandkids on their own art. I look forward to sharing lots of interesting ideas and kid projects with you over the next few months.

Here is a cool idea for displaying the rowdies art. If you are like me the front of your refrigerator is jam packed with art. One day I was looking for wall space to hang more kid's art....couldn't find any so I started tacking it to the ceiling of my studio.....the kid's absolutely love it!! If you don't have a studio ceiling a hall ceiling is a great place for it too...or try a spare bedroom, especially if it's the one the rowdies sleep in when they stay the night. They will love drifting off to sleep while staring at their own little masterpieces.

Thrift store recycling.

Sorry dear readers I admit to having been in a technology slump the last few weeks. Honestly, I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted. "My, how time flies when you are procrastinating".

Mixed Media group, hard at work!!

I have been involved in creating some of my own art and have attended a few classes as well. I belong to a local Mixed Media group. A lot of the members of this group are either Rowdy Grandmas or Rowdy Moms and are always giving me great ideas for arting and crafting. At the meeting last Saturday we all made jean purses from our old jeans, (the ones I brought were too small for me, a few claimed theirs were too large...yeah, right!!)

The beginnings of my jean purse!!

During the meeting we spent some time talking about using recycled materials in our art, such as the jeans. Mary Lynn, a fellow Rowdy Grandma showed us some items she has picked up at Goodwill. She purchases old pictures sold at thrift stores and reuses the canvas and frame for her own work.

Carla's purse with a decal she made of her dog and cat...so cute!!!

What a great recycling idea for all artists. In an older post I talked about taking the grandkids on trips to the thrift store and encouraging them to find something to use in their own art. I had not thought of looking through the old pictures..... kids love actually putting their work on canvas....this way it is already framed and if they like they can paint the frame as well!!

Remember bean and macaroni art? My next trip with the rowdies to Goodwill we will seek out a small framed canvas to fill with dried beans and macaroni...it gives them a chance to play with their food.

While at the thrift store pick up an old Tshirt and make a tote bag. My granddaughter Sarah and I did this a few months ago, next post I will share her Tshirt tote bag with you.

Please share your thrift store finds with me...I am always happy to have new things to search for when I make a trip to Goodwill, and would love to post some of your finds.

Lipstick art

Okay....okay..I used to be a makeup fanatic - any free gift with purchase from Estee Lauder, Clinique or Lancome and I was there!!...so, over these many years I have collected a lot of truly unflattering lipstick shades. Being the pack rat that I am...and convincing myself that one day I will wear that bright Candy Apple Red (maybe it would match perfectly with my Christmas party dress)...I stashed them all. Going through my old makeup hoard the other day I had almost convinced myself I would never really wear any of these when I thought "hold on a minute, these are kind of like neatly packaged oil pastels."

Four of my grandkids were coming over to work in the art room and cook up some fudge so how fun would it be to use up grandma's old lipsticks and create some art. Well as you can see they enjoyed this project. We spent a few minutes brainstorming ways we could create art with lipstick, then Lyndsey ,the youngest, immediately applied a luscious hot pink to her own lips and set about drawing a gingerbread man, we trimmed around the edges with scalloped scissors and pasted it to a piece of black construction paper for a frame. The lipstick picture is sprayed with a matte acrylic so it isn't quite so messy.



Lauryn totally smeared paper with the lipstick and used a toothpick to carve her picture, again it's a good idea to spray with an acrylic spray, otherwise lipstick takes awhile to dry completely.



Dylan took a different route and used the tubes and some clay to make lipstick man!!...and ..well not every kid gets into every project so Taylor took tons of pictures of the group and their art work.

Christmas is a comin'

Christmas is approaching ..and fast...which is my excuse for not attending to my blog writing. Note to self...the holidays are not the time to begin a new project!!!

With eight grandchildren I have a lot of gifts to buy. It seems the older I get and the more I understand about the world the less I care about showering my grandchildren with more stuff. I am hoping my legacy to them will be more of who I am and how we spend time together than how much money grandma spent on them. Giving them time is one of the most important things we have to give as grandparents. Unfortunately, four of my grandkids live in another state, with the four that live near me we are getting together tomorrow for our usual "bake and make stuff" day.

One of my favorite memories is of my mom making fudge on top of the stove (she did this a lot)....and by the way Mom, I blame you for my thing about chocolate! Anyway, after she took it off the stove she would stand there and beat the hell out of it with a spoon....I mean she could make that spoon move and not spill a drop!! ....so tomorrow we will make a batch of fudge, and maybe sugar cookies with sprinkles of course. There is also a planned art project which I will post on Wednesday.....sneak peek!!!...it involves lipstick!!