Art Project in Process: Crowned Cranes & Dandelions

Sometimes you get an idea in your head that won't stop knocking.......


Some of you know that I love birds, 2 reside in our house, and I can spend hours watching, reading about, and trying to paint these charming creatures.

Mother's Day Mixed Media

If you are in need of a good "Mother's Day" project for your class this is it!

Last year I did a "Captured my Heart" project with Grade 1,( it was originally designed for Valentine's Day but the Grade 1 teacher wanted it for Mother's Day).

At the last minute I needed to do a similar project for the other Grade 1 class but did not have enough frozen juice containers.  I opted for these simple frames....well I never had so many Moms come up to me, thanking me for this project. 

Student Work - Easter

So here are the Easter Bonnet Portraits the Grade 2's completed yesterday.

Click on Picture to see Larger.

and here is the Pysanky by Grade 3.  They follow my tutorial found here.

These are the eggs Grade 2 made with their intro to Pysanky.  I let them make their own designs as they are just getting a feel for it and then next year they try the pattern.

Incredible work everyone! Have a Happy Easter and we'll start on all the Mother's Day Projects next week.

Wool Roving Bunnies

Here are some easy wool roving bunnies to make this Easter.

This one looks just thrilled to be pushing the egg!

Paper Mache Easter Eggs

Here is a batch of paper mache eggs I finished this weekend.

Paper mache is a good option for kids, the egg is virtually accident proof (no breakage) and are good keepers once sealed.

Giveaway Results and Fluffy Chicks

First off we'll have the giveaway for Margaret Peot's new book " Inkblot".


Drumroll please................




(why does Ryan have orange hair and a tie on...I'll explain in a bit)

(Click on picture to see larger)

...the winner is Julie who wrote:

"Looks like an awesome book, and one I would like to add to my library."
on April 14/2011

Congrats Julie!  Please email me your address and I'll arrange shipping of your new book.  In case you can't find my email on this blog it is thatartistwoman@shaw.ca

Thanks everyone for entering, I love your comments and if you didn't win maybe you'll come across the "Inkblot" book at the bookstore or library and fall in love with it too.



So it was "Mad Scientist" Day at school today.

My 2 boys got right in to it.

Ryan was Beaker from the Muppets but sadly no one knew who that was in his class.  We have the tv shows on dvd and the kids love them as much as I did plus it's nice to see those celebrity hosts when they were younger.....my daughter Allison couldn't believe it was Elton John from the 1st season...."He looks so silly Mom!"

On to a quick Easter project that Grade 1 did today.  We needed something fast for the bulletin board so they made these fluffy chicks.

Easter Bonnet Portrait

Here is an Easter art project that combines a 3 dimensional element in the hat.

I am currently working on this with Grade 2 and will have some student work to show you shortly.

I was reading "Albert the Albatross" with my son Jeff and I started thinking about birds on hats. (Albert ends up on a ladies hat for awhile) With Easter coming up it seemed a good fit.

Inkblot - Giveaway

Well I'm back after a great break and what a good way to start back at the blog than with a terrific giveaway.



This is Margaret Peot's new book "Inkblot.....Drip, Splat, and Squish your way to Creativity"

I have used Margaret's previous book "Make your Mark" before in my lessons so I couldn't wait to see what she has come up with now!

If you are interested in winning your own copy of this book please read the rest of this post and leave a comment.  I will make the draw on:
 Friday April 15th/2011.

Last days of Vacation

So only a few days left and I'm trying to cram in all the rest and relaxation!!



Some sketches.....the Red Headed Cardinal who is always looking for handouts but is one of the most striking birds here.

I also had to sketch a Zebra dove quick before it ran away.

Taking lots of pictures as always for future paintings.

Love these tree roots!

We all tried paddle boarding yesterday and my daughter was the natural.

There was a monk seal hanging out at the beach, the kids loved that!






The Internet connection is extremely slow here so that's all for now.