Adventures at the Mobile Museum of Art~Days 19-23

     The classes at the Mobile Museum of Art continued last week with me teaching again from 8-5. When you add in the commute to the city, I spent a total of 55 hours doing just the Museum! Wow! I love to teach and this weeks classes were no exception to the rule! Children amaze me with their talents and fun they manage to have in spite of hiccups along the way.

     This painting was based on "Picassos Harlequin" I had the children draw theirs while I drew mine and the results were fantastic. We really enjoyed painting this one together. My colors were close to those chosen by Picasso for his piece. The children were allowed to make their own color choices and some were interesting indeed! I am never surprised to see what children come up with in their minds and the work from their hands.
   
      This class reminded me of the laser focus both my girls had while growing up. Their concentration while working on their artwork was simply amazing to watch. Both of my daughters are working artists.

          Christina Chavez is a teacher and doing quite well at presenting herself. She works no less than two art programs at two different schools during the school year.  Her organization skills are fantastic! She uses her skills at the Mobile Museum of Art as the Assistant for the Art Blast Program during the summer. She also taught some classes at the Art Blast this summer as well. I have also been blown away with her painting skills increasing as she teaches classes for Paint and Pals. She is receiving commissions and is a real dynamo of talent. I am so proud of the young woman she has become and will be in the future!
      My oldest, Jessica Chavez Price has always been an artist. While this presented some challenges in school she has proven to the world that she can do anything her multiple talents put in her mind. She is a very gifted Master Cosmetologist with a flair that keeps her customers coming back for more! She also has established herself as a designer & creator of fabulous hats and fascinators that are in high demand. She also does some pretty fantastic pet portraits. No wonder she just recently received a Nappie award for Makeup and runner up for artist. She is just going no where but up!

     "Picassos Harlequin"~Loran's version 16 x 20 Acrylic on canvas.

     "Confusion" came about as a study in complements for the class. They had their choice of a fish, a turtle or the lizard. I went for the lizard! The kids were encouraged to arrange them in a fun way and they really thought carefully about the composition. We then turned to paint. They were required to paint the backgrounds in Red, Blue and Yellow, but could choose the fourth. I then wanted them to paint the complements in each of the squares. This is where I found out just how much of a football nation we are here! There were kids that absolutely refused to put orange with blue (Auburn) and Purple with yellow (LSU). I kept telling them it was just complementary colors to no avail! I gave in and let them paint it as they wanted because it just was not worth the battle. As Ricky Trione says, "choose your battles". I then painted the central lizard as a normal lizard~hence the name "Confusion" I planned to give it to the museum for the preschool room, but Christina reminded me she had a classroom too and she wanted it for her room! I am pleased that she wanted this small piece of me to go with her into her world of art for kids!

"Confusion" Acrylic on Canvas 16 x 20 This painting represents the 24th of July.

     This week also included watercolor adventures and this is no exception to the rule. Earlier in the week, we did bubble papers to use on projects. The kids always love the bubble paper project and that day was no exception. We had so much fun creating the paper! The next day, we added the crab on top of one of the pieces. On Friday, we cut and wove back together the artwork and that is what you see here. The children actually created two paintings and put them back together, while I just used the crab and bubble paper.

     "Can you see Me?" Watercolor on paper approx `15 x 20 July 25th

     The children also worked wet into wet after drawing out their turtles on paper using a stencil.
We worked our backgrounds with clear backgrounds, dropping color into the water and watching it run. This re-enforced the one rule of watercolor, "More Water Always goes to where there is Less Water" They loved watching the colors do their own thing, and I heard more than one "Cool"! We then painted the turtles the following day o the background would not move into the art they were trying to create. I was amazed at well the children did with this project and I think they had fun!

"A Trio of Turtles" 15 x 20 Watercolor on paper

This project is always a hit with the kids! The goal is learning to transfer a drwawing, ink it in, and then add color! We start with clear water adding color as we go! The water is placed on the paper first and blown with a straw to make it move. You then add color and watch it run! We then spatter color over the top, this is their favorite part! I have actually sold several of these shrimp in the galleries that represent me.

"Confetti Shrimp" 15 x 20 watercolor on paper July 26th~Day 23 of the 100 days~100 paintings

Plein Air Class at the Mobile Museum of Art 2012

      The past two weeks have been hectic indeed! I taught at the Mobile Museum of Art from 8-5 each day. I have to add the two hours to get there and back as well. Also some nights, I worked at Celebration Church getting ready for a fantastic Vacation Bible School!I fairly fell into bed each night from exhastion. Hence why the blog has been so neglected! The paintings are there, I just had no energy to post them!
     
          I have a new found respect for the teachers in our midst. No wonder they are giddy as teenagers the last week of school! I discovered that the first couple of days are relatively quiet as the children do not know each other. Wednesday they are starting to form groups, Thursday they are really talkative, and Friday they are starting to get on each others nerves! Even the siblings get into the act! I had three sets of siblings the last week and they did the same as the rest of the group! Funny to watch. I cannot imagine teaching all school year! Hats off to you my teacher friends!

       "The Bridge at the museum" is from the Plein Aire class. The students really enjoy the outside painting and this is the second year we have done this class. I am certain it will be repeated again.
The Bridge at the Museum watercolor on paper, 15 x 20.

     The other side of the lake, another of the paintings done during the Plein Air Class at the Museum was completed after we took a hike across the bridge to the opposite side. We were drivien crazy by the flies landing on us, flying around us, and finally landing in our paints! Very frustrating! Then there was the ducks and geese, giving us the evil eye for not bringing something to feed them. We were literally surrounded by the animals constantly. I have to commend the children for staying focused on the paintings!

    "The Other Side of the Lake" Plein Aire class, watercolor on paper

"The Geese at the Lake" was my first painting of the week for the plein air class. We all were adjusting to the heat, humidity, and bugs presented to us during our adventures in painting. I have to commend the kids for being real troopers when it came to the elements. The children were encouraged to paint their choice of scenery. I had representations of the lake, trees, the statue, and a small creek that runs alongside the gazebo. One of the kids even painted a walker on the path! I spent the class explaining techniques and tips while also painting my own piece.

"The Geese at the Lake" watercolor on paper 15 x 20

"Student Study" This day we  split our paper into quarters and used Oil Pastels that were water soluable. It was an interesting day as we had to walk outside the Museum to the balcony to paint! I really enjoyed this class and the kids seemed to enjoy it too!

"Student Study" watercolor on paper 7 1/2 x 10

Cruise to Nowhere

While Chris and I were in the keys a couple of years ago, we took a "Danger" cruise. This trip promised to have us kayaking, lunch, sailing and snorkling. The cruise itself involved more motoring than sailing. There simply was very little wind to push this rather large sailboat in the water. Being optimistic, the people running the cruise threw all the sheets to the wind, hoping to catch a breeze. We ended up using the motor so we could get in all the activities planned. Once we got to the Island, they gave us a crash course in kayaking before we hit the water. Chris and I were both experienced paddlers, so we were some of the first to get in the water. We paddled through the mangrove area of the island after passing over the seagrass beds complete with sea cucumbers and hundreds of fish.

Our trip ended with us getting in the water to snorkel at the Grecian Rocks. The grecian Rocks were a disappointment compared to the reef off of John Pennecamp. I highly recommend the reef there, it is the largest reef in the United States.

While traveling back, we had a wonderful lunch provided by the crew. I shot multiple pictures while on board and this painting is one of them. I love the feeling you get when looking at this painting hence the name, Cruise to Nowhere. I really enjoy a good hard sail and miss our sailboat Mariah. We have friends willing to take us, but it is never enough!

Cruise to Nowhere, Acrylic on Canvas 18 x 36

The View from the Gazebo

"The View from the Gazebo" was painted while sitting beneath the cool shade offered under the gazebo's large vaulted ceiling. The gazebo is located behind the Mobile Museum of Art and is situated on the walking trail. The kids in the class this past week were remarkably attentive and very focused on their paintings while they were in progress. Not once did I hear how hot it was, which surprised me a great deal as the heat indexes were in the 100's! I was delighted to work with them and am delighted to report they all said they would take the class again! I think we have found a winner in the teenage class category. I know I look forward to teaching this class next year.

Setting a Course

Those of you familiar with my husband and I know that we are sailors. I photographed this boat, (Fat Cat) just as he came out from under the Dog River Bridge. It was about 6:30 the morning of the Dauphin Island Race. The wind caught him right after he sailed under the bridge and caused him to heel slightly to port. It was a glorious morning and I got lots of shots before I had to go to another appointment that day. Our son took us out in his boat so I could catch the boats as they were getting ready for the race. The morning was rather foggy and the larger original painting called "Course to Victory" is on a full sheet of watercolor paper. This one has a lot more clouds and color added. I may paint him in Oil one day as well.
"Setting a Course" watercolor 15 x 20