Blog - The Art Pantry

February 19, 2010 by Megan Schiller

Watercolors

To finish off our 4 week painting session, we experimented with liquid watercolors. The children were given paint, coffee filters, brushes and droppers to test it out.

The droppers are excellent for developing fine motor skills- and once kids get the hang of them, they can’t get enough!

Liam and Hanna use their brushes to explore the vibrant colors.

It was fun having Mason (Clark and Jordan’s cousin) here to help out!

After a little while of painting on paper, I brought out a tub of whipped cream- Calling it “foam,” amazingly kept them from tasting it! Similar in texture to shaving cream, whipped cream is a great alternative if you want something non-toxic (shaving cream doesn’t seem very child- friendly even though preschools and children’s art books often use it for sensory projects).

Painting on the whipped cream over the aluminum foil is sooooo interesting!

The kids were interested in squeezing out the paint themselves, so I offered them some watered down paint in different squeeze bottles for them to go at it.

Clark and Mason laugh at the gobs of painted whipped cream splattered on their bodies.

A very colorful mess- how fun!

Towards the end of class I brought out the spray bottles. These kids must have had some spray bottle experience- they were masters at squeezing the trigger.

What a gorgeous day to wash up outside… at 5:30 pm…Is it spring already?

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February 17, 2010 by Megan Schiller

Displaying Children’s Artwork

Many parents have asked me about interesting ways to display children’s artwork. Displaying children’s art shows them that we value their work. Children feel proud of their creations when they see them prominently displayed around their home.
I like to take two different approaches to children’s art display. First I choose a piece of work that I want to have up as permanent art (I chose Karuna’s first painting for sentimental reasons as well as for the colors and design). Canvas paintings are great because they look good unframed. Otherwise, I buy a nice frame that will go with my home decor (or a very simple frame to showcase the art) and hang it up with the other art around my house.
Karuna’s first painting is displayed in a glass clip frame, which was under $15 at a framing store. It hangs alongside two Scott Healy originals (my brother).

The second approach is for rotating art. Children can make numerous amounts of art and it is important to update rotating displays often to encourage new creation. Here are some ideas for displaying rotating art:
Box Frame

This frame may look like a permanent display, but it is actually a box that opens from the bottom and allows you to store up to 50 sheets of paper inside, displaying the one on top. To rotate the art, simply pop in a new painting and give a fresh look to your display! It can be hung on the wall, but I decided to prop it up on a picture ledge for easy access. I purchased this “Kids Keepsake” frame from Aaron Brothers for $45 – a bit pricey, but the storage is great. It also comes in a smaller size and two other colors.
Karuna helped me set it up and place it on the shelf. Then when her dad came home, I asked her “where is your artwork?” and she ran over and proudly pointed up at it.

A cork wall or board is a fun way pin up rotating artwork in a contained area. In this playroom, the family has installed cork into the wainscoting for a more formal look.

A bulletin board such as this one is another example of pinning up children’s artwork in a simple, stylish way. You can make one yourself or find them at places like Pottery Barn or the Container Store.

Clothesline
In the studio, I hang artwork up along the wall, fastened to a string with clothespins. I screwed 2 small hooks from the hardware store into the wall and then tied a long piece of twine tightly to each hook. Mostly I use this for drying paintings, but it is also great for displaying art (and it won’t damage the artwork with pinholes).

Or if you’d like to get fancy, you can buy a set with fun clips like this one at The Land of Nod for only $13.

When all else fails, take a Photo.
If your child makes 3-D art that is going to be tossed at some point (or even when they build something out of blocks or toys) you can capture this in a photo and keep it forever!
Image via Cookie

I hope this was helpful!

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February 14, 2010 by Megan Schiller

A new paint medium!

After 3 weeks of tempera paint, we’re now branching out and exploring liquid watercolors! Grace first tests it out with paint brushes and coffee filters to watch how the paint interacts with the paper.

Rogan tested the paint in various ways- dipping the handle into the paint, and wadding up the paper to soak in the paint cup.

Austin experiments by painting the aluminum foil on the table.

The coffee filters soak up the paint, blending the colors together like tie die!

After paper, I offer the children some whipped cream to paint on.

Some were more willing than others to get a little messy, so I brought out some tools to help them get into it.

At the small easel, I put out the watercolor spray bottles and hung a white sheet to absorb the paint. Logan quickly figures out how to squeeze the trigger.

On the plexiglas easel I hung a thick piece of paper to use with the spay bottles and brushes.

While the others begin to move around the studio, Rogan gets really involved with the whipped cream.

Grace and Austin compare their jars of goodies from the shelf.

Grace washes up while the others continue to spray the room down with watercolors.

Some sweet love for a happy Valentines Day!

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February 12, 2010 by Megan Schiller

Monoprinting

Just in time for Valentines Day!

For the third class in the painting session, we are focusing on printmaking. Valentines day is only a few days away, so we started off with red paint and white cards. Each child was given an acrylic box to paint on, a brush, a roller, and a tray of paint.

Then I offered cotton swabs to draw with on the trays. A cotton swab will take away paint from the surface, creating a design in the paint.

Then we pressed the paper (folded in half to make a card) onto the acrylic box, smoothed it out with our hands, and peeled it up to create a print.

Soon, the kids discovered the bubble wrap on the table and began experimenting with it. They painted it at first with the rollers, but quickly found out how it felt to slide their hands around the wet, slippery bubbles.

I added some bowls of new paint colors to the table. The girls were very interested in making pink and purple.

Here are some of the prints we made from bubble wrap

After printing an array of Valentines cards, I brought out the canvas boards from their previous class for the children to re-visit. They asked for some more tools to work with- the trucks necklaces and glitter of course!

Towards the end of class, Liam asked if he could bring the truck to the easel. Jordan joined him and they watched their painted wheels make tracks up and down the board.

Soon the whole class was driving the trucks up and down the easels!

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February 5, 2010 by Megan Schiller

Watercolors and Whipped Cream

For the last class of the 4 week painting session, we are exploring liquid watercolors. We started off painting coffee filters to experience the qualities of liquid watercolors (coffee filters soak up the liquid really well and show off the colors). At first Kate was reluctant to paint, so I asked her to choose two colors to start with. When she chose blue and pink, she smiled and began painting right away.

After the coffee filter and paper paintings were finished, I removed the trays and offered the kids scoops of whipped cream (made without sugar) to paint with their watercolors. I told them it was “foam” so they wouldn’t automatically ingest it.

Whipped cream is a great alternative to shaving cream in children’s art. Many preschools and children’s art books use shaving cream as a sensory painting experience, but there are a lot of toxic chemicals in the foamy shaving cream. Even children over three who don’t put it in their mouths would still be better off using whipped cream instead. The consistency is so similar!

Painting with whipped cream on the aluminum foil is a great sensory experience! It’s shiny and slippery and it makes a fun crackling sound when you rub it.

For our easel painting today, I cut up an old white sheet and hung it over them to use with water color spray bottles. The kids couldn’t quite figure out how to squeeze the trigger, but they were very interested in the bottles! Kirsten was the first one to try it out.