doodlebugs 9.10.10, a welcome back with holes

doodlebugs is back! after a short summer break, we're gathering the group together again for another year of artsy kiddo fun. it's going to be fun to watch as the littles get older and to see how their work grows and changes.

today, we experimented with negative space and tempera, using large paper that had holes cut out of it. we had a super cute little book, "look & see: let's count", to use as our opener, which used inwardly spiraling holes in the illustrations.

eric began painting "the ocean" and later added green "land" and yellow "sand". fun to note -- we'd just returned from the beach.

cool to see how this little guy defined his holes by outlining them.

the "hole" thing was a ball (snicker)!

doodlebugs 9.17.10, liquid watercolors

ooo-weee! so excited to finally be playing with these awesome liquid watercolors and droppers. i first saw these used by jean with her little munchkins and added them to our list of things to try. we had so much fun squeezing out those wonderful liquid drops of color. there were literally moments of paint flowing right off the edge of the table, but everything cleaned up really well. when we practiced at home, the boys were enthralled by how the paint ran across the paper in lines and played with picking up the page and turning it to watch the paint change direction. lots of "roads" were made. they also noticed what happened when colors ran together, creating new hues and paths. at group, it was interesting to watch the varying comfort levels with this medium; some were pretty cautious with such a free-flowing paint, while others were content to create watercolor falls, pouring the paint right from the little jars. we read the itsy bitsy spider as our opener because of the bright watercolor illustrations and the catchy tune. definitely one we'll have to try again!

doodlebugs 9.24.10, treasure trays

anyone who knows me well knows i like to save things. just ask my mom about my corner cupboard full of fancy disposable party ware from preschool. although i don't recall for certain, i'm sure i just couldn't bear to throw away those perfectly good, perfectly lovely plates. anyone remember those steel tins the internet companies used to send by the ton, containing junk mail cds of their programs? well, i couldn't bear to throw those away either. they were so cool, and i was just sure i'd find something* to do with them. well, i've carted them around with me for years. and today, they found their new homes...dotted throughout the county in the hands of enthusiastic young artists. today, those little ones filled those tins up with glue and treasures to their hearts' content.

instead of reading a story to begin, we looked through an assortment of "look and find" books from the boys' bookshelves. this got us into "treasure hunting" mode.

next, we filled our "treasure trays" with glue in whatever fashion we felt necessary. glue, glue, marvelous glue! we love to make oceans of you!

then we began carefully selecting our favorite treasures from the pile 'o bits and creating our designs. i set aside one golden sequin for each child to hide somewhere in their creation -- their hidden treasure. sorry, i don't have a good photo of that part, but if you could see them in person, you'd be able to hunt for them, just like in the books we used.

in the end, we had bright, sparkly, interesting collections, all nested together for display.

*to prepare the trays, i spray painted the outsides of the tins (the backs or bottoms of the trays, as pictured above), where the advertising text had been. then i used my super-dooper crop-a-dile to punch holes along the top edge. finally, i strung some yarn through the holes for hangers.

been a while...

i guess i've been away a while. two short vacations, the beginning of school (that's a whole other post...or 10), a computer that simply refuses to deal with 21,000 pictures (i know, i know....), and visits from grandparents have made computer time a (welcome) challenge. it's ok...i needed a little internet fast. i was beginning to feel overwhelmed by input, ideas, words, pictures, lives, families, and plans other than my own. things are settling down, and there's definitely plenty to talk about. so thanks for bearing with me...we'll be back soon.

music, arts & cars

so today was our little town's annual summertime shindig -- the huckleberry festival & kruzer's car show. i had the pleasure of putting together a few art activities for the kiddos. we set up at the local nursing home on their patio, surrounded by flowers and friendly faces. our projects reflected the festival's themes of cool old cars and music. we made:

our shadows move and groove so buddies could trace us,

toy cars crash, bash, and race through paint and across our paper (although some of us had plenty of fun just crashing in the plate on a mini demolition course...who needs paper, anyway?),

our finger & leaf prints into huckleberry bushes, ripe for the picking,

banjos (inspired by these guitars) to strum along to the groovy tunes,
and prints using this technique, but with old records instead of pans.

one of my favorite parts was seeing all those beautiful works of art fluttering on the fence.

i spent most of friday assembling all the supplies, and it was a bit rocky to have my attention so divided & directed away from the boys. but they managed to busy themselves for a time with some of the extra materials. eric used paper, a hole punch, and some string to make a cape. leif made a cardboard laptop, including an assortment of drawings paper clipped to the screen. and sam, well...he had fun trying to sneak off with scissors.

by the end of the day, we were all tuckered out. but judging by the amount of paint these kids wore home, i'd say fun was definitely had by all.

pool balls and butterflies

we are all really enjoying eric's art around here these days. his figures have such a unique expression to them. i snapped these one day after the big boys had played on a pool table. eric's drawings that afternoon incorporated the pool balls (made with a circle stamp we have) into the pictures. he even wrote some numbers on the sides, with a little guidance from leif. not sure how the butterflies figured into the story...i'll ask him and get back to 'ya. i think that might even be tinkerbell down there on the bottom of that second shot...hmmm....there may be quite a story here.

drawing, drawing, everywhere

so, i guess it's a little like training a puppy. how does it go? put the paper where you want them to pee, right? well, anyway, sam's drawing enthusiasm spread throughout the kitchen the other night, so i was obliged to follow with paper. wouldn't want to dampen his creativity, now would we?