Come join me for an exciting day of Eco Printing, a process in which the shapes, textures, and sometimes the colors of plants, leaves, and flowers are transferred to a substrate through the application of heat and pressure. In this class, you will have an opportunity to: experiment with creating and cooking “plant sandwiches” using […]
Using Visual Thinking Strategies to Understand a Work of Art
November 10, 2017 by ·
Melanie Rick is a Kennedy Center teaching artist who works with students, teachers and other teaching artists globally. In Hawaii, we have had the good fortune to study with her on a yearly basis. Using visual thinking strategies (ODIW: Observe, Describe, Infer, Wonder/Inquire), she teaches students and adults how to look at every detail within […]
Six-Word Memoirs & how to write them!
November 3, 2017 by ·
I’m in love with the Six-Word Memoir. I’ve written them myself and I’ve taught students how to write them as a way to explore the intuitive collages they make using the SoulCollage® process. After creating a collage card, we use visual thinking strategies – ODIW (Observe, Describe, Infer, Wonder) – to give voice […]
Mexican Metal Tooling with Grade 1
December 11, 2016 by ·
The Elements of Art are the focus of our Grade 1 Visual Arts unit at Pōmaikaʻi School. For our lesson on Texture we studied Mexican Metal Tooling, and let me tell you it’s a big hit with the kids! It’s truly magical to transform a smooth piece of shiny metal (36 gauge 5″x 5″ aluminum […]
9 Stages of a Shield Volcano
September 7, 2016 by ·
This is a 4th / 5th grade lesson plan I designed to teach students how to identify the 9 stages of a shield volcano and to give them a dynamic mixed media experience. They loved it and so did I! Prior to beginning the art activity, I projected a “9 Stages” reference guide onto the […]
Olinda pine forest, Maui
September 4, 2016 by ·
This is an acrylic painting of the Olinda Pine Forest on a rainy, foggy Maui day. Because the soil was saturated, the reddish clay color was more vibrant than usual. I had to paint it! I added texture to the canvas with a heavy gel medium before applying paint. It adds so much more visual […]
More fun with fused plastic bags!
September 3, 2016 by ·
(More photos below) Here are my latest experiments with plastic bag fusing, and I love them! Although I’ve been cutting them into handmade journal covers, there are a zillion other things that could be done with this “fabric”. Because I haven’t played with this technique for quite awhile, I rediscovered some important lessons and picked […]
Fused Plastic Bag Journals
July 15, 2015 by ·
Inspired by a project in Karen Michel’s book, “Green Guide for Artists”, I created my first handmade journal with fused plastic bags covers. The interior pages incorporated a variety of papers collected from around the house as well as interesting photos and captions from magazines that caught my attention. After gathering and composing my pages, […]
