Ceramic sea turtle done in slab and coil technique.
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Overcoming Challenges Through Art
I want to share how two of my art experiences with art are helping the individuals to overcome challenges. The first is an autistic young man who is taking private art. The art is building up his skills that he enjoys doing. Working together we are conversing on different life goals he has. I was so excited to have another parent donate a drawing apparatus to be used with a computer. This week he showed me some of his simple sketches. I am proud to show you some of his art that he has created and his work continues to grow each week. Praying that God continues to use this young man in a special way! Notice the before and after pictures. What a vast improvement!
My second group that is overcoming challenges are a group of seniors at Clearwater Senior Living in the new Riverpark development in Oxnard. For most of the seniors they had never taken an art class in their life. And you never ask a lady her age, so I wasn’t about to ask how old these seniors were. We created a still life piece in the style of Fauvism. It uses a lot of color, rather than trying to be representational. You can see the piece by Maurice de Vlaminck. I was so thrilled to see how their pieces expressed their unique personalities. Apparently one man in the group is known for doing his own thing and yet he joined in following my guidance. Another lady kept saying her work wasn’t real good, and yet in the end her friends were telling her how beautiful it was, and she was quite pleased with the affirmation. In the end it proves you can learn something and enjoy it even in older age. But please don’t wait to join an art class when you’re past 80!! I have classes now :))
Still Creating Amidst shutdowns
It has been extremely emotionally and economically detrimental to close down businesses and schools for 9 months here in California. I personally am hibernating like a bear financially in order to conserve my resources. I am thankful that a few small tutor groups have been going on to provide joy in my life and a trickle of income, as unemployment is not the way I want to stay afloat. I love seeing the excitement from my young students as they express themselves artistically in my private art classes. Art helps provides them with a creative release from the stresses of this extended quarantine.
During this time I had the opportunity to take a workshop to grow in my own Intuitive Expressive art skills. It was fun to let loose try painting with joyful strokes, new techniques letting paint drip down on the canvas, stamp into the paint, paint with my fingers, or spray more water on the canvas to see fluidity and spontaneous changes in the paint process.
This exercise was done in a course of several days, allowing the paint to dry in between otherwise opposite colors of the color wheel turn to mud or grey. It was great to have no idea in mind on what I was painting and let it just flow from pure fun and enjoyment of the medium. At one point though I really thought my piece was hopeless, everything was in a state of chaos and too busy with all kinds of lines and colors everywhere. . . very much like the state of our country - as if it could not get any worse!!!
The instructor encouraged me to go on and that I would like it. Could it turn out into something beautiful? Internally I thought I can not make any sense out of all this. I would need to let it rest and speak to me. Well nothing really spoke to me so I decided to add something that speaks fun to me- a sea turtle. Somehow as I placed this familiar and enjoyable object into the piece covering an area that I clearly did not like, something changed. I added some blue and greens to outline the shape. This helped coax the turtle out of the busy background so I could recognize it better. Then my turtle needed another friend so I added a seahorse went into another area that was too distracting. . . pretty soon these happy memories of underwater diving made my heart sing being under the sea again!
Once in my happy place, I was able to add bits of color and details to bring more attention to these whimsical sea creatures. Applying a light wash to the background also helped in bringing the seahorse and sea turtle forward. My energy and mood changed and soon this was turning into a piece of art that I am quite excited with.
My other painting was done having hinderances broken and taping into that playful creative side!
If you are interested in trying this creative approach, contact me at Michelle@Art-N-You.com.
Learning Masterfully!
This summer these students took their art to the Next Level! And they fell in love with their paintings! They already knew how to draw, so they went on to tackle the beast of mixing colors. We first began the course by creating a color wheel so they could see how colors were made. Then, really observing their animal, they had to decide where to place the shades first. By understanding your darkest darks on your object you can gauge the lights and mediums. Once that is in place, the artist looks at the highlight areas: areas where the sun is hitting their object. We first started with a still life so by using simple shapes we could understand darks do not have to be black! After that exercise, we moved on to animals of their choices. Here are their results. . . they were pleasantly surprised even if they felt it might be too hard. SECRET: To tackle the fur and the palm tree fronds we used a special brush so you don't have to paint every hair or leaf.
Walking away with $100!
You can imagine the surprise on these two young artists as they came for a nice evening out to see their artwork on the wall and enjoy dinner in Ventura. Both Syna and her brother Aayan went to the art show and walked away with a ribbon and cash award's! Now that's encouragement to keep on doing well in art class! Many of my other students took ribbons as well in pastels and in mixed media. You can see many of their art pieces and the talented art they are creating. Thank you to D.A. Davidson Investments in Ventura for making this possible to showcase the art in Ventura County.
Listening to my students for ideas
I was quite surprised after my summer Fashion Design class when students told me how much they enjoyed learning to sew. They wanted to have more sewing classes, so I took them up on that and this Fall I offered a sewing class that was FULL and had a WAITLIST! Here are some of the projects we worked on. I am looking forward to sharing my sewing skills with another group of girls soon!
These girls had no prior sewing skills and learned how to operate their own machine, practice how to control the pressure, follow a line, and make a bobbin. We redesigned a T-shirt and then we made emoji pillows. We started some snakes from old socks but we will need another class to complete them, if they did not finish them on their own.
If you are interested in a sewing class for your daughter call me at 805 443-1555 for the next available class. Students must have their own sewing machines.
Ventura's Youth Art Show winners in 2016
This art show sponsored by Crowell Weeden & Co. in Ventura gave gift prizes and cash awards to many of my private tutors. In every elementary group category, my students and parents were pleasantly surprised to see how their children performed on a county level. Students won cash, art supplies, and a whole lot of confidence! Not only do they see other art pieces from various students, but going to their first reception is quite an honor. It was held at the offices of Crowell Weeden in Ventura with a special reception for all participants.
This year's show is held by D. A. Davidson & Co. in Ventura The deadline is March 7 at 4:00 pm to bring in work. The address is 60 So. California St., Suite 301, in Ventura above the Lure Restaurant. If you are interested in entering go to the Art N' You/sign up page and click on the form to download and fill it out. This year's show goes from March 13 to May 19th. Good Luck!
NEVER too old to learn Art
I wanted to highlight my 101 year-old student: Jeanne Clark. She was such a joy to teach! She was joyful, open to new ideas, and had such a willing heart to try things. She looked forward to our weekly art lessons, as much as I did. She has helped me to see things that will last long in life: joy, counting your blessings, being close to family, having a happy heart, and doing things that you enjoy! I also enjoyed hearing her sing "Blue Skies" whenever I asked her, "what color do you want the sky?" I downloaded it on my song list for her art lessons!
Now that I go to several different senior homes, someone will say, "I am too old, I can't do that", I share pictures that Jeanne has created. Those 80 year-olds don't have her beat! If she can, you can too! We are never too old to learn art and have fun expressing our creativity inside!
"An artist brings joy into our lives by teaching our eyes to see. How deeply I recommend Michelle Honles as a person as an artist, and as a teacher. My mother at 101 years is taking art lessons from Michelle. How gently, patiently and sweetly she engages my mother in art . There are few things my mother can do any more. Her art lesson with Michelle is the highlight of each week and the best expenditure of money, for her well being that I can make. Beauty satisfies the soul."
Christie Johnson, (Jeanne Clark's daughter)
Learning to see Value in Objects
In this exercise, I had the students focus on the value of objects and really notice the shadows and highlights in various objects. I helped them shoot black and white pictures of their still-life subjects to notice where the darkest values were without the confusion of colors. This helps the students with their future colored pieces. It also helps them to use the entire gradation scale and not just the middle values as many do. I think they did a great job, wouldn't you agree?!
Zentangle Owls
I had the opportunity to teach a group of Girl Scouts a drawing and painting class. Here are some examples of our Zentangle owls. Zentangle is a new type of art, it reminds me very much of the doodling I did many years ago. I was quite happy to see how each of these owls have their own personality. Not every girl finished with the ink pens, but all had a great time. I also tried this with a group of seniors at Alma Via Senior Center and they liked it too!
Gallery space at VC Collective
I am proud to join this group of artists in our community who are providing art in local spaces, teaching classes, and offering studio space. Stop in on Saturdays and I will either have a demonstration or art workshop that you and the family can participate in. This month we are gearing up for the holiday sales, but in the future a new group of artists will display their artworks. If you need gift cards, or a holiday gift, stop in for something unique!
The VC Collective is on the 2nd Level of The Pacific Seaview Mall in Ventura next to Sears. It is open Thursdays 1-9pm, Friday and Saturday 10am - 9pm, and Sundays 1-7pm.
2015 Summer Camps at Camarillo Art Center
Not only do art camps expose students to art in general, they also allow the students to hone their artistic talent: whether it be in drawing, architecture, fashion design, painting, or fantasy art.
Lorrie Milton taught an Animal Adventure class where they drew a variety of animals, Ashley Goodman-Konzmann taught a small group how to paint and see value in their work, and I taught Fashion Design and Fantasy art. Next week we will cover a variety of media including sculpting.
Each day, these art students learned how to draw fantasy art and then they chose how they wanted to complete their pieces. Students were able to choose between watercolors, markers, colored pencils, art Stix, or chalk pastels. Andrea, the youngest, brought in glitter and it added a sparkle to our unicorns! Never would have thought of that! I love their creative touches — loved this week! ☺
Many Winners in The Ventura County Juried Art Exhibit 2015
Many of my students created exceptional pieces for the Ventura County 2nd Annual Juried Art Exhibit where there were many entries and the competition was fierce! My students were able to take home prizes of cash or art supplies! Everyone did a fantastic job and thanks to all who participated! 🏆
Art Therapy and How it Works
After taking the "Art as a Healing Tool" training through A Window Between Worlds (AWBW.org) in Santa Monica, I gained the necessary training to help others process difficult emotions and trauma from domestic violence. I wish I had this training earlier, as I have encountered children who were experiencing triggers while doing a self-portrait. At that time, anger and resentment had surfaced from a student's abandonment as a child and adoption into a new home. I did not know how to allow this frustrated individual to express their deep pain through art.
Now, as participants go through the lessons created by AWBW, they tap into subconscious feelings and art allows those emotions to come to the surface in a non-threatening way. In the above workshop, we set goals for 2015, and took time to journal our thoughts bidding a farewell to 2014's destructive habits and past lies. We also let go of someone or something that holds us back in our lives, a toxic relationship, an abusive parent, etc.
After the art project is completed, the healing comes when we choose to open up. In the circle, women will open up even if they don't know each other, because talking about your art detaches you from the issues inside. As affirmation is shared about the creative pieces we make, we grow closer and feel safe and nurtured.
Every time, I am amazed how much we need to clean our hearts from the stuff of this world that wears it down or causes pain. If you would like to know more about these classes go to: ArtesiaHealingArts.org
Ventura County 2nd Annual Juried Youth Art Exhibit
19 of my students are participating in the Ventura County 2nd Annual Juried Youth Art Exhibit. What an exciting opportunity to shine in art and have a chance to win one of many great prizes! There are $3,600 in gifts and cash awards this year. Last year, many of my students won prizes and scholarships for art lessons! Crowell, Weedon, and Co. in Ventura are sponsoring this event to promote the arts in Ventura County. (Pictured our 2014 winners)
Join us at the reception & Awards May 19th from 4-7pm. 5740 Ralston, Suite 301, Ventura.