Hard to believe that Summer is coming to an end soon, but…
Tonight was the last wheelthrowing class of our Summer Session at Lillstreet
Art Center. So we celebrated with a great potluck with tons of great treats!
We now have one week off… and then the Fall Session starts up again on
September 11th. So sign up today – as my class is filling up fast!

Click here to register online with the Lillstreet website!

Last Tuesday, I did some repeat demos for my class for those that missed them
the first time… or didn’t find them quite as easy when they tried to do them!
Totally fine by me. It’s their class and I’m more than willing to demo whatever they want.
And now I find myself with another demo platter thrown and waiting to be stamped.
Well, tonight was the night. First, I started by unwrapping the original platter which was
finally to a good state of leather-hardness to be stamped… just a little softer than
“trimming leather-hardness” typically is.

Then I start by making the first row of impressions with the chosen stamp pressed in one,
by one, by one, by one… again, and again, and again… until you get all the way around
to the other side! And I always have my fingers crossed that they’ll line up just fine!!!

Then it’s time for a second row of stamps to start the pattern…

After a couple more stamps, and a few smaller accent stamps at the bottom of each point
and the stamping portion was done.

Then it was time for a little rim fluting & curving to give the platter a gentle undulating
design. A simple touch to give the platter a completely different look.

Here’s a close-up of the curved rim – just before wrapping it up with plastic for the night.
So now it’s a waiting game until it is dry enough for trimming.

As this week quickly came to an end, my campers were working hard on their masterpieces!
Our terra cotta picture frames came out of the kiln and we still needed to paint them gold.
You know that every masterpiece needs the perfect frame. So we went out into the back
alley behind Lillstreet to spray paint them all metallic gold.

As the kids finished their paintings, we started setting up their Gallery Show. So we put
together their paintings with the piece of the still life that were working from. For their
Mondrian-inspired piece, we talked about how they needed to use the color palette from
their flower and express it with proper proportions & color theories.

Once the frames were dry, we started inserting their paintings into the picture frames.
Like these paintings done by the kids in the style of Georgia O’Keeffe.

Plus their paintings in the style of 70’s pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.

Or a still life painting in the style of Vincent Van Gogh…

We finished the day by creating a Gallery Show of their masterpieces. We invited their
parents, friends and other summer campers to come through to see their exhibit.

Each of the kids were encouraged to take their turn as docent to give their guests a tour
of the show. While showing people around, they explained the inspirations and how they
made each piece. Explaining how the style of a Master Artist had influenced their paintings,
and how they worked that influence into their own works. They also found it great fun to
quiz the adults with the same 25 Master Artists that they had learned throughout the week!
I’m sure they weren’t too surprised to find out that very few people knew as many artists
as they did!!! Always fun to see kids excited about Art History!

And with that… my Summer Camp “tour of duty” for this year is over.
It was such a pleasure to end the summer on such a high note… seeing that the kids have
indeed had a great time and learned a little something along the way. And had fun too!!!

So the kids are learning more about some Master Artists, memorizing names
and their styles… and incorporating that knowledge into their own masterpieces!
Including their first one in the style of Vincent Van Gogh. So I created a still life for
them to work from. I told them they could draw the whole thing, or “zoom in” on
and focus more on just a few pieces in a certain section.

And then we switched our focus on to the work of Roy Lichtenstein & Georges Seurat. They
both used a lot of dots… but in completely different ways. So we discussed the differences
and similarities. They decided which one they wanted to work from… some Lichtenstein…

While others did Seurat…
And yes, when they do a painting in the style of Seurat, I take away their paint brushes!
No brushing for this one. Instead it’s dot, dot, dot… with a Q-Tip!!!

Part of this week at summer camp is a lesson in art history for my campers.
I like to approach it in a way that they don’t really know what’s happening until it’s too late.
Throughout the week, they will hopefully learn to identify 25 famous artists based on some
flash cards I’ve created for them. During the week, they will also work on creating their own
projects “in the style” of the Masters they’ve just learned about.

So here’s the “Masters Quiz” for you… How many of these artists can YOU identify?!
And to make it even one step harder… my campers know their first names too!!!

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

4. ______________________________

5. ______________________________

6. ______________________________

7. ______________________________

8. ______________________________

9. ______________________________

10. ______________________________

11. ______________________________

12. ______________________________

13. ______________________________

14. ______________________________

15. ______________________________

16. ______________________________

17. ______________________________

18. ______________________________

19. ______________________________

20. ______________________________

21. ______________________________

22. ______________________________

23. ______________________________

24. ______________________________

25. ______________________________

So how did YOU do?! Been a long time since you did any Art History, huh?!
Not to make you fell bad, but my campers can now name all of these artists!

Another favorite spot in the Art Institute are the stunning stained glass windows
by Marc Chagall. With deep indigo blues and splashes of colors throughout, these
windows cast a beautiful glow across the room… and the kids love ’em too!

It’s always fun to watch the kids interact and appreciate the art. More than just walking
through, they actually take time to examine & discuss some of the pieces. Of course…
I’m right there to facilitate and get the discussion started if I need to be…

Kind of “hidden” in the lower level, the Miniature Thorne Rooms of the Art Institute
are always a favorite of the kids. Created by Mrs. James Ward Thorne, each miniature
room was exquisitely built to a scale of one foot equals one inch. With several of the
best craftsmen of the day, Mrs. Thorne replicated rooms from across Europe, as well
as the United States. Small framed windows serve as a looking glass into each room!

This week’s summer camp theme is “Learning From The Masters.”
My main intention with this camp is to introduce the kids to several famous artists,
have them learn a little art history and do their art projects in the style of these artists.
So we take them on a field trip to Chicago’s Art Institute for some great inspiration.
There’s a LOT to see… so it’s a lot of walking, talking & discussing art all day long!

With so many masterpieces on display, the Art Institute is a wealth of inspiration
no matter what genre or style you’re interested in. From impressionists to cubists.

Throughout the day, my campers frequently made stops to sketch some quick images,
or to capture them on their smartphones for future reference. It was so exciting to see
the kids really taking an interest in art. A good sign of things to come…

Kinda sounds like a movie, huh?!
Actually it was just the start of today’s summer camp field trip to the Art Institute.
We arrived in Grant Park a little earlier than the museum opening. So we walked over
to Buckingham Fountain so the kids could sketch and eat an early lunch in the park.

Such a beautiful way to start the day, right? Sitting in the park on a beautiful Tuesday morning.
Watching my summer campers capture the statuesque landmark fountain in the sketches.
Only to be followed by more art… and our field trip to The Art Institute of Chicago.

Today was the last day of our “Fire, Forge & Feast” summer camp at Lillstreet.
The day when everything comes together. At least if all goes well.
And today it did.

Our clay pieces came out of the kiln and everything looked pretty good.
So the kids did some final projects, some last minute riveting and some finishing.

It was great to all of the dinnerware sets come together. Combining their metal & clay projects
together in one place thematic setting. The kids were excited too! And well they should be!
They all worked really hard this week – and succeeded in the challenge we put forth for them.

Theme : ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Complete with a wonderful Cheshire Cat plate!

Theme : FLOWERS. Colorful flowers everywhere, plus a great pair of salad tongs.

Theme : HARRY POTTER. With a fun Quidditch plate, Hedwig bowl and Sorting Hat cup.

Theme: DOCTOR WHO. Sadly, I’ve never seen the show, so I wasn’t much help with this one!

Theme: FISH. Catfish dinner plate, goldfish salad plate and a fun fish skeleton spoon!

Theme : ALASKA. Covered in snowy white with a moose, fish and evergreen trees!

Theme : TREES. Fun with stump handles for the cutlery. Plus a strainer-spoon for the cup!

Theme : MATHEMATICS. Not so fond of Math, but loved his direction. Not off on a tangent!

Theme : ZOMBIES. Climbing out of the RIP Cemetery plates, and a screaming mouth bowl!

Theme : SWITZERLAND. With an upcoming move to Switzerland, this was a great choice!

Theme : VIDEO GAME… not sure which one?!… I’m sure he would love to tell you about it.

Theme : CHERRY PIE.  Made as part of our demos by my co-teacher Michelle.

But here’s the kick. Along the way, the kids did break quite a few saw blades.
Now don’t get me wrong, saw blades do break! Even for adults. Even for people who have
been sawing metal for years. But maybe some of the kids didn’t get that memo?! As a few
of them broke a few more than their share. We made this list on the wall of the Metals Room
after working with the kids for two days in clay. Michelle and I tried to predict who would
do well,  and who would break more saw blades. So we put the kids in order as we were
guessing. I think we did pretty good listing the ones we thought would break fewer blades
at the top, and those who would break more at the bottom.

So we ended the class with the FEAST portion of the camp. The kids all brought in
some great food for our lunch potluck. We had pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salads,
fried rice, potatoes, sodas, lettuce salad, chicken noodle soup, Oreos, sugar cookies
and two pies – fresh from the First Slice Pie Cafe in the Lillstreet Gallery!
A yummy conclusion to another fun week of summer camp!