Last week we had a group of Brownies from Norwell come to Laura's Center for the Arts to earn their Painting Badge.  We had two abstract painting activities for the girls to do and they breezed through it like old pros.

This first painting involved creating a group of shapes on the canvas using tape and then mixing different colors with acrylic paint to fill in the various shapes.  When they were finished painting they pulled off the tape and discovered the unique abstract painting they had created!

The second painting project had a bit of a challenge.  The girls were welcome to use whatever they wished for color and imagery, BUT they could not use a brush!

At the end of the class, we played some games as our paint dried and as parents started rolling in for pick up. I learned a game and taught a game so it was a successful game time by my standards. What a pleasure to work with this group, they were such natural art explorers I do hope to see them again.

Last weekend was a wonderfully packed one at Laura's Center for the Arts. Three sold out performances of Annie JR filled the center with bustle and song. There are few things better than to hear 55 youth, ages 5-16, belting out "the sun'll come out tomorrow!" Its hopeful and refreshing, to say the least.

Tyler Cavanagh, the production director, wrote beautifully about all that theatre at LCA means to us in his director's note. In case you missed the performances, or just missed snagging a playbill, here is an excerpt:

Annie is a show about feeling loved and finding a place to belong, and most anyone who has been involved in theatre can appreciate that feeling. The camaraderie, trust, and feeling of home is something that has always drawn me to theatre, as well as to the Y. I am blessed to have the chance to work such an amazing cast and production team, and find that family feeling directing Annie Jr. at the Emilson Y.  

Bravo to the cast and crew of Annie JR and thanks to all who attended. A HUGE thanks to the families of the participants as well: the holidays are a busy time for all of us- thank you for making this opportunity a priority for your kiddos!

Set design is something I am completely new to. Theatre is something I'm completely new to.  It has been so inspiring for me, as a visual artist, to work alongside actors who these things are so basic to.  The directors and staff of Annie have been so gracious to welcome in some of my ideas while teaching me through example what makes for a quality set.  I have to also point out that the cast of Annie has been hugely helpful in set design decisions.  On our set build day a bunch of the kids made set sketches for what they thought the shop windows should look like.  Details such as shop window sale signs that include the support strings attached to the top of them is something that seemed so obvious once it was put into the sketches.  

As always with the creation process, some things just don't work out and new plans are born out of that.  The above sketch of the city sky line is something that the cast brought to fruition in a large painting.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to use the painting because the surface we were working on warped which made it impossible to erect them the original way we planned.  We decided to instead focus on the shop windows, that had such solid brainstorming from the cast, and attach them to some easels that fully support the board on which they were painted.

Here are two of the three shop windows

 I am so grateful to work in an arts center where I get the opportunity to cross pollinate with the vast opportunities the arts have.  Thank you so much to all of the staff, cast, and family members who helped with this process, it has been a great experience. If you are coming to see Annie this week, be sure to check out more of the set design sketches we have hanging in the hallway as well as the third window panel that is not shown here.

When I was in college I studied music.  About a month into my senior year, the tech director for Dever Stage (an on campus theatre) approached me to see if I would be interested in doing an internship with him.  I took a minute to think about it;  I was a music major with a concentration in performance.  Why would I want to do a technical theatre internship?

I said yes anyways.  It was 12 credits to spend time with friends in a theatre I basically lived in, the internship just meant I had to be there and that I got keys.  Keys that meant responsibility and responsibility that meant adulthood.  So with adulthood looming just two semesters away I figured I better get started.

I learned something hugely valuable with that internship.  It wasn't about music, or theatre, or even how to use the recording equipment (which I did learn, even though it terrified me).  What I learned was that you can't make yourself versatile enough.

It isn't enough to have our students be involved with the acting on stage in our productions.  If that is where they are comfortable that is fine, but so many of our students are like me: they don't even know that they would love being involved in a myriad of other aspects of the production too.  Our students have the great opportunity to paint, create, and learn from a team of professionals that include teachers, directors, musicians, artists, and performers.

Today we had a chance to work with the actors involved in our upcoming production of Annie Jr. on how to paint a stage- something that to me has become commonplace and simple task, but after the first child "boxed them self in" with paint I realized just how much they had to be taught! Along with those kids on the stage, we also had a team in the house working on costumes and set design.  They learned about how we organize our costumes on racks and how we select who wears what.  They even helped to design the back drops for our windows with Beth!  She worked with them on how to design the "window scenes" that will changed depending on the setting.

 

 All in all it was an awesome set build and a fun day.  We only left with a few socks painted black and a lot of smiles.

Local sculptor and LCA staff member Pam Golden installed her "Wing Chair" outside the arts center today. It is beautiful! The shimmer of the wings sparkles in the afternoon sun and it is a welcoming piece for our patrons to participate in. And participation is so simple:

Huge thanks to Pam for sharing her work with us and making the LCA a more beautiful place! Please check out her website and the classes she's currently offering with us:

Last Friday night we hosted our monthly Cork&Canvas event, and what a spread we had! We always provide the beverages, but this group really went all out and brought a bunch of snacks to make themselves right at home, which we love so much.  As you can see from that picture of our beautiful table, we were making a painting of a steaming hot mug of a beverage of your choice.  Some had tea, others espresso, and I believe there were a couple Irish Coffees in there too.

It's always such a blast running these events, the evening has such a fun and relaxing pace.  We turn up some music and let everybody get settled and hang out a little as they start to get their supplies prepped.

Once everybody is ready to get going, I start letting people know the logistics of how things are going to roll and then we jump in!

This was a fun painting to watch come along around the classroom.  Different mug colors and swirl patterns were happening all over the place.

Barbara and I talked about the pros and cons of doing black outlines along the red pattern of the table cloth.  She was really feeling the line work and went for it, which I was so glad to see.  A unique touch on this painting for sure.

I love the way the blue in Michele's table cloth pulls in the white in different places.  And don't forget to check out that fancy signature tree of her's in the bottom corner! 

Aside from an excellent display of paintings from a mother/daughter duo, this photo is a great example of the space we were in.  Check out the art on those walls; we held the event in one of our gallery spaces which currently has the photography of Kate Hannon on display.

Here is a sneak peak at the next painting we are going to be doing here at Laura's Center for the Arts on December 13th, "Snow Dusted Park."

Music instructor Tyler Cavanagh teaches the
Pre-Music and Me course at LCA for ages 6-weeks to walking.

Today I read an article that once again proved to me that the arts should not be considered extra-curricular. With all the evidence and research out there on why the arts should be worth our time, here is one more to add to the list: according to "a just-published study, senior citizens who took four to 14 years of music training early in life performed better than non-musicians on a specific brain function that is vital for interpersonal communication..." Basically, music lessons as a child improve brain function as an elderly person. Those piano lessons you took? Or that squeaky violin you reluctantly played? That can mean the difference between having to ask your grandkids to talk slower or being able to keep up with conversation just fine.

Now I'm even more thankful for those four years of piano I took in elementary school.

Here's the brief article summarizing the findings which were recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Thursday I had the pleasure of hosting the Live Y'ers at Larua's Center for the Arts where I gave a presentation on my personal art making.  As an art educator, I am constantly introducing my students to different contemporary artists and talking about the many different ways in which they work.  It was such a treat to have a chance to talk about the process I've personally tailored to fit my artistic goals.

Each artist creates their own method of working, through time spent in the studio, situating things this way or that, to create their work.  Two goals I have found myself working towards are to create a sense of investigation of a semi-familiar scape and to keep the freshness of the drawn line present throughout the piece.

The tables shown in these photos are an organized version of what my studio looks like.  I surround myself with little printed reference photos which primarily come from my photos taken while visiting Yellowstone National Park, a girlfriend's honeymoon photos from Hawaii, and printed images from National Geographic publications. Then, I stitch them together like a puzzle and create a new landscape.

After giving a short presentation on my work using photos from my website and an actual painting in progress that I brought along with me for the day, the Live Y'ers got to work on this puzzle process.

Some amazing pieces were made where interesting connecting lines were found to create a new land.

We later got out some oil pastels to further connect our imagery.

It was such a great feeling to, for the first time, describe my uniquely crafted art making process and watch as people connect with it so quickly and start making art that seemed so natural to the process. These women really picked up on my two main goals, so keep an eye out for painting updates on my website... you just may find some of these compositions in there!

In today's fast paced world it's a challenge to find family time.  Families find themselves running from this game to that birthday, from one class to the next, with the parents on the fringes watching and driving.  It's a beautiful thing to see a family just play.

One of the classes we are currently offering is "Oh the Drama" and I couldn't ask for a better class! We currently have two families who honestly exemplify the power of theatre, in this case the simple act of "playing pretend", to bring people together.  Throughout the fall session I have had the chance to watch this group of youngsters transform into animals, chefs, royalty, and anything else our imaginations could come up with. 

What has been so inspiring is the parents involvement; These parents actively participate in engaging their imaginations as well.  It's easy to get wrapped up in the idea that we have to act a certain way, and pretending to fight a bear that your 3 year old son is imagining looming over you, ready to attack, is rarely seen as the "right" way to be an adult, but that's just what these parents are doing.  They are letting their kids make the decisions, and following along as a character in their story! Whether we are pretending to cook a gourmet meal or protect the throne of the kingdom, this class, these kids, and these parents are a highlight of the week.

The throne created by Prince Tristan and Princess Adriana

Painting by Cork&Canvas participant, Meghan Dinsmore

Last Friday we ran our Cork&Canvas event which involves paint and wine.  It's a new painting fad that is all over the place lately because it is kind of a blast.  The whole deal is that it's a take on what Bob Ross was famous for, which is walking people through a painting regardless of the student's painting experience. We've just added music and wine.

Bob Ross, what a gemstone.

We made Sugar Skull paintings in preparation for the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).  The imagery from these celebrations are so beautiful, I couldn't resist getting going with them this month even though the celebration traditionally takes place on November 1st.  This Sugar Skull in particular is a lot of fun to walk a class through because there is so much space for each person's personal touch.  I show everybody different examples of embellishments they can paint on, like the flowers and some of the swirly shapes, and from there people basically just pop them all over their piece wherever they think it works best. 

I have a lot of fun teaching these classes, but creating the original painting that we work from is a pretty huge highlight of the process.  For the sugar skull, I pulled pretty hard from the traditional Day of the Dead imagery, but I was also sure to take look at some of the artists who inspire me regularly. 

Artist: Quyen Dinh

I pulled the flower layout from artist Quyen Dinh of Parlor Tattoo Prints.  I'm so into her artwork and endlessly impressed at the rate in which she pushes out new pieces at such a solid high quality.  Looking at the above image, I'm realizing now how much I need to purchase that calendar for my office.

Artist: Paula Tamara Hoss

Paula Tamara Hoss has made several amazing Sugar Skull paintings that I've seen, in addition to this triptych, that really get my mind going on the endless possibilities of bling (no, squiggly red line, bling IS a word) that can be added to these skulls.

Next month we are making a painting that will make you feel all warm and cozy on the inside:

More info on how to sign up for this one here