Our January edition of ArtsReach went off without a hitch!  I think that we are really hitting our stride with the way program is designed and it is so great to see ArtsReach start to catch on with the kids.

We've matched the kids up into mentor/mentee pairs to promote collaboration and joint discovery.  These kids were great about this new aspect of the program and our mentors did a fabulous job of taking ownership over their important role.

This month we made artwork that responded to the work of Karie O'Donnell who is our gallery artist this month.  As a Brant Rock native, Karie creates artwork that is inspired by the sea.

 After we were finished making artwork everybody brought their piece back into the gallery space to share the decisions they made with the group.  We got into discussion about what "mixed media" means as well as what it is to create artwork as a response to another piece.  "Is it copying?" "Is it tracing it and then coloring it differently?" It can be both of those things and more!  A lot of the work made that day had a bit of a tropical feel to it, which you can't blame them for with these bitter days we've been having.  Even though their art seems as though it is from the tropics, and Karie's work is based more firmly in Marshfield, it is still the sea no matter where you find it.

Thanks for coming ArtsReach participants!! Hope to see you again next month for the February edition of ArtsReah where we will be looking at artwork made from artists from the group called SNAC.

As a staff member in the Fine and Performing Arts department at the Emilson Y, I always take pride in the programming we offer, whether I am involved in said program or not. Recently I had the amazing opportunity to participate in a Cork and Canvas event offered by our Fine Arts Coordinator, Beth Gilmore, and I was simply blown away.

Having known Beth for a number of years, and even sharing an office since the opening of Laura's Center for the Arts about a year ago, I knew that Beth was both an accomplished artists and a thoughtful, articulate educator. Having seen her working with the campers, students and community members that participate in our classes and events I thought I knew what it would be like to be on the other side. My expectations were far exceeded.

If you are unfamiliar with our Cork and Canvas events, the basic idea is wine and painting.  The instructor walks the class through recreating an original painting step by step. I do not have any painting ability and I certainly didn't leave with a museum worthy work, but let me tell you, my mother wants in hanging in her living room! 

During our first break to allow the paint to dry!

One of the most amazing things was walking around and seeing the way the other people in the class interpreted the same instruction. There was no pressure to be right, and when that pressure was eliminated it made it easy to sit back, enjoy a glass of wine, and have a blast.  Beth's cheesy jokes and effortlessly casual demeanor made it feel like everyone in the room had known each other for years, providing the perfect environment to allow our muses to mingle.

The finished product

It was amazing to be on the other side of a class, especially with someone who I have spent so much time working and growing with.  We even had a chance to snap a great picture.

It MAY be good enough for a museum...What do you think?

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.

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