Library Garden

 

Last spring I worked with a group of about thirty children between the ages of 5 and 12 to create this picture at Carpe Diem.  We hung it in the Lyn Voegeli Memorial Library.  Lyn was the director of Carpe Diem for many years, and filled it with wonderful books that continue to inspire the children and adults who read together at our school.  Lyn was a dear friend and mentor to me, and I will always be grateful I had the chance to witness the many ways she showed her deep interest in the humanity of all people, and especially children.  Thank you always, Lyn.

 





Poetry Club at Lang Middle School

Last week I helped start an after school poetry club at Lang Middle School.  Each week, the poetry we work on will also be documented on this canvas.  Our first project was to write color poems.  As the students read their poems, they also added their colors to the painting.  Over the next several weeks, we will add many more layers to the picture.

Here are some lines from the students' poems, combined to make one poem:

Green tastes like cucumber. 
Green sounds like the wind blowing on the grass.
Green lives in the leaves.

Blue sounds like thunder.
Blue smells like seawater.
It feels like a soft pillow.  It thinks beautiful, peaceful thoughts.
Blue lives in Italy.  Blue can live in the sky.

Red tastes like cherry.  It sounds like blood.
It smells like strawberries.  If Red was a person it would be fun.
Red feels like cherries all around.

Black is charcoal. Taste of burned food.
If it were a person, what would it do?  Pass by you, fast.
What does it feel like?  Black metal.

(thank you to Big Thought for sending me to do this project!)

Painting the Music II

This painting was created by 65 preschoolers between ages 2 and 5, while we listened to Bach.  I turned the canvas one way as we listened to the pipe organ and painted in somber blues and greens with fat brushes.  Then I flipped it over and switched to bright reds and yellows, as we listened to the harpsichord and painted with small brushes.

Here are several title ideas, suggested by the children:

"A Fire Mountain"
"Ocean Rainbow"
"A Flower Vase"
"A Fishing Bob"
"The Hot Air Balloon"
"A Sea Serpent and Seaweed"
"The Sun is Going Down"
"Rainbow Color"
"Melting Crayons"
"Dynamite Exploding in the Water"
"An Elf Came in the Middle of the Night and Painted the Walls of a Store"
"Sunset in Alaska"
"A Scary Rainbow"
"American Cave"
"A Magical Butterfly in a Tree"
"The Volcano Explodes, and Fire Comes Out with Balls of Color"
"A Fish Swimming Away"
"I Think I See a Cello In There"
"A Tunnel"

Sold!

I'm thrilled to report that "Butterfly Garden" sold for $500 dollars at the benefit auction for Good Shepherd Episcopal School, and that the painting has found a permanent home with the family of the little girl who painted the blue-green smiling butterflies floating mid-left in the canvas.

Butterfly Garden

This painting was created by me and Mrs. Shinnick's kindergarten class at Good Shepherd Episcopal School.  Thank you to Kathleen Duggan O'Brien, who invited me to do this project after we met at the Plano International Festival.  Fifteen very enthusiastic children helped me paint this cheerful canvas;  our finished work will be auctioned to benefit the school on February 25th!

Art Love Magic

Back in November, I participated in a children's art workshop presented by Art Love Magic.  It was a very cool event, with spray paint, installation art, paper sculpture, music, and other creative shenanigans all happening at the very cool Deep Ellum club, Trees.  I worked on two paintings with the crowds of enthusiastic young artists who attended -- here's one:

Painting the Music

This week at Carpe Diem, my young students and I created this painting as we listened to the music of J.S. Bach.  On the first day, we listened to the pipe organ and painted with strong, dark blues and greens, using large brushes and bold strokes.  On the next day, we listened to the harpsichord and painted with sparkling whites, yellows and greens, making short, bright strokes with small brushes.  On the third day, we looked at our finished work and spent time talking about what we saw.  Here are some of the marvelous things my students saw in their painting:

• "Strong Thunder"
• "Like a Festival"
• "Wish of a Dinosaur"
• "Going on the Ferris Wheel"
• "I'm Imagining I was On the Stairs"
• "Nighttime on a Special Friday"
• "It Snowed"
• "Night Near the City"
• "I See the Sun Coming Up"
• "It's Rotating"
• "Bananas and Hot Dogs"
• "I See a Flower Down in the Deep Cold Water"
• "Mezzazoo"
• "Raindrops on the Stairs"
• "A Bonker Party"
• "A Tiger is Hiding in the Circle"
• "Different Moons"
• "Everybody Throwing Candy in the Air"
• "A Pinata Falling Down"
• "Flowery Night"
• "Broken Necklace"
• "Lights on a Tree"
• "A Canoe Going for a Ride in the Water"
• "I See a Shark Down There"
• "Rain Beads"

These students range in age between 2 and 5.  About sixty-five of them worked on the painting, in class groups of 8 to 14 students.

Plano International Festival

I had a wonderful Saturday at the Plano International Festival!  Too many kids to count painted on my canvas, while friends from the Writer's Garret helped them write poems and stories inspired by the process.  I kept hearing things like "this is my favorite day," "this is fun," and "I want to do this every day!"  One nine-year-old boy stayed for about three hours, painting, dictating stories and poems, and telling me all kinds of things.  My favorite:  Mona Lisa's eyes follow you wherever you go.  NOTE:  the painting now lives in the conference room at the Writer's Garret, brightening poetry workshops and other creative gatherings.
Here are some pictures of the painting in progress:

Finished CommuniTREE Painting

Here's how White Rock Lake felt to all 52 of us who painted together last Saturday:  a joyful urban oasis.  Thank you to everyone-- and especially to the bright boy who had the brilliant idea to paint a glowing sun in the middle of the branches!

Upcoming Event!

Great news!  I'll be collaborating with friends at the Writer's Garret next Saturday at the Plano International Festival.  I'll be facilitating a painting, and others will be facilitating an exciting creative writing adventure inspired by the experience.  Come celebrate our shared creativity in color, shape, and language!    Art, story, and poetry are for everyone, because every human life contains beauty, power, and untold depth.  Come share a little of yours!  For more information, visit http://www.planointernationalfestival.org/

CommuniTREE

Pictures from yesterday's CommuniTREE celebration at the Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake.  Thank you to all of the wonderful people who contributed to this painting.  I'm finishing up the backgrounds, and I'll post a picture of the finished painting soon!

Great News!

After a summer hiatus, it's time to get this project going again.  I've been invited to bring the Big Blue Umbrella project to an exciting event on Saturday, September 24, at the Bath House Cultural Center.  It's called "CommuniTREE" and it will be a very eclectic autumn equinox celebration.  Picture drum circles, storytellers, food vendors, crafts, musicians, and a multitude of colorful goings-on.  Sounds like the perfect environment to set up a giant canvas and see what beautiful images might come from the hands of strangers!  I can't wait. Check out http://www.earthrhythms.org/ for more information.