Breathe

I've just finished my third art camp of this season, and it feels like I am floating in a parallel world. Or better, I am diving in some water. Only once in a while I will come up to breathe and feel the warmth of the sun and then return to my life under the sea. 

I didn't teach any summer art camps last year, and I had completely forgotten how intense those can be. Part of that is that I usually teach classes that I haven't taught before.

Because I love coming up with new projects. Because I like to teach myself something new as well. New projects are a fun challenge but, of course, quite time-consuming too. Maybe I should take it easier, be more relaxed about everything.

But then, I want everyone who comes to my classes to have a valuable experience. I find it very rewarding to teach the kids (or adults) something new, to ignite something in them, and then to see them so proud of their skills and their works.

This is especially true when it comes to my 10-year old son. Jacob is an artist - in his own, unique, way. He has some terrific writing skills, and I love his witty cartoon drawings. He doesn't really like to deal with paints and brushes though, well, with things that are harder to control than pencils, and with projects that need a long time until they are finished.

My daughter Mona (8) is curious about all kinds of visual art, she is driven to master every medium, and I guess, sooner or later, she will.

Anyways, I have taken both my kids into my studio for all my camps this summer. I had to talk Jacob into the first one, but when I asked him to come to the second, and then the third, he said, what a weird question, Mom, of course I want to come, I love your camps. Okay.

So here are some pictures of my second art camp, "Insect Abstractions."

We worked on three projects to go from a realistic pencil drawing to a more abstract watercolor/ink drawing and then to an even more abstract oil pastel. For the last one we focused only on a detail of the particular insect.

The three moths are Jacob's, Mona made the beetles.

Feelers

Project 1: pencil drawing (in this case, a black leaf beetle)

I was teaching an art camp for kids at my studio last week, "Insect Abstractions." My idea was to do a variation of the O'Keeffe inspired classes that I had previously taught, to both kids and adults, and which always were fun to do and brought about stunning results.

For the insect camp I thought it would be interesting to first make a realistic pencil drawing of a particular bug, and then in two steps move more and more away from this realistic drawing by simplifying the image and exaggerating certain details.

Project 2: watercolor and ink drawing

Three projects in 15 hours, very doable. However, these kids loved to talk. About Pokemon characters, indispensible devices, and all those fidget spinners, about sad family matters, and, surprisingly, about Aerosmith.  Generally, I love when that happens. I mean, I love when people make connections in my studio. The socializing and connecting aspect I find as important as the art-making aspect, and it makes me happy to see this actually happening.

Anyways, these kids loved to talk, and some of them had a hard time finishing their projects. Two students promised me to finish their last pieces at home and to show them to me tomorrow.

Project 3: oil pastel

I am excited to share the works that were done in this camp very soon. They are quite fantastic.

Until then, these are just my samples.

It is Good

Celebration Ndebele Dolls (papermache)

I have been reading about the Ndebele tribe and found out that in their culture there is no superlative form of "good." In Ndebele, "good" is the label for both the barely good and the most good. There is no synonym for "good" either. So, if you want to say something positive about your day because you hit a jackpot of some sort or found the cure for a rare decease, you simply would say: I had a good day. The groom would tell his bride as soon as he sees her in all her stunning wedding gown beauty: You are looking good.

Ndebele House inspired papermache boxes

In my home country, Germany, "good" means "good." In the United States, however, "good" usually describes something mediocre or acceptable. People like to talk in superlatives here. Oh wow, this is terrific, amazing, gorgeous, excellent, superawesome and absolutely to die for. Isn't this the prettiest/cutest/most beautiful thing you've ever seen? So many words that make very clear that "good" is - by all means - not a good standard at all. There are exceptions alright, gnomes have good hearts, the jolly fellow is good, ice cream has good humor, and this bologna is still good even though it looks expired.

Mixed media warm-up project

Anyways, I have been trying to bring back the "good" into my life, especially since someone in this country has been overusing the "great," and I don't want to share his language or spirit.

Back to the Ndebele culture: Yesterday was the last day of my first art camp of this season, "Ndebele Houses." I had a very sweet group of kids between 8 and 11 years old, and I enjoyed the fun they had with each other and their projects. They all agreed that the Ndebele dolls were their favorite pieces. I can see why, kids love making creatures of any kind. They make them tell stories.