The butterfly effect in art class
Who knew bugs could be so much fun? Clearly, the first people to sign up for the online art class I co-hosted — and maybe you too, if you can join us…
Work by Eva Rohr, “Bugs!” class artist
The students in Carla Sonheim’s “Bugs!” class really took to the collage process, and some of the (grown-up) kids let me share their work. Some you’d find in nature…
Work by Deborah Pollard-Kaz
Work by artists who took “Bugs!” as a group
… and other bugs live only in the artist’s imagination. I’m told this one started out as a monarch butterfly. Looks like it evolved!
Work by Deb Nichol
Here’s the best part: “Bugs!” is open to new students, and now at a 15% discount! (All the online classes are 15% off too, so feel free to splurge.)
Work by @askforkipje
What are you going to make? An Atlas moth? Maybe a blue morpho?
New work: What's another word for 'waiting?'
Hi, kids! Today, “When” is our Word Of The Day. When will we get a handle on the coronavirus infection rate? When will my kids be able to go back to school? It’s like being suspended.
Nobody’s done anything wrong, but the kids are essentially banished from school.
You could even say remote learning is supposed to cushion us from spikes in the COVID-19 infection rates, like a suspension system reduces the impact of outside shocks.
Now that we’ve settled into a “class time” routine, my kids are doing okay and I’ve carved out enough studio time for a new collage. At first, “Suspension” was going to show the teacher, students and the schoolhouse right-side-up.
Lisa Myers Bulmash, “Suspension,” collage on paper
But flipping the image captures the surreal nature of school in the Upside-Down more accurately. I’m still working on a way to visualize my kids’ isolation in a new way, though. I think they (and I) are getting out of the habit of being around people who don’t live with them. Which brings us back to the word of the day: When will they hang out with their friends again, without having to be pried out of our house?
Taking flight: new class, new work
I promised you altered books last week, and today I can show you full views. But first… butterflies.
Artist Carla Sonheim and I are going to do a short and easy tutorial in her online art lesson series “Bugs! An Online Class for Kids.” If you’re grown and you wanna play too, ignore that “class for kids” bit — Carla’s made room for adults too. Carla’s a rock star in the mixed media art world, having written books and taught classes at the much-missed Artfest retreat.
Artist and author Carla Sonheim at Artfest 2011
That’s one reason I’d strongly suggest you sign up for “Collaging Your Own Butterfly” sooner rather than later. The class goes live on Thursday, October 22. Meanwhile, I haven’t forgotten about you altered book folks! Here are full views of my most recent pieces: “Leave or Remain”…
… and “Now Boarding.”
By the way… you could’ve seen these two works last week. I made sure to show my subscribers right away. If you don’t want to miss out on the next first-look, sign up to receive my weekly posts.