Crayons for Kids

Take a look at your completed Hokusai projects! Aren't they great!

The crayons were labeled and dropped off at the local food bank for distribution to many needy children in our area. Good work.

November - Degas

October snow, I NEVER would have thought it could be so destructive. I hope all of you are warm and safe, despite the chaos!

**Parents, there is a bit of preparation that will need to be done before class, so please make sure to read the instructions for creating grid lines at the bottom of the supply list.**

Our artist for the month of November is Degas. He is famous for his work with dancers, and I know many of you will recognize the picture below. Please print it out and place it in a location that your family will view often.

Edgar Degas

(Pronounced: Deh-GAS)

French

1834-1917

The Dancing Class

c.1873-1875

Musee d'Orsay, Paris

For a printable image, click here

Supplies to bring for this month's class:

• One 8 1/2 x 11" pale pastel sheet of construction paper or copy paper, your choice *MARKED WITH GRID LINES* (instructions below)
• One 9" x 12" sheet of black construction paper
• Two pieces of scrap paper
• 2 tissues (without lotion) per student
• Black crayon, preferably with a decent tip
• Colored chalk
• Pencil WITH an eraser
• Glue stick
• Optional: paper towels to clean dusty hands (I often suggest baby wipes for clean up, but the moisture will cause smears on this project so paper towels are a better choice)
• Optional: Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts for underprivileged children. If you choose to participate, you can find more information about how to fill your box at:Samaritan'sPurse.org

**As I mentioned before, there is a bit of prep work that might frustrate the youngest students, so rather than holding everyone up with a lesson in fractions, I am asking that parents help me out. Please have this prepared before class:

You will need scissors, a ruler, and a pencil in addition to the paper mentioned above in order to prepare your child's paper.

First, cut both the black and pastel paper to size.

Next you will need to mark grid lines on the pastel paper. Simply use a ruler to lightly mark the top and bottom of your pastel paper into fourths in each direction (at 2 1/8", 4 1/4", and 6 3/8" along the short sides, and at 2 3/4", 5 1/2", and 8 1/4" on the long sides), and then VERY LIGHTLY connect the dots with your pencil and ruler. We will need to erase these marks later, so please do not use pen, fold the paper, or bear down on the pencil.

You should have 16 equal rectangles when you are done. If you have trouble visualizing what I need the final grid to look like, just watch this video. The paper he folds results in exactly 16 equal rectangles (DO NOT FOLD your paper).

Please e-mail me if you have any questions.

See you Tuesday, November 8th at 6:30!

Shoeboxes and Ventriloquism, an odd combination

Just a quick note to those of you planning to fill a shoebox . . .

The Operation Christmas Child boxes arrived at the church this week. You are more than welcome to use your own shoebox, but if you would like for me to drop off a box (which includes instructions, a bookmark, and a letter that you can fill out for the recipient) then just pop me an e-mail and we can make arrangements to get it to you.

Sherylgoedecke @ yahoo.com

Hmmm... I can't think of a good transition from shoeboxes to ventriloquism, so I'm just going to jump topics awkwardly here.

Ready, set, JUMP

If you are looking for a fun event this weekend, feel free to join us for a free ventriloquist performance at New Hope Christian Fellowship. Brent Vernon (& Sam) will be here at 5:29 :o) on Sunday October 30th. The doors open at 5PM and refreshments will be served after the performance. www.facebook.com/BrentVernonOnFB

Hope to see you there!

Sheryl

Hokusai Extension Activities

These activities are not required for class, but I hope they will spark your curiosity and imagination.

Create:

Hokusai is famous for his colorful prints. To create your own fall themed stamp to use with your tempera paint, visit Happy Scribbles. Their instructions are simple and you probably have all of the supplies in your home

Watch:

The Smithsonian Channel has produced several videos about Hokusai including this one which shows exactly how wood-block printing was historically done. Did you know that SPIT was involved? I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Read:

Deborah Kogan Ray has written an excellent children's biography of Hokusai entitled "Hokusai: The Man Who Painted A Mountain." There are a couple of copies available through the Greater Manchester library system, so take a look!

Consider:

Remember when we discussed the names of God and we talked about the Lion and Lamb? I held out on some of the story because I wanted to give families time to discuss this a bit at home.

The name "Lion of Judah" isn't just about ferociousness, and "Lamb of God" isn't just about gentleness. The animals are the literal translations, and have symbolic meaning to our own ears, but there is more to the story. In Revelation 5:6 we learn that Jesus left as the sacrificial Lamb of God, but will return as the conquering Lion of Judah.

• We know that we as humans aren't perfect. We sin and we cannot be in God's presence because of that sin. We also know that in the end the "Lion of Judah"will exact final judgement, because he rules over all things.
• It is Jesus' sacrifice as the "Lamb of God" through his death on the cross that makes it possible for us to live eternally with him, because he has taken away the sins of the world and has overcome death.

I know...Deep stuff for the beginning of the year in an art class. If you are interested, you can read more about it here, and I am always available if you have any questions.

Planning Ahead:

Next month's outreach project is to create artwork for Operation Christmas Child.

Your children are more than welcome to bring in items to send, but this is not in any way mandatory. If you are interested in participating you can get more information on how to pack your shoebox through Samaritan's Purse.

Have fun!

October - Hokusai

Our first artist of the year is Katsushika Hokusai.

(For pronunciation help go to Forvo, which offers several different recordings)

Katsushika Hokusai

(pronounced Kat-soo-shee-ka Hok-sigh)

Japan

1760-1849

To prepare your student for class, please print out "Manual of Ink - Bamboo, Wu Chen" (1350, National Palace Museum, Taipei) below, and place it where your child will see it often.

Click here for a printable version.

Picture study can be a very natural part of your day. Personally, I use an inexpensive frame and place it beside the childrens' bathroom mirror where they can look at it while brushing their teeth. This may seem a bit irreverent, but really, where else will they have time to simply gaze at an image several times every day. Other options include saving the image to your computer's screen saver, slipping it inside the front cover of the child's favorite school binder, hanging it on the refrigerator with magnets, or placing it on the dining room table where the entire family can see and discuss the artwork.

This month we are going to learn about asian brush technique. You do not need to bring every item listed in our supply list. To complete the project each child will only need:

• One 12x18 sheet of white construction paper
• One piece of scrap paper (for practice, anything will do)
• Several paper towels
• Round watercolor paintbrush (size 6-9)
• Fine paintbrush (size 2)
• A container to hold ink (I like to use small babyfood jars, but a tuna-fish can would also work well. Please do not bring a cup - they tip far too easily)
• Black tempera paint
• Glue stick
• Pencil
• (optional - smock or old tee-shirt)

The artwork that we create in class this month will be photographed and that image will be used to make gift tags which we will attach to crayons. The crayons will then be given out as gifts to children who visit the local food bank.

Parents, please remember that this is not a drop off group. Please come prepared to enjoy working alongside your children.

See you at 6:30 on October 11th!