Clay with Amy

Cloud Study

 Michelle led a wonderful assembly on clouds.

 As a demonstration she used water, shaving cream and food coloring to demonstrate how a cloud fills with moisture, resulting in rain.

 Next, she did an awesome experiment using hot water, a match and ice to create a cloud in a jar!

 The children were enthralled as were all the teachers!

The children communicated their observations in the studio and classroom with creative materials.

And the silver lining of every rainy day is the possibility of a rainbow!

The Love Tree

Our tree is taking shape, thanks to all the children who have added papier mache' to its emerging bark.  We had to really rub the gluey paper onto the trunk in order to smooth it down and get it to adhere properly.  As we did a few children said, "We love you tree!" as they lovingly rubbed the bark.  This action took off and soon most of the children could be heard loving the tree into life.

When we were done I asked, "What should we call our tree?" and they suggested "Love Tree."  So that is what it has become, our very own love tree. Several of your children have become young tree huggers in their own right.

Today the teachers and I talked about the tree study and where we might go from here.  They had so many fabulous ideas, most of which I would never have considered on my own.  Ahhh the power of collaboration! I can hardly wait to share these inspirations with you and the children in the months ahead.
If you are a parent at our school come on by to see our resident tree and if you'd like to share your love of trees with the world, there will be lots of opportunities ahead!  PLEASE contact me and we will make something happen.
Enjoy your weekend and say hello to your neighborhood trees!

Figure Drawing continues

This is a fun and easy provocation you can do at home.  Simply repurpose old magazines or mailed advertisements by cutting out a portion of the image and gluing it to paper.
Leave these prepped sheets out, alongside pencils and colored markers, to be completed.  It's a fun  activity for everyone.

Self portraits have found their way back into the studio and here are a few wonderful examples using black sharpies, water-soluble oil pastels and white paper.  Whenever I introduce self portraits, the children and I spend time observing our faces in the mirror and attempting to communicate these observations on paper.

It was another wonderful week in the studio.

Dia de los Muertos

BJ and I joined forces again in the studio for our monthly celebration.  Our October theme was Dia de los Muertos, aka the Day of the Dead.  This lively Mexican holiday is celebrated from October 31 through November 2.  It is not a Mexican version of Halloween.  Rather, it's a social holiday that originated thousands of years ago amongst the Aztec, Toltec and other indigenous peoples.  Here death is considered a natural part of living. The dead are members of the community who return to earth for a temporary visit on Dia de los Muertos.  This fun-filled holiday is celebrated with altars, festivities, special foods and more.
To kick off our celebration, Bekke told a wonderful story about a helpful ghost called La Planchada to a rapt audience.

BJ and I joined forces in the studio with a celebratory altar...

art...

Conversations about loved ones we have lost...

And Mexican hot chocolate!

 Here is a photo op of the recipe you can follow... just add milk to the Abuelita mix, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and star anise.  Yum!

To add a little Halloween flair, we also carved pumpkins and roasted seeds.
It was a wonderful day.  The altar pictured below will be up through next week if you'd like to stop by to see it or add a loved one of your own to our remembering wall.

For the LOVE of Trees

On Thursday of last week, I gave a presentation to the whole school entitled, For the Love of Trees.  I introduced the children to some of my very best friends in Denver... the TREES.  I shared the wonderful discovery that trees communicate!! But not like we do.  They communicate via chemicals and fungi networks in and around their root systems. WHOA! (If you want to learn more about the Wood Wide Web, you can watch this video here  or this informative ted talk. For a deeper dive pick up Perter Wohlleben's wonderful book The Hidden Life of Trees. )

The children were surprised.  Trees can talk?  Yep.  And you can talk to them.  Really?  Well I do!  I shared how I learned to talk to plants and trees as a little girl by listening with my heart.  Yep.  Sound hokey?  To adults maybe it does, but children often know what I'm talking about.  The heart feels love.  Love is a kind of chemical in the body and our heart is a big ole magnet. 

As a child of hippies, I was taught to "listen" to trees with my heart and senses.  I learned to discern if a plant needed water or nutrients by sight and touch and yes... feeling.  I learned to ask before picking a leaf and then listening with my heart to hear the reply.  If my heart grew warm with love I took that as a yes and if not, I didn't pick the leaf or fruit or flower.  

Many of the children were eager to give it a try.

After our presentation the children were invited into the studio to share their wonderings and ideas about trees.

I also introduced a large "tree" made of paper, cardboard and tape.  We will be adding papier mache' to it's surface in the weeks ahead.  In the Spring our little tree will be on display in the corner window of the Artisan Center along with your children's thoughts and creativity.  Stay tuned to watch this project unfold in the year ahead AND if you are inspired to learn or share more feel free to contact me!  I love to collaborate!

I hope you have  a beautiful and tree-filled weekend.  And if you are walking with your child, be sure to listen for a while to the song of the trees in your neck of the woods!

BONUS:Here is a video clip to my dear friend, a ponderosa pine along Apex hiking trail in Golden, CO.

Nature in Clay

Amy picked some leaves this morning as the snow began to fall and brought them into the studio to share with the children. 

We then offered the children a few ceramic underglazes to highlight the leaf impressions in clay.  We have used under-glazing on wet clay before.... another step into the unknown.  We look forward to firing the clay to see how the clay accepts the glaze.