ART CLASS..schedule

Toddlers, Preschool, drawing, cartooning, painting, pottery, all art and sewing for all ages!









Toddler class:
20 months-3 years
M-F 10:00-10:40
Limited to 8 children.

Four stations set up every class period. We begin our class with a short story. Following with a choice of:
Project created based off of story read (with guidance from instructor)
Painting
Clay sculpting
Drawing/cutting/gluing stations.

Child with assistant (mom, dad or helper) a must for this class.







Preschool
Ages 3-5
M-F 11:00-12:00
Class organized with the same set-up as toddler class. The difference is a more guided, instructed and drop-off class. Please know that in all classes we welcome parents to stay. However, you have the option of running errands or going for a cup of coffee.
Limited to 6 children.












Drawing
Pre-K/K drawing
M 1:30-2:30
Ages 5-6
M 2:30-3:30
Ages 5-9
M 3:45-5:00
Ages 10-14
M 4:00-5:30
Working from nature, still-life, photographs and independent ideas, students will be introduced to specific drawing fundamentals and techniques including line drawing, value, shape, pattern, texture, shading, perspective and composition. Mediums that are introduced are graphite, ink, charcoal, chalk pastel, oil pastel, graphic markers, conté crayons, colored pencil's, ink pencils and water pencil. Personal style is celebrated and age appropriate activities will be executed.

Cartooning: From single panel, 3 or 4 panel comic strips to comic books, to character building, cartoonists will begin to understand how to create a cartoon. Classes focus on expression, shadow, stance/body language, perspective and dialog balloons. Students also explore how to create movement themes, sequence and examine the importance of exaggeration.

HomeSchool
T 1:00-3:00
All Ages
Homeschooling class is taught on an individual basis. Learning technique, and terminology with room for exploration, diversity and individuality. Home schooled children are open to any medium and we teach to home classroom philosophies. An initial consultation is necessary to incorporate individual families desires and teaching methods.

Home school students decide which medium they would like to create in every class day. Clay (wheel throwing, sculpture and handbuilding), sewing (machine and hand), drawing, painting (acrylic and encaustic), mosaics, and recycled art are available. Student initiated, with instructor's there to brainstorm, engage, and assist when needed.

Studio 4 Art also partners with Pathways Charter School.

Painting
Ages 5-9
T 3:45-5:00
Ages 10-15
T 4:00-5:30
Incorporating drawing fundamentals, students will add color mixing, layering, studies from art history and independent ideas into their curriculum. Mediums explored are watercolors, inks, tempera, acrylic and encaustic. Realism and abstract will be introduced. Personal style is celebrated and honored.

Classes for ages 10+ will be introduced to oil painting.







Clay
Ages 3-5
W 1:30-2:30
Ages 6-10
W 2:30-3:30
Ages 8-14
W 4:00-5:30
Clay Hand building
Hand building techniques will be explored in classes using pinch pots, solid build up projects, coiling, slab construction, slumping and draping methods. All items will be created with cone 5 clay, fired in our kiln and then hand decorated with underglazes and fired to final maturity.








Wheel Throwing
Wheel Throwing on the potters wheel begins with learning to center clay, pull up walls, shaping and the final detail of trimming a foot. Items will be thrown from cone 5 clay that will be enhanced with hand decorated details using glazes, underglazes and textured techniques.

Classes for ages 8-14 will be keeping a journal of ideas to combine hand building and wheel throwing methods to create items that are larger, sculpture-like works of art.

All Art
Ages 5-9
Th 1:30-3:00
Ages 5-9
Th 3:15-4:45
Ages 10-15
Th 4:00-5:30
All Art is a class for all ages to learn in all mediums that we offer at the studio. Students will gain knowledge in clay (hand building and wheel-throwing), painting (acrylic, water paints and inks), drawing (pencil, charcoal, inks, oil pastels, chalk pastels, and conté pencils), mosaics, and sewing.

Ages 10-15 will work with the same mediums, with bigger flair. More technique will be involved and larger works of art created, incorporating all art mediums.




Hand Sewing
Ages 3-5
F 1:30-2:30
Ages 3-5
F 2:30-3:30
Hand sewing using felt to create monsters, dolls, robots, pillows, doll clothes, holiday items or anything each independent mind brings. Classes will focus on backstitch, over sewing, blanket and running stitches. Creating your own pattern will be taught.

Machine Sewing
Ages 5-9
F 3:30-4:30
Ages 10-14
F 3:30-5:30

Hand sewing will be continued; description above.

Machine Sewing
Explore machine sewing creating aprons, pillows, fleece hats, skirts, animals, creatures, pj pants, quilts, hot pads, tote bags, repurposed clothing and applique techniques. Additional fabric may be needed when making PJ pants, yoga pants, tote bags, lunch bags, placemats, napkins etc.

July @ Studio 4 Art

Above photo is of last months clay sculptures I had told you about, from our first summer camp. This is the project where campers were given 5 circles and used their own imagination and design to create a scaled down version of a full size sculpture. I would love to have seen ALL of them at least 5 feet tall, in the heart of San Francisco (or Novato). They were all so amazing and thought provoking!

Eat a Still-life camp week was very filling. Each day a new technique accompanied a new treat. Not all were sweets, we did incorporate some fruit too. Painting, clay sculptures, soft sculptures (sewing), utilitarian clay work (dessert plates), drawing and digital photography were explored.

This piece continues to impress and amaze me. Acrylic painting, viewing a still-life created in our All About Paint camp. This painting was from a 10 year old, with impeccable patients. GREAT observational skills! This week empowered kids to learn about color mixing, how to use the color wheel, use shadow and highlights for 3-dimension, how to use a brush appropriately and effectively, scale, composition, perspective and observational skills.

Drop-in sessions and classes are continuing throughout the summer. Drop-in hours are 10:00-5:00 Monday through Friday and Saturday 10:00-12:00. Classes can be seen on our websites calendar. Look for future classes and extended hours in September. With a *BYOM* (Bring Your Own Materials) option that lowers the cost of every class to just $10 an hour!! The above are examples of some work created this month. The above right is from our clay class. We have 5 on display in our front window as a hanging herb garden, still get lots of wonderful comments on them. This one has a bit of a twist, a lid. Can't get over those eyebrows!

The chubby bird was created for a father's birthday. I want to know what this little guy is thinking. He has a, "Um, I have something I need to tell you," expression.




As the studio continues to grow, we continue to reach out into our community. Part of Studio 4 Art has been Studio 4 Art on Wheels (in operation for 12 years). This is a camp that I led at Marinwood Recreational Department. It was for ages 5-8. They learned about self-portraiture, screenprinting, relief printing, clay sculptures, color theory, composition, and the creative process!

Studio 4 Art will be at Marinwood Recreational Department this fall too! Look for us on Fridays. Studio 4 Art will also be at Marin Primary, Olive Elementary, and Hamilton. If you would like your school to become enriched with an After School Art Enrichment Program, please contact us. We are also now following the California state guidelines for art education, which helps to replace some of the art education that is being taken out of our school systems.

Thanks for reading through! I never think I have a lot to share, until I set down to compile photos. Future will be shorter posts for easier absorption!

June @ Studio 4 Art

Studio 4 Art is always excited to be a part of the community. We are always looking for other ways to be involved with kids, art and creativity. Recently, Studio 4 Art has contributed by assisting with sculpture garden art and school fundraising projects. Having a booth at the farmer's market, Whole Foods Mom's, Babies and Kids Event, and Novato's Art, Wine and Music Event. We have also just signed on with the Marinwood Recreation Department to bring a week of summer camp and an after-school art program to their site. Then there are our traditional activities of on-going art classes, drop-in's and the beginning of our all summer art camps. Whew, that's a lot and we love every part of it! I truly feel blessed to share my passion for art and the importance I feel creativity is to every child's development. If you have a school or business that is looking for creative projects, workshops or classes, please give us a call. Studio 4 Art has many ideas, we love to brainstorm and we have 11 years of experience to work from.

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Hill Middle School's Garden Tile Project

The students walked from their school in three different groups. Their science teacher, Nicole Calmels, had an idea to contribute tiles to the garden she and the kids had been working on. When she came into the studio, she thought that they would paint on bisque (ready to paint) tiles. She had no idea that the kids could create a tile from wet clay that they would carve, sculpt and paint. She was excited to find out they they would be more involved with the creative process this way.

They turned out FABULOUS. Nicole did a great job of having the kids prepared when they came in, with a sketch of what they wanted their finished project to be. Such a treat to work with middle school kids. They came in with little experience working with clay, stayed extremely focused, and ended with a tile that they were proud of (that was the best part)!
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LuSutton Elementary School's Fundraising Project
This was a very creative fundraising project idea. All children created a face on one side with a nature theme on the other. All 23 would be stacked together, creating a garden sculpture where every student had a part. When I get a picture of the finished project, I will share. The individual sculptures were so creative, I can only imagine what the finished piece looked like. So glad Studio 4 Art was available to help execute these beauties!
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Novato's Art, Wine and Music Event (on June 12th and 13th)

The festival was on the first warm weekend we have had this year. Studio 4 Art's booth had an art project that was titled Make-and-Takes. Every tile was made that day was taken home that day. Perfect for father's day!

We also had wheel demonstrations to show the town how fun throwing is. Shown here is my son, who, every time I sat down to do a demo, would say, "No, I want to throw." I do think he impressed many bystanders, as many explained to me, that they had tried many times and had not achieved success. Studio 4 Art has tricks to show anyone, of any age, how to make bowls, plates, mugs, vases and other round things!
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Art Classes, On-going through Summer for ages 2-14
These are two students that have been coming to the studio all year. They are sharing a windchime made from clay they created. Their class, in particular, is the use of all art mediums. All summer we will continue to bring you our art classes for children 2-14 that specialize in drawing, painting, clay and sewing.
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Art Camp, Sharing our first week of incredible activities and talented artists

The creative process is so important to Studio 4 Art. We don't usually give students a project that has a step-by-step process. Instead, we give information that is needed to create a successful work of art, but don't show any outcomes. And we don't have any student work that will look like the student's sitting next to them. The project that you are looking at above is a great example.

As a group we talked about sculptures. What they mean, where we may have seen them, the materials used to create them, how big a sculpture may be, etc. After this group discussion, the students were given 5 circles of clay. They were about 4" round and about 1/4" thick. They were given the liberty to do whatever they wanted with them to create their own sculpture. When they come out of the kiln I will share the results. They were incredible. Another day where the kids blew me away with their creative ideas and ways of executing them. Looking at the picture above, you would not know that this process began with 5 circles!

Portraits are popular. Everyone loves a face. These campers painted these with the use of the primary colors, with the addition of white and black. This picture captures the ages, styles and pride of these individuals. SO COOL! How could you not smile everytime you use these canvas bags?!

Studio 4 Art loves when people and companies donate to us. This recycled, repurposed art project is made from wood samples. The criteria was to paint pictures that expressed who you are. This was Studio 4 Art's first time with this project and it was so successful that you will be seeing it again, as we have about a thousand more tiles :¬)

The #1 thing that kids want to learn when they first arive to the studio, is the wheel. You can see by how focused these boys are, and the two anticipating others, that it is fun! I think this week, most campers went home with at least 3 wheel thrown pieces. In addition to the fun that they have when creating these bowls, plates and mugs, is that Studio 4 Art uses a clay body that is dishwasher safe, food safe, microwave safe and oven safe. Don't try this with the old style of paint it yourself pottery pieces or other low fire clay bodies, because they will crack, chip and craze.

Just sharing a shot of the studio in action. Always a lot of different activities happening! Drop-in anytime this summer between 10:00 and 5:00 for "drop-in session".