Colored Pencil Drive and Drawing Event Saturday, April 27th from 2 - 4 PM

Come and join us with Brynn Wartman (our Thursday afternoon instructor) in a special event on Saturday, April 27th from 2 - 4 PM.  Brynn has been an active member of the Colored Pencil Project www.thecoloredpencilproject.org and in May she is traveling to Ethiopia to deliver colored pencils to children! On this Saturday, we are asking individuals to offer 12 packs of colored pencils to bring to Africa, learn more about the Colored Pencil Project, and do some drawing themselves!

UPcycle your crayons

Give old crayons a chance! First, gather, gather, gather!  Teachers, parents and children are very happy to give their old crayons away especially when they will be returned in a new form :) Peel the paper off of them, break into muffin pan length size...then get some old muffin pans from a thrift store, and some vegetable oil and you are ready to go. Heat the oven to 300 F.  Grease each muffin pan with vegetable oil fairly generously (this greatly helps get them out later!), place broken crayons in each muffin pan filling about 1/2 to two thirds full. Fatter crayons should be placed on the bottom because they get a little more heat more quickly.  Place in oven, and watch closely every 2 - 3 minutes. Have potholders ready...as soon as they are 90% melted, pull them and place on countertop for 20 minutes.... I like to then stick them in the refridgerator for about an hour.  It takes longer for them to cool than you think so DO not try to get them out too soon. They need to be 100% cool before you can pop them out very easily by slipping in a butter knife into one side. Want to make the coolest crayons ever?  Well, once you have a muffin pan of crayons about 80% ish melted (almost no chunks or small chunks) - you can use a frozen pre-made mold out of ComposiMold (I used an ox seen here)- spoon out the melted crayon into the mold, tapping the mold lightly to get the wax to move into all of the spaces... Refridgerate and let cool and you can easily pop put a crayon that wows everyone. The results are pretty extraordinary with this stuff.  I like to package up my new (old) crayons in sets of 6 in a crystal clear bag or tin with ribbon for presents too. Perfect for little hands....  BTW do NOT reuse these muffin pans for anything else. They are for this sole purpose only. 

New Children's Class Starting on Tuesdays at 4 PM!

By popular demand, we will now be offering a Tuesday afternoon class at 4 PM!  Meet Aleana Chaplin, our new instructor who will be bringing new and wonderful energy to our learning environment!  Hélène met Aleana initially while teaching at University of Maine at Augusta, and later when Aleana participated in an exhibit she organized at Bowdoin College featuring Artists who had also served in the military. Tuesday afternoon classes will start on Tuesday, March 5th. 
A little more about Aleana.... -->

Soon after graduating high school, Aleana joined the Army and spent her 4 year enlistment in California where she started her family.  In 1999 her daughter Zoe was born and they came back to Maine where she felt was a great place to raise her daughter.  Aleana stayed at home with her Zoe until 2003 when she started college at UMA and worked to earn her BA in Art in 2009.  While in college Aleana started instructing Yoga and continues to, along with working as an artist and as the Membership Coordinator for the Harlow Gallery.  Her most recent project was a partnership with a local CSA (community supported agriculture) as a CSA (community supported artist) initiated by the Harlow Gallery.  Her work has shown at The Belgrade Lakes Resource Center, Harlow Gallery, Sheepscot Gallery, Common Ground Fair, Cross Tracks Gallery and The Maine Farmland Trust Gallery. 

                  I look forward to teaching art, as a parent I have learned more through teaching my daughter than anything else I have ever done and continue to each and every day.

Book Illustration, Fashion Design, Painting...we are all creating while playing, playing while learning, working while playing...

Seven adults participated this past Sunday in a one-day-long workshop called "Encaustic Painting 101".  Encaustics is a greek word that means to "burn in". Its a very ancient art form dating back to the Ancient Egyptians 3 - 6,000 BC ! Encaustics is a molten (hot!) beeswax based painting medium that has regained interest, particularly since the works of Pop Artist Jasper Johns. Here's a little view into what things looked like while we explored today this beautiful medium.... This workshop was taught by Artist Hélène Farrar who has been working in encaustics for 7 years. Enjoy!

Thanks to Art Educator Brynn Wartman and the awesome kids, we had an amazing celebration and artmaking party to celebrate the "Day of the Dead"!

I'm not keeping count, but I think summer time is past its peak:) Still things to do on the bucket list.  One of my favorite things that happened this summer at the studio is a great gathering. In this great gathering, 9 children created some beautiful tie dye pieces, and this image reminds me of this.  Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that artmaking can be communal, and as result can bring great joy. What else did the studio teach me as the teacher - to not be too serious.  Enjoy this wonderful painting created by Stephanie Harkness....