Sunday, November 20, 2011

Monday's art lesson- change of venue

Nov. 21- Art Lesson

We will not be meeting at the church on Monday due to second blessing work... so we will meet at my house. We should have plenty of room since we have several families out of town.

Our lesson this week will be on color theory. I will be introducing the color wheel and we will be learning about primary and secondary colors.

Our kids will need…

-12”x18” mixed media paper ( I have quite a lot if anyone needs)

-Sharpie (marker must be waterproof)

-red, yellow, and blue tempera paint.

-paint brushes

See you all Monday :)

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Being an artist

I began painting when I was a pre-teen. My mom had been an artist but stopped once she had me. I remember the day I picked up my first paint brush and canvas. It was a rainy and cold summer day in the North GA mountains. I was with my mom and aunt on our annual summer trip to my aunt's vacation home. Vickie liked to dapple and had a canvas and I decided to try my hand at turning the hat tree I had sketched into a painting. I remember the amazing feeling I got from the moment I started. To see my creation come to life like that. I worked until I was done, not stopping until the final detail had been added, and I was pleased. Right then a love affair began.

Now I by no means consider myself some amazing artist, but I get so much pleasure from what I do, and isn't that after all what it is all about. I stopped painting for a while after I had my daughter. Having a new baby was definitely not conducive to painting. I was tired, overwhelmed, and recovering physically from a very difficult pregnancy and birth.

After awhile, I begin to crave the touch of brush to canvas, but there was now fear. It had been so long, would I still know how to paint? What if I had forgotten? What if I couldn't transfer my ideas to paper anymore?

This fear kept me from painting for quite a while, but in 2010 we moved to and island in the middle of the Bearing Sea and I found myself with a lot of time on my hands and a lot of blank wall space to fill. I of course did not have any canvas and no store within 800 air miles that sold any. I got creative, picking up a paintbrush and paints and creating my first painting in years on cardboard from an amazon box LOL. It was still there; that feeling I had always gotten while painting. Since then I have been creating when I am happy, when I am down, when I need an escape, and lately for several fundraising auctions in town, which has been an amazing experience. Although it is very strange for me to hear people call me an artist. I have always loved art, but know so many people are more talented then myself.
Lately I have been on a flower kick, as you can see from my recent works :)


























Thursday, November 10, 2011

Who I am

Hi, and welcome to my new blog, Art on the Edge. I still have my other blog which will be my main site for posting, but I wanted to create a site dedicated just to art...both my art and the homeschool art class that I have the pleasure of teaching. I am a homeschooling mom who loves art. I love to paint, create, and to share art with others, especially kids. I love how excited they get when creating and learning new concepts and techniques. I hope here to include project ideas, links, and pictures that will inspire you to create! I also want to use this as a resource for my students. So sit back and bear with me while I get this blog up and running.

In the meantime, here is a little bit about me.

Name- Amanda
Home- an island at the edge of the world, surrounding by the icy cold Bering Sea and windswept beauty
Family- A wonderful husband of almost 7 years and an amazing 4.5 year old daughter.
Favorite mode of art- Acrylic on canvas