Egyptian Dancing

Here I am with Anita and Christina in October last year at an open day for Longdean Sports Centre.

Read the story in the Hemel Gazette

Improve your photography with classical art.

click here for the tutorial at unfocused brain.com

This technique is so easy and so effective - for extreme changes but also for subtle changes to portraits and holiday snaps which don't quite have the impact you hoped - without endless hours of editing and creating multiple layers and masks.

Open the picture with the colour scheme you like into photoshop, let's call it 'art'

Open the picture you want to change, we'll call it 'portrait'

Go to 'image / adjustments / match colour' select the 'art' picture from the spurce drop down menu and fiddle with the settings.

Have a go and have fun!

 Here's a picture of me before a after a 'match colour' process with "L'Olivier" by Georges Braque.

"Stained glass" paintings

“stained glass” painting | happy hooligans
These paintings by little ones are wonderful, and easy too!

Sketch and draw

Not satisfied with a pastel drawing I did, I tried again. This time I finger painted on my phone with 'sketch and draw'. Its pretty effective and will even replay a movie of your picture as your create it. If I can capture the video, I will blog it.

On the way home

Using photostory 3
Have a little look at my photostory of a scene from Jill Murphy's 'On the way home'
I say in the clip that Dorothy is the voice of Claire, but was unavailable at the time of posting!
The software is so simple to use!
On the way home - view animation on you tube

You too can fly!

We have lift off! (youtube link)
A fun, easy bit of video-trickery. It's easy but takes a lot of time and patience... the result is worth it though! Record a clip of someone jumping. Get them to jump around a room or across a park or garden. Using a movie editor, capture stills as your subject is at the top of each jump. Using animation software, like windows movie maker, put the still together into a short film. Hey presto - your subject is flying!

Ice cream or cupcakes?

Oh go on then, let's have both!
Did you know you can use icecream 'cup' cones to bake your cupcakes in!
How cool is this (I can say that, my daughter made them!

Surrealism Collages

Choosing sessions for art clubs which are self contained in an hour (no storage space!) and are accessible to all abilities and a mixture of ages is not an easy task. I am always determined that after school art club is not just a glorified baby sitting session. I want the children to learn a little bit about art and artists and take home artwork they are proud of. Some people thought introducing Surrealism to children as young as the reception class was over ambitious. I do love a challenge. In the first session I introduced the idea surrealism and Dali without showing them images. The children then used magazine photos to create 'funny people'. I insisted that the more different and mis-matched the heads, torsos and limbs were the better. I was amazed at how rigid even the youngest children can be with their ideas, they are so keen to follow rules once in school that breaking them is incredibly hard, and a bit confusing. This session was designed to release them from those constraints and I think it worked: The following week the children made a dreamscape or an imaginary strange landscape using the same technique as for the strange people. I reminded them about Dali, and showed them some examples of surreal art and a collage I had made. Some of the final pieces are incredible! PS - When I asked a KS1 (reception to year 2) club if anyone had heard of Dali a little scrap of a thing pushed her hand into the air as high as she could with that 'if you don't pick me I'll burst' look, her long and detailed answer (which was correct in it's own way) began like this: "It's a time when people have parties and are happy and light candles..." Clearly the children had been talking about art club during the week. In the second session when I mentioned Dali the whole class chorused: "Dali, not Diwali - Dali!" The loudest, and with the biggest grin, was the little one who had made the mistake.

Horsemaining

After dabbling briefly with planking I discovered horsemaning where people pose as if they've had heads chopped off. Here's an original and 2 of mine.

Sock Monsters

I make sock monsters for sale but have the most fun with sock monsters at workshops. It takes about 2 hours to make a sock monster for the first time in a group. The basic design uses just one ankle length sock to make a monster with two horns and two arms and legs. Extra materials include cotton thread, a needle, pins (optional), polyester stuffing, buttons for eyes. If you have knee length socks, or longer, you can create a monster with really long limbs. There are all sorts of ways to personalise your monster and modify the design but we'll keep it simple here! Please download the instructions and/or contact me for a workshop.

Scribbling!

I've been having fun playing with a drawing tool in the web - the link is in the blog title, have a go!

Easter Ideas Factory

The children's department of the Diocese of St Albans ran a workshop for leaders of childrens groups on Saturday 12th February at St John's Harpenden from 10am - 2.30pm. The day covered Inspiring Worship, Ideas for Storytelling, Food, Craft - creating an 'Easter Tree', Crosses, Music. It was a great day with loads of crafty ideas for workshops and teaching. Here are photos I took to remember the resources. Please contact me if you want to know more.

2011-02-12 Easter Ideas Factory

Photography vs drawing take 2

I have completed it! It's quite fun and I have completely given the game away but enjoy, and have a go yourself! And my daughter has done one too...

Photography vs drawing

Inspired by some images I stumbled upon, I have played around with mixing photography and drawing. Here is my first attempt - what do you think?

SurPRIZEshop

I recently took some of the lifestyles shots for the latest brochure of surPRIZEshop - 'The exclusive golf gifts company'. Here are some of those photos - click on the blog post title to link to the online brochure.

Snow

Face Painting

I painted faces at Nash Mills School Christmas Fair yesterday. I didn't look up for 3 hours and have no idea how many faces I did - but I do remember I was asked for many and varied faces. From the timesless classics of snow queen, butterfly and tiger to the more challenging dolphin paradise and 'I want to be a policeman'. I suggested that the little boy could be a robber instead but he insisted I knew how to do a policeman and he was right - the customer is always right! To the untrained eye he may have looked like a clown with stubble but to him he was a policeman! This is why I enjoy face painting. Forget the no-time-to-breathe and back ache. I'm after the 'mirror moment' A child has come keen to be transformed and wait for ages sometimes in the queue. They sit with hands clenched in anticipation and screwed up faces while parents watch intently (are they checking they'll get their money's worth?) until I finally lift the mirror so they can see what they look like. I love it when the little slightly anxious face breaks into a grin as they recognise their new persona. (i quite like it when the parents smile too1)

Ribbon roses

Today my art club made ribbon roses I didn't take photos but it went well. Look forward to my 'how to' and experience what the children did when having spent some time doing a fiddly bit of careful folding with slippery ribbon suddenly you can see a beautiful rose appear before your eyes! Some of the children got the technique really quickly and made a whole bunch; others needed a lot of help but all had at least one lovely rose to take home.

Here are all my photos from the wonderful Egyptian day.

2010-11-13 Day of Egyptian Dance

St Ethleburga's Centre For Reconciliation and Peace

This is the wonderful setting for the day of Egyptian Dance and Music I attended - and where in the 1950's my grandad was a churchwarden!

From 2010-11-13 Day of Egyptian Dance

From 2010-11-13 Day of Egyptian Dance

From 2010-11-13 Day of Egyptian Dance

From 2010-11-13 Day of Egyptian Dance

From 2010-11-13 Day of Egyptian Dance

From 2010-11-13 Day of Egyptian Dance

Follow the link for information about the centre - St Ethelburga is a church built in the 12th century and almost flattened in 1993 by the IRA. It was rebuilt over 10 years with financial support from the city and has risen from the rubble to become a true haven in Bishopsgate in the middle of, and over-shadowed by, the City.

Follow the link (hidden in this blog post's title) above for more information.

On my way to a day of Egyptian Dance and Music I chanced upon the end of the Lord Mayor's Parade / Show. I even got a wave from the Lord Mayor himself.

What fun! Use the link below to see more photos.

Lord Mayor's Show, 13 November 2010

How to make a tessellating pattern

Shapes that tessellate fit together with no gaps or overlaps Escher (1898 - 1972) was a Dutch graphical artist most famous for his impossible structures and mathematical tessellations. I did this excercise with my Key Stage 2 Art Club tonight. Here's a 'How to' sheet for you to try. Follow these instructions for a simple tessellating pattern and this could be your first step towards something as amazing as Escher! I'm happy for you to print off the JPEG for your private use.

Eiffel Tower

Find more some of my Paris photos on flickr... http://www.flickr.com/photos/69659790@N00/sets/72157625267889690/

Paris!

I'm off to Paris for a night away with the family and I'm hoping for some lovely light and clear skies for sketching and photos. Still, if it rains I might get some arty reflections. Batteries are charging and my camera, 2B pencil, and sketch book are about to be packed! Hopefully some pics on picasa at the weekend.

family learning

What a great way to spend a day. Kings Langley Secondary school has had two days of free art workshops for families. I've been making monsters from socks and flowers from ribbons with children as young as 3 to grandparents who are much older! The feedback was reeally good too - if they're happy, I'm happy! In the summer I ran workshops for Extended Schools making sock monsters, macrame bracelets and paper chefs hats. I really enjoy doing them... I should run my own! Watch this space or contact me if you want an arty party!

I wish I could say the like-nesses are fright-ening but you can at least tell who they are!

This was an almost unique use of colour for me last year. I should do more!