Last fall, in this post I shared Little Tiger's painting of a jack o' lantern and mentioned that she created it at a friend's birthday party. I'd like to tell you more about where she painted it and her painting class at Daugstrup Fine Art this summer.
Two years ago, Lori Rosenbaum began offering children's art classes and hosting painting parties in a space initially intended for her private studio. Here's a look at the studio after one of her most recent classes:
Located on the third floor of an unassuming office building on Center Ridge Road in Rocky River, Daugstrup Fine Art would be difficult to locate if students and their parents had to find it on their own. Lori, however, understands that her location is tricky and is ready with clear, specific directions when new students call to register for one of her classes. When I called a month ago to see if there was space available for Little Tiger in the painting class that afternoon, Lori was very friendly and took the time to make sure I knew how to get there.
Every Monday, Lori offers a 90 minute painting class for children. There is a different composition each week and sign-ups are on a week-by-week basis. Students and their parents can register for a class because they really like the subject of the weekly painting or simply because they are in the mood to be artistic.
After students check in and put on a painting smock, they sit down at a station that contains all of the supplies they will need for class including a picture of the weekly composition, brushes and paints.
From mounting the hardware onto the 8x10 canvas to mixing colors, students follow step-by-step directions to complete their paintings. When Little Tiger created this street scene she was eager to tell me about how she mixed her own colors and the special technique she used to texture the tree and shrubbery.
The following week, she painted a sand castle and really enjoyed applying the red speckles at the bottom of the canvas.
Last week, the class made a departure from architecture into the animal world and made zebras.
This afternoon, Little Tiger was proud to come home with this painting of a sand bucket and shovel, a nice compliment to the sandcastle painting from two weeks ago.
Although she still likes to squish around in fingerpaint and, on occasion, delights in mixing her watercolors at home into murky brown soup, Little Tiger really seems to enjoy this class. I wasn't there during her painting sessions, but at the end of each one she was pleased with her work and excited to tell me about how much fun she had. Although she's not trying to use techniques like shading and perspective when she paints independently (yet) I really appreciate that she is being exposed to this now. One aspect of The Experiment that I am most grateful for is that the money I've saved not buying toys has enabled me to be more adventurous with the experiences that the girls are exposed to. Watching them develop new interests in everything from riding horses to sewing over the past year has truly been a joy.
Very cool!
Posted by: Haley | Tuesday, August 09, 2011 at 09:23 AM
Beautiful teaching shows through in her work. Keep at that studio.
Posted by: lt | Tuesday, August 09, 2011 at 04:34 PM