Muchos MECA!
The spring semester at Maine College of Art is nothing if not frenzied. A LOT happens, and for many reasons, this one was jam packed. My class of junior illustration majors began with a bang: a Sweet Art Shop of valentines had to be installed at the Portland Museum of Art just one week after their return from winter break. Hustle, I said, and they DID. Maxwell Erwin’s packed an eyeful of desires. Cody Gauthier’s valentine tells a short lonely story, perhaps you can relate? We moved into an editorial project, with students choosing from one of three magazine articles. A Rolling...
Read MoreSketchbook Studio @ the PMA
Before I headed into my Sketchbook Studio event at the Portland Museum of Art on Wednesday, I spun through some favorite books about drawing. They always lift my spirits. In The Undressed Art: why we draw author Peter Steinhart quotes Matisse: “Drawing is the precision of thought.” My colleague in illustration, Cat Bennett, who leads a Saturday Morning Drawing group, quotes Picasso in The Confident Creative: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” John Hendrix claims in Drawing Is Magic, “If you treat your sketchbook...
Read MoreSketchbooks on Peaks Island
On Saturday I partnered once again with MECA colleague Judy Labrasca to lead a Peaks Island Sketchbooks Workshop through Maine College of Art’s Continuing Studies Program. Every year the weather’s a little different, the day unfolds at an organic pace, and I meet the best artists with whom to spend a day drawing. Judy meets students at Casco Bay Lines and I greet them on island, where we make introductions and discuss materials for making books. Judy brings such bounty! I brought pre-cut pastel papers. We share the philosophy that sketchbooks are not precious, but vehicles for...
Read MoreDraw Off & Draw On
When Scott Nash challenged me to a Draw Off, I didn’t know what I was in for. But I wasn’t gonna say no to my fearless leader in the Illustration Department at Maine College of Art. It was a foggy morning at the Fifth Maine Museum but the crowd was eager for action. Scott has done these several times, and takes requests from the crowd, kids first. Our first challenge: draw your opponent! Another: draw yourself as your dog: We got a few requests involving chickens; this one about drawing yourself as a cat: The entertainment was enhanced by accordion music by Peaks Island’s...
Read MoreDrawing with Color at TEIA
Last week, I headed down the hill to the TEIA, also know as “the club” to lead a 2 day class in Drawing With Color for kids aged 8 – 12. The last two summers, I’ve done this class with adults. Kids’ turn this time. We began a discussion of terms with a color wheel I inherited from my Uncle Roley. It’s one thing to talk color, it’s even better to draw. This is Mia’s curvaceous color wheel. I brought my stash of Color Aid paper so everyone could try their hand at a classic demonstration of the relative nature of color: Josef Albers’ ...
Read MoreEpic Side x Side report
A week ago today, I found myself happily in the mix of buzzing teachers at the Portland Museum of Art for the first annual Side x Side Summer Arts Institute. Side x Side is an arts organization whose mission is bringing arts integration into public schools in Maine. They were awarded an Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) grant of $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Education, marking the significance of collaborative work between educators and their creative communities. Side x Side was formed in 2013 by Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo and Annette Kraus, and partners...
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