Month: December 2020

Stop and Smell the Flowers!

Stop and Smell the Flowers!

A bit about Georgia O’Keeffe.

I asked my girl if she knew who Georgia O’Keeffe was. The answer I got was, “Nope!” Let’s fix that. Georgia O’Keeffe is a 20th century artist, born in 1887 and died in 1986. She was best known for her work as a modern artist. By the mid-1920s (100 years ago. I know. It’s still called Modern Art) Georgia was one of the most successful artist from America at that time.

Georgia painted everything from flowers of the American deserts to mountains on the other side of the world in Peru, Japan, and so on. She traveled near and far from her home in America.

At age 10 Georgia had already decided to become an artist and so she went to art lessons, accompanied by two of her sisters, with a local painter. She was in the top of her class at the School of Art Institute of Chicago in 1905. Later she also became an art teacher and head of an art school.

Her personal life had many ups and downs. Much of her life would cause more emotional stress than she could handle on her own. Yet through out her trials and troubles Georgia enjoyed going for walks. She loved seeing sunrises and sunsets, along with other beautiful sights. She used painting to express her feelings. Her choice of media included watercolors, pastels, and oil paints. Often Georgia would not even sketch out a draft of what she intended to paint and just jumped straight to work putting colors into her creations.

There are a lot of other sources were you can find out more about the history of Georgia O’Keeffe. Look her up if you like. Most of all, I would like to say that what I learned from studying her life is to remember to take some walks outside. Stop and look at the flowers. Go and show yourself in your art. Put your heart and emotions into what you make. Be creative and keep shining!

Georgia O’Keeffe. Untitled (City Night), 1970s. Oil on canvas, 84 1/16 x 48 1/16 inches. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Gift of The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. [2006.5.542]
Georgia O’Keeffe. Pond in the Woods, 1922. Pastel on paper, 24 x 18 inches. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Gift of The Burnett Foundation. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. [2007.1.17]

https://prints.okeeffemuseum.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_paintings_of_Georgia_O%27Keeffe#/media/File:Georgia_O’Keeffe_Red_Canna_1919_HMA.jpg

2nd and 3rd Positions of the Feet, try them out!

2nd and 3rd Positions of the Feet, try them out!

Ballet 2nd Position

Ballet has five positions of the feet. Today lets talk about Second and Third positions. All five positions are done from a turned out hip, toes to the side. Remember to keep your knees aligned over your toes. Be careful not to roll your ankles side to side either (it doesn’t look good and it can cause you some serious pain).

Second Position is when your feet are open, or apart rather, side to side. Your heels will ideally be under your shoulders.

Ballet 3rd Position

In 3rd Position your feet are one in front of the other. Which is in front depends on what you plan to do next. Your heals from each foot will touch the middle of the other foot.

It is probably going to feel all weird and tight in the beginning of this training. Eventually you get the hang of standing and moving from these positions though. They are a necessary part of ballet basics. Not to mention that it is especially handy to know how to stand and move side to side on a stage. Trust me on this.

Ballet Beginnings

Ballet Beginnings

Ballet has five positions of the feet. Every step or movement connects to these ballet positions. While using these positions keep your body centered and balanced, hips square, turn your legs out so that your toes point to your left and right. Don’t twist/rotate from your ankles!

When dancers talk about “turnout” it means how you rotate from where your hip and leg meet. Professional dancers may have a 180° turnout, that means they can point their toes in exactly the opposite directions, heels in the middle and toes side to side. A beginner will NOT have this flexibility yet (unless they are amazingly gifted or have practiced for another reason). In brief I will say that for now your turnout is where you can turn your legs/hips to the side and it doesn’t hurt.

First position for the feet is when you stand turned out from the hips, heels touching. Have your legs straight, but not locked. Toes should point to the left and right even with where your knee is pointing.

Most beginners will start and end their exercises from first position.

Ballet 1st Position

Learning Senses

Learning Senses

We all learn in our own unique way. One way to understand how you learn is to break it down by what sense you are using to learn.

Our 5 senses; sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, are very important. Many people know that when you lose a sense the other senses may get stronger to make up for it. Did you know though that even with all 5 senses working properly some will be stronger than others? We can call these dominant senses. What are your dominant senses?

When someone is a visual learner it means that they learn very well from seeing something done. A tactile learner will learn best from touching, they respond to how things feel. Then there are those who learn by hearing, smelling, or tasting. You get the idea?

When I became a dancer I found out about being a kinesthetic learner. There’s a word to add to your word bank. Kinesthetic learning is done by physically doing something. It can be a mix of senses. You can teach your body something new as you move around.

I recommend taking time to discover your learning language. Find out which of your senses you are most in tune with. For example, I know one of my skills is visual learning. I am good at finding missing toys or keys around the house. Haha. I remember when and where I’ve seen stuff and I can tell people where to look. Handy, right?

Test out your senses. Think about what you already know. What are your strengths? Have some fun learning about how you learn! Art is a great way to exercise your senses. Be creative and keep shining!

Exercise those hands!

Exercise those hands!

Today I want to talk about a fun way to exercise your hands. I also think that this practice teaches you how to not worry about making perfect drafts of your work. An artist needs to be able to quick draw. I have some variations on this that I will introduce later.

You will need some paper and a pencil. Choose 5 objects, random stuff, it can be a whisk from the kitchen, a sock, or a leaf. Whatever. If you would like to do this with a friend you will swap items at the end of each round.

Round 1, draw an object in just 1 minute. For each round you will have less time to draw. The following rounds will be 30, 20, 10, and 5 seconds long. You can mess with the timing. What’s important is that you need to go fast and you won’t have time for a finished drawing. Besides lots of laughs you will have loosened up your wrist and got yourself in a drawing mindset (hopefully).

Mix Match Madness

Mix Match Madness

This project is for bigger kids to do on their own or a grown up can make it as a gift for them. You will need to be able to draw the basic template and then change it based on your own drawing skills.

It’s okay to play!

It’s okay to play!

Hi! Hi! Hi! Welcome!

This space will hopefully soon be brimming with ideas and helps for you to get creative and let you play and grow in your own special ways.

I am a firm believer that The Arts are for everyone and by using creativity and your imagination daily you will be healthier and happier. This Sprite has some sparkles to share and lessons to teach. Let my ideas jump start you into exploring what you can make.