Creative Art Explorations at My Art Studio

If there's something I have never shown any aptitude for, it's art. I simply cannot draw. Period.

Perhaps it is for this reason that I am often eager to expose the children to art in different mediums and allow them plenty of freedom to paint and draw, and generally express themselves through art.

Noey had the opportunity last year to attend some art lessons which he enjoyed tremendously. I however did not continue his lessons after his term ended as I wanted to better manage his schedule this year with the priority being to allow us more down time. We've been having fun making our own art, but when we were invited for some arty fun with friends at My Art Studio, you can be sure he was very excited about the prospect.

Class in full swing at My Art Studio!

My Art Studio was started by a group of parents who were themselves looking to help their children develop holistically through creative art explorations. The lessons at My Art Studio are based on a Learning Palette that has been developed in-house and is based of the theory of multiple intelligences. From the visual/spatial to bodily-kinesthetic to even the musical/rhythmic, each lesson at My Art Studio would touch on one or more of these categories in the Learning Palette to allow the children to develop both as an artist and a person. The emphasis here is on the creative process rather than on the end-product, something which resonates with me. Classes are kept small, with only a maximum of 6 children in the youngest group of 3 to 5-year olds, and up to 8 children in the other age groups up to 12 years of age.

Lessons begin with the background to the theme or the style of the artist being introduced. During our session, it was Pablo Picasso and his style of drawing single-line portraits that the children got acquainted with. The children were divided into two groups -- INTROductory (3 to 5 years) and FUNdamental (5 to 8 years) -- and were each taught to draw some sketches of themselves using a single unbroken line. This they did on paper, refining their work through a series of sketches in a process known as art journalling.

Drawing with his eyes closed!

The instructors went round the room giving verbal instructions and demonstrating the technique for the children, and it was interesting to see the different interpretations the children came up with. Only the littlest ones (like Meips, who joined us at the last minute) needed a bit of hand-holding and help with the sketching. The rest of the children were able to apply the techniques to come up with their portraits. Which looked nothing like themselves, but hey, I'm not going to stand in the way of self-expression!

After refinements it was time to transfer their finalised drawing onto the canvas. The children did this in pencil, then carefully traced over their work with marker.

Meips and little E with their pictures.

Very seriously tracing over her picture.

Noey looking pretty satisfied with his end-product as Sean looks on.

Then it was time to paint! Again the children were given the freedom apply the colours as they wished, with just the most general of guidelines to paint different areas different colours. Noey wanted a blue face and red eyes and that's what he got! He then painted over the outlines of his drawing, added the background and tah-dah! My very own little Picasso had his work of art.

Having fun with colours.

Completed self-portrait.

Meips on her part had a free hand in apply paint and had a grand ol' time disregarding all the rules. But cover the canvas, she did. She was pretty proud of her artwork when she was done.

"It's you, Mummy!" she said when she was done. Err, right.

It was a fun way to spend an afternoon, and Noey has since used the same single-line technique to draw some other portraits. I was quite pleased with that and thought that was a good take-away from the class -- that his eyes have been opened to a new way of drawing and his repertoire expanded.

The artwork by the kids in our group. It's quite obvious which were done by the older children and which by the younger, isn't it?

Aside from art classes, another interesting programme run by My Art Studio is their DramARTise Programme. This unique programme combines elements of speech and drama with art and craft. The theme is "A Treasure Hunting We Go!" so you can expect a lot of pirate fun as the children learn to express themselves verbally and through the visual arts. This is the second time My Art Studio is running this programme, after it was very well-received during their initial run last December. You can read another parent's review of the programme here. Unfortunately the timing doesn't work for me and Noey this time round but you can be sure we'll be looking out for this the next time it rolls round!

For more information, do contact My Art Studio. You can also visit their Facebook Page for more updates.

My Art Studio
LHN Lifestyle Hub
45 Burghley Drive, #01-13
Singapore 559022
Tel: 67373760
Web: www.myartstudio.sg
E-mail: info@myartstudio.sg