Two Birds of a Feather Flock Together

My most recent class was a Valentines Day couples class.  I have never had a couples painting class before and I just loved how fun it was with the students and their partners!  The subject they had to paint was a beautiful watercolor swan.  

I gave them 2 different blues and a green to mix for their water and they were able to find their own personal color mixture that they used to paint the water.  We even used some purple in the shadows on the swan, but for the most part we left the white of the paper show through for the body of the swan except for some shadows from the feathers.  Watercolor is so different than any other paint medium in this way because you don't use white paint, you just use the white of the paper instead which I love. 

I adore how they turned out!  Each couple painted their swan in the opposite direction from their spouses swan to form a heart when put together.  I love how each painting was different with their own personalities.  I definitely want to have more spouses attend my classes together in the future.  It is so great for couples to experience creativity together!  If you are interested in booking a class here in Akron with your favorite couples email me at taratories@gmail.com and we can set that up!  My March art class is now open for registration and I am really excited about it!  Click HERE for more information and to sign up!

I have this "Flying Swans" painting that I did on my residency in Wales that I am selling prints of.  The prints are 24X12 and cost $29 each.  I add gold leaf to every print along with a golden signature.

The swan print was inspired by my painting entitled "The Green Man's Daughter."  This original painting is available for purchase and I am also selling prints of it as well.  Print sizes: 11X14- $39 and 18X24- $69.  These unique prints also come with gold embellishments.  Email me at taratories@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing any of these prints!

Mosaic Hearts

This week's art class we were celebrating Valentines Day by making our own mosaic hearts.  First the students started by choosing two watercolor colors to paint with.  I showed them how to use watercolors to create different values.  By adding more water on the brush they made strips of watercolor paper that had a value scale beginning with the darker value and ending with the lightest value.  Kids have a tendency to want to use watercolor paint like it is acrylic paint, so I had to keep reminding them not to load up their brushes with the paint.  

After painting their strips, they drew a heart on their paper and then cut up the value strips randomly so they would have pieces to use for their mosaic hearts.  The instructions were to start gluing the darker value watercolor pieces around the edges of the heart.  From there, they were to get progressively lighter towards the center of the heart.  This would give them more of a three dimensional heart as it would in the same way if you were shading a heart with pencil, etc.  

Some students cut larger mosaic pieces and some cut smaller, narrower shaped pieces.  I loved all the different variations of hearts!

They were allowed to mix their 2 colors, or even trade with their neighbor for colors they wanted.

I also gave them a choice to cut mosaic pieces into recognizable shapes.  I suggested that they cut out shapes of things that they loved.  I love how this heart came out, and I think they all turned out beautifully!

                     Happy Valentines Day!