An array of beautiful colored papers are available for my students' projects. These high quality "Mi-Teintes" papers (translated: half-shades) are made in France by the Canson company, and according to their website, this range of fine art paper "is specifically designed by French artisans to provide a supreme surface." The students love working on this paper, using colored pencils, gouache, and pastels. Mi-Teintes papers are a bit pricey, but they're worth the expense!

There's a new project each week for my youngest students. Often I give them a tiny "subject" picture to help them visualize what we will draw. For the first class of the winter 2025 session, the grade K-1 students drew and painted panda bears. These are the panda masterpieces they created on February 18th. 🐼❤️

I found that many of the knockers featured lion heads. Lions symbolize strength and power. What better animal to guard an Italian entryway?

Blue Church Art students were inspired by the colors of autumn to create these beautiful artworks in pastel, gouache, and colored pencil.

The evolution of the tea cup began in China during the eighth century, when the brew was served in small porcelain or stoneware bowls. Since the Chinese drank tea lukewarm, there was no problem handling the bowl. During the 17th century, tea bowls were being exported into Europe. The English liked their tea piping hot, so handling the bowl was a problem. The solution came in the form of a matching shallow dish into which the tea was poured and then sipped from. It wasn’t until about 1810 that a handle was applied to the tea bowl and the form evolved into the cup and saucer as we know it today.

Students at Blue Church Art used a variety of media to create their own tea cups and teapots. 

I love autumn, the most colorful time of year in these parts. One of the treats that can be found in the fall is the variety of decorative gourds that are for sale at local farm stands. I bought some beauties for my students to draw. 

The first lesson that I give to new students who are in grades 4 and up is "blind contour drawing." In this exercise, a student fixes their eyes on the outline (contour) of the object, then tracks the edge of the object with their eyes, while simultaneously drawing the contour very slowly, in a steady, continuous line, without looking at the paper. Blind contour drawing trains the eye and hand to work as a team, and it helps students to see all of the details of the object. 

Towards the end of the class I invite each student to choose an object and draw it again, looking at the paper as well as the object, and adding color. The results are always impressive!