Thanksgiving Vacation Creations

The kids had the entire week off of school. We spent the week at home and ended up with a lot of creative time on our hands.    Here are some of the projects we created.

Zen Tangle in progress

More Zen Tangle

My husband created too!

  Story about how my daughter adopted her dog.

Basket weaving using tree bark from the yard.

Perspective drawing I saw on Pinterest.  This would be a great project to try at school.

Practicing drawing nutcrackers.

 Glue gun and wooden craft sticks.

Nativity scene made from clay.

Art Week 2015- Recycled Vinyl Record Bowls

Art Week 2015 has come and gone.  As always, it is a hectic, but rewarding week where the students get a chance to work 2 artists a day for the entire week.  I love that the school makes art a priority even if only for an intensive week.  I worked with two groups of 3rd-5th graders for 1 hour and 15 minute sessions each day.

This year the project was recycled vinyl record bowls.  I had just finished the same project with classes of 4th graders at a different school and loved them so much that I wanted to try it again.  Since I had much more time with this group of kids, I expanded the lesson and devoted more time to exploring the artists who inspired this project.  We started by learning about Australian Aboriginal dot painting.  Students painted Australian animals with tempura paint on card stock, concentrating on brush control.

Next we learned about color theory.  Students used paint chips as we discussed warm, cool, primary, secondary and analogous colors.  They were asked to choose either warm or cool colors to use when designing their record bowls.  The students came up with at least two designs and chose the one they liked best to paint on their record.

The students drew their designs on the prepared records, then spent two days using acrylic paint to complete their designs.  The goal was to complete at least one coat of paint on the first day since at least two coats are needed.

I introduced the kids to the work of artist Bill Oyen (my dad).  His work in inspired this project.

The final step with the students was to add the dots on their records.

I brought the finished projects home to put them in the oven to slump into bowls.  I love how these turned out.  This has become my favorite project!

Recycled Vinyl Record Bowls

I just finished working with the 4th graders at Westside Elementary School.  The students worked in groups to paint vinyl records that had been discarded from their school library.

We talked about Aboriginal Dot painting and looked at original paintings done by my dad, Bill Oyen.

The students designed their paintings then worked in groups to paint the records and finish by adding dots.

Once the students finished painting the records, I brought home them home to slump over a metal bowl in my oven.

To do this at home, set the oven to 225 degrees.  Place the record painted side up over a metal bowl.  Put the bowl on a cookie sheet to easily put it in and take it out of the oven.

Let the bowl heat for about 5-7 minutes.  It may not slump on it's own, but it will be pliable at this point.  The metal bowl and cookie sheet will be hot to the touch, but the record will be warm.  You can use a pair of tongs, or even use your hands to push the record into the metal bowl to form it.  It will cool   and re-harden within minutes.

Skulls

My husband, glass artist Jess Caudill, has become an expert on glass mosaics involving skulls.  Here is a collection of his work.

This is a piece Jess made for his friend Jason Kahler of Solera Brewery.  It is hanging behind the bar at Solera in Parkdale, Oregon.

This shows the work in progress.  Jess will use a recycled old window as his background.

This piece is hanging in Discover Bikes in Hood River, Oregon.  Can you find the bike chains and gears in this piece?

This skulls was commission for Nella Knives.  Jess was given some knife blades to incorporate in the piece.  Look closely in the flames and you will see the blades.

This is just a concept piece for Tallgrass Brewing.  Jess made 7 mosaics that are installed in their pub, Tallgrass Tap House, but this was made to show them an idea of what he could make.  No skulls ended up in the work at the pub, but this piece is amazing just the same.

This was made for a Dia de los Muertos show at The Remains in Hood River, Oregon.  Jess sliced Negro Modelo bottles in half to include in this piece.

This was Jess's first mosaic skull.  He always looks for a chance to include pieces other than glass in his work.

Although this is not a glass mosaic by Jess, this was a gift given to him for his birthday.   My dad, Bill Oyen, created this acrylic on wood sugar skull.

Art on Oak

There is a new artists cooperative shop in Hood River called Art on Oak.  This is a morph of Kids in the Hood (a shop where I used to sell my ReThink Crafts items) and the Hood River Holiday Pop-up Shop.  There are about 20 artists from the Columbia Gorge that sell their work there.  I am excited to have a space to sell my work.

Recycled VooDoo Donut Box notebooks

PDX carpet coasters

Oregon themed pillows and trivets

Reclaimed billboard and windsurf sail lunch bags

PDX carpet trivet

Recycled game board notebooks

Recycled Oil cloth and Windsurf sail boxed zipper pouches

 Reusable sandwich bags and wraps

Oregon Themed items

Did you notice that the carpet is recycled from the Portland airport?