Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Mix It Up
by MariaK
Mixed Media Art combines more than one medium -- painting, drawing, collage, stenciling -- to make something unique and new. You can always visit the Art Table downtown to make some cool mixed media art, or you can follow along at home!
Making mixed media art is as easy as can be. Pencils, markers, crayons, interesting magazine pictures, paper scraps and paint -- you can use anything, in any combination! Think about combining different materials to make a picture, or tell a story -- or just have fun with patterns, colors and shapes. For more ideas, check these websites by Kinderart and PBS. An excellent and detailed introduction to mixed media is Donna Hugh's Collage Art For Kids DVD series. This series has four volumes, everything you need to become a mixed-media maestro!
Adults interested in making their own mixed media art can check out Creative Collage by Marie Browning, or maybe stop by the University of Michigan Museum of Art's Mixed Media Workshop Series. To learn more about two excellent mixed media and collage artists read Romare Bearden: Collage of Memories by Jan Greenberg and Ooh! Matisse by Mil Niepold.
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Self-Portraiture
by MariaK
Making a self-portrait is almost a psychological exercise -- a way to examine questions of identity, do some introspection into yourself, and think about how you present yourself to the world. It is also an opportunity to be creative and have fun! To explore self-portraiture, you can always come and check out our Youth Art Table downtown, or follow along at home:
Two excellent books on self-portraiture are Just Like Me and Bob Raczka's Here's Looking at Me. To learn more about one of the most prolific self-portrait artists, read Frida Kahlo: The Artist in the Blue House. Grown-ups who want to learn more might be interested in Frances Borzello's Seeing Ourselves: Women's Self-Portraits.
Making your own self-portrait is amazingly easy. You can use any medium and any style -- all you need is some paper and a mirror. The fun part is deciding how you want to look. You can draw yourself with a pet, with a friend, taking part in your favorite hobby, wearing a costume...or any other way you like! For ideas about how to make different kinds of self portraits, check out the projects on this page by Incredible Art. Grown-ups who want to make self-portraits can check out Mixed Media Self-Portraits by Cate Prato.
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Super Cool Stamp Art
by MariaK
Printing has been around since about the year 200AD, and was in use for centuries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia -- especially Japan -- before spreading around the world. Printmaking is still alive and well today, and many artists use a variety of printing techniques to create unique and beautiful works of art.
If you want to try your hand at printing at home with your kids, the most convenient method is the humble rubber stamp. If you happen to have some rubber stamps lying around the house from your scrap-booking projects, it is time to take them out! Try combining the images to make a story. What patterns can your child make with the stamps? Can your child combine stamping and drawing to make a picture? For more rubber stamp ideas, read Cool Rubber Stamp Art by Pamela Price.
Of course, if you have no stamps at all, fear not. TLC Family and Kinderart have plenty of suggestions for making your own stamps and printing blocks. For more ideas read Joe Rhatigan's Stamp It!, The Usborne Book of Printing and Printing by Michelle Powell.
For any grown-ups who want to try printmaking and stamp art, try The Instant Print Maker by Melvyn Petterson, Creative Stamping by Sherrill Kahn, and, for some history, The Woman Who Discovered Printing by Timothy Barrett.
Also, if you act fast, you can see some cool prints at the University of Michigan Museum of Art's exhibit Sister Corita: The Joyous Revolutionary. Admission is free!
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Pop Art is More Than Soup Cans
by MariaK
When someone says "Pop Art" most of us, let's be honest, automatically think of Campbell's Soup cans and Marylin Monroe. But how much do we really know about this quintessential postmodern art form? Pop Art emerged in the 1950's and promptly laid siege to the dividing line between "high art" and "low art," bringing the elements of everyday life -- like movie stars, comic books and advertisements -- into the artistic sphere. Pop Art reminds us to take note of the beautiful in everyday life -- not just the beauty of sunsets and flowers, but also the beauty of breakfast cereals, cartoon characters and, dare I say, Campbell's Soup cans.
To explore Pop Art, you can always come to the Downtown Youth department and check out our latest Art Table display, or follow these tips to join in at home.
1. Read all about it -- Pop Art by Christian Demilly provides a good introduction to the movement. Susan Goldman Rubin's books on Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud and Roy Lichtenstein are a great way to find out more about specific Pop artists, as is Debra Pearlman's Where Is Jasper Johns?. Adults interested in Pop Art can check out Pop Art: A Continuing History by Marco Livingstone or the encyclopedic Pop, edited by Mark Francis and Hal Foster.
2. Field Trip -- Although they don't have a Pop Art collection per se, Detroit's Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting several exhibits dealing with the art of everyday life, especially "Mother May I" by LaToya Ruby Frazier. Is this work possibly inspired by Pop Art ideas? That's for me to ask and you to debate. (Debating things like that in public makes you look really, really smart, by the way.)
3. Make your own -- What have you been walking past every day without thinking about it? Your toothbrush? Your sneakers? Maybe it's time for their day in the sun. Collage fans can cut and paste images from magazine photos and ads to make their own work of art. Kinderart, Associated Content and Ehow offer several creative ideas for at-home Pop Art projects.
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Marvelous Mosaic
by MariaK
Mosaic -- the art of making images from little pieces of stone, glass or tile -- is an amazing art form. Debuting in Ancient Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC, Mosaic is still going strong around the world, adorning palaces, churches and sculptures, as well as private homes and gardens.
You can check out the latest Art Table on mosaic at the Downtown Youth department, or participate at home!
Read all about it -- For the historical perspective, read Piece by Piece! by Michael Avi-Yonah, which describes the mosaics of ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium. To learn more about one modern mosaic artist, try Niki's World by Ulrich Krempel. This book focuses on Niki de Saint Phalle, the creator of the magnificent, mosaic-covered Tarot Garden. Adults who want a quick introduction to mosaic can explore JoAnn Locktov's The Art of Mosaic Design, which is full of beautiful color photographs of the best modern mosaic art.
Make Mosaics at Home -- To start making your own mosaics out of materials you probably already have around your house, try Anna Freixenet's Creating With Mosaics. If you grown-ups want to make your own mosaics too, try The Mosaic Idea Book by Rosalind Wates, Mosaic Techniques and Traditions by Sonia King, or The Complete Pebble Mosaic Handbook by Maggy Howarth. The FamilyFun website also provides an awesome list of creative mosaic activities.
Field Trip! -- Mosaic is all about building something new from the pieces of something old. The upcoming Detroit Maker Faire is a great opportunity to do just that. We at the AADL will be celebrating the Maker Faire by hosting Wreck and Make Labs in July, where you can pull apart all sorts of gadgets and make awesome new stuff from them. Pick up the latest copy of AXIS for more information! The city of Ann Arbor will share in the action, with the Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire in June.
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Petroglyphs and Cave Painting
by MariaK
Humanity has been engaged in making art for a long, long time. Some of the oldest surviving art in the world can be found carved or painted onto the rocks near where our ancestors once lived. This month's Art Center display focuses on this ancient and long-lived art form.
Of course, you can come to the downtown library and enjoy our display in person, but there are lots of ways to join in at home:
1. Read all about it -- The library has some great books about rock art. For children, we have Painters of the Caves by Patricia Lauber, describing the Chauvet Cave paintings; Native American Rock Art: Messages From the Past by Yvette LaPierre; and Stories in Stone: Rock Art Pictures by Early Americans by Caroline Arnold. Adults can read up on rock art in African Rock Art: Paintings and Engravings on Stone by David Coulson and World Rock Art by Jean Clottes.
2. Take a hike -- Michigan has its own Native American rock art -- the Sanilac Petroglyphs. This site will be open to the public starting May 20th, but you can get in early by purchasing a Use Permit, if you desire. Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park also includes a one-mile hiking trail, open year round.
3. Make your own -- These days, not many people live next to dramatic cliffs and caves they can paint and carve on, but there are ways for the modern, urban human to get that cave art experience. Scholastic, Incredible Art, HotChalk, Education World and Education.com all provide wonderful mini-lessons and activities that you can do at home with some paper, crayons, chalk, sandpaper and -- the most affordable time machine on the market -- imagination.
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Constructed Sculpture
by MariaK
This month's Art Center display focuses on constructed sculpture -- sculpture assembled from pieces of wood, metal, cardboard, or other materials.This form of sculpture is believed to have originated with Pablo Picasso in the early 1900's, and has since become a popular sculptural technique.
You can come to the Downtown Youth Department to check out this display in person, or you can participate in this month's Art Center project at home! Here are some great ways to learn more about constructed sculpture:
1. Look up some of the featured artists -- Alexander Calder, credited with inventing the mobile as an art form; Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi; Uruguayan artist Joaquin Torres-Garcia; found-object sculptor Louise Nevelson; and Chicago native Richard Hunt are only a few of the many artists featured at the Art Table this month.
2. Take a field trip -- Famous sculptor Mark di Suvero's "Orion" is conveniently located outside of the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Why not drop by?
3. Read all about it -- Bob Raczka's 3-D ABC is great place to start, with examples of many amazing sculptures. Sculpture by Don Nardo provides a detailed historical overview of sculpture, while Jan Greenberg's The Sculptor's Eye examines modern sculpture. Finally, in Sculpture: Behind the Scenes, Andrew Pekarik discusses how artists create sculptures.
4. Make your own! -- No need to buy fancy supplies -- paper plates and cups, egg cartons, cereal boxes, paper towel tubes and popsicle sticks will work just fine. What can you make? The only limit is your imagination! For some cool sculpting projects, check out Irene Luxbacher's 1 2 3 I Can Sculpt!.