Art For Homeschool Future

I have been away from blogging. It has been almost two years. In that time a lot has happened. I no longer have the time to post to this website. Due to the time issue, I have neglected the site, my subscribers, and art students that entered the online art show. For that I apologize.

I feel that the blog is still worth while. The information and articles here can still be used by homeschool parents and students. For that reason, I will keep the blog intact, but I will change the format a little. There will be a static home page, telling about the site and then readers can look through the blog articles to pick out reading material. I will not allow comments to be posted to any articles on the blog at this time as well. I have been over run with spam comments that I do not want to deal with anymore.

I wish all of you homeschoolers and parents the very best. Thank you!

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October 2014 Art For Homeschool Show

Hello everyone! It is a beautiful day here in Central Oregon. The sun is shining, the trees are turning beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and red, and the mountains have a light dusting of snow. It is fall and time to showcase some homeschool art work.

If you are reading this article then you must have a love or passion for either homeschooling or art, or maybe both. I appreciate everyone that comes here, especially the parents and students. I started this site because I felt there was a need to give support to homeschoolers trying to incorporate art in their curriculum. I then began having art shows periodically throughout the year. The shows have evolved to two shows a year. One show in October is more of a “Show and Tell”. The other is in April and is judged with awards in various age groups. Homeschoolers in Kindergarten to 12th Grade can participate.

The art works the students have shared for this show are beautiful, fun, and quite creative. We have some travellers in the bunch too that have shared some photographs of their travels to Africa. The show includes art work created with crayon, pastel, pencil, charcoal, computer, string and acrylic, colored pencil, and photography. I appreciate everyone that uploaded art work to the Art For Homeschool Flickr Group.

I have included the artist’s first name, age, title of the work, and medium used. Our students range in age from 6 years to 15 years old. The art work will come up on the site in a random order each time you visit. Initially you will see a thumbnail of the work. Some pieces will appear to have been cropped. Just click on the art work you want to see better and a larger image will appear.

Viewing art work done by others is a learning experience. I know that I get inspired when I see work by others. The way art inspires can often surprise me. It might be seeing a different perspective, use of color, seeing a new way to use a particular medium, etc. My hope is that this show might inspire you to create.

You are welcome to make comments on the art work or on this article. Please keep the comments positive. We want to encourage our young artists.

Enjoy the show!

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Show What You Have Been Creating

This is a friendly reminder that the deadline to enter art work in the Art For Homeschool Fall Art Show is today. The format of the show is “Show and Tell”.  There are no awards. Why take the time to enter? You get to show the world what you have been up to in your homeschool art program. Plus, it is fun to see what others have been doing. Maybe your work will inspire another homeschooler to try an art project or a medium they have never worked with.

You can enter any type of art work, photography, paintings, drawings, sculpture, mixed media, etc. What ever you would like to show us. You are allowed to enter five pieces of art. Be sure to tag your entries when you upload them to the Art For Homeschool Flickr Group. If you need more details, read this article.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to seeing your work. 🙂

 

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October 2014 “Show and Tell” Art Show

I bet you have been wondering if I abandoned this blog. Life happened that took my focus away from writing for a while. My priorities shifted somewhat. I will not be able to put as much into the blog at this time due to an illness in the family. I don’t want to give any details but I would appreciate your prayers and patience. With that said, I need to talk about the October 2014 “Show and Tell” Art Show. I hope you have been taking time in your homeschool studies to create some art work that you can share here next month.

Normally I make the October Show entries due on October 1 and I post them in a gallery on October 15. Since October 1 is right around the corner, I would like to push the deadline back to October 15. I will then try to get them placed in a post as a gallery as soon as I can. You may enter 5 pieces of art work. Most of you know the drill, you upload your work to the Art For Homeschool Art Group on Flickr. If you forgot what to do or you are finding this site for the first time go to the tab above titled, Art For Homeschool Art Show.

When you add your art work to the Flickr group, please add these tags:

Art For Homeschool October 2014
Name
Age
Title of Art Work
Medium Used

Creating art is so important for a well rounded education. I hope you are including art in your homeschool studies.

Take care.

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Learning From Other Students

Rebecca - Bazaar - Watercolor - 14

Rebecca – Bazaar – Watercolor

I love to learn from others. Recently I asked Rebecca Giles if I could ask her about her art work and art experiences. Rebecca was our Best of Show winner in the April 2014 Art For Homeschool Art Show with her watercolor titled, “Bazaar.” Rebecca also won first place in her class with a pencil drawing titled, “Zoe.”

Rebecca - Zoe - Pencil - 14

Rebecca – Zoe – Pencil

I interviewed Rebecca by sending her some questions through email. I am including the questions as well as the answers for you to enjoy. My questions are in bold and her anwers are in italics. I really appreciate Rebecca allowing me to interview her. Thanks, Rebecca! Oh, by the way, Rebecca is only 14. She turned 14 in March, so she was only 13 when she did the two pieces above.

Rebecca, could you tell us a little about your art background, such as how long have you been creating art, etc.

I’ve always drawn, but I started lessons when I was eleven.

What was the inspiration for your beautiful watercolor titled, “Bazaar”?

I had several photographs of a local shopping area. I liked that one because all of the little details.

Do you use photographs as reference for a drawing or painting?

Yes, most of the time.

How do you start a piece of artwork?

I sketch it with pencil.

What are your favorite art supplies you could not do without?

I’m pretty good at making do with what I have.

How often do you draw or paint in a month?

I draw or paint for hours every day.

When you do a drawing such as “Zoe”, how do you get the feeling of depth?

I use lots of shading.

Have you always been interested in creating art? Is there someone in particular that encouraged you to create art? Or did you have this desire on your own?

I’ve always been interested. I don’t remember a beginning to it.

Can you tell us some of the techniques you use when creating a painting such as “Bazaar”?

I used super tiny brushes to make the details.

Where do you work on your art? Do you have a space designated just for your art work?

I work mostly in our living room. Right now I’m working on a painting in our kitchen.

What are you working on right now? How many pieces of art work do you work on at the same time? Do you sell your work?

I’m working on a still life painting, a pencil portrait drawing, a landscape painting, a pastel drawing and a colored pencil drawing. I often am working on about five things at a time. I have sold some artwork. I take pencil portrait orders and offer prints of some things on Fine Art America, http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/rebecca+giles/all

Rebecca’s answer about how often she works on her art work is impressive. She said hours every day. I found out through Rebecca’s mother, Lee, that Rebecca works 5 to 6 hours every day on her art. Lee said, “That is what homeschooling affords her. She loves art, so she spends a lot of time on it. It’s talent and passion combined that makes her work really special.”  We all know that in order to get good at something you have to practice. Rebecca’s practice has paid off.

Rebecca also has a new store at http://rebeccagilesart.storenvy.com. I hope some of you will take a moment to look at her work. You can use the links above.

 

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