Secret Garden Art Lessons
This summer I taught two sessions of my Secret Garden art class online. The class consisted of video content and “live” class time via ZOOM. We met Monday through Friday for an hour together and students viewed the videos outside of class. It was a wonderful experience for me as the instructor and also for my students. Every class time found them prepared and ready to create. Kudos to all parents and grandparents for encouraging and supporting their students!
Some students had their art space set up on the deck, thankful weather conditions were a summer sort of perfect.
Looking through the keyhole into the secret garden was our first lesson. I had an old metal key, fashioned in the shape of the keyhole depicted, just the type Mary Lennox would have used to open the door into the magical garden space. This provided inspiration for our lesson. Students were encouraged to paint the door and the garden using their own imagination.
From the “Graffiti Garden” made with black and white copies of former art, to “Mary Lennox” the main character in the classic children’s story, to the “Garden in Blossom” made with Spectra Art Tissue as the first layer, each student responded to the lesson using their creative intuition. And take a look how their work is full of shape, line, color and value, the concepts we focused on throughout the workshop.
Each class started with a time of sharing the work completed, detailing choices made, and the “why” behind it. My students were confident, eager to share, and open about describing why… vines were added to the door, or why particular words were written for the graffiti expression, or why Mary Lennox was depicted with her hair in a certain style. Every class time I looked forward to the sharing piece because the elements of personal style began to emerge and I wanted to encourage their discovery. The main objective – for my students to love creating art.
How about this? After our first class, one student loved their work SO much it found it’s way by their side upon going to sleep and in the morning… well, it was hard to find. Talk about pulling at your heartstrings!
Here’s a Z O O M look…
A virtual snapshot of the first session.
For our last class we have a tea party together. When ZOOM begins, all students are ready to share tea together and discuss what they learned in the class throughout the week and talk about their last painting, “Garden in Blossom”.
This was a first for teaching an online children’s art class and it turned out very well. I have received many positive comments from parents and from me to you…a big thank you.
Just a few days ago I received in the mail some handwritten thank you notes. Here’s a look…
It was a privilege to teach this amazing group of little creatives and I can’t wait to do it again. My brain is working overtime with ideas for my next class so stay tuned. Until we meet again, stay safe and enjoy the last beautiful days of summer. Oh, one more thing, looks like there is a new movie of The Secret Garden being released soon. It would be worth going to see, for this is a timeless story of hope, renewal, friendship, and the treasures of nature.
