Inside the Spin-Mosaic Studio

Here we Go! Let's get creative!

Thinking myself so clever, I named this activity, "The Mug Match". My son thought it should be renamed "The Grandma Game", because that is what I AM now (to my delight). This activity will feature a very special mug.

THERE HE IS!!! Our oldest daughter is married and lives across the country. I snapped this screenshot yesterday. We FaceTime almost every day. Once in a while, he will see me. One in a while, he will look straight at the tiny little devise screen my daughter holds up that represents Grandma. I caught him looking at me and I love this picture so much.

Seven months before he was born, I got THIS for Mother's Day in the mail...

My daughter and her husband (one of my best former art students!) have two super cute dogs that I adore. I opened the package. The mug read, "You have been upgraded from a Dog Grandma to a Human Grandma." Pretty sure I fell apart into giggles.

There are a lot of theories in this world. Some are centuries old. Theories of teaching drawing skills have often involved "still life's" which are: preplanned arrangements of flowers or fruit or similar groupings. Years ago, before refrigerators, still life's of fresh fruit and meats were a popular item to hand on the wall. A work of art could preserve perishable beauty.

Still life's continue to be both a celebration of historic habit and a skill-building exercise in many Art classrooms. I'm not arguing with that. But, I have found greater success celebrating common objects when it comes to motivating kids to learn beginning drawing skills. Lets consider this activity a still life adaption.

Today's lesson will involve aesthetic observation of very normal objects: MUGS + a matching game as the end product.

We are choosing simple objects that are familiar, can easily be moved to view from different angles, and have consistent features for observational comparison. We call these defining features.

Instead of doing the typical "mom-thing" of getting out everything yourself, then calling the kids over to the table, I would recommend involving the kids from the start to finish this time.

Start by making hot cocoa. (While organizing my pantry to accommodate a surplus of several weeks of food, I found 3 containers of cocoa I didn't know I had.) Hot cider, or any other warm drink will also do the trick.

Engage the valuable element of curiosity by pulling out of the cupboard WAY more mugs than are needed (spending on how many kiddos you have in the mix): 6-8.

*Note: When doing art with any age, get used to adding as many sensory components as you can to the experience. Having a mug of hot cocoa to sip on as we draw adds the sense of taste (yum), touch (hot), and smell (chocolate) to the normally solo sense of sight we use when drawing. This engrains in the brain schemata (the brain's memory files) and memory recall on which to build, a fuller, more wholistic experience. 

One of the best pieces of advise I have passed along to teachers over the years is to... 
"Create an atmosphere, not just an art activity!"
The same applies at home.

SUPPLIES:

COCOA: one cup of hot drink per participant

PAPER: 8.5. x 11 printer paper, one sheet of paper per mug per participant (don't forget to add yourself!)

PENCIL: w/eraser (2 "ready" pencils recommended at all times for most drawing activity)

MUGS: 8-10 mugs from your kitchen cupboard. The more variation the better. The more stories from where they came from, the better.

SCISSORS: Age appropriate scissors

MARKERS: multiple colors of markers or colored pencils to trace outlines of drawings then done. *Thin-line markers may work best this time as they will provide a thin outline to darken the drawings. Larger-tip markers may smudge up the drawings as we are working on small papers this time.

BOX: A box of anything from the kitchen cupboard that can raise the mug up from the table to get the viewing angle closer to your child's eye-level for a perfect side-profile. That was a long sentence. We used a family-size box of Velveeta Mac-N-Cheez. 

Have your student(s) arrange the mugs in a row in front of them towards the middle of the table like a train or a line of toy soldiers. Place the mug handles all facing left so they are viewed consistently.

Creating an atmosphere in which to create art cannot be inseparable from sharing stories. Do your mugs have stories? Mine Do! As you talk about yours, point out the special features (S.F.'s) and defining features that make each mug unique. This will help them to draw this particular mug, not just any mug.

Brandon painted this one for me at Pottery Bayou (love that place!) SF: the body of this mug is especially wide.

This is the one I painted last Christmas when all the aunts, sisters, moms, and grandmas sat at the kitchen table and did a project together over happy chatter. SF: tall, narrow, smaller towards the bottom, with a large handle that swoops down.

I love this mug for it's ethnic flair. My husband got it for Christmas from a dear friend at work, and I kinda took it over. He and his wife spent many years living overseas. The sides are squared, the base is heavy. When my cousin visits from Michigan, he always picks this one. I can picture him sitting at my bar right now and it is full of good memories and talks.

My daughter made a set of these with everyone's name on them. One day my husband got tired of finding so many used cups sitting around on the counter and gave her $ to go and make everyone their own mug. There is now no question whose is whose. SF: the sides are cup-shaped and there is no handle.

Last spring I spent a month with Warsaw High School as the Artist-in-Residence. Coffee in the morning was a must. I brought in my own mug. On any given day it is full off coffee and great memories working with the kids there. I love how my fingers slide around the edges of the smooth glaze. SF: bumps on the side and a curl of clay at the base of the handle.

Arrange a workstation that looks similar to this with the mugs lined up like a train. It is key that each is viewed and drawn from the same side-profile angle with the handle facing either left or right.

FOLD in 4ths: Take one sheet of paper. Fold it in half, then in half again to create four equal quadrants. Cut on the fold lines. The small paper size will help students stay simple with these line drawings and will create a flash-card-size stack for the game at the end.

Students will create one simple contour drawing of each mug from the exact same elevated viewing angle. Say, "Choose one mug. Set it on the box, just above your paper for closer viewing."

The goal of a contour drawing is only to focus on getting the shape right. Concentrate on accurate representation of the outside edge lines. Think: silhouette. Talk about the subtle differences between each mug's outside edge shape, and the curve or direction of the handle. It is helpful for their fingers to trace the side edges of the mugs and feel the curves of the handles. We want each drawing to be of THIS mug; not any mug.

Each mug gets to take a turn sitting on the Mac-N-Cheez box. Your student will draw a contour drawing as large as possible within a quadrant without going off the page.

This alone can take some practice. A developing artist's eye will concentrate on the edge shape of the mug first. The shape is often drawn too big where there may be no room for the handle, but to draw off the page. This is where the child will "adapt" by drawing the handle tiny, scrunching it into the leftover space. Be sure to recognize this compensation and "encourage them away" from any adaption that does not reflect accurate proportion.

Phrase any adjustments in a positive light, but help them recognize their attempt at adaption. A goal is to represent accurate proportion and representation of the defining features of each mug. Allow for extra paper, erasers, and extra time as needed for each individual.

As Brandon draws, he is looking carefully. This mug is tall with a lip around the edge. He sees that! Praise what they see. You staying present during their drawing time can either intimidate them or provide needed support and grow relationship. Frame all "redirecting" as encouragement.

With a goal of a 20-minute activity, my son completed 4 drawings. Now turn it into a game. Clear a space on your table where you rearrange the mugs and rearrange their finished drawings. Set a timer on your phone, or count out loud. 1-2-3-GO. See how fast they can match the mug with the drawing.

This is an activity that can be built upon. We have around 20 mugs in our cupboard. He already wants to draw all of them for a full matching game.

Have fun! And, I would love to see some ph otoscope of your kid's drawings on the Creativity IQ & Kids Fb Page!

--Christi, (Mrs. Z!), and Grandma! (one and the same)

This photo was sent my way! Is this a marshmallow mug?? So cute.
WAY TO GO, LILA!!

Very accurate on the shape of the handle. Love the message!

WAY TO GO, CLAIRE!!

One artwork or sibling group will be chosen to post each day.

If you would like to share, send your artwork to:

[email protected]

or the Creativity IQ & Kids page on Fb