Creative Zone – Page 19

Baby Painting? Yes!

December 27, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) “Baby’s first dip.” 7-month-old Mickey dives into her first “organic” painting session.

Never too young to create.

(Pic #2) Yogurt paint: two ingredients and a blender.

Like many of you, I spent much of my Christmas morning hunched over an 1100-watt Ninja food processor. But not for the reason you think. Truth is, I may have actually been the inspiration for the old Henny Yougman bit, “My wife said to me, “For our anniversary, I want to go somewhere I’ve never been before.” I said, “Try the kitchen!’

I was prepping edible organic baby paints, so I could have my first go at an “art lesson” with my niece Jamie’s 7-month-old baby girl. Nervous at first — thinking she just might bail once her baby fingers got immersed in chilly goo — I asked baby’s Mom and Aunt Stacey to be my wing men. We quickly determined it’s a three person job — one to hold baby, one to hold the drawing pad, and one to dip and then direct baby’s hands onto the paper.

We had a blast.

(Pic #3) “Mick-asso’s” first masterpiece.

Our project was to color a Christmas wreath we downloaded from the web. It was easy to find a simple black and white image, which I printed on matte paper. The rest is up to the artist. While it’s helpful to guide her little hands into the paint cup, and then onto the paper, you’ll find she might just like the feel of it. It’s a fantastic tactile experience. Smiling ear to ear, Mickey explored and expressed. She became the perfect ativan picture of fearlessness.

(Pic: #4) Fresh or canned fruits and veggies for natural, safe colors

Safe and natural: homemade yogurt paints.

The biggest concern for any parent is the safety of the products that can easily end up in a child’s mouth. That’s just a given. But the surefire way to ensure natural, non-toxic ingredients is to choose and mix them yourself. These paint recipes are so simple it’s embarrassing. For RED, Add a cup of yogurt to a half can of beets, and blend. For GREEN, take a bag of baby spinach leaves and blend with yogurt, and do the same with thawed frozen blueberries for a purpley-blue.

Making a Mess: A Rite of Passage, and a leg up on learning.

YES, expect a mess. But know that child development research tells us “messy play” for babies and toddlers is actually “crucial to healthy sensory development.” Experts say these messy moments “provide important building blocks, sensory experiences, muscle and brain growth – all of which prepares them for later success.”

But enough about finger painting as a teaching tool. Let’s talk about what really counts: how it evokes PURE JOY. And I’m not just referring to the baby. Twenty minutes of unbridled art making — with no rules, no agenda — makes for my own perfect day.

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YOGURT PAINTING

Suggested materials:

Any flavor yogurt (1 cup per color)

Green paint: Fresh Spinach

Red paint: Canned Beets

Blue Paint: Frozen/thawed Blueberries

Orange Paint: Canned Carrots

Matte paper – or watercolor pad

Blender and small containers with lids to hold the “fresh paint” (refrigerate)

Hefty bag to protect your floor

(Pic #5) Mickey Goldman’s first solo art exhibition. Encino, California.

Kids and Color: It’s A Natural Thing

November 30, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) “Captain America” shows his “Fauvist take” on Halloween in South Central Los Angeles.

(Pic #2) “Le Bonheur de Vivre” by Henri Matisse. Classic Fauvist painting. (1905)

One of the most awe-inspiring qualities I see among my young inner-city painters is fearlessness. I love the way they slap on coats of unexpected color onto their seasonal gourds or Easter eggs.

(Pic #3) A 6-yeaar-old’s painting also in vibrant “Fauvist” colors. South Central Los Angeles art workshop. (2015)

They don’t ponder the pairings, but almost dare to bemuse adults with their carefree combos.

The young artist above (Pic #1) unknowingly made a phenomenal reference to what I saw as a “classic Fauvist” color palette: he juxtaposed complementary brights, like orange and purple in ways Henri Matisse (father of Fauvism) would have enthusiastically embraced. (Pic #2)

In the early 1900s, Matisse and André Derain formed a group of artists who painted with outrageously bold colors. This new in-your-face trend basically freaked out the art world, and the painters were dubbed “Les Fauves” which in French means “wild beasts.”

(Pic #4) “Woman with a Hat” by Henri Matisse.

In Matisse’s “Woman with a Hat” (Pic #4), the artist uses bright and unnatural colors to paint the portrait; he wasn’t worried about making the painting look exact, but rather creating an interesting arrangement of colors and shapes.

This is the perfect lesson for our young artists. I always like to encourage them to experiment, and explore form and color rather than perfectly replicating an object or scene.

Interestingly, experts say bright color aligns with a child’s energy. “Kids are drawn to it naturally, and love playful interaction with it. They play with color like they play with toys.”

While we often feel compelled to correct a child with mismatched socks, or colors that make no sense, it’s way more exciting to see his or her own creative combinations. It’s what keeps me coming back to the art table.

Fear: That Unexpected Source of Creativity

October 30, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

ICotton Balls TMT oil stick LLMG_0003-4 copy

(Pic #1) Weekly sketch, oil stick and acrylic on board

The benefits of artistic panic: how it can either paralyze you, or be the catalyst for something wonderful.

I meet with a group of artists once a month. We share our latest pieces, critique each other’s work and generally give each other the kind of encouragement all creative people crave. I never want to let these women down, or bring a crappy piece of art to the table. As a result, the night before we meet, I often feel the pressure starting to build when I realize “I got nothin’.”

By morning, I’ve decided I am going to cancel on the group, rather than face the shame of striking out artistically. At that point my husband usually says, “Just go, but don’t bring anything, it’s not a big deal, you’ll bring something good next time.” Before you say, “Wow, she married an idiot!” understand he does it because I am insanely competitive, and that is just the kick in the butt I need to get moving. It always works. I always come up with something, and I am always grateful, and hate him for it.

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Apparently, I’m not alone. In fact, I’m in pretty good company.

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(Pic #2) Aaron Sorkin: Oscar, Emmy, BAFTA, Golden Globe award-winning writer

Oscar winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was interviewed recently in advance of his new movie, “Steve Jobs.” Sorkin, among other things, was the creator of NBC’s critically-acclaimed hit, “The West Wing.” The interviewer asked how he came up with the idea. Sorkin explained that when he had written the movie, “The American President,” the script he turned in was more than twice as long as a normal movie script. He had written several scenes which took place between senior White House staffers, but really had nothing to do with the main point of the movie, the love story between the President and a lobbyist. Naturally, those scenes were cast aside.

Sometime after the movie came out, Sorkin agreed to a lunch meeting with some executives from Warner Bros. Sorkin thought it was a “touch base, let’s meet and say hello” lunch. To what he described as his “horror,” a few minutes into the lunch one of the executives said, “So…we understand you want to pitch us an idea for a TV series.”

Sorkin says he panicked. He had no ideas, had no pitch, but was too embarrassed to say that. Instead, grasping at whatever straws he could pull together, he remembered those wasted scenes and said, “Yeah, it’s about the inner workings of the White House; it revolves around a group of senior staffers.” The folks from Warner Bros. said, “Great — let’s do it.” Out of Aaron Sorkin’s insecurity, and fear of coming up empty, the show considered by most one of the great TV dramas ever made, was born. The moral for Sorkin at that meeting, for me on Friday nights before my group convenes, and I’ll bet for you from time to time, is this: Fear is fine; insecurity is fine. Giving in to them, is not.