summer art camp

Given my passion for art and the desire to encourage others in their gifts, I've decided to host a little art camp here about twice a month this summer! In conversation with some of my neighborhood friends there are several little artists who need a creative outlet and perhaps some little pointers on drawing and technique. I have six kids total including my two boys. It's very informal because of summer vacations and such so I most likely will have 4 or 5 in any given week. It's a very manageable group. My desire is to have a little lesson each time we meet and then give them time to create freely whatever they want to. They each bring a sketchbook/journal and I've told them I have only three rules.

1) they are not to tear out any pages (I want to have a little art show at the end of the summer where they have their journals on display so visitors can flip through them to see the work they've done this summer.)

2) there are no such things as mistakes - if something is frustrating them or they feel like they made a mistake, come back to it later - they can always turn it into something else - that's a big part of the creative process.

3) they are not to compare their work with anyone else. They each have their own style and it's unfair for them to think it should look like anyone else's. I told them God made each of them unique and that why their drawings are going to look different. I also encouraged them to work in their journals in between classes. I can't wait to see what they bring back in two weeks!


My 30 second demo for our first lesson on shading. I had intended to take a picture of the four of them and their lesson ... they are so cute. I found that their attention spans are quite short though, they would rather do their own thing and have creative freedom. That's what this camp is more about. I want to give them some techniques that they can apply to their pictures in the future but it's more about giving them an outlet to express their blossoming creative gift.



I had the kids personalize the cover of their journals with paint, stamps, their name, drawing or whatever so after the house was quiet later that afternoon I was inspired to do my own!

Can't wait to see what they come up with over the course of the summer. I'm loving encouraging them. Pure joy.