“Celebrating the Arts Week” at Lakewood Elementary 

A mouse nestled in a room in a hat. A million cats in her hair. Flowers growing everywhere. Birds flying here and there. We have several projects at our Studio that we can’t wait to repeat and share with a new group of students. This is one of them. Studio Arts Instructors Brenda Sanchez and Chris Wyatt, working PTA Cultural Arts Queen, Robin Lowery, arranged for our crew to create a Studio Arts Classic project as outreach with the entire 1st grade of Lakewood Elementary. The principal and teachers were most supportive and created two days of 45 minute sessions with each class. First class, the kids learned "the secret artist trick" to draw a face. They used mirrors to draw their portraits, with careful guidance from Brenda and Chris, then added fantastic imaginary hats that tell a lot about each individual. The next session they learned the proper use of pastels and how to create a feeling of background with cool colors while warm colors helped their portraits ‘pop’ forward. The first graders were encouraged to stand up and move around their pictures and socialize while they worked, just like at our studio. The portrait drawing was much quieter and focused, because every child wants to learn where the parts of their face belongs on a page, while the coloring was chatty and relaxed. We love Lakewood Elementary Kids!