In The Moment Mag - comfort box DIY

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For the very first time in my life I can say I am on the cover of a magazine! Okay, It's not my face, it's my work and it's tiny, but still, I am on a cover, hooray!

So on what cover? It's a new magazine from the UK called IN THE MOMENT - mindful ways to live your life well. And, very cool, it's the very first issue that I'm featured in!

They asked me to design three Instant Comfort Pocket Boxes for their readers to DIY.
I made three cut sheets, one for each box design, pictures for each DIY step and the tutorial. The lovely (truely, they are very sweet) people at In The Moment Mag made this into a 10 pages feature, including an interview in the end. Huzzah!

I already saw a lot of finished - in the moment mag - boxes on instagram, so great to see people enjoy making them (and they all looked very well made, couldn't have done it better myself)! Have you made one too?

Get your In The Moment copy here.


Testing art lesson material

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When I'm teaching art to kids -in this case at De Kunst Klub [The Art Club]- , and I'm using new material or method, I'd like to test it in advance. My 3.5 year old is always very willing to help me out with this. Even though he's a bit younger than my regular art class kids, he's a very skilled crafter (ok, I know, I'm his mom, but he really is) so if he can do it, I know the older kids can too.

This week we tested lots of things:
1. Super Bubbles
I found out that my bubble wants needed some improvement and I needed to try another bubble recipe...

2. Sidewalk chalk paint
This was an intant hit. I used this recipe (but added a bit more color), it dried up beautiful. And, also important (I almost can't imagine but I did found out that some people feel a sidewalk piece of art is 'a mess that should be cleaned'), it was washed away easily.

3. Scrap wood boats
I'm planning to work with wood with 4-7 year olds so I figured testing some skills would be wise. With my toddler I found out that using a hammer is still a bit too much to ask (even when holding the nail with a clothespin) but using wood glue is a good alternative. I loved seeing how his imagination took him to make two amazing boats that are both very different (a sail boat and a cargo ship according to the toddler, I can only agree).
I decided during the testing process on letting the kids use crayons and markers to decorate their boats, this will add a little bit extra to the creations.

Looking forward to start the art classes at the  Kunst Klub in Ilpendam next week!
Would you (your kid) like to join this art feast? There are a few spots left on monday and friday. Please contact me through email to subscribe---> see the about section).

Work in proces - sketches

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These sketches (okay, it's not literaly a sketch, I'm just not that 'pencil-sketch-person', fine liner and paper are my way ;-)), I've been working on -among others- the past two weeks, for an illustration for a dutch development aid organization.

Key was to show a cultural diverse neighborhood and collaboration. I've cut silhouettes from black paper to make people and drew houses using a fine liner (I prefer steadler pigment liners or lumocolor). These were scanned into the computer and made into a colourful spread illustration, but more about the finished product in a later post.

I like working this way, with different materials and techniques. Normally I would draw almost every element but lately I'm focussing more on paper shapes and elements. (also see this post on paper cut illustration). It forces me (in a good way) to think differently, more in 'shapes' than in 'lines'. Especially with figures, I prefer keeping it a bit 'abstract'. This makes it easier (for me that is) to create a specific posture or character without having to draw it over and over again because one small piece (fingers/ the way a dress is draped/ face) didn't turn out the way you wished.



Kids art class

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After years of teaching mostly adults, I recently started to teach kids more again. I forgot how much I enjoy this! Although it's a bit more juggle than an class of grown ups, it's also so rewarding and inspiring. Especially to see the shy or frustrated kid bloom during the course.

The boy that seemed a bit rude and unmanagable in the beginning, turned into a hard worker with some encouragement and compliments. The girl that mostly yelled through the classroom that her work was ugly, slowly became more confident and focussed. But the best of all is that when I come into the classroom they all scream: yeah, Miss Kim is here again!


Although a group of 20 ten-year-olds are quite a bunch to handle, they also give me so much energy back (not to mention the great artwork they made, I just love their drawing style!), I always go home with a smile.
Such a shame next week is already the last lesson of this school year. Luckily I can look foreward to the summer Kunst Klub [Art Club] I'm organising in my own village :-).

Above a selection of the artwork they made during this weeks lesson (some during the process, some finished). I put up a few still lifes with veggies, fruit and flowers, which they drew using pastel crayon on black paper. At the end, we ate the fruit and veggies, which was a hit!

Mini Drawing Spark #3

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Time again for a Mini Drawing Spark... #3! 

In this mini I dare you to play with black ink, make spots, dots and ink-accidents. You can do this by pouring some ink on a piece of (heavy) white papier and blow softly till the ink starts running. Or, wet the paper first with a large brush and water, then drip the ink onto the paper and it will spread.
Play, have fun, make a mess! Let it all dry.


If you have a few small and larger ink spots, take a closer look. What do they remind you of, what do they look like? Is it an elefant with wings? Or a rabbit with two heads? Let your imagination run free.

Now take a fountain pen or bamboo pen, some white paint or white pen. Add eyes, extra legs, paws, and so on, to make your ink spot into an animal or other creature.

Enjoy!

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