The Best Summer Deal Ever!! Two for the Price of One!!! Family Fun Week!

#Funtacular, #Fantastic, #Exciting, #Amazing, #Cool=#Summer at Bare Knuckle Arts

Summer is right around the corner about 30 days or so.  There are many funtacular, fantastic, exciting, amazing, cool classes this summer at Bare Knuckle Arts. 

Sewing Camp-June 26th-June 30th
This is a hands-on week where students learn how to hand sew buttons and re-purposed fabric into small birds or animals or people.  One day students will learn to marble fabric and use the fabric in a project. They will create a small messenger bag on a sewing machine. As well as some other small sewing projects such as a pillow making and key chains.  No experience necessary — this class is designed for beginning makers Ages 7-12 years old

Design Your Own Skateboard Deck July 10-14th.  Students are provided with a blank maple deck, lots of images of contemporary skateboard deck designs.  Then they work to design, paint, and varnish the bottom of the deck.  No wheels or trucks are provided but when done you can add them on you own.  Ages 9-16

Architectures and Automatons July 17-21st
Using drawing and design students will design a building and then with a variety of materials they will build a model. Their sculptural project will explore shapes and forms and they will begin to understand how these forms, patterns and textures are expressed in architecture. In addition we will learn about gears and mechanisms and then they will build their own simple automaton. Ages 10-16 Welcome

Make and Photography Miniature Worlds July 31st-Aug 4thDo you have a kid interested in creating whimsical adventures in a miniature-sized world. Using everyday materials as well as toy props we will create miniature worlds and learn how to photograph them.  The photographs will make you question is what is real and what is fake. Artists will become skilled at setting up miniature scenes and snap the perfect shot. We will look at artists Willard Wigan, Slinkachu, and Kurt Moses.  Ages 10-14 Welcome Students need to have their own camera or smart phone

Family Fun Week Glass Mosaics July 24th-28th is a great week to spend quality time with a family member, a sibling or a friend.  Sign Up for this week and it is 2 people for the price of 1!  This week we are making small mosaics and large ones that look like stained glass when done.  No experience necessary.  Learn how to cut glass with nippers, glue, and grout to create an everlasting beautiful piece of art.  $125 for two people Ages 7--92 years Welcome

Exploring Contemporary Artists Week Aug 7th-11th
Great class for your elementary aged child ages 6-10 years old.  We will explore and learn about 5 different contemporary famous artists then create our own art based on their images.  Monday is the artist Yayoi Kasuma and the project is painting.  Tuesday is the artist El Anatsui and the project is metal sculpture construction.  Wednesday is the artist Willard Wigan and we will create small miniature worlds.  Thursday is the artist Shinique Smith and we will create a small soft sculpture.  Friday is the artist Anish Kapoor with a sculptural project.  Ages 5-9 welcome

Box-Making with Cecile Saturday May 20th 1-4pm

Cecile Webster is a Conservation Technician for the Libraries of The Art Institute of Chicago. She works in the basement!!! For 19 years, she has hand made portfolios, phase boxes, drop spine boxes for books and other objects.  She also mends books, conserves paper, makes book cradles and installs books in the museum exhibits.  MOST IMPORTANT, she is coming to Bare Knuckle Arts to teach us how to make boxes. 

Box-Making Saturday May 20th 1-4pm $45 per participant No Experience Necessary.  Ages 10-Adult Welcome

Still time to sign up for Acrylic Painting class on Tuesdays and Watercolor on Wednesdays

At the part of "Build" in Buildementary!

The Lapham project is at the "build" in buildementary.  MMoCA Spring Gallery Night in Madison is Friday May 5th from 5-9 pm. Join us at Bare Knuckle Arts to get a sneak peak of a series of sculptures designed by the Lapham Buildementary Sculpture Club. 1st & 2nd graders from Lapham Elementary have been working since February to create upcycled sculptures that will be installed in the Yahara Parkway through the summer of 2017.

Summer is Right Around the Corner-Time Well Spent Finding the Best in Us.

Summer is right around the corner and at Bare Knuckle Arts it is time well spent finding the best in each of us.  We have some very unique summer class offerings for kids to big kids to adults.  Register now to save your space.

Sewing classes for kids, Design your own Skateboard deck, Architecture and Automatons, Make and Photography Miniature Worlds, Exploring Contemporary Artists week, Glass Mosaic Family Fun.

For Adults we have Acrylic Painting classes, Watercolor classes, Upcycled Metal Sculpture and more. 

Come Explore and find the best in yourself at Bare Knuckle Arts.

Nicki Minaj by any other name.....

Today in Lapham Buildementary Club we had a visiting artist named Lynn Lee.  Lynn is an artist and business owner in Madison who has contributed many amazing things to Lapham.  Recently, he completed some cheery, cool, large scale murals that adorn the hallways at Lapham.  Today, he showed us his progression as an artist from sewing, to painting, to mixed media pieces.  The best question of the day however involved a 2nd grader asking him if his real name was "Lynn Lee-because famous people like Nicki Minaj don't use their real name and Lynn Lee seems like a famous person's name." 

For the Love of Boxes!!!

Decorative Box Making with the box making master Cecile Webster.  How cool is this, Cecile is coming up from the depths of the Art Institute of Chicago where she creates archival boxes for the Institute's prints and book collection.  She will be leading us in decorative box making on Saturday May 20th 1-4pm.  Create your own precise one of kind box that is great for holding small tokens, change or makes a lovely gift for a friend.

$45 per participant No Experience Necessary.  Ages 10-Adult Welcome

Paint, Paint, Paint!!!

So you want to learn to paint?  Like really paint?  This class is for you. Acrylic Painting for Beginners is a class where you can learn to express yourself. Learn about brushes, canvas, and techniques.  You will create several unique and small to medium sizes paintings.  No experience necessary.  Experienced painters welcome as well.  Through demonstrations and personal input from the instructor, you'll explore how to use personal-painting genres, mood, and imagination to create a successful work. Student grade supplies are provided but you can bring in your own paints as well.

5 Tuesdays beginning April 25th, May 2nd, May 9th, May 16th, May 23rd.

Ages 12-Adult welcome $120 per participant

Adult Heart Muscle Classes

Wood Burning Workshop Saturday April 1st 3-5pm

Today we turn off the smoke detectors and learn how to use a wood burning tool to create some amazing designs on several different kitchen utensils. Easy and fun, you can customize any utensil for a great handmade gift to give. $45 per participant Ages 12-Adult Welcome

Drawing 101 for Beginners This drawing course is a very beginning focus on the development of observational skills and drawing techniques.  We will be doing still life, contour line drawing, and gesturing drawing.  Every session offers a different drawing media from pencil to charcoal to ink, etc.    We will work on developing both technical abilities and creative responses to material and subject matter. No prior experience with drawing is required or expected just an open mind and willingness to try. Every Thursday from 6:30pm till 8pm beginning April 20th. Ages 12-Adult Welcome $105 per participant Thursday April 20th Still life drawing with Pencil, Thursday April 28th Contour Line/Gesture drawing with Pencil, Thursday May 4th Charcoal drawing of objects, Thursday May 11th Pen & Ink Drawing, Thursday May 18th Pastel Drawing Volumes 3D

Acrylic Painting Tuesdays  So you want to learn to paint?  Like really paint?  This class is for you. Acrylic Painting for Beginners is a class where you can learn to express yourself. Learn about brushes, canvas, and techniques.  You will create several unique and small to medium sizes paintings.  No experience necessary.  Experienced painters welcome as well.  Through demonstrations and personal input from the instructor, you'll explore how to use personal-painting genres, mood, and imagination to create a successful work. Student grade supplies are provided but you can bring in your own paints as well.  5 Tuesdays beginning April 25th, May 2nd, May 9th, May 16th, May 23rd.  Ages 12-Adult welcome $120 per participant

Watercolor Wednesdays  Paint loose, vibrant watercolors by learning new and more "freeing" techniques(splatter, tilting, dropping in color wet on wet), experimenting with different papers, alcohol and salt textures. Expand your command of composition through group sharing and individual mentoring. This course is appropriate for beginning andintermediate watercolor students, already familiar with the basics.  Open to Adults only Every Wednesday beginning April 26th, May 3, 10, 17, 24th 10am-11:30am $100 per participant

A Small Bundle but a Powerful Thing named Cheryl DeWelt!!!

A small bundle but a powerful thing named Cheryl DeWelt came and shared her artwork today at Lapham Buildementary Art Club.  If you don't know Cheryl-you will want to know Cheryl now.  She is an artist who also works at the Children's Museum as the Environmental Education Coordinator, you've probably met her if you and your kids hang out on the roof!!! Today at Lapham, she shared her art with students, helped us get our energy out with some stretching, and then showed us to create some beautiful silk fabric pieces on plexi-glass.  Kids made some stunning pieces that when held up to the light looked radiant. Thanks to Cheryl DeWelt for sharing her time and talent. 

Fun and Funky Atmosphere, Summer is Right Around the Corner!

Murph, Olive Oil, and Second Grade Fun!!! Art Matters!!!

Visiting Artist Chris Murphy stopped and shared his work this week in the Lapham Buildementary Art Club.  It was a special experience for students to have him visit, share his public art work experiences, his art, and his commitment to creating.  They especially loved to find out he was a founding artist who helped create the Statue of Liberty on the lake here in Madison so many years ago.  He shared his work and then demonstrated how to do casting with fiber strips and olive oil.  They loved it!!!  Check out the images here!  Thanks to Chris for sharing himself and art!

Peace Pole Workshop Saturday April 22nd 1-4pm

Create a Peace Pole for your garden or home.    A Peace Pole is a monument that displays the words, May Peace Prevail on Earth written in many different languages on each side of the pole.  Join us as we paint our own creative peace pole on Earth Day Saturday April 22nd. 1-4pm

$75 per project Ages 8-Adult

Family groups can work on one project together.

Headed Back to Janesville, Where It All Started for Me!

I began teaching art 25 years ago in the Janesville, Wisconsin school district.  In the great debate of teaching, I can equivocally say I started teaching in the hardest teaching job there is.  Some think special education is hard, some argue it takes someone equally special to teach middle school or kindergarten. But I know the hardest job in teaching is being a traveling art teacher.  I cut my baby teeth in Janesville traveling between three schools a day, sharing an art room with well established art teachers, and teaching more than 8 kindergarten art classes a week in the kindergarten rooms on the west side of town.  In my first week of teaching, I was called Ms. Pretzel, Ms. Meatball, and I had to call four kindergarten parents because of a hair cutting incident.  Danny Fleming told me that my hands looked like his Dad's, who was a mechanic-both of our hands were always dirty.  Aubrey told everyone that her Mom and Dad liked to take showers together-this was during our discussion on the primary colors.  Teaching is hard and it is only getting harder.  There were quite a few that helped me figure it out-a kindergarten teacher named Pat Venable, Art Educators named Wilmont, Jelinek, Demos, and Beckenbaugh.  Now, I am headed back to do some professional development with the art educators in the district.  I feel quite honored and humbled to circle back around.  What a great opportunity to go back and share in the place it started for me.  Thank you.