Welcome to the second arty news from The Studio with Caren.
I would like to welcome all the new parents and children /teens to art class. It is always a joy to share my enthusiasm for art with new people.
This term we have been enjoying work from all sorts of spaces and themes. For the majority of the classes, we have been thinking deeply about the idea of symbols in art. We talked at length about signs and emojis and how pictures can hold place for meaning. It is the same for symbols in art. Recently, I have visited The National Gallery's Sue Williamson Retrospective exhibition. More on this latter.
Sue's work has used chairs in many places and exhibitions. For her, the chair represents loss and grief , in the case of " The Last Supper" - the story of forced removals in District Six . In the case of " A Chair for Ray Alexander", the chair represents relationship and listening. Holding spaces for conversation.
Many artists use chairs in their work as symbols of many things. Van Gogh painted chairs as representations of self and of his friend Gaugin , both artists. He juxtaposes the chair as representations of each artist, as if they are having a conversation with one another. David Hockney paints chairs in many of his works. The one we looked at uses the empty chair as a representation of holding space and missing a person. All these ideas came from the children with very little prompting from me. Very young children in my art class were able to land on very big ideas such as loss, grief and loneliness. I was remined again on the immense power of the visual image.
Needless to say, we have spent much of this term creating chairs in art. Some of the artworks below, are examples of these. Please note: I do not choose any works here based on any specific criteria. They are randomly chosen. Please know we are going to have our annual exhibition in time and all these amazing works will be on exhibit.
I will be attaching an invitation to my holiday art classes. Please take note of the art gallery visits. There are 2 dates available. The visits will be to the National Gallery in town.
There are 2 exceptional exhibitions on at the moment. Each outing will focus on one exhibition.
Day 1- Motherhood exhibition
Day 2- Sue Williamson Retrospective ( suitable for children aged grade 4 upwards)
Not all the art you see here comes from my weekly classes. The one above( incomplete) and the paper flower below, are examples from my family art classes. If you are interested doing a one off morning with your family, please do book a spot.
This very sweet hot air balloon story art comes from the family homeschool class I run each Monday morning. It is a delightful space where moms and their children share an art morning together. This story art comes from a game we played. Musical art. Just imagine!
On a Wednesday afternoon I run a class for younger children. Young children process and explore art ideas in different ways. Having these 5 year old's in a class together affords us all time to slow down or speed up where we need to. We also explored the chairs as a symbol in art theme and their charcoal drawings were delightful. Please do feel free to invite any children who might want to join this sweet and exploring class.
The teenage class takes place on Friday afternoons. Often tired teenagers stumble in ready to think all things art. Ths class is a beautiful mix of many different aged teenage from many different spaces. Some are homeschooled with others are in traditional school spaces. We have been thinking about and playing around with Abstract art all year. Abstract art and abstracting are interesting ideas to wrap our heads around. Together we built up each week by have some exploring collective sessions until the group was ready and armed with tools to launch into a self designed Abstract piece or two. They were able to use any medium. This has rolled into thinking about masks through the lens of abstract art. Some amazing ideas and creations are emerging.
In all my classes I aim to introduce the children to artist from around the world and particularly in South Africa. As an artist, I know that my work is fed and built by enjoying the work that other artist exhibit. Cape Town as many opportunities to enjoy art. Many are free.
First Thursdays is an opportunity to gather some friends and enjoy time out either in Cape Town or in spaces such as Kalk Bay and Muizenberg. I recently visited a First Thursdays event in Mitchels Plain which was dynamic and encouraging.
The Norval has a beautiful exhibition by artist Billie Zagewa. This art exhibition is a gentle way to introduce young children to art. Billie creates the most delicious artwork out of silk and thread. Please do visit this soon.
Lastly, spaces like Kirstenbosch continue to be wonderful places for children and families to enjoy a quick browse of some worthy artworks.
I count myself deeply fortunate to be involved with teenagers from disadvantaged legacy spaces in our city. If anyone is interested in supporting the work f these NGO's , lease do not hesitate to get in touch.
Lastly, our city is bathed in creativity. Keep you eyes open for murals such as this delightful bird painted on a wall in Observatory. Share you finds with your children and with us too. I would love to have new art finds.
I look forward to hearing all about your finds and exhibition visits too.
