Summer Art Camp

Surfer Girls

A  group of beach girls gather together for a week of surf related art.

 

Handmade pottery surfboards and surfboard wall hooks are first on the agenda.

The girls create surfboards and wall hooks from a slab of clay.

The clay boards and hooks are kiln fired and painted.

Fired hooks and surfboards ready to hang.

For our second project the girls designed a papier mache beach house.

Custom built colorful beach homes and cabana's ready to display.

 

 

 

Impressionist Beach Bucket Paintings

To create an impressionist style painting the girls add color to their canvas with dabs of paint from a warm or cool color palette.

In order to make the hand drawn sand pails stand out from the background, the girls paint them in colors from the opposite color palette.

Impressionist beach pail paintings ready for the art show.

Into the kitchen

Surfer girls enjoying their cupcakes moments before the art show.

Thanks girls for another fun and inspirational week!

Summer art camp

Hawaiian Luau

An imaginary journey to the Islands provides bright and colorful inspiration for two little surfer girls who are also neighbors and best friends - one of whom will be moving with her family back to the West Coast over the summer. Therefore, an art vacation was just the ticket for a memorable time together.

The theme for this week was a surfing trip to the Islands which highlighted our love for the ocean and things related to the beach.

PROJECT ONE

Hand built pottery surfboards and pottery wall hooks.

Cut out surfboard shapes from a slab of clay and smooth edges of surfboard design.

With tropical themed cookie cutters, create out clay designs and attach them to the surfboard.

Set clay surfboard and wall hooks aside to dry then fire in the kiln.

Paint fired pieces with non-toxic pottery glazes, then refire in the kiln.

Kiln fired and ready to hang.

 PROJECT TWO

Romero Britto Beach Painting

Sketch beach design onto 16x20 inch canvas.

Outline all shapes with a black sharpie.  Using bright, tropical colors add paint to the canvas.

Enjoy the company of your best friend as you paint something special together.

Paintings in Process.

The colorful surfer girl paintings finished and ready to display.

 PROJECT THREE

Foam core surfboards

Cut surfboard shape from a large piece of foam core board, draw design with pencil, outline with black sharpie and paint with acrylic paints.

Ready for a day at the beach!

INTO THE KITCHEN
Cupcake time

Prepare batter

Mix together all ingredients, pour into cupcake pan, place into the oven, cook and...

Devour!

Aloha girls - thanks for a great week.

Beach party

Surf's up baby!

The warm spring days of late have inspired the creation of a new line of beach related home and party decor. 

Hand painted dinner napkins:

Surfboard napkins in tropical colors.

These new napkin designs are handmade with re-usable, Eco-friendly, 100% cotton cloth. Each napkin is a little piece of art, hand drawn and hand painted with non-toxic, lead free acrylic paints.

 Vintage woodie with surfboard.

The napkins are perfect for beach decor, entertaining or for your everyday dining pleasure.

 Pink and green hibiscus flower

Sold in sets of four or customized to your number and color choices.

Handmade Pottery Surfboard Serving Platters:

Surf's Up Serving Platter and Palm Tree Knife

The 12 x 5 inch platters are hand cut from a slab of clay and fired in my kiln.  Designs are hand drawn on the form and painted with non-toxic, lead-free glazes then fired once again. 

 Palm Tree Serving Tray and Palm Tree Knife

A metal hanger is attached to the back of each platter so they can decorate a table or, when not in use, be hung on a wall as a little piece of surfboard art.

Mermaid Serving Platter and Surfboard Knife

Surfboard platters can also be personalized making them a great hostess or wedding gift.

More beach party ideas and designs are being created as warm spring air blows gently through the open windows of my studio.  If you are interested, this new line is now available in my Magic Markings Etsy shop

Summer Surf Session

Time to wax up the boards and hit the surf...

But, before heading down to the beach we have to design our own surfboards, after all this is art camp and any old board just won't make the wave cut.  And since artists like to work with different mediums our boards will be made from materials not normally used for creating wave riding vehicles.

SURFBOARD DESIGNS

 Foam core surfboards

Surfboards can be shaped with foam core board and painted with acrylic paints. Although not waterproof,  this type of board is perfect for the wall of a room.  In fact, with these light-weight and colorful boards, I foresee a new trend in surf and beach decor.

 Pottery Surf Boards - Glazed and Fired

 Surfboards can also be hand cut from slabs of pottery clay then, after air drying for a few days, kiln fired to a bisque consistency.

These pottery surfboards, although ~ once again ~ not water worthy, are very versatile within a home environment.

Painted with lead-free pottery glazes and fired in my kiln, these delightful surfboards can be hung on a wall, used in the kitchen, placed on a desk, or in a bathroom as a soap or toothbrush/toothpaste holder.  I'm sure I've only dipped my toe in the water with practical ideas - the artists will surely think of other ways to showcase their awesome surfboard designs!

   Surfer Boy and Girl Portraits on Canvas

 

Using bright acrylic paint, the surf artists moved onto creating surfing self portraits.  The room seemed to glow with talent as the artists sketched and painted images of themselves on the beach and in the surf.

 A colorful under painting makes a great base coat perfect for warm water surf portraits.

 The artists captured a fabulous replication of themselves with their unique styles and personalities.

End of Surf Session Hungries...

 

 

 

And surf art camp comes to a close with tasty "fish on a sandy beach" cupcakes - DELICIOUS!

See you in the water!