HOLIDAY WORKSHOP ORDER!

THE ORDER WE WILL BE RUNNING THE SCHOOL HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED!
It's so very exciting to see the school holiday workshops booking up so fast! This holidays we have decided to run four stand-alone workshops, each with their own 'delicious' winter theme!
You will have noticed over the past week or two, the outline's for these workshops posted here.
They will be running as follows:

WORKSHOP 1: Fungi Forest!
Tuesday 28th June 2011

WORKSHOP 2: Leaves glorious Leaves!
Thursday 30th June 2011

WORKSHOP 3: Monoprint Mania!
Tuesday 5th July 2011

WORKSHOP 4: Birds in flight!
Thursday 7th July 2011

Click on the link for each workshop to view the outline!
Each of these workshops will run for 1 hour from 9.30am - 10.30am so join one or join all!
We would love the opportunity to work with your children and encourage their creativity!
Call 0407 778 907 or email melissa@guyatt.net to book
...HURRY, early bird discount ends next week!

stamp making series - BOOK NOW!

I am just finalising the lesson plans for the after school stamping series - really excited!
Not only will the children learn a new skill, how to design + carve their own basic stamps, they will take home some lovely journals, gift tags + stationery made with their very own stamp design!
We will explore some wonderful inspiration both in nature + in the work of other artists to create our designs.
If you are considering enrolling in some of our classes, I would recommend this short course - the process consolidated and learned over three weeks will be one that your child will reuse again and again!
YOU'LL NEED TO HURRY - CLASSES BEGIN NEXT THURSDAY 9TH JUNE 2011 - DON'T MISS OUT!!

:: sourcing beautiful materials!

:: for those who are curious...my 9yrold carved the leaf stamp (seen in the top image), in fact many leaf stamps and gives them as gifts!!

SCHOOL HOLIDAY WSHOP D: monoprint mania!

The last to plan, and such an exciting, open ended workshop! We will explore the art of basic MONO PRINTING. Looking to nature as our inspiration and extrapolating shapes to further layer in our design we will stamp with 'bubble wrap + muffin tins' as a background for our designs, paint on acrylic sheets and then take a print of our work - the sky's the limit with what they might stamp and paint and if they don't like their 'practice work' they clean off the sheet and paint the design over - such a fun creative process!! Gum leaves + seeds were the inspiration for my children + I as we experiemented with this exciting medium...

SCHOOL HOLIDAY WSHOP C: Birds in flight!

Inspired by bird migration in winter...children will learn how to form + bind + feather beautiful soft, light-as-the-air birds in a species of their choice. We will use materials gathered from nature and learn how to finger knit and twist twine in order to hang our birds in just the perfect 'flight of fancy'.... Children will learn SCULPTURAL TECHNIQUE + TRADITIONAL HANDCRAFTS in this workshop to complete a beautiful mobile for the home.

You may recognise our signature image for this workshop, these photos were taken in a trial class for 3-5 year olds a few months back. The little ones needed a fair bit of help with this project, however the 5-10 year olds will execute it beautifully I think! Thanks again to some very tallented mama's at this class for the beautiful photography!

weekend wonder

in the chill air
I wandered among tall tree's ablaze with colour
shared time enveloped in the wisdom of years
hung new treasures from long ago
hard-worn with weaving-work

settled a gift into its new home and laid it with treasures

quietly formed clay into a seasonal memory

watched little hands arrange and re-arrange perfect pebbles
my memory is triggered each time my eyes rest here
...thoughts of a cozy-relational weekend
and I smile
I hope remembering your weekend brings a smile too xx

SCHOOL HOLIDAY W'SHOP B: Fungi Forest!

'And it was whilst they were in the middle of their picnic that they saw a very perculiar thing. Frannie noticed it first.
Not far off was a clear piece of soft grass. As Frannie looked at it she noticed bumps appearing on it. She stared in surprise. The bumps grew. the earth rose up and broke in about six places.
Look! said Frannie, in a low voice, pointing to the piece of grass. 'What's happening over there?'
All three of them watched in silence. And then they saw what it was. Six big toadstools were growing quickly up from the ground, pushing their way through, and rising up steadily!
'I've never seen that happen before!'said Joe, in astonishment. Shh! said Beth. Don't make a noise, I can hear footsteps.'....they hid just in time...'Elves' whispered Joe. The elves went to the toadstools and sat down on them. They were holding a meeting!....'
from The Enchanted Wood' Enid Blyton.

With imagination heightened and fantasy whispering, children's hands at work with clay can create a masterpiece!
In this workshop we will design and sculpt a fantasy forest filled with mushrooms + moss + mysterious places! The children will learn about 3D MODELLING + COMPOSITION and we will practice forming technique as we create our spaces, all atop a rustic cut log...
The images below are some from a recent trip to the wilds of Tasmania where my children had a magical, half-frozen time exploring a real live 'enchanted forest'!

SCHOOL HOLIDAY W'SHOP A: Leaves glorious Leaves!

The first of the school holiday workshops!
Autumn + Winter are the seasons to celebrate our leaf fall! There are so many beautiful colours, textures and shapes to be found and a whole ecosystem relies on this fall to weather out the chill of winter!
Inspired by the book 'leaf litter' and the beautiful diversity of our leaf fall here in Australia, children will explore WATERCOLOUR + COLLAGE techniques to represent varing leaf forms and tonal colours. They will then cut out their creations and work on a collage composition using their leaves + fabric and felt to add texture!
Our dates have only just been released for these workshops and already they are booking fast! BOOK NOW as places are limited!

stamping series

I have been working on a few series that reflect winter here in Australia - chill, gray-green, frost, dry, cozy - and many other feel-good adjectives that express the beauty of this season!

In this first series for 5-10 year olds, we will look at making our own carved stamps!
planning our designs to reflect elements found in nature in winter, learning about tools and technique, being inspired by some amazing print-artists, and carving our own work! We will then look at stamping + pattern repeat as we apply our designs to fabric! I have a great small project in mind for using the fabric if we have time or else a handful of ideas to send home where you and your children can create together!!

I will be sharing a few pics as I play with ideas with my children and would love the opportunity to inspire + create with your children too!
If you are interested in booking for this series, I am taking expressions of interest now and will release dates in the next few days! email. melissa@guyatt.net

:: These pics were taken at a 3-5yr class where they were experimenting with stamps and fabric! They had soo much fun!

heros and villians

I can't wait to see what the boys cook up on Sunday, a few heros and villians like these using scrap fabric and big imaginations!!

new flyer

New marketing flyer on its way to schools - soon! Please book your children in to the free trial class if you are interrested in seeing what we are all about xx