FAMILY ARTMAKING

enRICHment III

May 19, 2018 By Debra Disman

enRICHment III

First through fifth graders have a blast pinching, coiling, flattening, carving and incising clay in Santa Monica’s CREST Enrichment program which provides a variety of after school classes in Santa Monica Public Schools.

In this class, we invited parents and siblings to join as, as students painted their clay projects from the past month. A wonderful time was held by all!

“Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid…”….

Laying out the work…pinch pot, coil and slab techniques.

Getting messy and loving it!

Careful work done by all three.

Painting mask faces.

Primary colors red, blue and yellow are laid out on one plate/palette, while new and inventive colors are mixed on another.

Little brother gets into the act too!

Sad? Mad? Bad? All three?

Sharing a palette.

A rich and colorFULL way to wind down our class, and wind up for summer.
The creative juices are flowing, and ready to take on more challenges.

LACMA LOVE: We Make Books

May 3, 2018 By Debra Disman

LACMA LOVE: We Make Books

At the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), families made books together.

This past March and April, we gathered together and learned how to create the Accordion or Concertina Fold, Folded Fan and Tunnel Book structures.

And we had FUN!

Learning to fold the accordion book. There is a step by step process!

Then comes the reward…embellishment!

This young maker know exactly what she wants.

Using decorative papers galore, textures, colors, patterns and shapes are explored and employed.

Pink and blue…must be Spring.

A large group convened to create the “folded fan” book, a version of the flag book, with full-sized pages attached to just one side of the accordion-folded book spine.

Parents had the opportunity to create alongside their children, and also do their own thing.

Makers used stickers, origami papers, washi tapes, magazines and more to dive into the meaning and content of their books.

Bookmaking can engage all kinds of skills, such as writing (and the requisite spelling and grammar),

intricate cutting,

and gluing.

Making books can be the ultimate mixed media experience. Fabric, string, feathers, and just about anything can get into the act, serving at the behest of the maker, and adding layers of meaning.

The Sheltering Book Chapter 5

April 28, 2017 By Debra Disman

The Sheltering Book Chapter 5

I am honored to have been one of 17 artists who received an inaugural ‘The WORD Grant 2016: The Bruce Geller Memorial Prize” from the Institute for Jewish Creativity, a project of American Jewish University, to create, “The Sheltering Book“.

Open to the world.

“The Sheltering Book will be a life-sized book structure which will become the backdrop for community bookmaking workshops drawing parallels between the meaning and architecture of the book, and that of the Sukkah. The project also explores the relationship between the public sphere and private space, whether that space be our personal creativity, where we create, or what we create.” —Debra Disman

A “Sheltering Book” program was held at the , of the Santa Monica Public Library. The program was attended by participants from preschool to post school who created books, and shared them in the shelter of The Sheltering Book.

This kind patron helped Montana Branch Library Manager Stephanie Archer and I carry The Sheltering Book into the Community Room.

Covers and pages were prepped, and participants bound them together into a single signature book which they then added to with writing, drawing and collage materials.

A whole wonderful family of three generations…grandma, mom, and four fantastic, talented and creative daughters!

Reveling in materials.

Creative use of papert strips too create waving grasses, behind which cat’s eyes glimmer…

Sharing with little sis looking on…

Use of magazine images.

She has a beautiful sense of design.

Grandma gets into the act!

Creating with Grandma…pretty in Pink!

Sharing…

A children’s book illustrator…

shares her creation…lovely color choices!

This wonderful teaching artist claimed the time to create a piece about her own identity…

employing buttons, collage, mixed media,

to great effect… and sharing.

Beautiful use of leaves…

outside,

and inside, her book!

She strolled into the Community Room during a break, and jumped right in!

A natural presenter!

This lovely couple go right into the expressive spirit…

creating about music,

and other visions.

Photogenic too!

This maker truly committed…

using inspiration from the natural

and the man-made worlds…

and fully developing ideas

within her book.

Sharing…

This spirited artist used to be a casting agent…

and she has truly found a new medium within which to epxress herself…and vision.

The Sheltering Book becomes a synergistic process and experience for the community at-large, offering shelter, safe space, and creative inspiration for all who engage with it.

Let us hold the vision!