Introduction

I love looking at art. I love going to museums, reading books about artists, and creating my own masterpieces. I’m so glad there were people in my life when I was growing up to teach me about art and how to enjoy it. I hope I can be one of those people for you. Here, you will find arts and crafts activities that you can do with your friends and family, plus art-outings, artist biographies, articles about different artistic periods and styles, interpretations of paintings and sculpture, and art-related book and movie recommendations.

Every article will be archived in the order of posting as well as organized into categories for easy location which you will find listed along the right side of your screen. Still can't find it? Just type your keyword into the search bar at the upper left cover of your screen and hit search blog.

I hope you find this blog fun and easy-to-use. Maybe you’ll even learn something. Please feel free to comment on anything, give your advice, or ask questions.

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Arts and Craft Projects

Arts and Crafts Projects!
**Scroll down for projects in the following
fun categories: Paintings, Drawings,
Sculpture, Collages and Mosaics,
Other Crafts, and Holiday Crafts!**



Paintings:

Watercolor Sunset

Cave Painting

Arshile Gorky Painting

Jackson Pollock Drip Painting

Piet Mondrian Masterpiece

Edible Painting
Pointillist Painting
Fresco
Sand Painting
Stained-Glass Painting

Drawings:

Bodegon
Illumination

Illumination 2
Sun Myth Illustration
Perspective and Gustave Caillebotte

Sculpture:

Alexander Calder Mobile
Clay Sculpture

Clay Monster

Recycled Art, Dada Style

Jen Stark Paper Sculpture

Paper Mache Sculpture



Collages and Mosaics:

Henri Matisse Collage

Pablo Picasso Collage

Henri Rousseau Jungle


Piet Mondrian Masterpiece 2
Mosaic




Other Crafts:


Masterpiece Magnets
Ancient Egyptian Jewelry


Ancient Egyptian Mask
Mask

Mask 2

Art Nouveau Doll House
Ojo de Dios

Parsemage

Pressed Leaves
What to do with all Those Pressed Leaves

Crayon Stained-Glass Masterpiece

Woodcut Print



Holiday Crafts:


Advent Calendar
Candy Cane Rudolph and Santa


Colored Christmas Ornament


Painted Christmas Ornament


Christmas Candle Holder

Paper Christmas Ornament
Pine Cone Turkey Place Cards
Thanksgiving Placemat

Pop-Up Pumpkin Card


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Artists and Artistic Styles

Alexander Calder

Arshile Gorky

Aubrey Beardsley

Abstract Art

African Masks

All Saints

Andre Derain

Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 1- Painting

Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 2- Carving

Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 3- Sculpture

Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 4- Amarna Art

Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 5- Fayum Portraits

Aquatint Printing

Art Brut

Art Supplies: Charcoal

Art Supplies: Oil Paints

Art Supplies: Pastels

Art Supplies: Tempera

Art Supplies: Watercolors

Art Nouveau Introduction

Art Nouveau in Paris (Siegfried Bing)

Art Nouveau: Henry van de Velde

Botticelli

Cave Painting

Claude Monet

Collages

Complementary Colors

How We See Color

Dadaism

David Alvarez's Post-It Mosaic

Degenerate Art

De Stijl

Diego Rivera

Easter Island Moai

Etretat in Art

Faberge Eggs

Fauvism

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frescoes

George Bellows

Gustave Caillebotte

Gustave Caillebotte, Part 2

Harry Clarke

Henri Matisse

Henri Rousseau

Illumination

Impressionism

Jackson Pollock and Lavender Mist

Japonism

Jen Stark's Paper Sculpture

John James Audubon

Learning Art Through Apprenticeships

Little Dancer, Age Fourteen

Lost Wax Casting

Mary Cassatt

Maurice Denis

Max Ernst

Michelangelo

Mosaics

Les Nabis

N.C. Wyeth

Niki de Saint Phalle

Paul Klee

Photography Guidelines

Photography Guidelines Part 2

Picasso's Musical Collages

Piet Mondrian

Pop-Up Books: A History

Paul Ranson

Paul Serusier

Rembrandt

Saimir Strati's Nail Mosaic

Georges Seurat

Georges Seurat, Part 2

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Stained Glass

Surrealism

Ukiyo-e Japanese Woodblock Prints

Venetian Masks and Carnevale

Vermeer

Vienna Secession

Vincent van Gogh

Wassily Kandinsky

Wayne Thiebaud

Winslow Homer


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Book Recommendations

Board Books

Mini Masters Boxed Set by Merberg and Bober

Windows to Color by Julie Agnier-Clark

Picture Books

A Day With No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch

The Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

The Young Artist by Thomas Locker

Vincent Van Gogh by Eileen Lucas

The Yellow House by Susan Goldman

Olivia by Ian Falconer

Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman

Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum by Weitzman and Glasser

Grades 2-4

The Paint Brush Kid by Clyde Robert Bulla


Grades 4-6

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett

Of Flowers and Shadows by Anna Kirwan

Linnea in Monet's Garden



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About Me

My art won’t be selling at Sotheby’s but I still enjoy creating it. Even more, I love looking at other people’s art. I have always loved Impressionism, been interested by the art of the Renaissance, and been confused by abstract art. There was so much I wanted to learn about art.

I graduated from the University of Florida where I earned a bachelor’s degree in English. I read tons of great books and I wrote a lot, two activities I have always enjoyed. Soon after graduating, I regretted that I didn’t study art when I was at school. But it’s never too late to learn. I started Art Smarts 4 Kids because it gave me a reason to write everyday and because I wanted to learn more about the artists I had always loved. I thought that my research could be useful to others, especially children. Kids get 50 minutes of art a week in school, if they’re lucky. That’s not enough. I hope this website will help.

I am currently working toward a master’s degree in elementary education at Johns Hopkins University. It won’t be long before I can use some of the lessons and projects posted at Art Smarts 4 Kids in my own classroom. I can’t wait to let you know how it goes.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas, email me at artsmarts4kids AT yahoo.com.