Circle Paintings + Floating Frame

Today is a very exciting day for me! I am contributing to one of my favorite blogs, Small for Big. Mari calls her blog “A design blog without a snooty attitude” which is not only true, but also one of the reasons why I love it so much. Small for Big has a very playful attitude with just the right mix of design, DIY and shopping.

Mari was so nice to indulge me and let me post about a fun little art lesson for the kids: Circle Paintings! But before you click over to her blog to see how we made these beautiful paintings, I first wanted to show you how I framed one of them. I have always been intrigued by floating frames. Recently, I found this photo on Pinterest which set my wheels in motion. With just a few supplies, and literally a few minutes, this cool + simple frame was made.

Here’s what you will need: Frame (bigger than your art by about 1 inch on each side), wire (22 gauge or thinner), wire cutters or scissors, eye screws (12mm), mini clothespins.

(I picked up everything from my local hardware store and Jerry’s Artorama.)

Step 1: Take the glass and backing out of the frame. Turn it over to expose the back and lay it flat on the table. Center the painting inside the frame, eyeballing it (or you could use a ruler if you don’t trust your eyes). Draw a pencil mark 1cm below the top of the painting and 1cm above the bottom of the painting, (you want the wire to be just below the top and just above the bottom of the painting).

Step 2: Screw in the screws to the side of the frame (the thickest part of the wood). Just push them and turn and they will start to screw into the wood and become secure.

Step 3: Cut your wire about 2″ longer than the finished length. Thread the ends through the eye screws then twist it around and point the ends back towards the inside of the frame (so it doesn’t poke out the front where you could see it).

Voilà…you are done! I painted my clothespins, but you can leave them plain or buy them colored. Now it is time to read about how we made these beautiful circle paintings on Small for Big. And if you’re the following type, become a fan of Mari’s on Facebook or follow her on Pinterest (she has the BEST Pinterest boards, I swear) or Twitter. Her Instagrams are always so fun, too.

Happy Monday!! xo

22 Apr 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Create, Decorate, DIY, Easy, Featured Tags: circle paintings, clothespins, floating frame, frames, framing, painting, watercolor

Color Study // Liquid Water Color

Aren’t these paintings so pretty? I had a little art class with the kids in the neighborhood to try out these color studies and they really got into it – creating some stunning pieces. To read the full post, hop over to Melanie’s blog You Are My Fave. Her blog is just lovely, with a winning combination of the cutest ideas + photos + writing. And not only that, she is so nice! Today I am a guest on her blog and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you Melanie!

7 Nov 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Create, Explore, Featured, Teach Tags: color study, guest post, painting, watercolor

Small Paintings

These small paintings are beautiful, aren’t they? I love this project. It is perfect for any age (we had ages 2 to 12 painting these sweet little gems), and the white edge is so striking and arty it just makes me happy. Truly, you could have the ugliest little painting but when that tape comes off it becomes a Rothko or an O’Keefe. It’s magical!

Supplies:

Watercolors (we used our awesome new set from Vilac)

Tape (I tried both masking and washi to similar effect)

Brushes

Sponge

Watercolor paper (cut to 4 x 6)

Tape down a piece of paper for each person (our border is about 1/4″). I put out newspaper but you could easily tape it to another piece of paper so it’s movable, or directly to your work surface. This is not a messy project, the newspaper was really there just to protect the table from the tape. We did several variations on the small theme: small portraits, small still lifes and small abstracts. (For more in depth instruction on using watercolors with kids, you can read my post here.) The only rule was to cover all of the paper with paint. (This makes for a more dramatic white edge!)

Once they are dry, sloooowwwwly peel off the tape. And then, voila! You have beautiful art to hang in your home.

Enjoy this project…and you should make one, too! Leave the supplies out for a day or two and make many paintings so that you can hang them all up together.

Via Red Bird Crafts

9 Oct 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Art Room, Create, DIY, Easy, Featured, Products, Teach Tags: painting, small paintings, watercolor

Daddy Portraits

Being a good dad is a hard job, and can often go unappreciated. This year, the kids spent some time painting a portrait of their dad and writing him a special note to let him know that he really is one of the best.

I like the way my oldest took her time and glanced over at her dad while drawing to make sure she got it right. I like how my middle used a black outline and colored in her background. And I like how my youngest chose a special skin color and used his dad’s favorite colors.

Happy Father’s Day!!!

16 Jun 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Create, Featured Tags: Father's Day, painting, portraits

New Postcard: Dots

I did a little painting with my son today and came up with a new postcard: Polka Dots! I am obsessed with dots, who isn’t? The color scheme is soothing, but playful. It’s hard to choose just one color way, though, so I’ll have to paint more!