The idea for these homemade upcycled crayons came from a search I was doing for my newsletter. I was trying to find some fresh sources — blogs that I didn’t know about (which is hard to imagine since I’ve been blogging for 12 years and blogs are becoming a dying breed), but guess what? I…
Potholder Weaving with Cotton Loops
I recently discovered my old-school potholder looms when I was reorganizing all my art supplies and materials in the basement. (Well, my daughter did the organizing since she could “not live with the mess one more minute,” as spoken like a true Virgo.) The loops were old and in bad colors, like the ones that…
Rainbow Tube Knitting with TP Roll Looms
Happy 2025! My last post about printing my hopeful Kamala prints has been staring at me every time I come back here. I am going to have to create 7 new posts in order to not see it anymore on my homepage, so that’s what I will do! I still love the prints, I love…
Harris Walz Collagraph Prints
If you know me at all or follow me anywhere, you know that I have strong guiding principles which I live by. None stronger than leading with love. Radical love is my north star, not that I am perfect, but I try and frame everything and respond to everything with that lens. This makes it…
Mushroom Block Printing with Styrofoam
Recently I was inspired by the last module in our Material Matters course which is all about printmaking! My partner Shannon and I spent this past year over on The Creativity Project exploring 12 different materials and art processes for our course, saving the best for last. Well, maybe not the best (for me it’s…
Mixed-Media Exploration with Wood
Hello! It’s been a while. I have been working so much on The Creativity Project that it’s been hard to find the time to write over here on Art Bar. But I have things to share! As you know, I have been facilitating open-studio classes at our local library over the past year (I’ve written…
Egg Carton Mushrooms
On New Year’s Eve day I was scrolling through Instagram and saw this post for @ingthings whereby she shared some little mountains she knit for friends that were coming over because in Austria, it’s tradition to give little good luck trinkets for the new year. Well, that was the spark I needed to make a…
Tuscany Travel & Inspiration
Our family went on a trip of a lifetime to Tuscany, Italy last summer and finally, I am sitting down to write and share all about it. We had been planning this trip for what feels like a decade. Every year we would do all the work creating the itinerary, but then be too overwhelmed…
Leaf & Fabric Collage
We experienced another successful community art table! This time, I set out leaves with fabric scraps, tempera paint, glue, and colored construction paper. I had a prompt at the table, but children could use the materials however they chose. The results were pure magic. I love every single piece! [ I am a participant in…
Still-Life Cake Paintings
I’m back with another community event at our local library, and this time, I made cakes from recycled materials and set up the table for still-life paintings. Children used oil pastels and liquid watercolor (my favorite combination) to draw and paint what they see! Supplies needed for Still-Life Cake Paintings: ~ Recycled cakes (I’ll go…