Dallas Museum of Art Workshop

One of my most favorite places to do workshops is at the Dallas Museum of Art, and the big reason is because of Amanda Blake and the other incredible people that work and volunteer at the Museum. This week we focused on activities that centered around sound and music; we also did some sculpting, sightless painting, line drawing the rhythms of different songs, and painting in a way that represents music. One of the great things about doing workshops in this venue is the amazing opportunities that it allows for. The wealth of artwork that is at your fingertips is staggering; you can paint for awhile, and then tour  a gallery for awhile – just an amazing experience.

Check out the DMA Blog here!

Castle Hills Elementary

The questions were coming fast and furious; the kids at Castle Hills Elementary were an amazing group! Elizabeth Stroud the Art Specialist at the school was incredible with the children, and has such an interest and passion for art that it just rubs off on the kids. Each of the sessions lasted 45 minutes, and consisted of 100 or more children. The time just flew by; we ran out of time long before we would have run out of questions. Elizabeth had a great idea though, and will have the kids write down all of their questions they didn’t have a chance to ask and she will email them to me. Brilliant! I hope I will have a chance to go back to the school next year; perhaps we could do a painting workshop – I think those kids would eat that up!

ArtBreak – Blindfolded Painting Workshop

VIDEO – Jacqi and I conducted a painting while bllndfolded workshop at ArtBreak in Shreveport, LA.  where we painted with hundreds of kids over three days. This event is unique in that it involves all of the children in the city in a week long art exhbition. We had a blast!

San Diego

We just got back from our trip to San Diego; the world cultures department of the city college there had me out to do a talk, and I was also there to help promote the Epilepsy Foundation on the San Diego Union Tribune radio show. The people in San Diego are as consistently warm and nice as their weather. We had a good turn out at the college, and the well thought out questions asked by those that attended the event were worth the trip alone for me. I did the radio interview along with Marcela Soriano the communications coordinator for the San Diego Epilepsy Foundation, and she was really the star of the show. She is so well spoken, and you can really feel the passion that she has for the foundation and the work that it does. I am looking very forward to my next visit to San Diego – I hope it is soon!

Hedgcoxe Elementary – A Great Day

Hedgcoxe Elementary is an amazing place; I wish my elementary school had been like this. The program that Linda Arbolino the Fine Arts Chair of the school has put together is phenomenal. The whole school takes a day away from their usual studies to devote their complete attention to art, which shows the incredible support that the administration, namely principal Kristi Graham, provides towards giving the exposure of culture and art to their students. Something like 80 to 90 artists were there demonstrating an incredible variety of art. All of this would mean nothing though if the students themselves didn’t involve themselves with all that was going on around them on this day, and their participation and excitement was extraordinary. Teachers, volunteers, students, artists, dancers, and musicians all pulling towards the same goal – sounds like a great day to me!

Barnes and Noble – Denton, TX

We have done lots of different types of workshops in the past covering the range from professional artists to showing introductory techniques to children. The one thing that each workshop had in common though is that they have always been done in a gallery, classroom, or at the type of event where a workshop could be expected. This workshop was different in that it took place in the middle of a major bookstore. I was asked to participate in the event to help raise attention for Denton ISD’s Special Education Department on the 200^th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. I was demonstrating the first step of my oil painting technique, and blindfolding the participants so they could give it a try for themselves. We weren’t sure what the response would be; most of the people coming into the bookstore had no idea that there would be a workshop going on so there was a real question as to what the interest would be from people just coming in off of the street. As it turned out we should not have been concerned at all. We brought many times the amount of painting supplies that we thought we would need, and yet we almost ran completely out before the two hour workshop was over. Much thanks to Thomas Anderson for putting this event together; we had a great time.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dallas Museum of Art

     We ran a series of three workshops that were designed to get the whole family painting together. The focus of the workshop was to show a different way to visualize, and ultimately to paint without using any eyesight. Participants were blindfolded and given paints that had a different texture for each color, and a raised line drawing to paint on. They were then shown how they could determine the color and orient themselves on the drawing by using touch alone. The idea behind the workshop was to demonstrate my beginning technique of oil painting. The basics of this technique are very easy to grasp, and form the basis that the rest of my paintings techniques are built upon. We had  painters from 2 years on up, and we all had a great time; the Dallas Museum of Art is truly a world class institution.

Garner ISD – Painting Blindfolded!

This school system is just outside of Ft. Worth Texas, and they invited me out for a day to do some workshops with all of their students from the 2^nd to the 8^th grade. It is rare for me to be able to work with such a wide range of children in one day, so I jumped at the chance to go. We sat up in the art department as class after class was brought in for me to paint with. With this type of workshop our goal is to teach the basic principals to the kids of how I paint without using eyesight. We do this by blindfolding the kids and giving them paints with each having a different texture for each color. For example: Blue is runny while yellow is thick and gritty. The paints we prepare for the children are different than the paints I actually use in my artwork. The paints I use are far too caustic and potentially staining for the children to use. Instead we prepare temper paints for them that are much safer for them to use. Each child is also given a raised line drawing so that they can feel their way around the picture as they paint.

Here is the wonderful thing about children: I can spend an hour telling an adult how I paint – answering questions and what not, and at the end they may still not have a clear idea how it all works. I can give a child a raised line drawing and some textured paint and 10 minutes later they are painting, having a great time, and producing some really interesting art. I do workshops with adults and professional artist as well, but I think it is easy to see why I love doing these workshops with kids.

Once blindfolded the kids learn to rely on their imagination, creativity, and memory to work on the paintings and this builds an amazing amount of confidence on their part. It is so interesting to me to talk with the children before we begin to paint, and then talk afterwards and hear how their viewpoints have changed when it comes to art and viewing the world in general.

This was the first workshop that I did with children where Echo was with me. I probably don’t have to tell you that she was a hit with the kids! The children may not remember my name, but I’m willing to bet they will never forget hers. After each child finished their paintings and cleaned up they had the chance to come up and pet Echo, which gave a great opportunity to teach them how to approach a service dog and to always ask before petting. Echo loved the attention, and as we left the school we could hear calls from the playground of kids yelling, “Goodbye Echo! Goodbye John!” It was a great day; I hope we can go back very soon.

I want to take a moment to say how instrumental my wife Jacqi is to these workshops. While they are considered to be my workshops it is Jacqi that makes them truly possible. She instructs the children, mixes the paints, sets everything up, and basically runs the show which allows me to be able to fully interact with the kids. This can be quite a job because every place we go to has a different set up, which we have to adapt to, and volunteers which need to be taught the techniques before we can begin. We have painted with thousands of kids, and without Jacqi none of this would be possible. Thank you sweetheart!