Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 12:46PM Fablo Picasso
This commercial was created, written, directed, shot and acted all by Studio Kids Art students, all @the Art Studio!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 09:00AM 
Every Friday we have been trekking into NYC to go to museums and galleries to find interesting art. The class is called "Urban Art Explorers", and it is one of the most rewarding classes that I have been able to teach over the years.
Escaping into New York and hitting the art scene is great on so many levels for both my students and myself. The freedom of using public transportation (no car/parking/traffic worries!) and having the city empty out for us while we head in is a visually interesting experience, the kids feel a little grown-up, and we are all explorers ready for anything that comes up!
One of the most exciting and least expensive (if you don't count the many places that we can stop for food) is Chelsea. According to my NY Arts Beat app, there are over 253 galleries between West 19th Street all the way up to 33rd, with the heaviest concentration on 25th and 26th. We usually hit the ones from 20th -24th and have terrific luck seeing some of the most interesting, innovative and exciting new art on the scene! There is also plenty of more traditional art as well, but it's the crazy stuff that it's all about!
Find a day when you can walk up and down the street, going from one gallery to the next. It's an absolutely wonderful day, not to mention the High Line Park now opened for most of the way. It's one of the great things you should do, since you live here! Take advantage of this... it's the kind of thing even young kids will like.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 11:00AM 
Last week's New York Times Sunday Magazine provided yet another reason that art education and good design is relevant (perhaps more than ever). The issue was focused on food and drink, and somewhere in the middle is a column that reads, "Can Good Design Rescue Fast Food?"
I am certainly not an advocate for fast food (at least, the McDonald's kind) but the point of the article is how the chain Popeyes has changed their take out box design and logo. By adding richer colors, using a more refinded logo (changing the typeface) and adding other elements that upgraded the look, it has influenced some new buyers decisions making them feel that the food was more healthful.
To quote from the article, "Look at the way yogurt is packaged. It has lots of white, lots of color. It just seems smart" referring to the "unspoken persecption that if something looks intelligent or literary, it also seems healthier".
When I started this article yesterday, the announcement of the death of Steve Jobs had not yet happened. Since it takes me many hours to finish my entries, I can now add to this that his passing has made it even more obvious just how crucial good design is.
Would the iPhone have been as successful if it looked clunky and goofy? Would anything that you love to wear or use be as satisfying to you if it didn't look or feel right? Probably not, and you can thank good design for that.
Some people are born with that sense of good design, and many people develop it. However you get it, it gets better with education and a forum for sharing. Keep your kids in art class! Take an art class yourself! Always visit museums and art galleries if the occasion arises, or plan it at least once a year. You cannot ignore it, and you are better for it if you learn what "works" and what doesn't. Look where it took Mr. Jobs in his career!
Friday, August 19, 2011 at 09:00AM 
These weekends approaching are filled with kids flying out of the nest left and right! On Facebook I see picture after picture of loaded cars, packed bags, misty (and sometimes not-so-misty) parents bringing their kids to the next stage of their lives. As a parent we all know that things will never be the same... but we see the joy and excitement, the trepidation and fear in their bodies and expressions and know that we have to let them loose!
On the flip side, I remember myself as being an original gap-year kid, when I finally went back to school I was excited and ready to take it all on. I also remember going into my first life-drawing class and seeing a nude model in the middle of the room and trying to fake that I've done it millions of times already.
Then there was design studio, spending hours and hours over a drawing board until the sun came up. Looking across the room and seeing fellow classmates asleep at their boards, a string of saliva dripping on their drawings! Ahhh... all nighters and final projects!
We who have yet to bring our kids to that threshold of adulthood are still counting a few more weeks of summer. Here in the studio camp is winding down. One more week of kids in shorts and T-shirts, pizza Friday's and water gun fights at lunch. I hate to see summer slip by so quickly, yet I love the fall and all the new things it brings! New Bookbags! Lunch boxes! Computers (if we're lucky!).
Enjoy every moment! Sit out late as you can on the porch and listen to the crickets. Drink a chocolate milkshake. Grill those delicious peaches on the BBQ. Summer only comes once a year!
Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 12:00PM I say that because everyone is on vacation. The S&P may be acting sassy, the papers are complaining and all I hear on the websites and blogs is yaddah, blah Blah.
I'm hoping that grownups will get back from vacation in September and things will start running somewhat smoothly again. So I am not going to pay attention to all the silliness. Instead, I am going to live in the moment. I'm going to go out to the museums, galleries and get out of the studio to see what's going on. Will report back soon!