Printmaking at OMA

On the second Tuesday of each month, you're likely to find us at the Orlando Museum of Art. Their "Art Adventures" class is one of our favorites. During the hour we spend there (which usually stretches to 1 1/2 hours by the time I drag Noah out of the studio), we spend half our time in the museum looking at famous works of art and half our time in the studio making our own.

The instructor is wonderful and has an amazing gift for keeping the kids' attention and helping them focus on the particular theme of the class. If we're learning about lines and patterns, we'll look for them in the art in the galleries then complete an art project that builds on that idea. Today, we saw the brand-new exhibit of Jerry Pinkney, an artist who has illustrated many of Aesop's fables and other children's books. The kids were able to see the art hanging on the wall, then lounge on beanbags in a cozy story time area to see how the art helps bring the stories to life.

Back in the studio, our focus was on print making. They covered the tables with paint blobs in primary colors, and the kids used a variety of tools such as sponges, toothbrushes and combs to mix new colors into interesting patterns and shapes. Then, they made their prints by pressing the canvas on top of the paint and peeling it off. We left with about 15 works of art (my two favorites are pictured, Noah's flower on the left and Ava's abstract on the right) and two very happy kids! Our visit also armed me with some ideas for print-making and relief art projects to try at home in the coming weeks.