Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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The Taft Museum of Art

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We were so excited to visit The Taft Museum of Art for a special photography exhibit.

Moment in Time: A Legacy of Photographs

We loved the photos and how they were displayed and explained.

There were some famous photographers exhibited, like Man Ray and Dorothea Lange. Portraits and artistic compositions.

Some of our favorites:

We took a fun mirror selfie.

The house is lovely with the architecture, decor, and art.

We loved this archway and the drapery is just gorgeous everywhere.

We got in trouble for leaning too far over and set off the alarm to view these little squirrel containers more closely.

There’s also a really adorable tea room and garden area. We’d love to go back and see other exhibits.

Plan your visit to The Taft Museum of Art.

10 a.m.–5 p.m., Wednesday–Monday

Admission is free for Taft members, military, and youth (17 and under); $15 for adults; $12 for seniors. Non-members save by purchasing tickets online. Sundays and Mondays are free!

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American Sign Museum

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We finally visited the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati.

It’s so much fun walking through history!

There are plaques throughout detailing the history of lights and fonts and advertising and signage. It was really quite amazing.

So many memories!

We always meet the neatest people and have such lovely chats about history!

We loved it because we love history and art and this was such a fun homeschool field trip for all ages.

OPEN Wednesday – Sunday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Plan your visit to The American Sign Museum.

Neonworks of Cincinnati is Cincinnati’s only full-time neon sign shop.

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CCAD College Preview

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So pleased my child earned a partial scholarship to College Preview at Columbus College of Art & Design.

Akantha’s sister, Tori, attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, this summer! That camp was only one week long.

I was really nervous about them being away for three whole weeks, the longest I’ve ever been apart from them their whole life. But they did great!

They stressed in email communications and during orientation all the freedom the students would have. It’s truly a preview of what college will be like.

What I wished I had known:

  • There is a communal microwave in the common lounge on each dorm floor (no fridge). Some students brought their own mini fridges.
  • Lockers are provided for each student in each dorm room (I ran out and bought a lock, which I could have brought from home.)
  • Three big trash cans are provided in each dorm suite.
  • Floor mats for bathroom are needed!
  • Students are responsible for their own meds. There is no nurse to turn meds in, like at every other camp we’ve ever attended, and these are minors, so I was surprised. (I ran to CVS and bought 3 of those little daily pill organizers, which I could have brought from home, had I known.)
  • Maybe a full supply list, including anything recommended or optional, would have been helpful. My student had to buy paper from the shop twice and I had to send ink and pens via Amazon.

Overall, it was very organized and safe and seemed very well done. They’ve offered College Preview for over ten years.

My student did fine on their own, and only forgot their meds a couple times. They ate ok and we made sure they had access to money via Google pay and Doordash for snacks and supplies. It was nice that I was only about an hour away, but they didn’t need me.

The schedule was emailed and printed for each student. Educators for each major emailed their students some detailed information.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are each weekday and brunch and dinner on weekends. Weekends were for studio time. There is a cute little grocery on campus.

Morning sessions were for each major area of study:

  • Animation
  • Comics & Narrative Practice
  • Fashion Design
  • Fine Arts
  • Film & Video
  • Game Art & Design
  • Graphic Design
  • Illustration
  • Interior Architecture & Design
  • Photography
  • Product Design

Afternoon sessions were assigned alphabetically to explore other artistic interests and information.

Some evenings offered fun events like a welcome bonfire in the courtyard, a visit from the Canid Center ambassadors, guest speakers, and optional city walks.

Weekly field trips:

  • Franklinton Arts District
  • Columbus Museum of Art
  • Otherworld
  • Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
Columbus Institute of Art
Otherworld

There was a lovely art show for students Friday evening and for families and friends Saturday morning.

My little overachiever is the only comics student who made time to color their pages and also had the most pages (12!) to get their own wall for the show.

The commencement was short and it was so nice to see our students walk the stage for certificates of completion! My baby is a Barbie for sure.

The CCAD College Preview is a great experience for high school students who are interested in attending art school. While it is of course a pipeline for CCAD admission, it’s a good way to see if art school or a city college might be a good choice.

Follow Akantha on Instagram! Their commissions are open!!!

Linking up: Pinch of Joy, Eclectic Red Barn, Random Musings, Ridge Haven, Grammy’s Grid, Pams’ Party, Stroll Thru Life, God’s Growing Garden, Suburbia, Scribbling Boomer, Jenerally Informed, Esme Salon, LouLou Girls, Perfectly Imperfect, Grace Filled Moments, InstaEncouragements, Jeanne Takenaka, Joanne Viola, Homestead, Ducks in a Row, Fluster Buster, Slices of Life, Life at 139a, Modern Monticello, Coastal Bohemian, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, Lisa Notes, Try it Like it, Shelbee, Katherine’s Corner, Pieced Pastimes,

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Columbus Museum of Art

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My kids had to visit art museums and choose a work of art to review for their college art history course.

We visited Columbus Museum of Art.

I always love Chihuly and this piece is magnificent.

There was a silly scavenger hunt for Among Us characters.

We had some favorites, but there are so many lovely pieces of art – paintings, sculpture, and more. There are always great special exhibits too!

We’ve been at least twice. I think Akantha went a third time. And I have no other pictures?

There’s a cute little cafe too.

Visit the Columbus Museum of Art.

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Vincent van Gogh Unit Study

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I have always loved Vincent van Gogh and his paintings. I am thrilled to share that love with my children.

I love teaching art history and about art even though I don’t consider myself a creative artist. See how we do art in our homeschool.

I would love to travel to southern France to see all the places he painted and walk in his footsteps.

We find it interesting all the different way to pronounce his name:

van-GOH (the most common in North America)

van-GOFF (in England)

van-GOKH and vun-KHOKH (which comes closest to the Dutch).

He’s one of our favorite artists.

As my kids get older and we revisit lessons every few years, we discuss mental illness and STI. We know that van Gogh suffered and committed suicide. He had tinnitus and other health problems like scurvy, perhaps epilepsy. Some speculate he may have contracted syphilis and certainly had mental health problems. We know that his brother Theo died from complication with syphilis.

The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant…And we definitely added to his pile of good things.

The Doctor in Vincent and the Doctor – Doctor Who: Season 5, Episode 10

When we got to visit The Netherlands, we knew we wanted to see his paintings in person!

When we went to Keukenhof, the entire theme was Vincent van Gogh and there was a floral mosaic, a selfie garden, and static displays of his paintings.

The mosaic hadn’t bloomed yet in March. I’ll bet it was amazing!

We had so much fun in the selfie garden.

The static displays recreated the paintings and were absolutely magnificent!

We went to the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. It holds the most van Gogh works.

Some favorites:

My son loved seeing the boats from his Art Ditto card game.

The kids got to see Sunflowers!

They were so jealous I had seen it the year before when I visited London for a conference.

My youngest daughter’s favorite is The Potato Eaters.

We were thrilled to see the Impressionist exhibit, including many van Gogh at the National Gallery when we visited London the next year.

van Gogh’s Self-Portrait and The Bedroom is at the Art Institute of Chicago and we loved to see it when we moved back to The States!

The goal now is to travel to New York to see Starry Night.

Art Projects

I allow my kids freedom of expression and making messes to learn and experiment and play with arts and crafts.

I love how my middle daughter made this scene out of Wikki Stix!

We drew sunflowers with chalk pastels.

We practiced drawing with pots of petunias and a still life of our breakfast table.

My girls have gotten very talented with watercolors, but we haven’t ventured into oils yet.

Resources:

Books

What’s your favorite van Gogh painting?

Famous Artists & Picture Study Notebooking Pages
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Chicago with Kids

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We spent a long weekend in Chicago in April 2018. It’s one of my favorite cities.

The kids have never been to Chicago. Aaron grew up about an hour south of there and Liz and I have been twice. We took Liz to the Museum of Science and Industry and saw Navy Pier years ago. Somehow, we never seem to be able to fit in the Field Museum on our trips!

The Weber Grill is super fun, but we didn’t manage it this trip. We’ve eaten at the original Giordano’s. There are so many great restaurants!

We found an apartment in a townhouse (with a hot tub!) near Guaranteed Rate Field. It is no longer available as a rental but that’s a nice area if you don’t want to drive downtown. We got to park inside the garage so that was nice.

We were close to the train station, just a few blocks walk. There was a huge Mariano’s store, a Kroger affiliate just down the street and plenty of nearby restaurants.

We ate breakfast in our townhouse, then set off to explore each day.

We wound down in our hot tub each evening.

Day 1: Chinatown

We did drive a couple train stations away to Chinatown and parked near the Nine Dragons Gate.

We walked around and bought some special tea to take home and looked in the shop windows.

Fun zodiac animals in a central square

We had the most amazing Mandarin Chinese food I’ve ever eaten at Potsticker House.

Day 2: Cubs Game

We took the train to Wrigley Field.

We got there early to get some cool Cubs gear.

The kids got certificates for their first Cubs game!

The kids watched the warm-up. It was nice in the sun.

It was free blanket day and I am sure glad because it was freezing! I always underestimate the cold wind.

CUBS WIN!

We ate local Chicago pizza for dinner near our apartment at Ricobene’s. It was great and easy for families. They had delicious arancini! 

Day 3: Art Institute

We took the train downtown and viewed the street art down to the Art Institute.

I love, love, love the street art in Chicago.

This vermilion steel 50-ton, 53-feet tall flamingo by Alexander Calder:

The Four Seasons mosaic by Marc Chagall is 70 feet long, 14 feet high, 10 feet wide.

The Picasso is 50 feet tall and weighs 162 short tons.

We Will by Richard Hunt is a welded stainless steel sculpture – 35’H x 8’W x 8’D

Bronze Cow Statue – 57 inches high, 92 inches long.

Depicted as reflections in the eyes of the cow are two famous Chicago landmarks, the “Chicago Picasso” sculpture and the Historic Water Tower.

The plaque reads ….
In 1999 a herd of fiberglass cows united citizens, visitors, artists and businesses through a unique community-based public art event. This bronze cow is a gift to all Chicagoans in gratitude for the support of the cows and other art in public places.
A gift to the city of Chicago from the Hanig family and anonymous donors.
November 2001.
Bronze Cow cast at Wagner Foundry, Inc., Chicago, IL. 

The Cloud Gate sculpture is nicknamed The Bean because of its shape. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It measures 33 by 66 by 42 feet and weighs 110 short tons.

At the Art Institute, the North Lion is “On the Prowl” by Edward Kemeys. The South Lion is “stands in an attitude of defiance.”

We ate a lovely lunch at Terzo Piano. I think it’s only for private events now.

The Art Institute is open daily 10:30–5:00 and Thursdays until 8:00. Adults $25. Illinois residents on Thursdays, military members, Chicago children under 18, all children under 13 are FREE.

We saw so many favorites we have studied in our homeschool!

Then we walked to look at some other fun sites.

Lucent is a shining 13-foot sculpture created by English artist Wolfgang Buttress, with the help of astrophysicist, Dr. Daniel Bayliss, made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere. It is amplified even more against a mirrored ceiling above and a reflecting pool below.  It hangs in the lobby of the John Hancock Building.  

We trekked down to the American Girl store at Water Tower Place.

We had dinner at Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch. It’s super fun and has a little museum inside.

Day 4: Shedd Aquarium

We saw more lovely street art on the way to the Shedd Aquarium.

Reproduced from the original historic Metro entrances of Paris, designed by Hector Guimard:

Bird Boy Mural

Agora is designed by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, on the southwest side of Grant Park, and is made up of 106 9-foot headless and armless torsos fabricated from cast iron.

Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with permanent saltwater exhibits as well as freshwater habitats.  It opened on May 30, 1930.

Regular hours
Weekdays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Weekends: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Extended summer hours (June 15-Aug. 18, 2019)
All days: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the exception of July 27

General admission: Adult $39.95*, child (3-11) $29.95*
Chicago residents: Adult $19.95*, child (3-11) $14.95*

Active-duty U.S. military personnel receive FREE general admission with proper ID.

Blue Star Families Program
Memorial Day through Labor Day, active-duty U.S. military and up to five family members receive free general admission to Shedd. Proper ID is required.

We love aquariums and try to visit them in every city we travel. Shedd is exceptional.

We loved the Belugas, Aquatic Presentation, and all 8 around the world exhibits. We’re so pleased with how much conservation they support.

Shedd is a full day of fun!

We had dinner at Santorini. It is now permanently closed and I am so sad.

We stopped by one last monument before heading home the next morning, the old stockyard gate:

There’s never enough time to see everything, but I think we used our time well and saw so much!

What’s your favorite site in Chicago?

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Cincinnati Art Museum

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There’s a pretty good selection of various art from around the world and across the ages.

We like the Islamic Art wing.

We visited the Albrecht Dürer exhibit in February 2018.

Dürer made six prints of Jerome, one of the most popular saints of the German Renaissance.

We visited the Terracotta Warriors in August 2018.

I never really expected to view these and we jumped at the chance to go see them. It was almost at the last minute because this was a busy time for us. They only had 5 tickets left that day and we nabbed them!

Also, the Art of Robert McCloskey was another exhibit at this time. It was cute.

Visit Cincinnati Art Museum.

Special Exhibition Ticket Pricing

General publicSeniors
(ages 18 and up) $12(ages 65+) $6
ChildrenChildren 5
(ages 6-17) $6and under FREE
College studentsThursday
(with valid ID) $65–8 p.m. FREE

General Admission is always FREE!

Parking is FREE in Museum lots.

Tuesday–Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. 

Thursdays 11 a.m.–8 p.m.

Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

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Dayton Art Institute

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The Dayton Art Institute is a great beginner art museum for people of all ages.

It’s small and doesn’t take long to go through. There are some important examples of art for every era.

For military families, DAI is FREE all summer long. Students and kids are always FREE.

My teen daughter and I visited to check it out.

We were a little silly.

Some of our favorites:

Visit DAI:

REGULAR HOURS
MONDAYClosed
TUESDAYClosed
WEDNESDAY11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
THURSDAY11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
FRIDAY11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
SATURDAY11 a.m. – 5 p.m
SUNDAYNoon – 5 p.m.
  
Leo Bistro is now open!

MUSEUM ADMISSION
Suggested general admission to the museum’s collection galleries:

  • Adults: $8
  • Seniors, Groups & Active Military: $5
  • Members, Students, & Youth: FREE

NOTE: Special exhibitions, programs and events may carry an additional admission charge.

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How We Do Art

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Art is very important in our home and homeschool.

My parents discounted and disapproved of my love of art and I was only allowed to take one semester in 10th grade. I still have that portfolio.

I loved and still love viewing art, but I believed that creating was a waste of time because my parents drilled that into me for years. I’m learning to overcome that now.

I want my kids to appreciate and understand art, and love creating.

We often hike in nature to celebrate the artistic beauty of creation. We learn art history, visit museums, read books about art and creativity, take classes, and create some of our own projects!

Art History

We learn about the major art themes and techniques along with our regular history studies. It really helps tie everything together for us.

My eldest is considering majoring in art history.

Art Appreciation

Like literature, I want my kids exposed to art and learn to appreciate it. Some we love and others…we just don’t.

We celebrate the human body and achievements of great artists.

We go to lots of museums. My kids beg to go to museums. Almost all our European travels revolved around viewing art and churches.

25+ favorite books about art and creativity:

We buy books at the museums we visit so we can remember our favorite pieces.

I collect art history textbooks (there’s a free bin at our library).

We love living books about art and artists and often check them out at our library.

Picture books often have stunning illustrations.

  1. Draw Write Now series
  2. Draw and Write through History series
  3. ARTistic Pursuits series
  4. The Story of Architecture
  5. Sister Wendy Beckett art books
  6. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-Modern
  7. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History 
  8. David Macaulay books
  9. Art: A World History
  10. A World of Art
  11. The Usborne Introduction to Art
  12. The Children’s Interactive Story of Art
  13. Child’s Introduction to Art
  14. Discovering Great Artists
  15. Art Lab for Kids and Drawing Lab and Paint Lab
  16. Drawing With Children and Drawing for Older Children & Teens
  17. Storybook Art 
  18. Great American Artists for Kids
  19. Ed Emberley drawing books
  20. Catherine V Holmes drawing books
  21. Global Art
  22. The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home
  23. Monsters Love Colors
  24. Mouse Paint
  25. Little Blue and Little Yellow
  26. The Dot
  27. Herve Tullet books
  28. Anholt’s Artists Books For Children
  29. James Mayhew books
  30. Mike Venezia biographies

Notebooking and Unit Studies

Of course we love notebooking and this is a great way to synthesize our knowledge about art and artists.

Projects and Crafts

We’ve done some arts and crafts to go along with our science and history studies. We also create just for fun sometimes.

We’re all about the process.

As soon as kids are past preschool age, I recommend purchasing the best supplies you can afford so kids get used to using real art tools.

Classes

Sometimes, outsourcing education is the way to go. Yes, it’s expensive and time consuming, but my knowledge and abilities are limited. Also, I don’t have to gather supplies or clean anything up.

I taught stART (Story+Art) one year at a homeschool co-op in Utah.

My eldest took some amazing art classes at ARTWorks in San Antonio, Texas, for our first two years homeschooling.

We’ve been taking classes at SPARK Art Studio in Kettering, Ohio, the last couple years.

Local YMCA and community centers often offer art classes.

My kids like the Notability app. They love playing with the Home Design app.

Computer programs: Inkscape, Tux Paint…all the Adobe creation apps and programs (I haven’t paid for yet).

Drawing and Painting lessons from Easy Peasy Homeschool.

This art curricula list from The Homeschool Mom.

Drawspace – 15% of the content on Drawspace.com is free.

Atelier art lessons online. Arts Attack Publications has stood for superior quality in art instruction for decades now and is exclusively devoted to developing and publishing high quality, easy-to-teach, video-based visual art lessons for children.

Homeschool art from Schoolhouse Teachers.

Sparketh offers different levels of online art classes.

Art curricula reviews from Cathy Duffy.

You Are An Artist online lessons:

Artist Clubhouse Video Art Lessons Sampler

How do you study art in your home or homeschool?

Famous Artists & Picture Study Notebooking Pages
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Totally Awesome Tie-Dye Book Review

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Looking for a fun event idea this summer? Consider throwing a tie-dye party!

This is great warm-weather fun! Perfect for VBS, birthdays, block parties, anytime.

My three kids have been dying to try tie-dye.

This book offers lots of different techniques that are easy enough for the kids to do on their own!

Why Totally Awesome Tie-Dye book is great:

  • There are easy tutorials.
  • There’s a list of all the items you could possibly need to make fun tie-dye creations.
  • We like the charts of basic methods to help with decisions.
  • The trouble-shooting guide is important to correct mistakes.
  • If you want to have a big tie-dye party, there’s a handy guide for that!

We had a little family tie-dye party.

I bought a big tie-dye kit with oodles of colors and plastic gloves.

We used disposable baking pans and did the tie-dye in the driveway to minimize mess.

We pre-washed the shirts so they were damp and then the kids got to work.

My son chose two-tone crumple.

We let the shirts sit overnight with plastic wrap so they would soak in all the dye. Then we washed them.

His favorite colors!

One daughter chose swirls with black spikes.

It turned out perfect!

Another daughter chose to spray dye.

It looks well-saturated.

She wants to redo it a bit with more dye. She was actually cautious for once!

We really love all the fun ideas in Totally Awesome Tie-Dye. There’s a Japanese technique, yarn dying, and lots of other fun projects we plan to try!

About the Author:

Suzanne McNeill is the author of more than 200 craft & hobby books, including Joy of Zentangle®, The Beauty of Zentangle®, the 11-volume Zentangle® series, and Zen Mandalas. Suzanne founded the leading publisher of Zentangle® books, Design Originals (an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing). She was voted Designer of the Year and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Craft & Hobby Association. Suzanne has been called “the trendsetter” of the arts and crafts industry.

Tie-dying is a wonderful way to create dramatic fashion statements without using too many materials or spending a lot of time. “No group is too large for tie-dying,” says author and expert crafter Suzanne McNeill. “It’s a great activity for family reunions, scouting events, parties, and fundraisers.”

Nicknamed “The Trendsetter of the arts and crafts industry,” McNeill is the author of the new book Totally Awesome Tie-Dye: Fun-to-Make Fabric Dyeing Projects for All Ages (Design Originals, May 2018). Filled with stylish projects, McNeill shows step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish ice dyeing, crumple dyeing, resist dyeing, and Shibori—shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. Everything you can imagine about the art of tie-dying is covered in Totally Awesome Tie-Dye, even tips for tie-dying with children.

McNeill also shares how to tie-dye several items of clothing in her tie-dye manifesto, including fashion designs for t-shirts, dresses, socks, caps, scarves, and even embellishments for home décor. The goal of McNeill’s book is to make this entertaining craft fun for all ages. “The joy of creating art is for everybody,” she says. “I hope to inspire people to discover their own creativity.”


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