⋒ Invitations to Create at Home (every single day) ⋒

⋒ Invitations to Create at Home (every single day) ⋒

by Sophia Moon creative play home activities

Let’s talk about invitations to create… simple ones we can implement in our homes that don’t require great efforts in set up and clean up that are also age and skill appropriate. What used to be our coffee table from Ikea is now A’s art/craft table at home. There’s nothing super picturesque about our setup… it’s not instagram worthy by a lot of standards but it’s our real, unstaged setup. We have a simple tray to hold jars, cups, and repurposed boxes to organize/display different mark making tools, a placemat to catch most extraneous marks, and a big pad of paper that we always have turned to a blank page. Loose work as well, but can get cluttered so we prefer the pad for this purpose.

The tools should be ones your little artist has already mastered, to some degree. Don’t put out scissors if your kid doesn’t know how to handle them safely. Put out materials you’re comfortable leaving with your kid semi-unsupervised. In the beginning, this may just be a set of washable chunky crayons. As they start getting bigger and more comfortable with a larger range of tools, you may be tempted to lay it all out. This can be overwhelming so try to limit it to a few different textures and tasks.

Spark joy: On some mornings before I leave for the studio, I’ll pose on of A’s dolls dressed in a funny outfit and doodling… a playful invitation to play that is one of the first things she notices when she comes out of her room in the morning. I’ll add one more note to keeping it organized, labeled, and well maintained – it teaches little artists to respect the tools they use. They learn that everything has a right place and needs to be cared for – they are learning a great life skill. Nothing stops creativity in its tracks quicker than dried out, crusty materials. Am I right? 🤓 What are some ways you invite your little artists to create?

 

What’s currently on our tray?

Crayola Twist Crayons

Water-soluble color pencils (always sharpened)

Magic Markers

(1) Drawing Pencil

(1) Dry Erase Marker

Tempera Paint Stick Pens

Oil Pastels

(1) Scizzors

Elmer’s Glue

Small grid notebook

One large 11×15 Drawing Pad

 

⋒ Kandinsky Kids Art Exhibit (Grasshopper Cafe ) ⋒

⋒ Kandinsky Kids Art Exhibit (Grasshopper Cafe ) ⋒

by Sophia Moon community workshop

This summer, the Charlestown Community Center Day Camp directors, Catherine Farley and Erica Walsh, with support from administrative coordinator Bob McGann, are making this summer one to remember for the campers at their BCYF program. The mission of Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) is to enhance the quality of life of Boston’s residents by partnering with various organizations. This year we were super blessed to be among the many new relationships.

To culminate the summer fun, campers visited Essem Art Studio and created a collaborative work of art inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s color study, Squares with Concentric Circle.  Each Camper (age 6 to 12) created a single 6×6 square with concentric circles. Watching the kids explore color and thoughtfully create individual mini paintings inspired by one of my favorite artists; and ultimately putting together a collective work of art that will be exhibited at Grasshopper Café—all of it is just magical and fun.

⋒ Workshop: Paint Your Pet ⋒

⋒ Workshop: Paint Your Pet ⋒

by Sophia Moon workshop

Our first Paint Your Pet workshop with pet portrait artist, Bridget Foster Reed was such a blast that we are doing it again on September 10th (7-9 pm). Each participant started off with a lightly sketched silhouette of their beloved furry friend, a unique palette of colors carefully selected by Bridget, and loose guidelines to get started thinking about color, light, shadow, and details. It was a super fun evening of painting and trying something new and everyone went home with a lovely portrait of their pet.

We hope you’ll join us on September 10th!

REGISTER FOR PAINT YOUR PET WORKSHOP

 

⋒ Cardboard Rainbow ⋒

⋒ Cardboard Rainbow ⋒

by Sophia Moon art labs cardboard creations

Doesn’t really get more magical than this… we made lovely cardboard rainbows in our Art Lab today. Little artists/makers will explore colors of the rainbow, sort through our colorful crafting options, make thoughtful and creative decisions, and give their nimble fingers a chance to fine tune small detailed actions.

Following the lead of some of the amazing kids studios around the world, we are starting to include some up cycling in our Art Labs. We’re super excited to get into a series of Cardboard Creations. Stay tuned for more fun up cycling activities.

 

⋒ Our Book Nook ⋒

⋒ Our Book Nook ⋒

by Sophia Moon studio

Our book nook is a cozy, quiet, and technology free space for anyone who wishes enter into a new realm of imagination and wonder… we are loving our nook! For our little artists and maker friends who finish a project early, or need to step away for a minute to regroup, this is a wonderful mini retreat.

Art Lab: Colorful Wooden Frames

Art Lab: Colorful Wooden Frames

by Sophia Moon art labs

For this week’s Music + Art Labs, we have a special art project – painting and decorating custom wooden picture frames. Our little artist and maker friends will have colorful and sticky fingers/hands in the end, but will also have a final project that will be a family keepsake for years to come! ♥️🌈🤩 Hope to see you there… Monday’s Lab is for 5 and under and Wednesday’s Lab is open to all ages.

We painted the first luscious layer of color on these wooden frames so our little artists and makers can come and get right started… 🙂 There will be glitter, buttons, wood pieces, foam stickers, and all kinds of fun decorations.

Upcoming Workshop: Paint Your Pet

Upcoming Workshop: Paint Your Pet

by Sophia Moon workshop

Tuesday Aug 6th · 6:30 – 8:30 PM
In this guided workshop with pet portrait artist, Bridget Foster Reed, you will capture that special something that you  love most about your pet—whether it’s the sweet head tilt, soulful eyes or playful prance—using color and form.

This workshop is for artists at all levels. We will be using acrylic paint on watercolor paper. You will email us a photo of the pet you want to portray in the workshop and we will select a color palette based on the photograph that will guide your exploration of color theory.  If you are a beginner and want us to prepare a portrait silhouette for you to work from, we would be happy to prepare that for you.

No experience necessary. The event is 18+ (and 13+ if you are accompanied by a participating adult/parent – this could be a great bonding experience for a parent/teen).

The workshop is $40/per participant (Limited to 12). Register online now.

Workshop with Svitlana Pimenov of white.c.a.n.v.a.s.

Workshop with Svitlana Pimenov of white.c.a.n.v.a.s.

by Sophia Moon workshop

Ack… all the feels! Indulge me in a little bit of history: I have been crushing on white.c.a.n.v.a.s. on instagram for the last couple of years… the photography, the lighting, the props, the food, and the photo surfaces (all drool worthy). I met Svitlana, the mastermind behind white.c.a.n.v.a.s., briefly at a CreativeMornings/Boston event over a year ago; and since she doesn’t live in Boston anymore, we took our friendship online as instagram friends. Over the last few months, that online friendship has come full circle and blossomed into an IRL one. So, here we come to it…

During a recent visit to Boston, Svitlana and I met up at the studio and she told me she wanted to challenge herself to teach an in person workshop. I had been plotting and planning for months to bring creative workshops for teens and adults to the studio. So, this was the perfect opportunity for us both to work together and challenge each other.

The workshop was a hands-on guided workshop on making a Faux Marble Photo Surface… altogether there were five of us engaged in the workshop. We got our hands dirty, learned a new skill, felt a deep appreciation for the complexity of something so seemingly simple, and bonded with one another.

So, the short of the long now is… I’m hooked. We’re bringing in more creative and fun workshops for the adults in our community… it’s a part of our mission to spark joy and inspire creativity that we are manifesting through adult programming. So stay tuned for future events!

Thank you to the ladies who made it out on a Saturday morning! Thank you, Svitlana for your heart forward approach to life and your work! And thanks to Alex for all of the great pictures of us in action.

⋒

 

 

Homemade Strawberry Banana Popsicles… 😋

Homemade Strawberry Banana Popsicles… 😋

by Sophia Moon creative play home activities recipes

For a little kid (and the kid within us all) nothing really beats a delicious frozen popsicle on a sweltering, hot day. Am I right? In our family, we try our best to limit our “added sugar” and artificial ingredient intake and sometimes that means witnessing the wistful eyes of our toddler when she sees other kids enjoying brightly colored and lovely looking sugar cookies, candy, and colorful bomb pops.

So, this summer, we’ve ventured into making popsicles at home… and we are all loving it. This is a fun kitchen activity we can do together, and the whole family partakes in the treats. Here’s a basic recipe that makes six 3-ounce popsicles. We’ve tried a bunch of flavors but this one is our favorite so far.

 

⋒ Strawberry Banana Popsicles ⋒

2 bananas (3 if your kid is a banana monster like ours)

6 strawberries

1 cup of almond milk (any milk)

Honey (to taste)

Vanilla (tiny dash) *optional

Muddler – You can blend as well, but we like the chunks of fruit so we use a muddler, a fork works as well.

Popsicle Mold – We loved the Zoku Classic Popsicle mold that we purchased on amazon but there are tons of fun characters and shapes out there to try.

 

Simple Steps: so simple a kid can do it… 

Just muddle/fork/squash/blend the fruits together. The juicy strawberries do get on clothes so don’t wear white (I may or may not be speaking from experience 🤦🏻‍♀️).

Add honey (a little will do if the fruit is sweet) and a dash of vanilla. Stir in almond milk.

Pour into the molds and prepare to answer the question “Are they ready yet” for the rest of the waking hours of the day.

Put the 🎨 ART in your 🌈 PARTY!

Put the 🎨 ART in your 🌈 PARTY!

by Sophia Moon art parties

We love hosting art parties in our studio that spark joy and creativity! Whether your little one is celebrating a birthday with all of his/her friends or the ladies are getting together to celebrate a bachelorette or new baby, or you just need a parents’ night out; we invite you to create in our beautiful studio space. We work closely with you to customize the perfect art/paint project for the age group and theme of your party. Contact us with inquiries at hello@essemartstudio.com

Basic Art Party Package:

$400 (up to 8 participating kids) $35 for each additional kid (up to 16 kids total for a drop off program, artists ages 4+) and 12 for parties with accompanying adults.

Includes: All art materials; 90 mins of event time (plus a half hour before and after to set up and clean up) for a total of 2.5 hour access to the space; engaging and creative custom art and craft project.

(Drop off parties are for ages 4+ and each hosting family must be present for the duration of the event. For parties hosting artists ages 4 and under, additional accompanying adults must be present.)

 

An example party breakdown:

12:30 Host family arrival and set up time

1:00 Prompt arrival/drop off of artists and introduction to project

2:00 Wrap up projects/hang to dry

2:10 Happy Birthday song + Snack

2:30 Pickups + Clean up starts

3:00 End

** Please note: $50 cleanup fee if common areas (beyond the studio) are utilized for refreshments and hosting families.