Monday, August 31, 2009

Back-to-School Giveaway



My kids are going back to school next week, so I thought I'd celebrate by having my very first RaspberryKidz Giveaway! Just send me the artwork of a little one you know (friend or relative) in the form of a jpg image to rachel@raspberrykidz.com by midnight Wednesday, Sept. 2. (I'm sure I won't be up that late, but the midnight deadline just sounds cool.) Thursday morning I will randomly select one picture to be turned into either a 5x7 or 8x10 RaspberryKid print (I'll base the size on which one I think will work best with the picture.). Along with getting a free professional, color, matted print (including shipping), I will post the transformation on my blog and web site too. Get those kids drawing, and Good Luck!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Under the Influence




I am so excited to be teaching an after-school art class at my kids' school this coming year. Originally called "Under the Influence," the class will now be called "Copy Cats." Each week we (Preschool through 2nd Grade) will be learning about a different famous artist. The history lesson will be brief, and then we will spend the rest of the class period working on a piece in that artist's style. In other words, learning by imitation. At the same time, I want the children to work on their own unique style, so I hope to hand out some form of sketchbook on the first day in which they can keep all of their own drawings. By the end of the semester, I will then take one of their drawings and use it to inspire a RaspberryKid picture that they can then take home. So, it will all come full circle, and I will eventually be copying them!
Hopefully enough kids will sign up for this class. In the meantime, I have been using my own children as guinea pigs. We have been studying different artists and trying out the lessons I plan to use. (I found some great lessons at www.artsmarts4kids.com). In trying these out on my own kids (one in 2nd grade and one in kindergarten), I'm figuring out how long each lesson will take and how easy or difficult they are for the different ages.
Today we worked on Wassily Kandinsky. I loved looking at the you tube videos of his work.  We started by doing "Color Studies" in oil pastels. I think this is a great project, as it shows them a technique of dividing the paper and then then just following a simple pattern. My daughter was a little frustrated at the beginning, but she soon caught on, and I love the finished product....so do they. 
Next, we might move on to Farbstudie Quadrate, but I think they want to save that for another day.
 

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Babies, babies everywhere



RaspberryKidz originally began when my son was just a baby. I wanted to give all of the boys and girls in his playgroup a unique gift, and RaspberryKidz was 'born.' And I'm still making them today for people looking for a special gift. (I just completed the ones pictured above this afternoon). With the name of the child in raised stars and their birthdate in the flowers, it is a truly unique gift. They are great for the new parents to hang in the nursery. And when that little baby grows up and draws his or her own pictures, I look forward to basing one of my other RaspberryKidz on their art!

See more samples on my web site. Just click on the "RaspberryKidz" icon on the top left.

Welcome to Raspberrykidz!


Welcome to Raspberrykidz...where kids art comes to life. 

I am so inspired by what kids draw. I started "reworking" my own kids' art on the computer, and now I am happy to base my final pieces on any little one's art.

Above is "Flower Girl" drawn by my daughter, Samantha, when she was 4.

To view more samples of my and many other kids' art, please visit my web site at

Thanks for stopping by.