Seeking Students

I've decided to promote my practice instead of just allowing word of mouth to do it's thing.

So for any of you that are visiting this blog for the first time, Nice to meet you! 

My name is Erin Green and I have been teaching art through schools, community centres and my home studio for 6 years. I've taught over 100 students, ages 3-70!

I offer classes in most mediums but usually end up teaching water colour and gouache. Whatever the chosen medium, my students also learn drawing techniques, colour theory and composition.

No two students are the same so everyone gets a personalized curriculum.  In other words, you chose the medium(s) you'd like to focus on and we go from there. I send you a questionnaire before our first class so we're ready to go when you arrive. 

You can sign up alone or with a friend. Either way, the intimate classes allow for more learning in less time. We have a lot of fun too! I start each lesson with creative exercises and then we focus on a project and go step-by-step until it's finished. I make sure that my students never feel overwhelmed and that they always leave with a piece of work that they are proud of. Although I focus on process I also know how good it feels to finish something.

My home studio is located on Main st. in Vancouver but I'm also open to coming to you. If you live in the Mt.Pleasant, Riley Park area then it's no problem. I don't drive or I'd be willing to travel further!

If you're interested send me an e-mail for more information:

designer.eg@gmail.com

(the following pictures were taken during group sessions last year at Sunset Community Centre)

Student testimonials:

Erin Green is an exceptional teacher as well as a gifted artist. She has amazing skills and knowledge and has an incredible way of connecting with people of all ages. Erin focuses on process and how to take an idea from the start to a finished art project. It is a true joy to discover art with Erin. Her students are encouraged to believe that there is an artist inside each of them.
-Lynne Tolland

Erin is a talented artist and teacher! Her style of teaching is fun and always left me feeling inspired and eager to create more! I highly recommend her to anyone looking for artistic instruction, for finding inspiration to be more creative, or to get help finishing projects you feel stuck on. She is a gem!
 -Anna Grabowski 

My 2015 Summer Students

My two newest students are making some incredible art!

Anna, a 34 year old university student and all around creative soul has been a huge inspiration to me. Her focus on trying new things and finding ways to express herself has made our sessions really fun and I'm learning a lot. 

In our last class she wanted to paint the clouds out on my deck and I had never really tried that before. Together we tackled the sky! I didn't take a photo of her work because I was so wrapped up in the moment but I do have pictures from previous classes. I'm especially impressed with her gouache painting. Gouache is a difficult medium to use but with a little patience and knowing some basic tricks it can produce awesome results. 

Anna: age 34 / gouache / creating light on black paper

 

Anna: age 34 / watercolour & ink  / botanical collage

                                

And here is a picture of Kirstin, age 11, working on her first ever watercolour! First we did some drawing warm ups and then spent a little more time on a final composition. Once she was happy with her orchid drawing we moved on to colour theory and mixing. She loved making swatches and was really interested in how to create shades of white and shadows.

Kirstin: age 11 / charcoal & watercolour / botanical stud

Grown Ups

Over the past year I've had the pleasure of teaching art classes to adults. I started with water colour sessions at the Sunset Community Centre for a group of 5 women and then did some one-on-one private lessons from my home. Both were lots of fun! Honestly, not much difference between instructing kids and adults. Both are curious and both need encouragement. Our culture sets us up to be so self critical and it feels really good to be a part of the process that breaks that down. To be able to help someone enjoy the creative journey and not expect perfection is a huge reward. Both kids and grown-ups need to feel free when they create!

SPACE THEMED ART CAMP

A few summers ago I held a space themed art camp and it was a blast! What I loved most about hosting this type of camp was the opportunity to bring together my three greatest passions: art, astronomy and teaching. I think it's so important to show kids the connection between creativity and science, that art isn't just reserved for a select few who reside on the fringe of society but a primary component of the science and technology that helps to shape our culture. Without visual art and creative minds we would be far less successful at communicating our ideas about the universe and how it works!

With all of the art program cut backs in our public schools I fear that the next generation will be less able to creatively approach the problems that they face.

Here's how the 5 days will go:

DAY 1
Warm-Up exercises - Each day we do 15 mins of quick gestural drawing and collages. This gets kids "warmed-up" and comfortable. This is usually a very silly and fun exercise that also allows kids to get to know each other and feel less critical about their work.


Alien Landscapes - Our first project is the alien landscape. These are created using styrofoam balls and tons of fun materials that they bring together to create flora and fauna from a world out of their imagination. They also create labels or flags for their special world and do a quick presentation about what they've made. We then photo document our work.

DAY 2
Nebula Paintings - Warm up will consist of using a variety of brushes and sponges to create experimental textures and shapes. I will then give a short lesson about nebulas (using power point so they can see how incredible nebulas are!) I will also show the kids different techniques they can use to create their paintings. Then, each student will receive a large canvas board, painted black (I do this before hand) that they will then spend the rest of the class using sponges and splatter techniques to create their own nebula. At the end of class the other students will try to guess what type of nebula they have created and talk about each others work using positive words.

DAY 3
Solar System Mobiles - After a painting warm up I will give a short lesson about planets and what they are made of. Then, the kids will use different size styrofoam balls to create 3-5 planets that will be in the imagined solar systems. Each ball will be painted using different colours and textures. When the planets are complete we will use hot glue and fishing line to hang the planets from a "sun." The mobile can be hung against a wall or from the ceiling.

DAY 4

Space Dioramas - Probably my favourite of the projects, the space diorama takes up the whole 2 hours. The warm-up consists of the kids looking through all of the materials and playing with different combinations until they have an idea of how to proceed. The dioramas are created inside of boxes that range in size. They use collage, paint, glitter, astronaut figurines and anything else they wish to create a space scene. We will photo document this work.

DAY 5
Alien Collages & Space Ship Design - Warm up will be a "exquisite corpse" session (not as gruesome as it sounds!). Exquisite corpse is a drawing game where participants collaborate to create strange drawings… each person can't see what the person before them drew. This is a great way to open up the imagination to the possibilities that collage can allow in creativity. I will then do a short lesson on the types of life that may exist in on other planets. We will then work with collage and watercolour to create aliens and space ships. The class will end with a giant collaborative space collage where we will all work together to create a "new" kind of life form!

Colour, Form & Landscapes by Rachel

Rachel was my student for two years and every class with her was amazing. She has a great sense of humour and loves to use colour and shapes without reservation. She is a truly free artist and was always full of surprising and unique ideas during our 2 hour classes. She is now in high school and busy with soccer and being a teenager. Hopefully, she'll be back to make more awesome art!

Here are some of my favourite pieces that she made in class:

Gavin the Great

I've spent the past several months working with a remarkable student by the name of Gavin. At twelve years old Gavin is a fantastic guitar player and artist, not to mention an all around great person. Each week we meet for two hours, spending the first 20 mins or so doing warm-up exercises then dive into an art project.

Here is some of the wonderful work he has done:

biology composition / graphic markers

watercolour exercise 

fruit still life / watercolour, pastel and graphite 

 guitar abstraction / guache 

New Classes, Amazing Results!

A year has gone by since my last post and a lot has happened with the Early Works project. Here's an update and some samples from my classes so far this year.

I am now teaching from my new home studio which has turned out to be a very enjoyable and functional space. As much fun as I had at the House, I find the change refreshing and the students seem very comfortable. Calla and I do plan on teaming up again in the future however! For now, I'm teaching solo and keeping my classes to a maximum of four students. This offers students more instruction and creates a calmer, more focused environment. We still get goofy though! 

The last two rounds of classes have been so nice : )

In the spring I taught a botanical watercolour class and in the summer I put on a week long art camp dedicated to my passion for astronomy. We created solar system mobiles, alien landscapes, and beautiful nebula paintings. Currently, my fall session is under way and we have been focusing on composition and illustration. 

Eva : age 11 / watercolour / botanical study

Lauren : age 5  / watercolour / learning technique

Hana : age 12 / collage on hard board / composition study

Amy : age 11 / mixed media / alien landscape

Anna : age 5 / styrofoam balls, acrylic paint, yarn / solar system mobile