Scribble Town (ST): Clark Sorensen is a man of his heart, many trades and talents! He grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture from the University of Utah.  Before settling in California he lived in France for a couple of years.  Clark has been a costume designer, illustrator, and computer animator, working primarily on video games.  He probably has had a hand in one of your favorite video games!  Clark’s playful attitude has led him back to sculpting and painting where for the past 10 years he has devoted his full attention to creating art.  His unique series of urinal sculptures has given him worldwide recognition and now he has caught Scribble Blog’s eye!

Clark, where are you and what are you up to these days?

Clark Sorensen (CS): I am living and working in San Francisco.  I’ve been a full time artist for about 10 years working primarily in porcelain.

ST: How did you discover working with ceramic and was there somebody that encouraged you?

Call me crazy, but lately it seems like Q-tips and flowers are a crafting match made in heaven. Q-tips make a great, inexpensive alternative to paintbrushes, especially for little hands and their texture is perfect for creating beautiful dandelion paintings. They also present the perfect opportunity to show how what’s ordinary or even a nuisance to some can be beautiful to others.

 

Take dandelions—technically, they’re considered weeds, but both species (the yellow florets and the white seed heads) are so pretty. And how fun is it to make a wish on the white seed heads and blow on them so the little white fibers sail off into the wind? Well, when you do that, you’re actually just helping to spread the seeds and grow more weeds! But what’s pesky to some is beauty to others.

 

Q-tips don’t get a great wrap either. They’re a bathroom accessory that’s mostly used for make up or nail polish cleanup.  Q-tips aren’t often given much thought and are usually hidden in a drawer or dressed up in a glass dish. But these little guys can also make a great art tools. And when you combine them with dandelions, these two outcasts can make a beautiful painting.

 

To create your own dandelion painting, grab some Q-tips and white paint. Now, there’s a lot of room for interpretation here. You can either start with a blue piece of paper or take white paper or a canvas and paint it blue. You could paint a scene, such as grass or a field, or leave it plain. If you painted, wait for the background to dry thoroughly. Next grab a Q-tip and dip it in white paint. For a simpler interpretation, just start making dots. Create a cluster of dots for the flower’s base and then trail your dots off to represent the seedlings blowing away. Finally, add a black or green stem with paint, charcoal, or crayon… whatever you prefer. If you want to get a little bit fancier, you can use lines and dots to create your dandelions. Draw lines coming out of a central point to create a sphere and then add the dots to the end of your lines. This will give your dandelions a full, round look.

Photo: “Fly Away Dandelions,” Artsonia

There are no mistakes here. Experiment in making your dandelions however you like. As long as you have a Q-tip with white paint and a surface to paint it on, you’re over halfway there. It’s important to remember that the ordinary can be extraordinary and you have the power to make that transformation every day!

Photo: “Light Blue Wishes,” SVPPLY

Happy crafting and have a creative day!

 

A not too often used craft supply is raffia. Raffia is long fibers made from the Raffia palm tree. Raffia can be made into a slew of interesting crafts. Today, I made flowers using a flower loom.

To make this craft, you will need:

- Raffia in a variety of colors (I used Blue and Orange)

- Flower Loom

- Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun

- Colorful Buttons

To start, loosely tie one end of a piece of raffia to the loom to anchor it in place. Then, twist the raffia around the loom pegs in a criss-cross fashion.

Continue to do this all the way around the loom until you end where you began. Loosely tie this end of the Raffia to the end you originally anchored in place.

Next, make the center of the flower. Using the tapestry needle (included in kit), slip another color through the back and up through the center of the flower. Go down through one of the loops of the flower and back up through the center. Continue to do this through each consecutive flower loop.

When you have gotten all the way around the flower, weave the needle through the back of the flower to secure the loose ends of the raffia in place. Do this for the center raffia color and for the petal color. Snip the extra string at the loose ends.

Slide the flower off the loom and hot glue buttons onto the center for added flare.

You can use your raffia flowers to make earrings, embellish a jacket or hat or even dress up a picture frame! What will you do?

Hi Scribblers!

Kids love arts and crafting, but they aren’t always so crazy but the art of gardening. While we are still in the chill winter months, I was thinking about what flowers I would be planting in the spring and how nice it would  be if the kids helped out with this and learned about how plants grow. Well, it’s too early for that lesson (check back in the spring for some educational eco-crafts!), but I thought it would still be nice to make a creative garden with the little ones!

This craft is so simple- it’s easy to create and a great way to spark a little creativity in the minds of your kids.

To make your own Colorful Flower Garden, you will need:

- Colorful felt

- Scissors

- A Hole Puncher

- Tacky Glue

- Green Straws (or Pipe Cleaners)

- Colorful Buttons

 

 

 

To start, draw out fun geometric shapes onto the colorful foam. Try diamonds and hearts for the petals. Circles and squares for the center of the flowers and diamonds and teardrops for the leaves! Keep in mind, the straw will be for the flower stems so draw your shapes in proportion with these stems. Next, cut out the shapes you’ve drawn.

Fold your leaves in half and punch a hole through the flat ended side of the leaf.

Slip the straw through the holes.

Next, make your flowers. Start with the center pieces (we used circles and squares), and decorate them with buttons, sequins, glitter- whatever you can imagine!

Take the petal pieces and glue them to the center piece. Make lots of different creative designs for the flowers. This is a great way to inspire creativity.

Challenge your kids to use different colors and shapes, maybe layer the petals or add extra embellishments such as glitter glue or sequins!

Glue the flower pieces to the tops of the stems. Place the finished flowers in a vase or flower pot (try sticking them into pieces of floral foam or floral moss), and then put them out on display!