2016 Mentor Sessions

Oak Springs Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Lei Lani De Santiago, Ape Gear

little artist: Samuelo

I love Samuel’s quiet intensity & passion. He has made me appreciate art in a new way.

Oak Springs Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Lei Lani De Santiago

little artist: Nhi

Nhi is an inspiring artist. Her work is like seeing magic come alive on the page!

Oak Springs Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Ruth Waddy, Ruthless Reuse

little artist: Mariah

Mariah is amazing. She has a sophisticated aesthetic. She is excited about sewing, and she is really determined. I think that she will be successful at whatever she decides to do. Even when the work is complicated, she perseveres. She has taught me so much, and I hope that she has gotten as much out of it as I have. I’ve certainly enjoyed getting to know this talented and discerning young lady.

Oak Springs Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Ruth Waddy, Ruthless Reuse

little artist: Briceida

Brici is a natural artist. She is an amazing painter and draws with confidence and ease. She is clever and creative. I admire her conviction and passion for painting.

Oak Springs Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Mandy Ackerman

little artist: Anthony

Anthony has been a pleasure to work with! Anthony always maintained a positive attitude and was willing to learn and explore new mediums. Throughout the course of the program, Anthony’s skills in drawing and painting developed tremendously. He strategically chose subjects to draw/paint, including a thorny devil lizard and zebra, based on his interest in animals.

Oak Springs Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Nicole Finkelstein

little artist: Alexis

Alexis inspired me every Thursday afternoon! It was exciting to walk into the classroom with a general game plan, only to walk out two hours later with a whole new perspective. She has an excellent eye for color and detail that encouraged me to refine my personal skill set. I loved working alongside my Little Artist!

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Amy Sherman

little artist: Violet

My first time as a Big Artist has been a great experience! Violet wanted to focus on 2D artwork, but had some background with 3D art, so I suggested we combine the two with linocut. We started with a drawing of her favorite dog and she took to it immediately! It perfectly combined her love of 3D artwork to produce a 2D image and some beautiful prints. The best part is that she got me drawing animals as well, so I wonder who’s encouraging whom?

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Emily Spykman, Clementine & Co

little artist: Jenevie

I had been looking for a way to reach out from my solitary artist cocoon and be of service in a world which increasingly ignores the importance of creation and working with our hands. Sharing the wonderment of manipulating metal with Jenevie gave me so much joy and caused me to take a closer look at how I make my work and why I do it that way. She is always so ready to dive in and never lacked inspiration or curiosity.

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Katie Cowden, Killer Queen Jewelry

little artist: Lauren

Lauren excitedly experiments with everything — color mixing, painting techniques, and designing. When she wasn’t completely in love with her work, she didn’t hesitate to start over and have fun with a new concept.

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Brian David Johnson, BDJ Craftworks

little artist: Joseph

Working with Joseph has been super fun. This is my second time in a while to work as a Big Artist, and I forgot how cool the dynamic of collaboration was — working together to figure out what’s possible and where Joseph can go with his piece. He’s a bright kid who actually reminds me a bit of myself at his age, which is pretty funny and also makes for a good fit.

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Katie Cowden

little artist: Emma V.

Emma is always excited to take her drawings and turn them into a 3D piece of art. She translated a love for her family’s culture into a design that would have artistic merit and mass appeal.

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Emily Cano, Sweet Ink Collective

little artist: Emma D.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Emma and sharing my passion. She is an imaginative and creative person who made me laugh often. She picked up the screenprinting process quickly and had a lot of great ideas for her pieces. I look forward to checking in on her in the future and seeing where she goes in the art world.

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST: Justin Gannon, Gannon Studio

little artist: Corbin

Corbin is very talented and motivated when it comes to drawing. He lead the way towards the initial concepts for the two pieces. He inadvertently reminded me that the process of making art should remain fun and that collaboration is so important.

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Jennifer Hill, Jennifer Hill Ceramics

little artist: Averi

Averi was enthusiastic from the start about working in clay. We had an immediate rapport and bounced ideas off one another every session. She learned handbuilding skills and ways to create original designs by making her own texture stamps. As icing on the cake, she is clever at wordplay, and we had a lot of fun conversations.

Maplewood Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Madison Sommerville, M Sommerville Photography

little artist: Allison

Working with Allie has been a great pleasure. She is an enthusiastic art student and a quick learner. She seemed to really enjoy the photography process and was patient and paid careful attention to the darkroom process. It quickly became apparent that she listened closely and took what I said to heart. She has a natural eye for photography and was eager to experiment without much prompting from me. We both learned some important lessons from each other.

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Sara Senseman

little artist: Lisbeth

Karma is a super go-for-it gal! She took to carving very quickly and had so many plans even before we started. Maybe it’s the North Carolina mountain genes in her. She was and is very focused and gets “in the zone” — you’d hardly want to interrupt her.

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Coleman Kelly, ColemanKellyCrafts

little artist: Karma

Karma is a super go-for-it gal! She took to carving very quickly and had so many plans even before we started. Maybe it’s the North Carolina mountain genes in her. She was and is very focused and gets “in the zone” — you’d hardly want to interrupt her.

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Sandy Bowie, Sugar Puppet

little artist: Julian

Julian is a bright and curious person. He is so fun to work with! He loves creating and drawing new types of creatures, and we were able to translate his skills into some great collages. His imagination knows no limits.

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Sandy Bowie, Sugar Puppet

little artist: Jacky

Jacky is a creative person. She is social and finds inspiration in others. She uses things she finds visually appealing to inspire her art. She adapted well to the abstract ideas of art, and it shows in her auction piece.

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  April Sullivan, Yarn Painting by April

little artist: Fate

Fate has been a wonderful little artist. He is smart and friendly. He enjoys learning new things. Yarn painting takes time and patience. He has really taken to the art form and understands the subtleties of how the placing of the threads affects the overall design. Although it can be tedious, Fate was always ready to create and took pride in his work. I couldn’t ask for a better student!

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Michael Sieben

little artist: Elias

Working with Elias was an awesome experience. We both have a love for drawing and immediately found common ground regarding our choice of medium. I helped him discover some fun ways to inject color into his black-and-white work. This was my first time mentoring and it was extremely rewarding. I’m excited to see Elias’ finished pieces hanging in the art show, and I have the feeling this won’t be the last time he sees his work exhibited in a gallery.

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Eya Floyd, Eya Claire

little artist: Eileen

Eileen has become a master in the art of glitter painting, even mixing her own colors of glitter. She has a very inventive mind with plenty of creative ideas. For instance, during our jewelry-making session she had the brilliant idea to make jewelry using Lego pieces! She’s brimming with creativity!

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Eya Floyd, Eya Claire

little artist: Briseida

Briseida has a very artistic eye and a natural talent for design — especially fashion!  We worked with jewelry, acrylic painting, and glitter painting, and she showed patience, diligence, and an ability to make well-thought-out design plans with every piece. Her journal has some amazing side projects that she’s cooked up all on her own. My favorite is the collages of dress designs made from teeny-tiny strips of colorful tape. It’s beautiful and so meticulous!

Blackshear Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Jess Moss, Hotline Ink

little artist: Alexa

My Little Artist and I explored multiple mediums for her art piece. We delved into screen printing (my medium) and dabbled in sewing. This was a great learning experience for both of us!

Allison Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Chandra Achberger

little artist: Yadira

Yadira is gifted with an artist’s eye. Each week we worked with film and digital photography, also with acrylics and watercolors; her choices of color and compositions impressed me with each visit. Quietly determined, she consistently was successful at creating appealing art that met her vision. Her natural ability, love for painting, and joyful art have been an inspiration.

Allison Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Angie Diaz, Angie Boutique

little artist: Ximena

Ximena has been wonderful to work with. I love that she is a quick learner and appreciates the nuances of attention to detail. She has been introduced to the art of sewing and textiles, and she has been eager to learn and see the completed project. I hope she will continue to enjoy new mediums of art to enrich her life.

Allison Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Elly Fleegal, Fleegal Farms

little artist: Mariela

Mariela is a delightful, quick young lady. She is so excited every session. I have greatly enjoyed her enthusiasm and creative ideas.

Allison Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Elly Fleegal, Fleegal Farms

little artist: Karen

Karen is very sweet and thoughtful. I had so much fun teaching her about making soap and skincare from scratch. I loved her excitement about developing packaging ideas and her careful approach to her designs.

Allison Elementary

BIG ARTIST:  Heather Harris, Heather Harris Art

little artist: Alex

Working with Alex was great fun! It was very interesting to spend time with such a talented and artistic fifth-grader and fun to teach him new art methods.

¡Trabajando con Alex fue muy divertido! Fue muy interesante