Southern California Handweavers' Guild Annual Festival in Torrance, 7 November!

If you enjoyed this docent trainings about weaving, check out the Southern California Handweavers' Guild Annual Weaving and Fiber Festival, this Sunday, 7 November, 10am-4pm, at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center. Sounds like it should be very stimulating to the eyes, the hands, and the teaching muscles too!

Photos from the Weaving at the Bauhaus workshop

Warp and weft and weave and weave... The Thursday workshop for Weaving at the Bauhaus was fun! It was over well before 11am; docents did some beautiful work, and solved some tricky process issues too. Some sneak peeks:

End-of-Year Brunch

It's a bit early to be thinking about the next end-of-year brunch, maybe, but here are some photos from the brunch last June (photos by Cecilia Gamet).

RBUSD Superintendent Steven Keller with 2009-10 chair Lucia Galante Johnson and 2010-11 chair YaVanna Baird.

Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin with SBHOA Treasurer Jackie Cronkrite

Some of our radiant docents and school chairs!

Where are you going?

Did you know that the South Bay Hands on Art docent training workshops will be held at the Knob Hill Community Center this year? (Click the link for map, directions, and other details.) Don't go to Parras Middle School--that was last year's hotspot. We're back to Knob Hill, our longtime location, for 2010-2011. Be sure to alert your fellow docents so they aren't late for the first workshop!

Our 2010-11 Schedule of Projects

Calendars ready? Here are the workshop dates and project lineup for South Bay Hands on Art, 2010-2011. If you've been around a while as a docent or a chair, you might recognize some of the presenters' names, but two are new to us this year.

October 7-8: Dappled Sunlight
by Rebecca Jarus

November 4-5: Weaving at the Bauhaus
by Penny Richards

January 13-14: Watercolor Sky
by Yavanna Baird

February 10-11: Children at the Seashore
by Vickie Sekits

March 10-11: Koi Fish Silk Painting
by Birgit Snodgrass

May 5-6: Sand Sculpture
by Carrie Powers

They'll eat this up!

Final project for the year, presented by Marianne Coble--a pop-up-book style page based on Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. Background, middle ground, foreground, scale, crosshatching... and some lovely water-soluble oil pastels. Let the wild rumpus begin!

(Above photo was taken at the docent workshop, by Cindy Denny)

Did you Chalk It Up?

Above: a colorful chalked seascape by Brennan and Maureen

A lot of folks did... hope you had a chance to stop by, at least--it was a beautiful day and a great location for the event.

More from Erika Snow Robinson--Chalk It Up is this SATURDAY!

[at left: Lincoln principal Samantha Leddel at Chalk It Up 2008]

A message from Erika Snow Robinson, your tireless Chalk It Up chair...


Hey Y’all!

Well we’re in the home stretch for Chalk It Up - the signs are hung or placed around area schools (mostly), the ads have appeared in papers (or will), the flyers and e-blasts have gone out (numerously), the sponsor/pre-reg squares are rolling in (keep it up!) and the forecast for rain for May 1st has now been changed to sunny (WHEW! still praying though...).

Now all I need is YOU!

Friends, family, community members, kids, adults, artists - EVERYONE - to come on over and Chalk It Up this Saturday at Redondo Union High School!

Yeah, yeah...I know - it’s Sharefest and it’s OLG’s fiesta and...and...and the list goes on and on...(and those are all great events, of course!) but please remember, this is the ONLY fundraiser we have JUST for South Bay Hands On Art - which affects all our children! So see how many things you can fit in one day and make CHALK IT UP one of them!

Can you imagine a world without art or music or creativity? NEITHER CAN I!!!! So let’s make sure that it never happens for our children...

It’s not too late to pre-pay online and OF COURSE you can show up and pay for your Chalk It Up square the day of the event!!!

Thanks to everyone for making this happen and let’s make it the best art & fun-filled Chalk It Up ever!

Questions? comments? don’t hesitate to email me: redondobeachrobinsons@verizon.net or find me at our FB Events page!

Even more Chalk It Up news!

Erika Snow Robinson is back with another message of encouragement and an important link to our Facebook event page for Chalk It Up...

Hey Y’all!

Just want to thank everyone who is getting the word out there - especially those of you who are blogging, adding us to PTA Newsletters, websites, etc. Remember that you can find out the latest details about Chalk It Up, specifically, and South Bay Hands On Art, in general, here at the blog, or check out our Facebook Events page! I encourage all of you to ask your friends to join, or simply send them a Chalk It Up invitation once you’re there. Visit us - make comments - give suggestions, but mostly, let others know about us!

JOIN US...what are you waiting for? This event and our art program will only be as successful as the people we have participating and volunteering! And remember, your (and my) children are counting on you!

See you May 1st - at RUHS!
Erika Snow Robinson
CIU Co-Chair 2010
310.946.5421
redondobeachrobinsons@verizon.net

More Chalk It Up details!

Here's the latest from Chalk It Up chair Erika Snow Robinson:

Hey Y’all!

Just an update on Chalk It Up 2010 and how things are going! First, let me say - things are going GREAT!

We’ve secured some great food vendors, including Borrachos Tacos and Fresh Brothers Pizza and now the arts and crafts vendors are starting to sign up as well! Forty canvases or so will be making their way back to us after having been turned into art by local artists and members of the Redondo Beach Art Group - for our awesome Silent Art Auction. Also, we’ve got some cool music slated for the event including the band, “Olds Cool” and the “Free to Be Me” Drum Circle.

Lastly, I want to make sure that everyone knows...Chalk It Up, which is an all-volunteer run event, directly benefits South Bay Hands On Art - an all-volunteer, non-profit organization.

In other words, yes, SBHOA is in the classrooms of Redondo - but not just RBUSD schools - also our community’s private and religious schools like Ascension, Tuvia, St. James, St. Lawrence and so on...

AND we are NOT run by the district - so if/when y’all are thinking of donating or showing up to part with your hard-earned $10 for a 2x2 square on Saturday, May 1st, at Chalk It Up...please remember, this benefits EVERY child who has ever had, or ever will have, contact with the South Bay Hands On Art program, or the Reaching Out program, and it is COMPLETELY separate from any district activity!

Thanks in advance for y’all’s support - now get ready to CHALK IT UP!

Erika Snow Robinson
CIU 2010 Co-Chair

The Poetry of... Tin Foil?

(Art by Sadie, a Lincoln student)

For the current Hands on Art project, students are making "iron" sculptures--from tin foil and wire. Well you didn't think we'd have them doing welding, did you? A coat of black paint is surprisingly effective at creating the illusion of ironwork. The project (developed and presented by Carrie Powers) is inspired by the work of Julio Gonzalez (1876-1942), an artist from Barcelona who spent his adult life in France.

Three-dimensional projects always present a display challenge. Here's how the Lincoln chairs solved it!(Shoeboxes, craft paper, and a staple gun, if you're curious.)

CHALK IT UP 2010!

Here's a note from our enthusiastic Chalk It Up 2010 chair, Erika Snow Robinson, with all the details you need to plan a fine, fine day of chalk art on May 1.

Hey Yʼall! Chalk It Up is back this year, Iʼm happy to say! I agreed to run Chalk It Up this year for three reasons: #1) I missed it (like many of you have told me as well!); #2) itʼs now our only fundraiser solely dedicated to supporting Hands On Art (and we all know how important our art program is!) and #3) two of the most fabulous, amazing chicks said yes to “co-chairing” with me if Iʼd be the front man (or woman, I suppose) - and those two amazing chicks are Stefani Conniff and Laurie Anderson!

Yes, you know these gals - they are long-time HOA supporters, docents, participants and theyʼve both either chaired, or been involved with, Chalk It Up for a while as well. Chalk It Up would not be around this year if not for them and many other volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to pull it off. In fact, there are so many volunteers, helpers, committee chairs and just plain nice folks to help out, when all is said and done, Iʼm going to owe so many people favors, babysitting hours or money that I may have to raffle off my firstborn (sorry, Drew!).

We have some great changes this year - including getting technologically savvy. If youʼre reading this, perhaps youʼve already noticed how much Penny Richards, who so generously runs this blog for us, has magically pulled us into the 21st century...including a PAYPAL “buy” button to pre-purchase either a 2x2, 3x3, or the grand-daddy, a 5x5 square for the day of Chalk It Up (and yes, you can buy them the day of the event, too!) Please spread the word - about this blog, about our event - on Facebook, and Twitter and whatever other places are out in the blogosphere or web. We need all the help we can get and weʼre trying to avoid going paper crazy this year (in the interest of our environment and our sanity!).

Weʼll have live bands, the Free to Be Me Drum Circle, Dennis Forel of Balloonacy, an awesome Silent Art Auction with art created and donated by members of the Redondo Beach Art Group (of which Iʼll be donating one!), a bake sale, plus lots of food and vendors and also returning...the ever-popular jewelry workshops put on by the talented Silvia Peluso. So come out and stroll and chalk and view our Hands On Art Gallery by RB students!

Look for the flyers via email and by all means, pass them along to everyone you know. Weʼll be on Facebook soon so visit us there and who knows...maybe Iʼll even learn how to twit...tweeter...? well, you get the idea!

SEE YʼALL SATURDAY, MAY 1ST, 2010 - at RUHS, near diamond & PCH!
Erika Snow Robinson
Chalk It Up 2010

February Project: Mandala

For February, SBHOA classes will be focusing their energies and thoughts into mandalas... the lesson emphasizes the way design grows from the repetition of elements, and has a clever way to make that repetition (especially for children who may never have seen carbon paper ;) ). The docent workshops certainly enjoyed the process!

(Thanks to Cindy Denny for the fine photos.)

January project: Pastel Wolf

Are there wolves prowling your school campus? Or are those just our last HOA project, "Pastel Wolf"?