This was an idea I had for of the days of Creation. Sun & Moon. I have it wrong however, because the Moon is female & the Sun is male…forgive me.

I started with the Sun, we used a coffee can top as the template for the circle. We used black oil pastel for the lead look for stained glass. For the sun’s rays, I chose movement instead of the standard triangle. For the stained glass look, I added lines to “hold the piece together”. I tell the youngest, that oil & water do not mix (I’ve shown them this with colored water & veg. oil in a glass) this art project proves this to be true, because the water stays inside the lines created in oil.  I chose the crescent moon…because it fit. I use watercolor paint, the new kind that comes in bottles, one is made by SARGENT ART- washable Watercolor Magic. This product is a true gift, I highly recommend this for art classes for children of all ages, because it is by far the best, easiest & cheapest (in the long run) way for kids to learn how to control the element of water. Art is magic, water bonds with itself & seems to have a life of its own & when you explain this & then show children…the look on their face is one of wonder.
When I started teaching art, I told the youngest (age 3-5 years) that art is a form of magic. To make something from inside you, to make two colors of acrylic turn into one, to see that water bonds to itself & will follow your brush like a dog on a leash. Capture their imagination, while building confidence. They build confidence in different ways.  Sometimes with success & sometimes with what they believe is failure.  While their piece may turn out differently then they planned, I ask them what they DO like & I ask them how they made it.  When I ask them, they are then teaching me something & that is a powerful thing.  Explaining that every piece of art they create, whether destined for the trash or the fridge or frames, that child will take a piece of what they loved & bring that new knowledge & wonder to a different piece.
I’ve learned that children have so little control over their lives, except when creating something, anything (legos, blocks, puzzles & art)…When given the chance to make something with freedom (with guidelines…standard stuff like don’t eat the paint, don’t paint anything other then the paper…blah, blah, blah. They are kids after all & need a strong person to push against, I very rarely change something, kids feel safer knowing they are not in charge of anything other then creating)
Ages 12-14 have the hardest time with art classes, because they themselves believe they are as interesting & as special as the sun itself. It is all bravado, which can be overcome with a firm…grrr. I noticed with ages 15-18, teenagers want return & look outside themselves & want to find the magic they felt before the hormones filled their veins with…Vinegar .

I taught art at my Temple- grades K-6.  All of these classes came into the most beautiful art room in the whole wide world.  The kids would come with their teachers & their TA’s.  These older teens (TA’s) 16-18 would sit among their students & listen to me explain what we are going to make (usually it had to do with a Jewish Holiday)  90% of the time, the TA’s would ask if they could make one too. The teacher would make the art as well.  My two TA’s would, at the end of the class would make some of the art & the room is covered in their art.

That art room was my Synagogue, my church…because I never felt happier then when I watched those kids find magic & have their hearts fill with it.  The windows faced east, classes were held on Sunday mornings…to me it always felt that the sun was watching us.  God created… I firmly believe art is empowering, because in a very small way, we create our own worlds.
I never finished this piece because I loved how it looked this way. Besides, I had stuff to learn from my students.