This amazing creation was made by a 6th grade student.

This family class provided a chance for everyone to explore materials from nature. There were Mom and Dads and kids of all ages using bark, shells, beach glass, seed pods, branches, pine cones and more to create mini environments, mobiles, and sculptures, such as this face and bird.

One Dad used drift wood, bark, and sand dollars to make this face.

This piece of drift wood said "beak" to a partipating Mom, and thus, the bird was born!

People of all ages were getting into the fun at the one year anniversary party (2/21/09).

The studio was all a buzz during the one year anniversary party!  Celebrating one year of art classes for children and families, and spreading awareness about recycling arts, the studio had a successful first year.  In our new location, only 2 doors down from the previous space, children and families have a bit more room to engage in art, both inside and on the new enclosed patio.  The big windows and great light, along with “garden” feel of the patio, make for a delightful environment for creating art.  The new building, a historical moment, built in 1925, adds to the character and experience of Rare Hare Studio.

The new studio space glows on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.

Eye candy like you never seen it before!  This class was a big hit; we couldn’t stop making them, eating real cupcakes as we worked on the sculpture.

Each cupcake was highly specialized, made with sweet, artful ingredients.  We were in awe of one, then someone else would finish, and we then be in awe of the next one!

Fun to make, and great as gifts for Valentine’s Day, and Birthdays.  The Moms are coming back for a Mom’s Night Out with Cupcake Art!  Cupcakes are so tempting, you want to eat more than one; with Cupcake Sculpture, zero calories; 100% fun.

Rare Hare Studio wrapped up 2008 with art classes focusing on card making, decoupage, and holiday gift making using recycled scraps and reclaimed objects.  Offering a combination of art classes for kids and for families, artists of all ages were engaged in the endless fun of recycled arts.  We look forward to seeing everyone in the new year, with more unique classes and special events.

This artist uses tiny beads to enhance a card in Family Card Making.

In a recent Jackson Pollock Jr class, this young person creates his vision of a ship. This child’s ingenuity with the scraps is what our F.A.I.R projects are all about.

This student explores color mixing with water color and eye-droppers; she discovers what a little and a lot of paint can do, how colors can mix to make other colors, and what types of patterns can occur from dripping the paint, dragging the tool or pulling up one end of the paper while the paint is wet.   This type of exploration with art and scraps is always a theme in the studio, but young ones can try it out in our Jackson Pollock Jr. class (ages 3-7).

Thanks to the Normal Heights Community Council for special recognition; Honorable Mention for Best New Storefront Window on Adams Avenue. We like to share the joys of reycled scraps and art with all that pass by!

Contructed from recycled wood scraps, families assembled their table/altar and began the process of creating mini-offerings like fruits and vegetables, cakes and pies, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), flowers, and other details.  Using skulls and skeletons to enhance the altar, families explored many different combinations, making each altar so unique.

These sisters worked side by side making great pieces; notice the mini-papel picado hanging under the left altar, requiring patience and skill with scissors.

Using wood scraps, thread spools, and other recycled and reclaimed materials, the altars came alive…and the skeletons were dancing!

These mother-daughter altar pieces were award winning!  Can you see the wine bottle, newspaper, and the bounty of fruits and vegetables?  These are no ready-made Costco deli platters! 

With an assortment of speciality papers, recycled materials, pressed leaves, vintage postage stamps and more, participants decoupaged on 3-D forms, including bird houses.  In family classes, kids and adults can enjoy the process of creating together, colloborating or working on individual pieces.

These decoupage pieces were done on wood laminate squares, and below is a decoupaged wooden tea box.  The layering and creative compositional elements can draw you in….and then HOURS pass by…getting lost in decoupage is so fun!