The Rare Hare Studio offers art classes to children ages preschool through 8^th grade, introducing a wide variety of materials and techniques. Students are encouraged to explore supplies and tools freely, as well as to participate in guided lessons. Basic artistic elements such as line, shape, color, texture, form, space, and value, as well as design concepts, are discussed and practiced at appropriate grade levels. Study of these elements is further enhanced by an emphasis upon the use of patterns and rhythm in art. Taking note of patterns in the environment around us and how they can be interrelated is an integral part of this process.

Rare Hare Studio recognizes that like people, art comes in many shapes, forms and colors. We offer a truly unique mix of classes where participants can discover new things and yet build on what skills they may already have. Some students can draw very well, others may prefer to make sculpture or weave. We offer opportunities to develop existing skills, and introduce new skills in a comfortable, relaxed environment.

See our 2010 SUMMER CAMP schedule here.  Summer Camp space is limited; sign up to reserve a slot today!

You can see a CURRENT CLASS SCHEDULE here. Find out about recycling arts/donations and F.A.I.R. here.

We were crazy for owls this past fall.  These were made using upholstery fabric scraps.  Both kids and adults created these unique pieces.

Making these owls was a hoot.  One young lady decided to have her birthday party at the studio, with the theme of…you guessed it, OWLS.  She and her friends each made their own distinct owl.

This upholstery fabric looks so much better as an owl, then on a sofa; check out the button eyes and reclaimed cork board nose.

Teaching away from the studio with ArtReach, Rare Hare has the opportunity of working with kids all over San Diego.  On this day we were at Onienta School in Imperial Beach, helping students to make ArtReach’s signature project, The Dream Quilt using oil pastels.

The Dream Quilts are alive with so much energy and color!

This 6th grade student from Encinitas visits the studio on a fieldtrip.  In this class we made mobiles from recycled materials.

Using recycled and reclaimed materials in our F.A.I.R. sculpture class, this 3rd grade student make a figure.

In this Jackson Pollock Jr. class, we explored melted crayon art.  Mom assist her 4-year-old son with the crayons, but the design is all his.  The beauty of Jackson Pollock Jr. is that kids can discover new types of media they would otherwise not get a chance to use; parents assist as needed, or just stay close by and watch.  Besides experiencing new types of art, this class is special because the parent and child work collaboratively; a chance for the parent and child to share the process and just BE TOGETHER, spending time with one another.

This young lady is proud of her weaving. We used reclaimed yarn and wrapped it around sticks; something so simple, yet full of color and texture.  It was fun to watch Mom and daugther dance around each other as they took turns wrapping the yarn around the stick.  Jackson Pollock Jr. is for ages 3-6 and is held once a month.

In the summer camp Old Fashioned Crafts, we made pantins, a French paper doll similar to a jacking jack. Digging through the big bin of recycled papers to choose our designs in half the fun!

Borrowing from an “old fashioned” type of game, we played Pin the Ear On Van Gogh on the patio during our break.  It didn’t matter where the ear ended up, we were all in stitches!

These gentlemen are sporting their King Tut hats, made from recycled grocery sacks in Egyptian Camp.

In addition to creating lots of art with Egyptian themes, another hightlight was excavating hidden treasures from ancient rocks.

This camper leaves Egyptian Summer Camp with enough projects to fill a pyramid including a treasure map, a scarab necklace, a mummy and more!

In Asian Art, we studied what one student called the “calm nature” of the art and images.  We used water colors to make beautiful paper kimonos.

We often noticed that the colors in our kimonos were the same colors we were wearing in our clothes!

In Found Objects camp we used fallen palm fronds to create animal faces; the shape lends itself to an awesome elephant, but we had a few giraffes and one rhino to boot!  The garden patio provides a nice alternative to inside; we stay cool and the paint dries fast!

Another studio favorite is the postage stamp art; using cancelled postage stamps as the muse, students create a scene based on the image.  In this case, this second grade student used a 1970’s stamp of the moon landing  and shuttle lauch to create a space scene.

Found Objects camp included these odd birds made from recycled plastic bottles.

In Intermediate Art Skills, students in grades 5th-7th worked on the elements of art and design by drawing from a still life.  It’s hard to tell the difference between the real objects and this student’s amazing rendering.  I think Cezanne would approve.

Inspired by Gustav Klimt’s take on the forest, Intermediate Art Skills students did their own versions, choosing which season and corresponding colors was best for them.  We also chose from faux wood paneling scraps to make our trees; notice one student’s idea of placing a Klimt figure in their spring forest (below).

For our middle school camp we took students to San Francisco for 5 days.  On day one we took in the amazing murals of the Mission District; this student is looking at a mural of an alley of murals while standing in an actual alley of murals….upon our return we created murals and many other aspects of our trip to San Francisco.  After the one week trip we spent a week creating the Living Map of San Francisco in the studio showing the different neighborhoods and points of interest.

Memorial Day was beautiful at the annual Holiday at Home Parade in Kensignton. Rare Hare Studio brought historical artists to the event; Georgia O'Keefe, Frida Kahlo, Annie Leibovitz, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Vincent Van Gogh pictured here.

Pop Artist, Andy Warhol shows off his soup can.

Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe take break to discuss the importance of women artists in history.

This lovely lady evolved from a found palm frond, a curtain rod loop, wooden beads, and raffia. Her mouth, a slight scratch in the frond, was already there.

Using a laundry soap bottle, reclaimed foam scraps, poker chips, and vegetable netting, this fish comes from a sea of recycled materials.

Students at Aseltine School worked with Rare Hare Studio to create an ocean of fish made from scrap materials and was featured at the school's arts festival.

 

This young lady attended a Frida Kahlo birthday party and made her own unique version of Frida by collaging reclaimed yarn, fabric, satin flowers and beads. Guests then made a big bead necklace in the style that Frida used to wear.

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).