Grab your flip flops, sunshades and imagination

Explore the Miami Beach Art Deco District through of the eyes children. Splash and Color is an 18 page multicultural coloring book featuring popular sites in Florida’s second most popular destination.

This year, Miami Beach Art Deco Weekend celebrates Florida’s Historic Coastal. These destinations alone draw tourists from around the world. Close to 100.00 visitors attended Miami Beach Art Deco Weekend last year.

The event has expanded, offering free fitness classes, a Classic Car Show, live jazz, an Artisan Market, Kids Zone, and more.

The Arf Deco Dog Walk adds a playful touch, while tours and sketch walks provide additional highlights.

The weekend not only honors Barbara Capitman’s contributions but also advocates for the preservation of the city’s rich architectural heritage,

Capitman’s unwavering vision and determination gave rise to the iconic Art Deco District, the first 20th-century neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She was the founder of the Miami Design Preservation League.

elainemariefineart.com

splashandcolor.com

Grab your sunshades, flip flops & imagination

Splash and Color is an 18 page multicultural coloring book featuring popular sites in Florida’s second most popular destination.

Miami Beach is a hub of creativity. In December, Art lovers from around the world flock to its sunny shores during Art Basel; the United States biggest art fair.

Art Deco Weekend continues the momentum and fanfare on January 13-15. Its 800 plus Art Deco buildings are the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the world.

Explore the Miami Beach Art Deco District through the eyes of children. Splash and Color is an 18 page multicultural coloring book featuring popular sites in Florida’s second most popular destination.

splash and color.com

Book Review: Lily Brown’s Painting

Lily Brown’s Painting by Angela Johnson and EB Lewis is a positive and uplifting book that younger children will enjoy. This book highlights the creativity, strengths and love of a delightful African American girl. Lily has a zest for life, adores her family and especially her baby brother.

Lilly is a compassionate and kind girl with an active imagination. She explores the world through her art.

Children and their families will create a watercolor painting of the stars from the book, Lily Brown’s Painting.

While there is a reference to art by Van gogh, Lily also finds inspiration and appreciation in everyday occurrences and elevates them to imaginative heights. There are no limits to her creativity. Lily becomes one with her art often immersing herself in the paintings.

I love that the author, Angela Johnson shares center stage with the illustrator. There is a nice foreword by the artist, EB Lewis, about his creative progress.

Check out my website for lesson plans for this book and other art workshops.

splash and color.com

Remember let us remember one book, one pen, one child, one teacher can change the world. Malala Yousafzai

The famed Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

On my first visit to Paris, I stayed at the Hotel de la Tulipe, a wonderful inn located near the Eiffel Tower. I traveled with a group of artists headed to Monet ‘s Garden in Giverny, France.

Grab, your flip flops and imagination. Explore Miami Beach’s Art Deco District through the eyes of a child in this delightful coloring book.

During my stay at the hotel, I befriended the Inn Keeper who told me about his creative and compassionate 5 year old. It seems his son wanted to make signs so tourists would not get lost in Paris. He showed me photos of the drawings.

The next day, I gave the Inn Keeper a copy of my Art Deco coloring book, “Splash and Color,” for his son. The following day much to my surprise, he told me his son had almost finished the coloring book and was researching the Internet to see what the actual buildings looked like.

Children have an insatiable curiosity. I’m glad my coloring book inspired this young Parisian.

Explore my a new website to see this coloring book, creative lesson plans and art.

Splash and color.com

A Splash of Color

A page from Splash and Color Art Deco Coloring Book. It features a drawing of the iconic Breakwater Hotel in Miami Beach. The front design of the hotel is inspired by a ship’s masthead.

A Splash of color.

A dash of fun.

People and dogs on the run.

Bikes to ride

Scooters to thrill.

Pirates on land,

Pirates on wheels. 

Skaters zooming by.

Parasails in the sky.

A beach to swim in

Or just to float

And those silly buildings

that look like boats.

Copyrighted by Elaine Marie Artist

Check out my website to purchase my limited edition Miami Beach Art Deco Coloring Book.

elainemarieartist.com

Literacy is one of the pillars of democracy

Parents are a child’s first teacher.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King, Jr.

While schools traditionally played a key role in literacy, parents are a child’s first teacher and can inspire a love of reading.

Modern jobs demand a high level of literacy. I’m not talking about scanning or skimming an article on the internet.

According to the National Institute for Literacy, the ability to read, write and speak in English, compute and solve problems are the what literacy is about.

Literacy is the foundation of a democratic society and strong families are the foundation of any successful society. Without both we are in peril.

Time for success

Imagine what your child will know by sending 20 minutes each day with his or her face buried in a good book.

One of the truest predictors of future success is the amount of reading that children do at a young age. The amount of time children read and are read to predicts whether they will be successful.

Surprisingly, parents and children do not have to read for hours each day; they only need to read for 20 minutes each day. With 20 simple minutes of reading, students are exposed to over 1,000,000 words in the course of a school year. In comparison, children who read for five minutes per day are exposed to a paltry 8,000 words each year.

Imagine what your child will know by sending 20 minutes each day with his or her face buried in a good book.

Little Red Lighthouse Workshop

The iconic Jeffrey’s Hook lighthouse rose to fame due to the popularity of the book “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” by Hildegarde W. Swift and Lynd Ward. This story was so compelling that it inspired hundreds of children to write letters that saved lighthouse. I love books that inspire children to make a difference. Taking a clue from the book I included the bridge in my painting of the lighthouse.

Lesson Plan for Grades K-3 Social Science

 Created by Elaine Marie Austin 

elainemarieaustin@gmail.com

www.elainemarieartist.com

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE

This workshop engages children in an exciting exploration of art and social science. Children will learn about civic responsibility, the role of government and how they can make a difference. 

EDUCATION STANDARDS

SS.KA2.3 Listen to and retell stories about people in the past who have shown character ideals and principles including honesty, courage and responsibility.

SS.K.E.1.3 Describe different kinds of jobs that people do and tools or equipment used.

SS.1.A.2.2 Compare life now and in the past.

SS.1.C.1.2 Give examples of people who have the power and authority to make and enforce rules and laws in the community.

SS.2.E.1.3 Recognize that the United States trades with other nations to exchange goods and services.

VA.1.2.3.4.5 Develop the skill to use art to organize objects sequentially.

LAF.1.W.1.2 Write information in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic.

Length 1 ½ – 2 hours 

Topic: The Role of lighthouses and light keepers 

  1. Objective 

Children will learn how lightkeepers and lighthouses contribute to the welfare and economic well-being of the United States. Students will discover the function of lighthouses such as warning against visible shipping hazards. They will learn the role of government and how to impact their neighborhood and the world around them.

How children read and what they read says more about adults’ attitudes than kids. Forbes

We live in text based history more than any other time. We actually have trouble not reading. But adults aren’t reading books.

Placing the blame on technology and the educational system gives adults excuses for not engaging with their kids.

Parents can raise children who read by actually reading a book. This teaches kid that reading is important. Reading with a child teaches them that they are important.

Forbes.com