Raising Artists
Pinewood Ave. M6C2V2 Toronto, ON, Canada

You may have read the words "Fine Motor Skills" on our feed. What are Fine Motor Skills? We use Fine Motor Skills to make small movements. These movements come so naturally to most people that we usually don’t think about them. For children who are developing their Fine Motor Skills, it can be a bit complex in the beginning. The evolution of this skill involves the coordinated efforts of the brain and muscles, and they’re built on the gross motor skills that allow us to make... bigger movements, like walking, running, and jumping. That's V using her Fine Motor Skills to create a Valentine card with The Valentine Project art kit, available in the shop: https://www.raisingartists.ca/product/the-valentine-project/

Eyes and Ears He says that I have the most beautifulest eyes, and I think he has the cutest ears, but that’s not what this new blog post is about. Click on the : https://www.raisingartists.ca/blog/ and go ahead, give it a read.... Happy Valentine’s Day!

We believe that representation matters, and this month (especially) we would like to show case a few of our favourite Black artists in honour of #BlackHistoryMonth This is Jean-Michel Basquiat, and here are 3 facts you might not have known about him... 1. One Basquiat an exhibition devoted solely to the artist's record-breaking Untitled (1982) which was purchased at Sotheby's by Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa for $110.5 million dollars the most ever paid for an Ameri...can artist at auction. 2. It was his graffiti tag SAMO (shorthand for same old shit) that first drew public attention. 3. The crown, Basquiat’s signature artistic motif, both acknowledged and challenged the history of Western art. By adorning black male figures, including athletes, musicians and writers, with the crown, Basquiat raised these historically disenfranchised artists to royal even saintly stature. Jean-Michel’s crown has three peaks, for his three royal lineages: the poet, the musician, the great boxing champion, said his friend artist Francesco Clemente. My Manfriend and I share a deep love for Basquiat's work, it is primitive in style, colourful, deep, and thought provoking. We always get a great conversation out of observing his pieces and critically thinking about the subject matter. We find it fascinating that Basquiat made the transition from unknown graffiti artist to internationally acclaimed Neo-Expressionist in just a couple of years. His work made a huge impact to the street art scene in the early 1980s.

About that Let’s be real, I never took the word pivot seriously so I made up a new phrase for the action: Creatively Shifting. Please borrow it, say it, and even do it. It’s because every time someone used the word pivot, I instantly thought of Ross Gellar of the sitcom Friends, with a giant couch in his hands yelling PIVOT!. Are you picking up what I am putting down? This is a snippet from my first blog post I published a few weeks ago, have you had the op...portunity to read it yet? https://www.raisingartists.ca/introducing-the-creative-pro/

Throwing it back to Valentine's Day last year! This was a craft that we implemented at our PA Day Workshop last year at OLPH. The idea was inspired by Andy Warhol's pop art and Peter Max's colour, composition and usage of hearts in his work. We miss those fun filled PA Days with our budding artists, and our team! However your children can still create Valentine themed art with The Valentine Project. ... We have few art kits left, snag one now and we will have it delivered to your door before the weekend! See more

As you can see the season of Valentines kind of exploded on our feed in the last few weeks. We have a confession to make, it is our most favourite holiday! The hallmark movies, the abundance of love, the diy glittery cards, the heart shaped candy, the flowers, the endless crafts and the chocolates... We love it all, and clearly wanted to share all this LOVE with you! With only 4 days left to Valentine's Day, we wanted to give you a sneak peak of what is inside in this... educational and fun filled art kit! Order now at: https://www.raisingartists.ca/product/the-valentine-project/ and we'll have it delivered to you by Friday!