Close up Interview with Jen's Kids Art

Tell us a little about Jen’s kids Art and your role in the business?

I run kid’s art classes at the EJ Ward Community Centre, 189 Underwood Street, Paddington. Classes are held Tuesdays 4:15-5:30pm and Saturdays 9:30-10:45am and are for children aged 4-12 years.


I started working for Kirsty Shadiac, the founder of the kids art classes last year under the name “Kirsty’s Kids Art” teaching the Sydney branch for her (Kirsty is based in Adelaide), due to Kirsty’s ever increasing commitments the opportunity came up for me to take over the running of the Sydney Classes and I jumped at the offer...hence the name change to Jen’s kids Art.

I have also started running art themed Birthday Parties either at the centre or in individual homes, so much fun!

 Art Class

What are the five words that people who know you would use to describe your business?

Creative, encouraging, colourful, fun & expressive

What was the purpose on starting Jen’s Kid Art and how has the concept come about?

As I mentioned Kirsty started the business 3 years ago as she had such a love of children and art. I have always had a great rapport with children and had done many art activities with my own nieces and nephews over the years and had been approached to teach through my other business IMOK. So when the opportunity came up to start teaching on a permanent basis I was so excited and just knew that I was destined to do this. My concept is encouraging children to be creative as it helps them to relax and enhances their confidence.

Art Studio

Tell us more about your Art Class and the Art themed birthday Parties?

My classes are held in a wonderful light filled room in Paddington. I teach a maximum of 14 students per class to ensure they get the attention they need. When students arrive they know the first thing they need to do is choose a smock to wear and then gather around my table....for the first 15 minutes I do a demonstration of what we are doing for the class – it is always a different topic or theme and using different materials. Here students get to watch what I am doing, ask questions and suggest what colours I should use. They love this part and helps them relax and come up with ideas for their own artworks, by the time my demo is over they are busting to run to the table and get started.

Students are encouraged to take inspiration from, but not copy my work, the ideas they come up with never fail to amaze and inspire me each week.

My art themed parties are held similar to a class but tailored to suit the birthday girl or boys favourite things to paint or draw. The last few parties I have done have involved creating a penguin pencil case followed by a birthday themed artwork for all of the kids to take home. Lots of fun 

Art themed Birthday Party

Tell us about your process for working with children’s’ Art Classes?

Each week I come up with a new topic that either compliments or contrasts previous week topics. I usually will sketch up a few ideas in my sketch book at home and finalise it on the day. I also talk to my kids each week and find out what things they are really interested in learning, for example they were really into origami and paper crafts so I did a few lessons on that. Then Manga followed and how to draw different kinds of eyes.

 What do kids learned about attending your workshop?

Kids learn to express themselves through art & creativity. They learn about colour, shapes, famous & not so famous artists and they get the chance to explore different mediums such as oil pastels, chalk pastels, watercolour, acrylic paints, textas, pencils and more. I also encourage them to not be afraid to make mistakes and try new things with art. I have had quite a few students for many terms and it is so amazing to see the progression and the personal style they are creating. Just makes me so happy to see them so proud of their work.

What advice can you offer to parents who are looking for Art Classes & Art themed birthday party?

If your child has a love of art then it should definitely be encouraged. I usually ask parents if their child is content to sit at home for an hour and draw or paint etc, if the answer is yes then they are perfect for my class. As my classes are after school and weekends the child needs to have a genuine love and interest in art, just like I do. As children tend to learn set topics at school I try and do different topics that wouldn’t necessarily be taught in school – Manga, Comic Book and Character Design for example and then get feedback from my students. We really have so much fun!

Art themed parties are definitely for parents who are looking for something different from the norm, many parents come to me because there is only so many times you can do a Fairy party. The party is run like a class where each party guest gets to make a craft item and paint a picture to take home. This really keeps the kids engaged and really brings about confidence when they see what they have created. I treat each Birthday Party separatly and usually find out what is the child’s favourite medium – drawing, painting, craft and take it from there.

Do you have a book that you would like to recommend?

The Magical Garden of Claude Monet (Anholt's Artists Books for Children)

Where do we find your services?

www.kidsartclasses.com.au

jenskidsart@gmail.com

Jen Roberts 0410 637 859

Do you have a special offer to the ArtSHINE community?

I am offering 2 for 1 casual drop in class. Usually $30 per child, now $30 for 2.

A casual class is a great way to see if the class is right for your child.

Just mention “ArtSHINE” when booking.

Images are courtesy of Jen's kids Art