Experience Art

At Bear Hands Art Factory, we expose kids to real, quality art materials. Our students use the same clay as our professional potters. Our students use the same quality paints and canvas as the local artists who shop with us. When your kids make art at Bear Hands, you can be sure that they are learning to create with real art materials.

Our Schedule of Classes 

Painted Stained Glass Windows

I did this project with my kids in my mixed media painting class on Friday. 

 I created a template with a few simple lines that formed a little bird sitting in a tree. I printed out enough for my class and taped them against the front side of a document frame. 

I gave my kids sharpie markers and had them trace the bird onto the back of the glass. Then, they used Galleria Acrylic paints to paint in each section of the glass. Its okay if they paint over the lines that they drew, because the line still shows up on the other side of the glass. 

When they are finished, we removed the bird templates and held their pictures up to the light. This was a win-win project. The kids really enjoyed the process, and the results were beautiful! 

Jimmy shows off his painting. 

Emma and her fantastic painting.

I will be doing this project again many times! Hopefully in a Saturday Kids' Painting Club event!

Student Art Show, August 10th

If your child is taking part in our Summer Camps this year, they should also participate in our Student Art show. Allowing kids showcase their work in an art show is a great way to give them confidence as an artist. When I was younger, I took part in a kids' art show at the local library, where I sold my first painting, and took my first commission. I was thrilled! I felt like a real artist and gained confidence in my work.

I want our students at Bear Hands to have the same kind of opportunity. This art show is free entry for anyone who participates in our Summer Camps. We want to hold the show at our new location, although we are not sure yet where that will be! Stay tuned in to our email newsletters, blog, or website to find out.

I'm excited to see the artwork that our kids will produce in these classes.

~Hannah Mathiot
Art Teacher

2013 student art show from Hannah Mathiot

Stay Connected!

After this year's summer camps at 219 Middle Street, Bear Hands Art Factory will be moving to a new location. Although we love the downtown area, our changing economy demands a move to a more accessible, economical location. 

 We will still be serving the New Bern community, and we are very hopeful about the new changes in our business. I will be adding more classes during the school year for both home school students and after school students. I want to add classes for young students ages 4-6, and  kids' painting party events. 

We will also be drastically improving our pottery studio. The first 20 Members (or "Charter Members") to commit to a year of membership will get exclusive benefits (we already have 17 charter members!). Regular memberships will also come with far more membership benefits than before. 

Shelley will be working to improve and maintain the pottery studio, keeping members involved with classes, contests, inspiration, and opportunities. Snag one of the three remaining Charter Memberships to the studio, or find out more about the membership benefits: email us at info@bearhandsart.com. 

I know many of you are wondering where we will be moving to. As of right now, no leases have been signed, so it's a little up in the air. But here's one sure way to find out. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter! You'll be the first to know about sales, classes, and our new location. We feature art events, local artists, student art and more. It's the best way to stay connected with New Bern's art community. 

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As always, thank you for your continued support as we undergo changes to meet the needs of our artists!

~Hannah C. Mathiot

Making Paper Sculptures

Last week I taught my students how to make paper sculptures out of fiber and water. We used bisque molds, (once fired clay), 130g water, and about 10g of fiber to make each sculpture. I used a sensitive kitchen scale to measure the amounts of each material.

Toilet paper works great for the fiber: its easy for the kids to mash up into the water. I had them mash it together with a popsicle stick for about five minutes until it turned into goop.

Once the pulp was ready, they scooped it up with their hands and pressed it into the mold with their fingers. I  put towels underneath the bisque molds so that the excess water wouldn't make a mess. I reminded them to press really hard to make sure that the pulp got into the eye and ear crevices of the animal molds.











To help absorb more of the water, we put one side of the towel over the mold and pressed the water out of it.

They will dry over a period of the next few days, but putting them in a toaster oven for 20 minutes works too. The bisque molds work because bisque absorbs water. Plaster, we discovered, doesn't absorb water nearly as well. It can still work but more often than not, the paper sticks to the mold.



After the molds are done, we painted them with tempura paints and used them to make some great collages! I let the kids integrate their paste paper from last week, and some flat bottomed marbles into their artwork as well.

What to Do With The Kids This Summer

Summer is on its way. Moms, you know what that means. Nine weeks of "I'm bored," or "so what are we doing today?" and more...

Well, fear no more, Bear Hands has a huge schedule of summer camps just for you. We like to say, "A creative kid is a happy kid." The word "creative" may also be exchanged with the words: painted, messy, muddy, etc.

You can drop them off here for a two-hour class, or pack them a lunch and take the day off. We have morning sessions, afternoon sessions, and price breaks for a whole day of art camp. Our schedule is packed with classes!

See you there!

Mixed Media Class: Art Paper

On Friday, my class of 14 Students made papers for a future collage. Based off of a paste-paper project I did in college, we painted and stamped textures onto construction paper to create unique art papers. My students used rubber stamps, foam stamps, sponges, toothbrushes, forks, pallet knives, straws, and other objects to texture and color their papers. Instead of the paste material, I used tempura paint! 

This paper was sponged with red and then stamped with blue. 

 Some students dipped plastic forks into their paint and then sketched lines all over their papers. 

 Some students splattered interference paint onto their darker papers to add a shine.

 this texture was made by dragging a fork across a layer of paint in diagonal lines.

Each student made two or three papers. next week we will cut them up and use them to make fascinating, vibrant collages!

Paint Party Field Trips With New Bern Christian Academy

This year we have had the honor of serving New Bern Christian Academy, a private christian school on old cherry point road,  by hosting their students for some wonderful painting field trips!

Chris Mathiot, Painting instructor, explains why these events make such wonderful, educational field trips. "We teach them art projects while they are creating." He says. "They get to work with real, high-grade materials. We guide them through a process that they can repeat when they make other things."

Every grade at the school does two field trips at Bear Hands, "One is in ceramics, and one is on canvas," Chris explains. We go to the school for the kindergarten field trips, our operation is pretty mobile.

Students learn how to mix paints, clean brushes, make different kinds of brushstrokes, create definition in their paintings with contrast and outlines, and more.

Most of the field trips take place on Tuesdays during the school day. The kids take the bus to our location and we have a classroom area all set up for them. We provide all of the materials, set up, and clean up. Its not a difficult operation. I've taught a few of the younger grades, and the kids are very receptive to the process.

Today we painted sheep with the 9th graders!

Alcohol Ink Tile Coasters

 To start out my six week mixed media course (ages 7+), I showed the kids an exciting, moving, wild kind of painting that most of them had never experienced. Alcohol inks are becoming more popular as a painting medium. vibrant  wild, are hard to control, these inks allowed my kids to paint in a way they didn't think was possible.

When my kids used these inks, the art changed focus tremendously.  For some, it became more about the process than the product. It was a lot more like a science experiment than most of my other classes. But take a look at what happened!

I passed out some straws and let the kids blow the wet ink around.

The child who painted this piece was very excited about the finished product. 

He said "I didn't even know I could paint like that!"