Art without Barriers... and also Colored Pencils

Lily Winans tries different shading techniques during the Studio MPL meeting Monday.

"I think it's really fun and there are no barriers," Lily Winans said.

The question: Why do you like art?

"You can create anything," answered Isabella Dominguez.

Lily, Isabella and a roomful of like-minded, art-loving kids came to our Studio MPL session Monday. If you don't know, Studio MPL is our kids group that explores a different form of artistic expression each month.

On Monday, Mentor Public Library's Lisa Layton and Judy Schulz showed the kids how they can use different techniques of shading, saturation and color pairings to get the most out of an everyday art tool -- colored pencils.

Next month, the kids will make Henri Matisse-inspired paper collages. Lisa and Judy are talking about having a session on line dances too.

Ruthie Gemmen uses her picture to experiment with different hues of the color orange.

But Studio MPL isn't just about drawing or dancing. It's not even just about celebrating different types of art.

If Studio MPL is about one thing, it's about stimulating the imagination.

It's fun to learn new coloring techniques. It's cool to make paper collages. But what we hope is that Isabella uses these new ideas she learns at Studio MPL to create whatever she wants. We hope it helps Lily break down whatever barrier is in between what she imagines and what she can make.

We hope every kid who comes to Studio MPL has fun. But, even more than, we hope it inspires them to do something.

Something fun, something different, something unique, something incredible -- we hope it helps them create something that only they could make.

Because that's art.

Maggie Shea, Bridget Kristo and Sadie Shea talk about the model for their still life during Studio MPL.

Studio MPL is open to any child from first through fifth grade. Next month's session will be Oct. 21 at our Main Branch. You can register for it here.

For more photos from our Studio MPL session, check out our Facebook page. For more information on programs and events for children, teens and adults at Mentor Public Library, visit www.mentorpl.org.