The end of the school year is in sight, and the struggle is real. You’re exhausted, supplies are dwindling, and your students’ attention spans are shorter than ever. Sometimes you just need a meaningful one-day lesson to fill those final days. Try some of these low-prep, high-engagement lesson ideas that will keep your students focused on learning while making the most of those last precious moments in your art room.
Keep reading for engaging one-day lesson ideas for when you are low on time and art supplies.
Portfolio Day
The end of the year is the perfect time to review the portfolios that students worked so hard on all year long. Students will select a few pieces that demonstrate the most growth. Then, students will write a brief artist statement describing their artistic progress and the choices that fueled that progress. Next, create a class gallery with one artwork per student. Arrange the selected works around the room or digitally in a slide deck. Finally, share the class’s work through a gallery walk or slideshow. Encourage students to drive the narrative with peer compliments and discussion prompts about key concepts.
Creativity Challenges
Keep students creating and making right up to the last day with Creativity Challenge lesson ideas. Foster friendly collaboration and competition with minimal consumables. Continue the fun and stack your challenges for a full Creativity Challenge Week.
Here are five exciting Creativity Challenges to add to your curriculum:
Exquisite Corpse Drawing This classic Surrealist game sparks creativity and collaboration—and a lot of laughs! Students will complete each other’s drawings to reveal a wonderfully bizarre creature.
Found Object Coloring Sheets Transform famous artworks or simple emojis into giant, collaborative coloring pages. Students then race to “color” the image using found objects from around the classroom, arranged within the lines. This activity promotes teamwork and observation skills.
Upcycled Old Papers Give abandoned artworks a second life. Students empty their drawers and folders, ripping up old work and sorting the pieces by color. Use the scraps for papermaking, individual collages, or a large, shared piece. This activity encourages resourcefulness and is perfect for low-energy days.
Photography Scavenger Hunt If you have access to electronic devices, explore photography to get students thinking about composition. Show examples of different photographic techniques and perspectives. Then, provide a list of prompts like bird’s-eye view, worm’s-eye view, forced perspective, action shot, macro shot, leading lines, rule of thirds, and symmetrical balance for students to capture.
One-Line Drawing This continuous line drawing game tests focus and control. Students draw a subject or scene without lifting their pencil from the paper. Encourage them to fill the page with a single, flowing line, capturing the essence of their subject in a unique and minimalist way.
Art-iculate Game
Try a fun, fast-paced art history review game. Reinforce art recognition and key concepts, all while encouraging teamwork. You’ll need a deck of at least 20 “artwork cards.” Print images of famous artworks onto index cards. Use the artist bios from FLEX Curriculum to build a deck of diverse artists like Frida Kahlo, Piet Mondrian, Yayoi Kusama, and many others.
Divide the class into teams. Set a timer for one minute and have the first team select an “Artist Interpreter.” This student draws a card from the top of the face-down deck. Their mission is to describe the artwork for their teammates to guess without using the artist’s name and artwork title. For example, if the card shows Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, the student may say, “It’s an evening landscape with a big, swirling sky and a small village below. It has a blue color scheme, and the sky looks hopeful.” Each artwork that the team correctly guesses within the one-minute time period is worth one point.
Once the minute ends, add a trivia twist for bonus points. For each identified artwork, ask a trivia question. For The Starry Night, ask, “What art movement did Van Gogh belong to?” Each correct answer earns an extra point. Be sure to base your trivia questions on key concepts from the curriculum.
Don’t miss these other game ideas to sneak in learning up to the last day:
As the final bell of the school year approaches, remember that you can still deliver engaging and worthwhile art experiences even when time and supplies are scarce. These one-day lessons provide opportunities for creativity, collaboration, and reflection. Finish the year strong and remind your students of all the ways they have grown as learners and creators. End the year on a high note and send them off with a sense of accomplishment and a lasting love for art!
How do you make the most of the last few days in the art room?
What are your go-to one-day activities for when supplies are running low?
To chat about one-day lesson ideas with other art teachers, join us in The Art of Ed Community!
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
Learn art promotion and colored pencil techniques with Megan Seiter
Megan Seiter is an accomplished, contemporary hyperrealist artist working in colored pencil. A winner of many prestigious awards, Megan creates beautiful floral paintings with a twist. Using the pan pastel and watercolor she draws realistic still life paintings with amazing precision and vibrancy. In the interview she shares her colored pencil techniques, art supplies and gives us valuable tips on art marketing, presentation, networking, gallery representation, and so on. You don’t want to miss this episode!
Parrot Tulips by Megan Seiter, colored pencil drawing
In vibrant patchworks of woven patterns and fuzzy fiber ends, Sarah Zapata’s sculptures (previously) emerge as wall-hung tapestries, standalone pieces, and forest-like installations. Through the convergence of architectural structures, soft textiles, and myriad patterns and textures, her site-specific works examine the nature of layered identities shaped by her Peruvian heritage, queerness, her Evangelical upbringing in South Texas, and her current home in New York.
Zapata balances time-honored craft practices with contemporary applications, highlighting the significance of Indigenous Peruvian weaving, for example, as a means of communication. Symbols and patterns composed into cloth traditionally provided a means of sharing knowledge and cosmological beliefs.
Installation view of ‘Beneath the Breath of the Sun’ (2024) at ASU Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona. Commissioned by CALA Alliance
In abstract sculptures that often merge with their surroundings, Zapata incorporates unexpected and vibrant color combinations with woven fabrics and tufted textures. Resisting easy categorization, her pieces are neither functional nor purely decorative, although they play with facets of both.
Zapata consciously holds back from creating work that is too “beautiful,” inviting a remarkable, tactile exploration of relationships between craft, lineage, community, and memory.
Some of the works shown here are included in Support Structures at Sargent’s Daughters, which continues through through May 3. Find more on Zapata’s website and Instagram.
“How often they move between the planets” (2022), handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fiber, 144 x 60 inchesDetail of “How often they move between the planets”“Part of the tension (from earthen pits) I” (2024), handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fiber, and hand coiled rope, 49 x 14 x 14 inchesInstallation view of ‘To strange ground and high places,’ Galleria Poggiali, Milan. Photo by Michele Alberto Sereni“Towards and ominous time III” (2022), handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fiber, 144 x 60 inchesInstallation view of ‘To strange ground and high places,’ Galleria Poggiali, Milan. Photo by Michele Alberto SereniDetail of “Part of the tension (from earthen pits) II”
Darren Jackson got a random postcard at his day job (K-6 general music) to attend Arrowmont. When Darren’s first choice was full, he ended up in hand building. After getting a wheel that fall, Darren hasn’t looked back! When Darren is not in mud, he’s on his front porch, picking his banjo!
Does having some of your students on Instagram create challenges for you in how you present yourself on social media?
I don’t think so. I think it’s a good thing to know that you always have an audience. I think with social media, and this is a big rabbit hole we probably don’t need to go down through, it’s easy because we are not face to face so much of the time. On social media our inhibitions are down I guess and we can get in a comment war with people we would not say on a Facebook post with somebody. So I think it ‘s a good thing to always know that we have an audience and that they are real people.
Why humor for kind of one of the bedrocks for your feed?
I just like to have a good time. I can be pretty serious too and I’ve recorded myself teaching, we have to do that to pass certification and what not, but when I watch back on the video I thought, Man, I sound like a jerk. I think I am having a good time and being hilarious, Man, no wonder those kids hate me. I like to laugh and joke around. If you can’t do that then what’s the point.
How was your transition of selling on Etsy to selling on your website. Did you loose customers?
No, I don’t think so. I still keep my Etsy up to date during Black Friday and big events. I haven’t had a whole lot of online sales. Something I’m thinking about doing is announcing a shop update. I know a lot of other potters do that. I think when you lead up to it over a series of days people know it’s coming.
Do you find the reels tend to make more traction than the short videos?
I definitely think that Instagram is pushing the reels now and to buy into their algorithm and do what they want you to do so to speak, I think that’s the thing. I have heard if you do thirty reels in thirty days that that will really help you take off.
What do you do when you are not in the studio and you are not playing the banjo?
Oh man, teaching kids, but other than that…that’s about it. That really fills up my calendar. I just got a 3D printer for Christmas so I have been implementing that into my pottery. Other than that it’s banjo, clay, and teaching kids.
Thomas Paquette has long been one of my favorite contemporary painters. Since I discovered his work and wrote about him back in 2007, I’ve featured him on Lines and Colors five additional times (see links below); this post makes seven overall.
Paquette has a unique style I find particularly appealing. On one level, his work appears naturalistic, beautifully composed scenes of woodlands, lakes and roadways and wilderness areas, that seem to sparkle and glow with color. On closer inspection, you can see that he is accomplishing this with ingenious juxtapositions of colors, often complimentary, at the edges of forms. These accentuate the forms, send the colors vibrating and give everything a scintillating glow. Somehow, Paquette manages to corral these elements into harmonious compositions filled with brilliant light and deep shadow.
Paquette works both at a large scale in oil, and at an intimate scale in gouache.
Both will be on display in an upcoming show titled Haven at the new location of the Gross McCleaf Gallery, which has recently relocated from Center City to the Manayunk section of Philadelphia.
The show opens this Saturday, May 3rd, 2025, with a reception from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. I have long considered the Gross McCleaf to be the most prestigious, and certainly most interesting, gallery in the city.
Paquette has also just released a new book reproducing his recent small gouache paintings, titled The Intimate Landscape. I have Paquette’s earlier book titled Gouaches (which is still available), and as a gouache painter myself, I have enjoyed it many times over. I’m very much looking forward to the new one.
If you like the sample images above (all of which were drawn from the gallery’s preview of the show), I can’t recommend the show (and the books) highly enough.
From dozens of Chiquita banana labels to toothpaste packaging to color-coded quality control stickers, Kelly Kozma finds beauty in everyday ephemera. “Piece by piece, she saves any colorful or textured box that she encounters, even though most are expected to be discarded after their original use,” says Paradigm Gallery + Studio, which opens the artist’s solo exhibition Watch Me Backflip this weekend.
Kozma takes an archival and interdisciplinary approach to working with numerous found materials, combining a variety of media into two-dimensional wall works, expansive textile-inspired assemblages, and voluminous suspended installations. “Watch Me Backflip embraces ideas of reusing material, interconnectedness, and the significance of the smallest interaction on a much larger environment,” says an exhibition statement.
Installation view of ‘Watch Me Backflip’ at Paradigm Gallery + Studio
“Iguana & Myrrh” and “Magma & Reef” mark the largest compositions Kozma has created. The former spans 22 feet in circumference and comprises more than 30,000 hand-stitched circles cut from a wide variety of greeting cards, found packaging, and other colorful materials. Committed to a minimal-waste practice, the artist incorporates scraps and loose threads into a number of accompanying works in Watch Me Backflip.
“As she stitches these lovingly collected pieces, Kozma creates connections between the people in her life and the objects she interacts with, inspiring mindfulness against overconsumption and emotional apathy,” the gallery says.
Watch Me Backflip opens today and continues through June 1 in Philadelphia. See more on the artist’s Instagram.
“I See Your Beauty” (2025), process control patches and acrylic on panelInstallation view of ‘Watch Me Backflip’ at Paradigm Gallery + StudioDetail of “Iguana & Myrrh”Installation view of ‘Watch Me Backflip’ at Paradigm Gallery + Studio“Peels So Good” (2025), banana stickers and acrylic on panelDetail of “Iguana & Myrrh”The artist working on the installation of “Magma & Reef”
Casa Azul, the Frida Kahlo’s house in Mexico City: is it worth the visit ?
Located in the Xochimilco district, Coyoacán neighbohood of Mexico City, the Blue House is the home and studio of famous surrealist female artist – Frida Kahlo. She is the most known Mexican painter promoted across numerous art museums in the US. Frida Kahlo was an amateur surrealist painter, a feminist icon, and a wife of famous Mexican muralist – Diego Rivera whom she married in 1929.
Frida’s courtyard: a cobalt-blue house pulsates with the vibrant spirit of Frida Kahlo.
The Casa Azul (Blue House) was built in 1904, long before Frida was born. It became her childhood home, a witness to her joy, pain, and unwavering passion for art. Here, amidst splashes of cobalt blue and Mexican folk art, the house became a shared haven for the artist’s tumultuous yet creative partnership with Diego Rivera. The Casa Azul museum doesn’t display famous art by Frida but mostly exhibits personal objects, small art, photography, pre-Columbian sculptures, documents, books and furniture of the artist.
The museum is a living space, infused with the echoes of Frida’s presence. Temporary exhibitions inside the house weave narratives around her life and art, while well-maintained lush garden, once Frida’s sanctuary, invites quiet contemplation.
Stepping into Frida’s World: the studio
Stepping into the museum is like stepping into Frida’s soul. Her studio, one of the rooms in the house, displays art supplies, objects, easel and inspiration of the artist. The windows bath the studio in warm light and provide the views into green-blue courtyard. It’s impossible not to notice that this house with a studio is modest in contemporary terms but it was definitely specious and cozy for that time period.
In the “Studio” room the easel takes a prominent space, which was given by Nelson Rockefeller to Frida Kahlo. This picture also captures the artist’s table with art supplies, books and pictures.
A Tangled Triangle: Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Leon Trotsky
Both Frida and Diego Rivera were fascinated with the socialist ideology and supported its ideals via art. Rivera painted several murals with political messages. They both had a very close relationship with Leon Trotsky whose house was just a few steps away from theirs.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera had a tumultuous relationship. Although they shared passion and love for each other, Frida weathered many infidelities by her husband, and entered into extramarital affairs herself. In 1937, Leon Trotsky, the exiled Russian revolutionary, found refuge in Mexico, courtesy of Diego Rivera’s political leanings. He and his wife Natalia Sedova moved into Casa Azul, creating an unorthodox mix. As Diego became increasingly disillusioned with Trotsky’s political stances, Frida and Trotsky were known to have a short-lived affair, fueled by intellectual connection and perhaps a desire for revenge against Diego’s infidelity. When Trotsky and Natalia moved out, the friendship between Frida and Diego fractured, and Frida poured her emotional turmoil into her art, most notably the poignant “Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky.”
“Casa Azul” presents a collection of personal mementos, books, pictures, traditional Mexican crafts, pottery, etc. There is a display of medical corsets and costumes that reveal the depth of her struggles. Further down in the museum you’ll find a wall display of Frida’s crutches, corsets and medicines the artist used after her numerous surgeries.
The Artist’s Bedroom
The artist’s bedroom is modest with the mirror that her mother had put into her room after the accident. Unable to move for almost a year, Frida began to paint in her bed.
Kitchen
Kitchen space at the Frida’s house-museum. While the rooms are specious, you can see modest furniture, pottery, artifacts, folk art and personal items of the artists reflecting Mexican culture of that time period.
Frida’s dresses
A collection of Frida Kahlo’ dresses. Saint, muse, lover, victim and survivor. Frida Kahlo is the very model of the bohemian artist.
“Writer Carlos Fuentes described how Frida’s arrival at the Palacio de Bellas Artes would be announced by the sound of her jewellery and how the architectural grandeur of the palace, its paintings and the captivating music of its concerts would be instantaneously outshone by her striking presence. Some of her closest friends have described how Kahlo would take special care in choosing each one of her garments, styling herself from head to toe, with the most beautiful silks, lace, shawls and skirts, some of which can be admired in this gallery. On the street, children would ask her “Where is the circus?” and she would just smile graciously and continue walking.
October 1937 marked a major step for Frida’s future influence in the fashion world, when Vogue featured her for the first time in the pages of the magazine. Later, in 1939, André Breton organized Kahlo’s first exhibition in Paris. It was called Mexique and her Tehuana dress became an instant sensation among European elites. It is said that star designer of the day Elsa Schiaparelli created a dress in her honor that was named ‘La Robe Madame Rivera.
It was the Tehuana dress that Kahlo chose as her signature dress; to define her identity and to portray her cultural heritage and political beliefs. Her wardrobe is mostly composed of Mexican traditional pieces from Oaxaca and other parts of the country. Nonetheless, there are also ethnic garments from Guatemala and China, as well as an interesting collection of European and American blouses. Kahlo used to combine these pieces to style herself and her favorite colors were red, green, blue, black and white. The development of her distinctive style as a blend of traditional Mexican and European fashion, as well as the fundamental effects of her disabilities, is represented through this selection of Kahlo’s most iconic looks. Kahlo as a bohemian artist, a Tajuana, a hybrid – representing her own mixed European and Mexican blood.”
1. Carlos Fuentes, introduction to The Diary of Frida Kahlo, New York, Abrama, Ine, 1995, p. 7. 2. Hayden Herrers, preface to Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, United States, Harper Perennial, 2002, p. X
Transforming Grief into Legacy:
Frida Kahlo is a symbol of female empowerment and artistic defiance in art history of the West. Her story, whispered through the cobalt-blue walls, continues to inspire artists and dreamers alike. Frida died in 1954. Grief-stricken, Diego Rivera set about creating a lasting tribute to her life and work. He transformed the house into a museum, officially inaugurating it in 1958. It was his way of keeping her spirit alive, sharing her story with the world.
Is it worth your visit?
While the museum has a historic value of course, it’s rather small in today’s terms, crowded, and doesn’t have as much art as you may think could be found there. It also requires advanced purchase of tickets stamped with day and time. So if you plan to visit it, you must purchase the tickets before traveling to Mexico. Personally, I didn’t find the house fascinating but the Rivera’s Pyramid- museum was really interesting and definitely worth your visit! The Blue House ticket price includes the visit to the Anahuacalli. Be aware that it’s located in a different part of town and we used Uber to go there.
Anahuacalli: A Temple of pre-Hispanic art rising from Diego Rivera’s passion
Diego Rivera pyramid museum or ANAHUACALLI MUSEUM in Mexico City. The Museum houses more than 45,000 pieces, 2,000 on permanent display. In 1941, Diego began building the Anahuacalli, an architectural blend of modern art and pre-Columbian culture. The artist bought the land to build a cultural destination for artists and art enthusiasts alike. Each corner of the building has four elements – the goddess of corn and earth- Chicomecóatl; the god of wind and air- Ehécatl; the god of fire-Huehuetéotl, and the god of water and rain – Tláloc.
The eruption of Xitle, in the year 400 BC, created a landscape of layers of lava that, when solidified, formed an ecosystem of desert plants. The architecture of Anahuacalli was integrated into this biosphere, thought by Diego as a sacred receptacle in connection with the underworld.
from the museum’s website
Rising from volcanic rock, the Anahuacalli’s name, derived from the Nahuatl language, translates to “house surrounded by water”. Throughout his life, Rivera amassed a vast collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts, captivated by the history, wisdom and beauty of ancient Mexican cultures. He dreamt of a space to house these treasures, not just as a collector, but as a storyteller, an educator, and an artist himself.
One of the halls inside the museum displaying sketches done by Diego Rivera.
In 1943, Rivera began translating his vision into reality. He designed the Anahuacalli, drawing inspiration from Mayan and Aztec pyramids, using volcanic rock and concrete to create a sense of permanence and power. The building’s façade features sculptures reminiscent of pre-Hispanic iconography, hinting at the treasures within. The building consists of different levels with a varied amount of natural light, symbolizing a journey from the underworld to the sun. As a collector, Diego Rivera amassed over 45 thousand pieces of pre-Columbian art – comprising Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacán.
Inside, the museum unfolds like a journey through time. Dark rooms showcase Rivera’s collection of over 6,000 pre-Columbian artifacts – terracotta figurines, masks, ceremonial objects – each whispering stories of forgotten civilizations. Rivera carefully arranged these pieces, not as mere exhibits, but as characters in a grand narrative, weaving together threads of mythology, ritual, and daily life. Ancient figurines are fascinating to look at as they are varied and represent different time periods. This museum is as interesting as the Archeological museum in Mexico City.
The Anahuacalli was envisioned as a cultural space, a “City of Arts,” where artists of all disciplines could find inspiration and collaboration. He designed studios, gardens, and courtyards, dreaming of a vibrant hub where creativity could flourish across generations. Unfortunately, Rivera’s ambitious vision for the Anahuacalli remained largely unrealized. He passed away in 1957, leaving the project incomplete. His wife, Frida Kahlo, ensured the museum’s completion and official opening in 1964, though Rivera’s dream of a bustling “City of Arts” never materialized.
Diego Rivera Museum: soviet star built on the floor’s terrace of the museum. Don’t forget to step out to see the views of the lava sea and rugged nature of the region in Mexico City from the rooftop of the museum. The Anahuacalli terrace offers views that inspired the artist to create this place.
The Anahuacalli stands as a testament to Rivera’s legacy. It’s a well-organized, yet underrated art museum and an architectural marvel! Its pre-historic art collection is inspirational and educational for us to learn about the ancient wisdom and artistic spirit of the peoples of Mexico. It is a unique temple of Mexican art that you must see in person!
Anahuacalli museum of Diego Rivera is showing a vast collection of pre-Hispanic figures. Throughout his lifetime, Diego Rivera collected numerous sculptures and objects of pre-Hispanic art. Later in life, he built the space to house his collection and for others to enjoy the archeological collection today.
The ticket to the Frida Kahlo Museum includes admission to the Diego Rivera-Anahuacalli Museum! More information:https://museoanahuacalli.org.mx/
Leon Trotsky’s Turbulent Exile in Mexico City: a story of defiance and assassination captured inside the house-museum
Trotsky house-museum is situated very close to the Blue House and is worth your visit! It doesn’t require advanced reservations as it’s half-empty and obviously not as known to the West as Frida Kahlo’s art.
View from the street of Leon Trotsky’ house
Leon Trotsky, a towering figure of the Russian Revolution, found himself ostracized and hunted after falling out of favor with Joseph Stalin. His exile in Mexico City from 1937 to 1940 was a period of immense personal struggle, marked by intellectual defiance, political isolation, and ultimately, a brutal assassination.
From Revolutionary Hero to Exiled Pariah:
Trotsky’s early life was a whirlwind of revolutionary fervor. A brilliant orator and organizer, he played a pivotal role in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, becoming Lenin’s right-hand man. However, ideological clashes with Stalin led to his expulsion from the Communist Party and the Soviet Union in 1929. He embarked on a nomadic journey, bouncing from Turkey to France, Norway, and finally, Mexico, desperately seeking refuge.
One of rooms in a spacious Trotsky house-museum
Finding Solace in Coyoacán:
Mexico City’s Coyoacán neighborhood offered Trotsky a temporary haven. He and his wife Natalia Sedova settled in a fortified compound, dubbed “Fortress Trotsky.” Despite the constant threat of Stalin’s assassins, Trotsky remained intellectually active. He wrote prolifically, criticizing Stalin’s regime and advocating for a global proletarian revolution. His magnum opus, “The Revolution Betrayed,” became a scathing indictment of Stalinism.
House library at the Trotsky residence in Mexico CityBathtub at the Trotsky house
A Beacon for Leftists, a Target for Stalin:
Trotsky’s exile attracted a motley crew of supporters, including painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. His home became a hub for leftist intellectuals and revolutionaries, who saw him as a beacon of hope against Stalin’s tyranny. However, this notoriety also made him a prime target for Stalin’s agents. Assassination attempts became a grim reality, culminating in the tragic events of August 20, 1940.
Leon Trotsky & Diego Rivera, one of many photographs displayed at the house-museum
A Brutal End to a Tumultuous Life:
Ramón Mercader, a Spanish communist recruited by Stalin’s secret police, infiltrated Trotsky’s inner circle. Gaining Trotsky’s trust, Mercader struck with an ice axe. While Trotsky initially survived, he succumbed to his injuries the next day. His assassination silenced a major critic of Stalinism and marked a tragic end to a life defined by revolutionary zeal and relentless pursuit of his ideals.
Mexican police showing the ice axe used by Mercader in the crime killing Trotsky.
Trotsky’s Legacy: A Complex Tale of Revolution and Exile
Trotsky’s legacy remains complex and contested. He is revered by some as a champion of socialist democracy and a tireless fighter for the working class. Others condemn him for his role in the Bolshevik Red Terror and his unwavering commitment to a revolution that ultimately paved the way for Stalin’s dictatorship.
His exile in Mexico City, however, stands as a testament to his unwavering defiance and intellectual commitment. Though ostracized and hunted, Trotsky remained a thorn in Stalin’s side, his voice echoing through his writings and inspiring future generations of revolutionaries. Trotsky’s story is a cautionary tale of the dangers of political idealism and the dark undercurrents of revolution. Yet, it also serves as a reminder of the power of dissent and the importance of fighting for one’s convictions, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Ike Lobel is a Ceramics major at Suny New Paltz. Ike’s work focuses on the use of 3D printing in ceramics and the potential results of it. Ike has been working with clay for the past 16 years, in this time Ike has developed his style focusing on high precision and creating results that respect both the history of ceramics but also technological advances.
I think it is something born inside me but I was watching Youtubers from when I was six building things with 3D printers with plastic. I think it just left something inside me and having my two worlds combine in printing clay it was just meant to be.
How does 3D printing lend itself to more creativity?
Well I have really bad handwriting. Most people cannot read it. And so being able to design something on a computer and then have it come into the real world is kind of magical and it’s nice that I do not have to worry about what my hands do and instead I can just worry about transmitting my brain to the computer and the 3D printer.
Do you see the irony of you pursuing 3D printing and you won a potter’s wheel?
Yeah, we’ve been thinking about this for awhile. My family is like, What are you doing with a potter’s wheel? I think it’s going to be co-ownership between me and my dad.
How does taking a break from ceramics help you be a better ceramicist in the future?
I think in school there is so much pressure for it to be graded and you are always trying to make work for your professors and that’s a lot of pressure and so I think taking a couple of years off and letting it reignite the love for ceramics could be amazing. And then I could start making ceramics for myself again instead of for a grade. I miss making mugs and stuff just so I could give them away.
What is the first thing you are going to do when you graduate?
I am graduating on the 19th and the first thing I am going to do as ironic as it sounds I am going to drive home and build a wheel. (laughter) I haven’t been home in five months so I am excited to go home and build that wheel.
Dove of Love, 24×36 in, mixed media on canvas | The painting features the flower of life geometric symbol.
How to frame art on paper & canvas on a budget
In this article I’d like to share the basics of framing art on paper and how you can do it yourself inexpensively. Professional framing is your best option because it takes quite a skill to frame art on paper well. It also involves some understanding of color and color temperature to pick the right frame and mat that add beauty to the artwork and not subtract from it. Professional framing is expensive, and if you have to mount an entire solo show you know how draining that is financially, especially if you just begin showing your drawings in a non-commercial space. If you are not an artist, but you have just purchased an original drawing and want to frame it yourself, you’ll find your answers in this article below.
When I began drawing, I knew nothing about framing and I found it frustrating to frame a lot of art for a show. Even framing one piece seemed too difficult because I didn’t know what to look for in frames, why they differed in pricing, and what was best for my budget. And while I learned the ropes that I’m sharing in the article below, I find that every art collector has his/her taste and unique style, and while the frame must match the art, not the house, the interior design still plays a role in the collector’s mind. That’s the reason why I prefer selling art without the frame. However, a good frame dresses up a painting big time. It gives the art a finished appearance, enriching the artwork visually. So the ideal situation is to frame the art with a beautiful wood frame that complements the original painting in style and color.
Takashi Murakami at Miami Art Context, photo: V.Winters
There are two types of framing choices you have to frame art on paper or canvas.
Art on paper must have a mat, plexiglass, backing and frame. Art on canvas/ panel/ wood needs a frame only.
How to frame art on paper | This artwork has a golden metal sectional frame, white mat, plexiglass and backing that show budget framing of art on paper. However, this drawing would look much richer if it had a wide wood frame instead of the metal one you see here. Also, it would benefit from having a double mat. The inner mat could catch one of the colors in the drawing like purple or blue while the outside mat may remain off-white.
Framing supplies
Every drawing/print/photo should have:
Acid-free mat
Acid-free white backing (mounting board)
Non-glare glass or acrylic plexi-glass (plexi-glass comes in different formats)
Wood or metal frame
acid-free tape to attach the drawing to the backing (in the corners) + tape the mat and backing together
Mats: white vs. color
The majority of framed work on paper that includes photography has a white mat and a simple frame around it. If you go to a museum, you’ll see plenty of examples there. While you can pick a frame to your taste, playing with the styles and colors, the color of the mat should be reserved. And if you are not sure about the color, stick to a white or off-white mat.
A common mistake is to frame drawings with a black mat. While it may work for a specific, very dark artwork, most of the time it doesn't. When I'm not sure about the mat's color, I take my drawing to Michael's and start placing various, pre-cut mats over the drawing to see what color works best for my artwork.
If you are not sure about color and it’s your first time framing art, always pick an off-white mat as opposed to a color one because it won’t overpower your drawing or print. If you still want to play with color, consider framing art with a double mat. White or off-white never subtracts from your drawing, while color mats may overpower your artwork visually. I often see drawings framed with black mats, and most of them kill art. You end up looking at the mat, not the artwork. White mats come in different shades of white, and you need to pay attention to their color temperature.
Either warm white or cool white is fine as long as you match this color temperature with the color temperature of white in your drawing.
These are custom-framed colored pencil drawings. The one in the center has a metal sectional frame, while the other two drawings have custom-cut real wood frames and custom-cut double mats. Notice that while the color of each mat picks up on the colors found within each drawing, the mats are not too dark or too ‘heavy’ in hue.
A Single or a double mat?
This colored pencil drawing has a double mat. Gold is the inner color and light grey is the outer color. This light grey mat mimics the colors seen in the glass. Gold metal frame and regular plexiglass complete budget framing. This drawing would look much better if it’s framed with a wide, real wood golden frame having the same mat.
If you want to do a double mat, have a color mat as your inner layer and the off-white mat as the outer layer. So you have a quarter inch color stripe around the artwork but the overall color remains neutral or off-white. The hue of your color mat should pick up on one of the colors present in the drawing. This is where professional framers are good at. They have the talent to pick the right colors for your inner and outer mats and match that with a beautiful frame of the right hue and style.
Prints can be framed with frames without a mat to have a contemporary feel.
Tip:
Technically, any mat creates a barrier between your art and glass. Beware that photographs stick to glass eventually if they don't have that space between the glass and the photograph.If you decide to stick a picture into a ready-made frame without the mat, add corners that would maintain necessary space between the photo and glass.
Standard vs. custom cut mat
Here you can see that the distances between the frame and the image are not the same. On the left, the image has an equal width/distance maintained around the image. On the right you see a picture that has a varied width of the mat around the picture. It’s done to fit a non-standard mat opening into a standard-size frame. *The image was taken at the Ringling museum in Sarasota.
Standard mat has a 3-inch width on all sides of the drawing. It gives your drawing necessary space between the mat and the frame. This 3″ distance can be altered, however. A lot of times expensive artworks have mats with a much wider width that add richness to the art. Sometimes you see framed photographs that have mats with varied widths (right image) that allow for placing prints and photography into standard frames (minimizing costs of custom framing).
Backing & Tape
All materials must be acid-free, which include backing (mounting board/foam board/foam backing) and a double-sided tape. If it’s not the case, your drawing will yellow over time. The tape holds it all together but it also yellows the surfaces if it’s not acid-free.
Beware that the ready-made frames you find in craft stores and Walmart don’t sell frames with necessary acid-free backings. Therefore, they are not suitable for professional framing and your original art or print will yellow over time. It yellows a lot faster than you think!!
Consider how your artwork would look as a group. Consistency in mat color and framing helps unify displays of art on paper.
Mat Cutters
Logan 650 Framers Edge elite mat cutter model for professional framers
You are lucky if your drawing is completed on standard-size paper and you can buy all the supplies at any craft store to do the assembly. But what if your drawing has different proportions and is far from standard mat openings? Most of the time you have no choice but to go to a framer, so he can cut the right mat for you. However, if you do a lot of drawing and plan on selling your work, it’s a good investment to buy a professional mat cutter and learn how to cut mats yourself. Mat cutters give the greatest flexibility possible in mat cutting. You can cut mats to any size. You can also cut it to fit the overall dimensions to a standard frame, making a nonstandard opening. Logan mat cutters are not cheap, but they save you lots of money in the long run. You can buy large sheets of museum board in any color and cut them to size. It takes practice to learn how to measure and to cut mats, especially the mat openings, which have a beveled edge as opposed to a regular cut. Correct measuring and cutting of mat boards is a skill that demands practice and patience.
The quality of a mat is determined not only by its thickness, but also by the cleanness of the beveled corners. If a blade is not new or cutting is sloppy, the inner corner edges look uneven. I think it’s best to learn the basics of mat cutting at a framer’s shop, or perhaps to find a detailed video of the process shown online. I used to cut mats myself using the Logan mat cutter, and I found this process quite frustrating at times because you’ve got to be perfect every time doing it. After doing it myself for several years, I prefer going to a framer or buying pre-cut mats online.
Glass or acrylic plexi-glass?
Omnipresent Mind, drawing size is 19×25 inches. It’s framed with non-glare, UV plexiglass and white wood frame for contemporary appearance.
You can frame drawings with regular glass but consider the overall size of your piece. Glass is very heavy. It can shatter cutting into art. It’s also very reflective! So it depends where you are going to hang your artwork to minimize the reflections.
Plexiglass is light and durable. Many galleries require framing with plexiglass as opposed to glass to minimize possible damage during the transportation to a show. However, regular plexiglass scratches and becomes useless once even a tiny scratch is there. The cost of plexi often exceeds the price tag of glass. Another thing to consider is reflections.
Pick a non-glare glass vs. regular glass. So you can enjoy looking at art from any corner of the room. Or consider framing art with a non-glare UV-protective plexiglass. Tru Vue Optium Plexiglass is the best museum-quality conservation plexiglass available today at almost any framing store online, but beware that it's really expensive and can easily cost you more than the frame itself.
Mushroom heart, drawing on paper, 10×16 drawing size. It’s framed with a non-glare, UV plexiglass, double mat and black wood frameThis is a colored pencil drawing on a 1-inch, wood panel. It’s framed with a canvas depth wood frame (rabbit width is 1 inch to accommodate the wood’s depth), UV, non-glare plexiglass. The result is that it looks like a painting, not a colored pencil drawing.
Metal or wood frames? Consider the lifespan of your display
There are three types of frames. Plastic, metal and wood. The choice is largely determined by your budget, but I strongly suggest not to give in to buying plastic frames or some craft-store frames that may look decent at first glance. Such frames don’t hold up well: they scratch, break and fall apart too quickly. They also don’t provide adequate support for big art in a hot and humid climate, bending and losing its original shape quickly. The frame’s surface may look like wood but it’s paper wrapped around the plywood. It comes off and scratches easily. The hanging wire and hardware are not there to support artwork larger than 11×14″. I always regret buying plastic frames because one scratch prompts eventual replacement.
Clio Newton, b.1989, Sarah, charcoal on paper 81x59in | Sometimes you can see contemporary drawings framed as posters because they don’t have the mat or space between the art and the frame. It works here because of the figure’s scale giving the impression of her walking off of the wall. It also mimics framing of art on canvas. The frame is made of either metal or wood. It can look very similar in white hue.
Metal Sectional Frames
Metal sectional frames at AmericanFrame.com
Metal sectional frames are a great alternative to plastic frames if you work on a budget. They last for years and don’t scratch that easily and don’t fall apart. Sectional frames come in a variety of colors and styles, assemble easily and hold up their shape for a very long time. The only drawback is that most frames have a small width and therefore provide economy framing, unlike the real wood frames. At the same time, metal sectional frames can be great for some contemporary art and photography. Many have canvas depth to frame canvas art as well.
In my experience, if the artwork is larger than 16x20" acrylic plexi-glass or glass may not hold up well within the metal sectional frame if the backing is not thick enough. Plexiglass tends to pop out of the frame in large drawings and large glass sheets are also too heavy for these frames.
The back of an assembled metal sectional frame.
Wood frames
Real wood framesTanja Gant, Bacchus @ Sirona fine art, Art Palm Beach | This colored pencil drawing has a simple off-white mat and a wood frame.
Real wood frames come in a variety of styles. They are the most beautiful, durable and stylish. Wood frames have varied width and finish and the professional framer can really make it or break it picking the right frame for your piece. Usually the wider the frame, the richer your artwork would look in it. However, the style of the frame is more important than its width because it needs to complement your drawing. Well framed art always looks amazingly beautiful. I buy real wood sectional frames that are cut to my dimensions and then assemble them into finished frames. It’s not difficult, but requires some patience and care to do it right. I buy all the supplies in varied sizes at American Frame (frame samples of which you see in the images above). Frame destination is another company located in Texas that cuts custom frames. If the frame is standard size (8×10″, 16×20″, 18×24″ etc), you can buy these frames at any craft store. However, the variety and quality of ready-made frames is not great in comparison to those found online.
Shadow boxes and canvas floater frames
Sometimes canvas floater frames or shadow boxes may work better than traditional framing. Glass suspends the artwork in the middle and creates open space between the art and the frame.
9×12″ colored pencil drawing on 3 layers of acetate-like film. This drawing looks interesting in a white shadow box frame because the colored pencil drawing has the room to breathe.Peter Anton @ Art Miami 2017 | This simple shadowbox holds the pieces as one artwork.I framed this colored pencil drawing using a real wood frame without the mat. It also has a UV, non-glare plexi and acid free backing. It depends on your personal preference if you like to have a mat around the art or not, that usually adds to the art presentation.
Framing companies where you can customize any frame, mat, online:
American frame: https://www.americanframe.com/
Top quality, great customer service, limited free samples of plexi and frames.
Keeper, 36×48″ oil on canvas | Real wood black canvas-depth frame picks up on the color of the art.
Here is a basic guide on how to frame art on canvas. Framing of oil/acrylic paintings is much easier because there are fewer moving parts involved. You’ve got to pick the right frame and assemble it, if it’s not a ready-made frame. Art on canvas, panel or wood doesn’t need glass for display. Oil and acrylic paintings look best without it. Also, remember that these paintings would need canvas-depth frames unless it’s a panel. Usually panels are thin, unless they are cradled.
Jeff Robb, lenticular photo at CONTEXT Miami 2017 | Here the photo has canvas depth and requires a canvas-depth frame.
Types of frames for paintings
Tenderness, oil on canvas, 24×36″, framed with custom-cut gold wood frame
Once again you have three choices: plastic, metal, and real wood frames. Go for the solid wood picture frames because they last the longest, look beautiful, and you frame it once. Metal sectional frames are a good choice for beginner artists, some contemporary paintings, especially abstract art. The style of the frame should add to your painting. Some paintings look beautiful in golden baroque frames, others in minimalist black frames. Canvas float frames give an interesting effect to some contemporary pieces (see below).
I find a very big difference in quality of wood sold at different framing stores online. If you see rather a cheap wood frames it means that they use soft, cheap wood that scratches and bumps corners very easily! I ended up re-framing such wood frames. It's better to frame art with metal sectional frames in such a case. Poplar wood and pine wood are very soft. Oak is very heavy and solid wood. Always ask a customer service rep what wood they use for framing!
Lowe art museum, Miami university, artists in workshop of Andrea del Sarto, “Madonna and child infant with St. John | Classical gold/blue frame highlights the colors and theme of the painting.Art by Mary Jane Ansell @ Miami Art Context 2017 | White frame gives a lot of space around the painting and extends it beautifully.
Most people consider their interior space and style, picking frames. While it should harmonize with the rest of the space, always consider how a framed piece looks on its own. Pick the frame for the painting, not your sofa. If the artwork has some warm, golden tones, pick a golden frame. If the piece has silvery, blue-grey tones, a silver frame would be good.
Isabelle Scheltjens @ Miami Art Context 2017 | The color of the frame picks up on black hues in the artwork.
If the painting is standard size, you can find a ready-made frame in a craft store or online, but remember that canvases are between 3/4 and 1″ deep, and not every generic frame would work for framing of stretched canvas.
Federico Uribe art-Adelson Galleries, Art Context Miami 2023
Canvas-depth frame
Mike Dargas @ Art Miami 2017 | The side of this unframed painting shows the canvas depth you must consider when you pick the frame.
Image: American Frame
In this image taken from the AmericanFrame, you can see that the frames have three dimensions: H, height, W, width, and R, rabbet. Rabbet should be at least 1″ if you have a painting on canvas. Some canvases require even wider rabbet height.
Canvas floater frames
Brad Kunkle @ Miami Art Context 2017
Canvas floater frames “suspend” your painting inside the frame without the edge touching it. Most picture frames cover the edge of the artwork. Personal aesthetic plays a big part in picking the frame. In this image, you see a white floater frame that extends the whiteness of the canvas. The entire canvas floats within the frame.
White floater frame gives minimal appearance to the art that allows for a complete focus on the painting, not the frame. | Art by van Roos at King Woman art show in New York, 2017
Miss Bugs, Algorithm sunny day, Context Art Miami, 2024 | White canvas floater frame
In this screenshot taken from AmericanFrame you can see the difference in frame styles. Canvas floater frame has a deep opening to nest the canvas painting inside. These are the bars in the back to which the painting attaches. The frames to the right cover the edge of the painting where canvas slides into a channel. Most wood, plastic, and metal frames cover the painting’s edge by 1/4″ or less.
White wood canvas float frame completes the look of this beautiful colored pencil drawing
Standard vs. non-standard frames
Venetian boy, 8×10″ oil on panel | Here this real wood silver frame is ornate. It complements the painting’s style.
Standard frames are 8×10, 9×12, 11×14, 16×20, 18×24, 24×36 and so on. If your painting is done on non-standard stretcher bars that don’t correspond to standard sizes, you have to order wood frames online to be cut to your specifications, and then assemble them at home if these are very large frames. If artwork is not very large, the shop does it. An electric screwdriver comes in handy, and you also need some hanging wire and hardware, which you can buy in a kit online or even at Walmart. AmericanFrame includes the kit with the purchase of custom-cut frames.
In this screenshot from the American Frame website, you can see how much the frame costs depending on its length. The great thing about this service is that you can order any frame cut to your specifications. You can also order samples and corner samples.
Still life with the corals and Venetian mask, oil on canvas, 24×36″, framed with custom-cut sectional real wood frame
Tip
Sometimes you can order samples of available frames and put them next to your artwork to see if the style of the frame works well with the painting. A lot of times it's difficult to say how a specific frame would look like unless you have a sample in your hands. Usually the wider the frame, the richer it looks. Although some abstract paintings would look the best framed with thin frames.
You can also buy standard frames at any craft or art supplies store.
This is a standard 5×7″ frame.
Framed oil paintings at art museums
Paul Delaroche, the execution of Lady Jane Grey at the National Art Gallery, London
These are examples of framed masterpieces I took pictures of. All of them have gold frames but the style of each frame varies. The color of the frame picks up on prominent hues seen within each painting. If these paintings had silver/grey elements, they would benefit from a silver frame. Also, the complexity of the frame matches the exuberant details seen in the painting. For example, the second image of Magdalene has simplified shapes and color that’s supported by a plain gold frame. The exuberant golden jacket of the king seen in the last image matches the more elaborate frame.
Midnight Dream, 38″ oil on canvas, Veronica Winters
If you plan on having a show, exhibiting a large number of works, consider framing art with similar frames to have display unity. In my experience, I framed art at different times with varied frames and my paintings don’t always look consistent as a group. It makes it harder to present as a coherent body of work in a solo show. I have to get creative arranging art pieces to have a sense of unity.
If you have a single piece of art, consider the size of your wall space and the artwork’s size. I often see small art displayed on a large wall where one picture gets lost and just looks too timid or “eaten” by a large wall space. If you have a large wall and small art, consider grouping small pieces on a wall to create a gallery. Below you’ll find several examples of art displays.
Here are some of the commissioned wall art pieces at the homes of my clients.These are various drawings and paintings that are arranged in a wall display. Some of them could be re-framed for better visual experience.
Framed pictures display @ Beverly hills hotel, Los Angeles
To Frame or not to frame?
Some art doesn’t require framing. When canvas’s edge is wide and clean, it might not need a frame, especially if it’s a sculptural piece. It gives a contemporary, minimalistic appearance you might like more.
Glass sculpture @ Heller gallery, Art Miami 2017Galerie Bhak, Old man @ Art Miami 2017Javier Bellomo, Coria face @ Art Miami 2017Indian art in Santa Fe
As you can see framing can be fun but takes time to figure out. Next time you are at an art show or a museum, pay attention to framing, take notes, and frame your pieces in accordance with your knowledge and taste. Good luck!
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