Amber Siratt - Kern Valley Sun

After weeks of preparation, Woodrow Wallace Elementary School students, teachers and staff enjoyed the colorful celebration of this year’s Young Authors’ Faire held last Friday at the Wallace School campus. The school, which hosts the event every other year, welcomed author Art Sherwyn. Sherwyn, who often visits the Kern Valley area and draws and paints near the Kern River and other scenic spots, teaches art at Stockdale High School in Bakersfield and is the author of 'Creative Coloring ’�� Design Elements' and 'The Drawing Workbook: Line.' Students had the opportunity to purchase Sherwyn’s books and have them personally autographed.

As an artist/author/teacher, Sherwyn shared his talents and insight during his presentations at the Faire. He explained that his books were written for young people and the books’ purpose is for young people to learn as they color. 'The idea for ’��Creative Coloring’ came from my frustration for coloring books. To me, coloring books don’t teach much about art,' said Sherwyn. There’s more to coloring than just coloring the pages of a coloring book, he added. Sherwyn also explained the difference between warm and cool colors and the students applauded as he demonstrated the mixing of colors. Using a pencil, Sherwyn quickly sketched a barn and a tree on paper and puzzled the students when he told them, 'I’m not going to use paintbrushes to paint this picture.' Sherwyn delighted the crowd when he used a tennis ball to paint the mountains and trees and a roll of masking tape to paint the barn red. Other items used were a plunger, toilet brush, broom, a shoe, carrot and a bicycle tire. 'The reason I used a carrot and a tennis ball to paint was to show you that art is about being fun and trying new things. If you have an idea, try it,' encouraged Sherwyn.

A colorful box of crayons come to life during the drama production “Color” at the Young Authors’ Faire at Wallace Elementary School on Friday. Left to right: Green Crayon Kathy Dwyer, ‘Artist’ Sharon Crowe, Blue Crayon Susan Hughes, Yellow Crayon Lisa Jones, Orange Crayon Beverly Newman and Red Crayon Janice Moon.

In addition to Sherwyn’s presentations, the Faire included students reading books they authored to other students. The older children were very helpful when the younger grade students read their books and needed help with certain words. Students and staff alike were amused by Wallace Elementary teachers, Sharon Crowe, Susan Hughes, Lisa Jones, Janice Moon, Kathy Dwyer and production volunteer Beverly Newman, whose drama production 'Color' had the crowd in hysterics. When the curtain lifted, the crowd roared with laughter as Hughes, Jones, Moon, Dwyer and Newman stood on stage dressed as crayons in a giant crayon box. Crowe, in character as a young girl, bounced in the room with a one dollar bill. She explained that her mommy said she could buy something with the dollar. After deciding to 'buy' the box of crayons she quickly learned that the crayons just didn’t seem to get along. One by one, the bickering crayons stepped out of the box to explain why their color was the best. The young girl, who wanted to draw a picture with her new box of crayons, explained, 'If we’re going to draw a beautiful picture we have to get along.' To start the picture, red was chosen first, then yellow. The little girl told her red and yellow crayon to 'put your heads together and see if you can comeup with a new color friend.' The students knew where this was going and yelled, 'Orange, pick Orange!' To see the 'Color' production and Art Sherwyn presentation in pictures, visit the Sun’s photo gallery online at www.kvsun.com

The Young Authors’ Faire showcased many talents and creative processes. Sherwyn emphasized to the students the importance of the arts, 'The arts ’��dancing, writing, painting etc., are something you want to try to keep in your life.'