The HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery, 1970 Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence, RI (2026)

06/18/2026

🎨 Attention The Elements Artists!

This is a friendly reminder that artwork pickup is available:

📍 Today (Friday): 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
📍 Saturday: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

If you’re planning to pick up your work on Saturday, please do not arrive before 2:00 PM, as I will be teaching classes and won’t be available to assist with artwork retrieval until pickup begins.

Those who purchased work are welcome to do so today and Saturday as well. If you are unable to pick up work at this time, we will be in touch to arrange that for you.

As The Elements comes to a close, it also marks the end of our gallery season. The gallery will be taking a brief summer hiatus, giving us time to clean, reorganize, and complete some necessary repairs and improvements before reopening with new exhibitions in September.

Thank you to all of the artists who helped make this exhibition such a wonderful show. We are grateful for your participation and support and look forward to welcoming you back this fall!

❤️ HeARTspot Art Center & Gallery

06/13/2026

🎨✨ Middle School Mixed Media Collage ✨🎨
Today’s challenge was all about focal points, composition, and intentional design.

Students began by selecting one or two elements that would serve as the focal point of their composition. From there, every decision had to support that choice. We discussed how artists guide the viewer’s eye and how colors, textures, images, and embellishments can either strengthen a focal point - or compete with it.

Along the way, students experimented with a variety of mixed media techniques, including stamping, embossing powders, distressing, layering papers, and collage. I encouraged them to work with a limited color palette and a limited number of objects, pushing them to think carefully about each addition rather than filling every inch of space.
One of the biggest challenges was that the classroom was filled with thousands of possible materials, images, papers, stamps, embellishments, and found objects. With so many options available, students had to make thoughtful choices about what belonged in their composition and, just as importantly, what did not. Learning to edit and simplify is often one of the most difficult skills for young artists to develop.

For some students, creating a strong visual hierarchy came naturally. For others, resisting the urge to add “just one more thing” proved to be the real challenge! Either way, they rose to the occasion and produced some incredibly thoughtful, sophisticated compositions.

I was especially impressed with the creativity and problem-solving on display today. Several students finished their first piece so efficiently that they had time to create a second collage before class ended!

06/13/2026

🍉 Elementary Art: Watermelon Bookmarks! 🍉

Summer vacation may be around the corner, but we spent part of class talking about the importance of keeping up with reading over the summer, sharing some of our favorite books, and discussing all the adventures that can be found between the pages of a good story.

To create a bookmark worthy of those summer reads, students began by sealing raw wooden bookmarks with a clear coat to prepare the surface for painting. Working with a limited color palette and practicing the wet-on-wet acrylic technique, they built a rich green rind from the bottom up, gradually blending it into white before painting the watermelon flesh from the top down in bright reds and soft pinks.

To finish their fruit-inspired masterpieces, students carefully added 5–7 watermelon seeds, each painted with highlights, midtones, and shadows to create a realistic three-dimensional look. Once complete, they added colorful tassels and created handmade folders to store and protect their bookmarks.

Along the way, they practiced color blending, value, brush control, and craftsmanship. Most importantly, they left with a handmade bookmark that I hope will get plenty of use during a summer filled with great books! 📚🍉🎨

06/08/2026

We still have available spots in our 2nd week of Elementary Camp and our Middle School week! Visit our linked website to learn more and register! 💛🎨🧑🏽‍🎨

06/06/2026

Today’s elementary artists created colorful paper fish sculptures inspired by a lesson that began with a few classic origami folds. After noticing two brothers in class enthusiastically sharing their love of origami last week, I decided to incorporate those traditional folding techniques into a larger paper sculpture project.

Students started by choosing a square sheet of paper in a color they loved and carefully followed a series of precise folds to create the basic fish form. From there, the real creativity began! Using three different shades of color, they added patterns from dark to medium to light to create a sense of shine and dimension across the body of their fish. They then designed and constructed their own tails, fins, jaws, and tongues, giving each creature its own unique personality.

Part sculpture, part engineering challenge, and part design project, this lesson checked a lot of fun boxes. It required focus, problem-solving, craftsmanship, and creativity - and the best part is that these fish actually move when you play with them!

The kids had an absolute blast bringing their colorful sea creatures to life, and I loved seeing how differently each artist interpreted the same starting fold. 🐟✨

(Painting in the background: Crystal Waves by Philadelphia artist Steve Shorts.)

06/06/2026

Last week, our Middle School artists focused on a rubber duck painting challenge, learning how to use colored pencils and acrylic paint pens to create shadows, highlights, and a convincing sense of form. This week, we leveled up. 🐸🎨

Students took on a more complex frog portrait using gouache paint. They were challenged to choose any color they wanted for their frog, but they had to successfully mix a dark, medium, and light value of that color to create depth and make their amphibian feel three-dimensional. We also talked about how artists use color to create mood, so each student selected a background color intentionally - bright colors for cheerful, energetic feelings and softer or deeper colors for calmer moods.

Along the way, they practiced color mixing, value control, brushwork, and even learned how to use painter’s tape to create crisp, professional-looking borders around their artwork.

I’m so proud of the growth these artists are showing. Their confidence with paint, color theory, and observation continues to improve with every project, and the frogs turned out fantastic! 💚💜💙💛

06/04/2026

Every year since 2019, you’ve shown up for HeARTspot in the most meaningful way possible: by taking the time to vote.

Today I found out that we’ve been named Best Gallery in in the East Bay of Rhode Island once again, and I’m incredibly grateful. 🥹 What started as a dream has become a thriving creative community because of the artists, students, families, collectors, instructors, and supporters who walk through our doors and believe in what we do.

Thank you for helping us earn this honor year after year. It never stops meaning the world to me. 🩷

05/30/2026

🐤 Rubber Duck Rendering Day! 🐤

This project may have started with a simple rubber duck, but it challenged students to use some serious artistic skills!

We began with a pencil drawing, then used gouache to lay in smooth base colors. From there, students slowly built up layers of colored pencil, learning how to create highlights, shadows, and gradual value changes to make their ducks look shiny, rounded, and three-dimensional. The final step was adding bright highlights to give them that classic glossy rubber-duck finish.

This was one of those projects that required patience, observation, and trust in the process. There were lots of steps, plenty of opportunities to problem-solve, and more than a few moments where students had to push through challenges before seeing the magic happen.

The results speak for themselves! 🦆✨

I’m so proud of the focus, perseverance, and craftsmanship these young artists showed today. They took a complex process and turned it into some seriously adorable ducks.

05/30/2026

⏰🎨 Persistence of Memory… and Mustaches! 🎨⏰

Today my elementary artists took on melting clocks in the style of Salvador Dalí! Before we started creating, we learned a little about Dalí and explored his famous painting The Persistence of Memory, talking about Surrealism and how artists can bend the rules of reality.

Students designed their own clock shapes, colored dark frames, and practiced using light and heavy pressure to create value changes - making the tops of their clock faces darker and the bottoms lighter. They added numbers, figured out how to make their clocks display a specific time, mounted everything to cardboard, cut them out, folded them, and finished with highlights to bring them to life.

And because no Dalí lesson would be complete without a little silliness, I managed to find some sticky mustaches just in time for our photos! 😂

The clocks melted, the mustaches curled, and the kids had an absolute blast. Sometimes the best learning happens when art history, creativity, and a little bit of ridiculousness collide. ❤️

05/30/2026

⏰🎨 Persistence of Memory… and Mustaches! 🎨⏰

Today my elementary artists took on melting clocks in the style of Salvador Dalí! Before we started creating, we learned a little about Dalí and explored his famous painting The Persistence of Memory, talking about Surrealism and how artists can bend the rules of reality.

Students designed their own clock shapes, colored dark frames, and practiced using light and heavy pressure to create value changes - making the tops of their clock faces darker and the bottoms lighter. They added numbers, figured out how to make their clocks display a specific time, mounted everything to cardboard, cut them out, folded them, and finished with highlights to bring them to life.

And because no Dalí lesson would be complete without a little silliness, I managed to find some sticky mustaches just in time for our photos! 😂

The clocks melted, the mustaches curled, and the kids had an absolute blast. Sometimes the best learning happens when art history, creativity, and a little bit of ridiculousness collide. ❤️

The HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery

06/18/2026

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06/08/2026

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05/30/2026

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