Fall is here !

It wouldn't be Fall without a trip to the Pumpkin Patch down the block ! We brought back pumpkins of all sizes and dressed em' up with a fresh coat of paint. Next up, we will be making Halloween masks and even a few costumes to really get into the Halloween spirit !

Chefs In the Kitchen + Artists In the Studio...

Who knew we had so many great artists and chefs among us...but, we sure do ! This week we got involved in some neat mixed media artwork. And, we really got busy in the garden and the kitchen in The SOM Cooking + Gardening Club. We whipped up Nutella Madness Cupcakes, Spinach + Goat Cheese tartlets and Chocolate Chip Cookies. It has been great to see all the enthusiasm around getting creative and we are only getting started ! Stay tuned because, next week we are going to be planting the first seeds of the season in our garden and no doubt creating so more culinary masterpieces ! Click on any of the items above to see the recipes we used and recreate them at home !

WIth love all things grow...

As usual there was lots going on at the studio this week. We officially got the gardening + Cooking Club underway. It looks like after a long summer of being overgrown, the garden is truly starting to shape up. So far on the list we will be harvesting tomatoes, kale, sunflowers, mint + basil. These first few weeks of school have been not only magical but transformative. The bonds that are being made around the studio are so inspiring. This week we welcome a new student to school and little by little our family is growing ! It seems like not a week has gone by where we haven't learned something + this week it was clear...with love all things grow !

SOM trend report...

It doesn't take much searching to notice that...thumbs up and smiles were the trend of the week around the studio. It looks like we are finding our groove and really figuring out that this whole school thing is, lots of fun !! Once again we had a week full of learning, another fun group art project, plenty of bonding and friendship building and we even discovered thanks to Jonas that, the best way to eat baked Cheetos is with chopsticks...who knew ! Here are a few of the snapshots from around the studio this week...

Let's hear it for another great week !

Another awesome week around the studio...week two looks like we gave you our best ! We worked on some fun art projects and got our hands dirty with some paper mache, we broke out the official SOM ping pong table and who knew we might have some real pros among us...we had a visit from the Murck family pig Hamlet and got started on our aqua fitness program- looks like we might have a few pro divers in the making, all that and we still got all of our school work done ! Here's just a little glimpse into our world last week...

And so we begin...

There is a beautiful saying that " the beginning is the most important part "...indeed it is and what a beginning we had. Our first week back to school was nothing short of awesome ! We transitioned over to the amazing WiloStar 3D virtual world of academics and there is no doubt this year is going to make learning fun. We got busy in the art studio working on creating rain sticks (stay tuned for pics of them coming soon). We had a great night with all the parents in the studio for parent night. We started to make new friendships and happily rekindled old friendships. There was no denying the  beautiful energy and laughter that filled the studio all week was contagious. The beginning truly is the most important part and so we begin the start of something new and exciting, a year that we will fill with hope, dedication, good times and hard work. A year that will start on the right foot with great expectations and great promise.

 Here are a few of the highlights and fun photos from the week...

One Day Without Shoes

What would one day without shoes mean ? The founder of TOMS shoes inspired us to find out exactly how millions of children around the world live everyday. We joined people worldwide to spread awareness of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child's life by taking off our own. Why ? Millions of children live without proper footwear, exposing them to injury and disease every day. Today we walked barefoot to the Red Tent to spread this message. We were treated to tea and foot baths and then continued on to the Sundy House where we relaxed by the pool and contemplated how many children in the world are living and how fortunate we are. We took a few minutes to write how we felt...

Walking without shoes around Delray Beach was hard. I kept having to make sure I wasn't walking on any glass so that something would not hurt my feet. It was really hot so it was hard to walk around my feet really hurt so I really understand how painful it must be for these poor children.
- Emily Duffy


I would hate to not have shoes because it is painful. My poor feet were hot. I feel bad for all the kids that don't have shoes. One Day Without Shoes is a great cause, but maybe just not for my feet. 
- Hunter Graef


One Day Without Shoes shows awareness that not everyone is fortunate enough to have shoes. 1, 890,000 children are infected with jiggers, burrowing fleas that cause painful lesions. I feel bad for all of the kids. This is a great cause. 
- Shaffer Worrell 

INSPIRE...CREATE...

There was some serious art happening in the studio this week...we did an awesome paint pouring project, built a really cool model war tanker and did a fun paper cutting project. Over break the art studio got a little mini makeover and it looks like it really inspired us all to CREATE !

Happy Holidays...Happy New Year !

It's a wrap folks...2011 is done ! Here's to making 2012 the most productive, fun, amazing year yet. Let's hope it is full of personal growth, adventure and healing. Here's to learning new things, building and strengthening friendships and really living in the moment...

What's been happening around the studio ?

So there has been no shortage of fun around the studio in the weeks leading up to Winter break ! We went down to Miami and visited the Holocaust Museum and took in the art at Art Basel. We worked on some really cool art projects, cooked up a storm in the kitchen, played some music, got out and really spiffed up our garden plot (we should have tomatoes any day now !). And who knew it takes just one crazy idea to make a Lion King mask and we had an impromptu musical production, with playbills and tickets ! We had a bunch of birthday celebrations and of course there was lots of decorating and gift giving to ring in the holidays. We sure did end 2011 on the right foot and looks like 2012 is going to be nothing short of awesome around the studio !!

Lights...Camera...Action !

...watch out Steven Spielberg the SOM crew just might be getting the next Academy Award for best documentary ! We have been so lucky to be working with the amazing John Sturdy. He has been kind enough to take time away from making groundbreaking documentaries for National Geographic, NBC and the like to spend time with us to make our very own documentary. We are learning the ropes and we are loving it. Stay tuned for the release of the SOM Documentary !!! We gotta go now Hollywood is calling !

F is for Family !

So we have done it, another great family dinner !  This round the Bates, Duffy, Salvatore and Meek families were the guest chefs and there was lots to say YUM about. We shared stories, laughs and are glad to say we know each other just a little bit better !

Our Afternoon with Jana Banin...

We were super lucky to spend the afternoon with a truly wonderful, patient and inspiring woman named Jana Banin. Jana shared her story of raising a child with autism which she chronicles on her blog I Hate Your Kids. We were also lucky enough to watch the movie based on the blog and her son, Kaylien. It was not only inspirational but, it also beautifully highlighted the virtues of patience and compassion. We took some time to reflect on the time we spent with her and here are just a few of the comments and thoughts the visit provoked...

" The film was about a young girl who was different than everybody else and didn't necessarily fit in. Not everybody accepted her or had patience to keep up with her. She was bullied because of this and changed schools several times. I think that everybody could relate to this in one way or another. Whether you've been bullied or not, I think everyone has felt alone or picked on at least once in their life. " - Rebecca Luckman

" I was really inspired by what Jana does and how she does it. I really liked the short film and found it inspiring. " - Emily Duffy

" When Jana came to SOM I learned new things about autism. I look up to Jana because of how much patience she has for her children. I now have a new view on autism. " - Spencer Segal

" I thought the movie was very enlightening to make you realize that people are all very different. I think this was a great movie. " - Shaffer Worrell

" After our visit from Jana Banin who inspired the film Kaylien about her son who has autism I began to think about how I related to the film. There was a dog in the film who she found comfort in by petting. I have a dog a laberdoodle named Totty Magrutty who I also believe calms me down and protects me. I think Jana's daughter was very brave and dealt with lots at school and unfortunately the teacher bullied her which is why it is important to find a safe place to learn. Space of Mind is that place for me. I am Hunter Graef and I approve this message ! " - Hunter Graef

Take a minute to click on over here and check out the great post that Jana wrote on her blog about the time she spent with us. Although she brought inspiration into the studio, it seems like she also left inspired by what we are doing at SOM and who we are as a group. We could not have asked for a better afternoon. Thanks Jana !

Parent's In The House...

Big shout out to all the parents and siblings who came out for our first SOM Family Dinner of the year, we had such a great time. There was lots of laughing, chowing down and even some singing !

...thanks again to everyone who came for bringing in such great food and sharing your recipes. No doubt this creation by Taylor and her mom just about sums us all up, don't you think !

We are looking forward to next month's dinner on December 14th for more good times and great food, see ya there !

Cookin' with SOM...Emily's Happy Birthday Spinach Dip

When it comes to snacks and food there is no shortage of great ideas that come out of the SOM kitchen every week. Favorites that have been handed down in student's families and new favorites that we find along the way. We thought it would be fun to pick all of our most popular and share them in a recipe book. First on the list going into the book is Emily's Happy Birthday Spinach Dip. We love to celebrate birthday's at the studio and this was a special request from Emily to celebrate her 16th ! It was a crowd pleaser and worth trying at home...

And here is the birthday girl blowing out her candles. Happy Birthday Emily ! We Love You !

Trick or Treat...

So it was one haunted Halloween around the studio. After we turned our usually bright sun room into a haunted house it was only natural that a few creative costumes were on the way ! For sure funniest went to Taylor for her version of Eden Woods the 6 year old retired beauty pageant winner from Toddlers & Tiaras, cutest went to Megan for her Minnie Mouse and honorable mention went out to Lara from the Matrix and Hunter in full fatigues ! And take a look at our painted pumpkins...they came out so great !

In the Jungle the Mighty Jungle...

Nothing like spending the day at the Palm Beach Zoo. While some of the other students were away in Boston a small group of lucky students hit the jungle. There were lots of sights to see...

Thankfully Rebecca brought her camera to capture the visit and took some great pics. Here are some of her highlights from the day...

" One of my favorite animals there was a wild dog called a Bush Dog. It looked and acted exactly like a domesticated dog, so it was weird to see it behind a cage in a zoo. The dog came right up to the fence and wanted us to pet him He did not seem aggressive or wild at all but I wasn't taking any chances. Another fun part of the zoo was watching the bird show. They showed us a bunch of birds and told us about them. The birds were so close you could pet them. The tiger exhibit was really cool. Tigers are on of my favorite animals so seeing one so close was awesome. It was so bi but so majestic and pretty. He kept pacing back and forth so he seemed a little lonely which was sad. "
- Rebecca

Hunter had a great time as well and here are some of his highlights...

" I loved it when I got to see the wild dogs at the zoo. They tried to get my fox tail and jumped on the fence. We got to see a tiger, he was near the fence and we got some photos of it. We also got to see it roam around. My favorite part was the fox. They were sleeping in the cage. " - Hunter

to be cont'd

Back from Boston !

The gang on the steps of the Harvard library !

We are back from our long weekend in beautiful Boston ! There wasn't a museum, college campus, vintage store and Urban Outfitters we didn't hit along the way. Our days started early and ended super late, so late one night some of us even forgot to set our alarms for the next morning ! But even a late start couldn't stop us from taking in everything this amazing town had to offer !The weather was brisk and sunny, perfect for layering up and getting out to see the sights. Hard to pick our favorite stop along our adventure because we jam packed every single day with more exciting sites than we had seen the day before. We started our adventure touring the Harvard campus and ended the trip in the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science. In between we saw so many cool spots (we even got to see Jupiter). It's hard to name our favorite but we thought we would share a few that made the top of the list. First stop the Boston Museum of Fine Arts where we took in the beautiful works of Monet, Renoir and Andy Warhol, sat in an ancient Buddhist temple and explored the Egyptian pyramids. Here's what Ally Meek thought of the museum...

" I enjoyed the Museum of Fine Arts probably the most of anywhere we went on the trip. I could have stayed there for days it was huge ! I especially liked the Mummy, Greek, and Roman exhibits. They had a huge room with huge paintings covering the walls from the Renaissance. They were paintings of European royalty, Biblical figures and angels. They were breathtaking. " - Ally Meek

That same day we ventured high above the city (50 floors to be exact) to the Prudential SkyWalk. We took in a 360 degree view and tour of the city, pretty awesome to say the least...

We followed that up by a Duck Tour, a land and sea tour of the city in a WWII amphibious landing vehicle. Best part our tour, the guide picked our own Shaffer to drive the boat ! Pretty cool to say the least. Here's what Emily and Shaffer thought of the tour...

" The Duck Tour was the funniest thing that we did. Lex and I were making jokes on the Duck Tour. In the end it was super fun and funny. We ended up laughing the whole time and we had a really good time. The duck tour driver said and did some really funny things. I couldn't stop laughing "
- Megan

" We went on the Duck Tour. These tours go on both land and water. They go through the city of Boston telling you about the history of Boston. Our duck was named Old Glory which I was fortunate enough to drive. Then I got a sticker for driving the amphibious vehicle. " - Shaffer

Saturday we got up and hit the ferry for a day in Salem. We couldn't have picked a better day to visit, with Halloween right around the corner the entire town was full of visitors in costumes and full of haunted houses to get lost in. For sure in our group, Lara won the award for best costume ! We saw a reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials, a few of the girls got fake fangs (although they seriously looked real) and wandered around town taking in all the sights. All in all it was a really great day...




Sunday everyone voted to make the Museum of Science our last activity and it was the perfect way to end our trip. We took in an amazing exhibit of Pompeii the city buried under ash after Mt.Vesuvius erupted, saw a beautiful butterfly exhibit, watched a new born chick struggle to take it's first steps, and saw a whole bunch of other cool stuff while we were there. Here's what Megan, Rachel and Lara thought about the museum...

" We went to the Museum of Science which was pretty cool, we saw the Pompeii exhibit and we went to the Planetarium which was insane. I really liked it, it was really cool. The planetarium was really cool probably my favorite. I really like science museums in general so this one was really cool. "
-Megan

" On the last day went to the Museum of Science. This museum was amazing, it had an incubator full ofchicks, a butterfly exhibit, a planetarium and more. My favorite was the incubator full of chicks because I got to see a brand new chick try to walk. Even though  I never saw the chick walk it was still a memorable experience. " - Rachel

" On Sunday morning we walked to the Museum of Science. On the walk there Emily introduced me to a new band, The Script. When we got there we went to an exhibit about Pompeii. In the exhibit there were people that were found in the natural disaster debris and there was even one with a dog. Then we went to a butterfly garden. One of the butterflies landed on my jacket. We also saw a butterfly hatch from it's cocoon. Then we had time to walk around the rest of the exhibits. " - Lara

What a trip...we got to experience what it's like to be a college student, an artist, a scientist, an astronomer, a tourist and best of all what it's like to travel with friends and make some amazing memories that will last a lifetime. Thanks to all the parents for sending us on this trip and thanks to Boston, it was a blast !

Pumpkin Patch Adventures...

With Halloween just around the corner we figured we better get started on collecting pumpkins for painiting and carving ! Luckily there was a local pumpkin patch right down the block from the studio. Despite the super hot temps we had an awesome time. Stay tuned to see what we do with them...

Our First Class Trip of the Year !



Artwork by Emily Duffy



After a great discussion about the tragedy of 9/11, we took our first class trip down to Miami. The weather was great and we were on our way to find some inspiration. Our first stop was fantastic ! Our  very own Art Director, Lorie Setton had two of her pieces up at a show at the Christopher Miro Gallery, we were so proud of her and really loved her work. After a little lunch we hit a really powerful show at the LMNT Gallery which featured an extraordinary collection of conceptual pieces revolving around the events of 9/11. When we returned to the studio we grabbed our journals and wrote about the works and our thoughts about the exhibit. We would love to share just a few of those thoughts with you and a few of the pieces we created as a tribute to 9/11...

Dear Journal,

Yesterday we went to Miami, we had the privilege to visit two incredible art exhibits. The first one featured artwork from our very own Lorie which was so cool ! Next, we had some lunch and then we were off  to the 9/11 Memorial. Unfortunately, it rained on the way there but I didn't let it ruin my day ! There's no "raining on my parade !" When I first took a look around I real needed to look and I really mean look to understand the artwork at first. Then once I grasped the concept, I really fell in love with it. This memorial really affected me and I wound up taking pictures of all the art pieces because I wanted to remember them. As they say when associating with 9/11, " Never Forget ". My favorite piece's in the memorial were the " two medicine " towers representing all the medicine the creator had to take as a result of helping clean up the debris from the aftermath of the twin towers. My other favorite was an outline of NYC with a heart monitor symbolising the timeline of terror events in NYC leading up to 9/11. All in all, this was an incredible trip and I would love to go back.

Love,

Ashley Kleinman

Artwork by Rachel Bates



Yesterday we went to a 9/11 Memorial art gallery in Miami which was very interesting. There was a giant wing from a plane with pictures showing birds flying into planes. This demonstrated how powerful a single bird can be to a plane and how devastating it must have been for a plane to go into a building. My favorite piece was either the skyline of the city with a heartbeat or the cabinets with all the medicine in it. These people were doing such a good deed by going to Ground Zero and helping out and now so many of them have terrible diseases or cancer. The skyline, to me, represented the city before 9/11 thriving with a good heartbeat then during and after9/11 the city was almost at a standstill but then eventually people learned to move on and live their life. Another interesting piece in the gallery was the circles with all the pictures of the people who had died on that tragic day. I heard the number of people that died over and over, which was close to 3,000, but you don't really realize how many people died until you see all their faces.

Rebecca Luckman

Artwork by Lara Bouilland

Without a doubt the combination of our artwork, the trip down to Miami and sharing our thoughts in our journals has really impacted us and given us a much deeper more compassionate view about the history of 9/11. And we are totally looking forward to our next trip, so stay tuned !