New Sketchbooks: Beginning a New Season at Art Lab

The first class of a new Art Lab season is always a favourite of mine.

It’s the moment when each child receives a new sketchbook and we begin again together. Fresh pages for the weeks ahead and a shared understanding that this is their safe a place to try things out.

Before we start working, we introduce ourselves. We talk about names, where we come from, and the languages we speak. I share that I speak two languages and that I grew up partly in New York City, where I worked as an artist before starting Art Lab Amsterdam.

Then I ask the children if they speak any languages other than Dutch.

Every time, a majority of hands shoot up into the air. Children eagerly share stories about speaking other languages at home: Ukrainian, Turkish, Spanish, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, and other languages connected to family, travel, or heritage. We take a moment to admire the collective mix of languages in the room. It’s a simple exchange, but it sets an important tone: everyone brings something of value with them to this art class.

The First Project: Making the Sketchbook Their Own

The main focus of the first class is always the sketchbook cover.

This winter season, we worked with white and gold paint pens, using snow as our starting point. The younger children explored snowflakes — noticing repetition, symmetry, and how small changes create endless variation. The older children designed their names in three-dimensional letters, learning about perspective and layering, and then “covered” their letters in snow.

Each cover was different. Some were careful and precise, others loose and playful. All of them reflected the child who made them.

Trying Is Learning

In the next class, I introduce a phrase that becomes a shared language in the studio:“Proberen is leren,” Trying is learning.

Each child receives a small sticker with these words, which they stamp into their sketchbook. It’s a simple gesture, but an important one. The sticker marks the sketchbook as a place where effort matters more than perfection — a personal, safe working space where ideas can unfold without pressure.

At Art Lab, the sketchbook is not a portfolio of finished work. It’s a working space.

Children use it to test ideas, practice techniques and try different iterations. We don’t tear pages out -even if the pages that feel unfinished or unsuccessful. I share my story of how, in my own sketchbook, my experiments are often the pages I enjoy returning to later, and notice how my thinking changes over time. Over time, children begin to understand that those pages often teach them the most.

A Long View

This is a photo I often think about from one of my former students: Fedde.

He had been coming to Art Lab for several years, and his father took a photo of him lying on the floor with all of his sketchbooks laid out beside him — so many that they stretched the length of his body! He is smiling in the photo.

After he graduated from my program, he later returned to Art Lab as a volunteer assistant, helping support the younger children.

For me, that image says a lot. The sketchbooks show growth and his journey in Art Lab. And wow- that Fedde also returned and contributed speaks about his creative confidence. I have had several other students return to Art Lab, which they call their "happy place" and do the same. What a beautiful continuity! After 15 years of teaching, the confidence of my students is something I like to celebrate.

Looking Ahead

The sketchbooks we begin now will be used throughout a season full of varied projects and techniques.

In the coming weeks, children will explore:

• perspective and spatial drawing

• shadow and light through hands-on experiments

• glow-in-the-dark owl eyes and inventing light sculptures for Amsterdam Light Festival

• and many more playful, thoughtful projects designed to build skills while keeping curiosity alive

  
  

Right now, the sketchbooks are still mostly empty....

That’s exactly where we love to start each season.

If you’re reading this and considering joining us: most classes are nearly full, but a few spots still remain. I would love to welcome new children into the group as we continue this journey into spring.