Online Art Classes for Homeschoolers - Blog

When I think about homeschooling my children, one of my concerns is if they will miss out on special classes like art or music. I come from a very artistic family, but I myself can barely draw a stick figure! Thus, I was thrilled when I found out that my friend Klare strated a business called COLORFULL that teaches online art classes for kids of all ages and skill levels.

I met Klare when I was in high school when we were both working as lifeguards at a summer camp. Klare is passionate about serving Jesus, loving her family, and using her gifts to be creative.

COLORFULL offers online art classes for mediums such as watercolor, print making, and chalk pastels. They also have an introductory art and alphabet program for preschoolers that I got to use with my kids, and weekly Youtube videos for simple art projects and lessons.

Whether you are a homeschooling mom looking for art resources or want to nurture your child’s love for art while they are home in the summer, I highly recommend COLORFULL!

Keep reading to find out more about Klare, her experience living in Haiti, how she balances motherhood and entrepreneurship, and behind the scenes of her business, COLORFULL.

This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I would use myself. I hope that these resources are beneficial to you on your sewing journey.

Tell me about yourself and your family.

I was born and raised in Kansas where I was homeschooled by my mom with my four sisters. Growing up, I always had a passion for art and missions. This led me to moving to Haiti where I worked as a creative director at a job-creation program for women. While I was there, I met my husband Judelin. We moved back to Kansas in 2019 and then had our son, Manaoh, in 2021. We recently bought a house, which we have been renovating to create a home for our family. On most days I am creating art, chasing my toddler (who is chasing our cat), and doing home improvement projects with my husband.

What are you passionate about and why?

My passions consist of Jesus, family, and creating. They have all been a constant within my life but it really wasn’t until the more recent years that I realized that they are all connected and interwoven to one another. I love the Lord and how He created each of us to be unique and also in His image. I love His unique design for the family and how it is a reflection of our relationship with Him as our Father. And I also love how we are made to be creative because our Father is the Creator. It doesn’t matter if I’m reading my Bible, playing with my son, or painting, the Lord will begin giving me new understanding about Him, the family, creativity, and how they are all connected and part of His unique design.

What are your top 5 values?

Relationships

My relationship with the Lord, family, and friends is really the only thing of eternal value. I value those relationships because they are so important and everything else is material.

Hard Work

I desire to steward the time, talents, and resources that I have been given, and that means I need to do my part and work hard.

Creativity

We are all made in the image of God, who is the Creator. Therefore, I believe we are all creative and should walk within the creativity we were given.

Fun

Making something fun can make the most mundane activity into a memory. If it’s not fun, we are doing it wrong.

Health

This one is often the hardest for me, but I can serve and love others so much better when I am healthy. Sometimes I need to say “no” in order to be able to say “yes”.

Can you share more about your experience homeschooling?

Homeschooling allowed for me to experience some really great opportunities. I’d say the greatest of all was being able to form really strong relationships with my sisters and mom. I honestly love spending time with my family, and I know not everyone has been blessed in that way. Homeschooling also allowed me to focus more on my interests and grow in my gifts. My mom is an artist as well which meant that we did a lot of art during school. She was able to recognize that I wouldn’t be a math genius but could tell that the doodles that covered my school papers were where my passion was. She really did her best to provide us with education around our passions and talents which helped us to turn them into careers.

What are some misconceptions people have about homeschooling?

I think the top misconception is that if you homeschool, the kids will have no friends or won’t know how to socialize. Kids who are homeschooled are as socialized as the parents want them to be. We were in a lot of extra curricular activities such as church events, homeschool co-op groups, and even sports. As an extrovert, I never felt like I was lacking in this department growing up because my parents took us to lots of social events. The relationships I made from homeschooling were also very strong. In fact, my current closest friends are still the ones I met during my childhood and middle school years of homeschooling.

Can you share about your experience living in Haiti?

When I first moved to Haiti, I started at a non-profit (Haiti Foundation Against Poverty) as a teacher of a homeschool preschool for children in the adoption process, with the main focus of helping them develop their English to help ease the transition to the states. My class consisted of 5 very busy little boys. They brought so much joy to my day as the first few months were honestly very challenging for me because I was still learning the language and culture and often felt isolated.

I had never been to Haiti prior to moving there and also did not know anyone. I had a lot of free time with not having much of a social life so I just started to pour into the job creation program (Gift of Hope Haiti) that was at the non-profit. It was during that time I started to become even more passionate about art and design. I was able to use my gifts and talents in this new way of helping to empower other women to care for their families, which was so incredible.

How did you use art while working in Haiti?

After my first year in Haiti, I transitioned from teaching to working solely at Gift of Hope as the Creative Director. I felt like I had really found my groove while in that position. It allowed me to learn so many skills like product design, marketing, social media, and graphic design. Once I knew more of the language and culture, it allowed me to be more independent and have a social life. I quickly learned that you have to have community in order to survive in a place that has many trials and challenges. I loved the beautiful Caribbean, palm trees, lush mountains, and fresh fruit, but it was the people within my community that made Haiti so amazing.

How did you and your husband meet?

My husband was the worship leader at the church I attended. I actually attended for a few months before he even noticed me because they had so many different short term mission teams that would come and I would blend in with all the Blan (white people). To this day he claims that on the Sunday that he noticed me, I was staring at him while he was on stage leading worship. But I would argue that everyone is going to be looking at someone who is on stage. Shortly after that, we started talking and hanging out as friends. He already spoke very good English too which made it way easier for us to communicate.

What do you do for work?

I am an artist and graphic designer. I apply those skills within a few different ways. The first one being my business that I have with one of my sisters. It’s called COLORFULL and we create easy online art for kids.

I also have my personal business called The KP Studio where I do branding, marketing, website design, and social media for other businesses and clients. And then another passion project that I am hoping to turn more into a business is children’s book illustration. I have worked on illustrations for other clients but I am now writing and illustrating my own book which has been very fun.

How do you balance running your business and being a mom? Any advice for other moms who are also entrepreneurs?

For me, finding balance is an ever changing thing. Some seasons allow me to do more with my business than others and therefore require me to constantly shift and readjust. In this season, I have a young family and my son requires a lot more of my time and attention. I don’t want to be so busy working that I am missing opportunities to connect with him. This is why I have recently been trying to get more creative with my work by finding things that will be more passive income or allow me the flexibility to work when I am available (aka my son’s nap time and bed time).

I also think learning how to ask for help is crucial as a working mom. No matter how much society tells us, we are not super woman and we do not have to have it all together. I rely heavily on my husband and community in order for me to get all the business things and mom things done. I am not doing it by myself.

One simple verse that helped me to truly understand this is in the chapter of Proverbs 31 about the wife of noble character who is a mother and business woman. In verse 15 it says, “She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.” meaning that this woman had servants to help her. She wasn’t accomplishing these things alone and she wasn’t trying to. As women and moms, we need to find our community and not be afraid to ask for help.

How did you get the idea for COLORFULL?

At the end of 2020 when everything had gone online and remote, I had heard about another business that was offering online art classes but their approach and style was different. I thought how it was a very appealing business concept and how it could be shifted in order to combine art, family, and passive income all within the online space, but I knew I didn’t want to take it on by myself. I then approached my sister, Rachel, who is also an artist and mom about partnering with me to bring the business to life. We were able to collaborate and dream together about how we could provide a fun way for families to engage at home together through art and thus COLORFULL was created.

Tell me more about COLORFULL. What do you offer? Who is it for?

COLORFULL provides online art lessons for creative kids and busy parents. Rachel and I are both artists. Art comes very natural to us. But, we know that it may not come as easy to others. Our goal is to take the guess work and prep out for parents so they can just focus on spending quality time with their kids.

We offer courses on our website which come complete with two supply lists: one for in store shopping and one of Amazon links for online shopping. All of our courses teach foundational art skills that will help kids grow as an artist. We also have a YouTube channel that has fun new art videos posted every week. It offers a really easy way to make creating at home available to all.

How do you and your sister split responsibilities with your business?

We typically meet weekly to discuss business plans and make our to-do lists. Even though we are both artistically gifted, we do have different skill sets and strengths. My strengths lie within website design, illustrations, social media, and graphic design. Rachel’s strengths are within course planning, project creation, supply sourcing, and family engagement. We split the responsibilities evenly between us based on our skill sets. [We] have even gotten our husbands involved as well.

For example, on our YouTube channel we each create videos based on our interests and strengths. I really enjoy creating simple cartoon illustrations so I will be focusing more on fun how to draw videos with step-by-step instructions. Rachel goes to the library a lot with her kids and has been recently creating a really cool series called “Books Brought To Life” which includes a read a loud story and then a craft inspired by the story.

Having a collaborator within the business has been so beneficial because it allows us to share ideas and encourage each other. We are constantly bouncing ideas off of each other and it’s always fun to see what the other thinks of.

What is your favorite art course you offer and why?

I would have to say my favorite is the Chalk Pastels Level Two course. I really had a lot of fun creating the projects. Chalk pastel is such a loose and easy medium to work with. Both projects in the course are also super fun. One being a brightly colored beetle and the other a cat that is a little grumpy. It’s always relaxing as an adult to be able to slow down and create art that is fun and carefree.

Why do you believe art is important for kids?

There are so many studies and articles about how art is beneficial to a child’s development. [This includes] fine motor skills, non-verbal communication, problem solving skills, concentration, and the list goes on. I believe art is important for kids is because it boosts their confidence and self-esteem.

We have heard from moms whose kids have taken our art courses. [They shared] how their children were very hesitant to begin or got discouraged when their project wasn’t turning out the way they hoped. But, they persevered from our encouragement and very so overjoyed it in the end. The kids grew so much in their self-confidence and were able to learn that they can do hard things.

Do you have a favorite style of art or art medium?

One of my personal favorites is charcoal. I drew with charcoal a lot in college. I really fell in love with how bold it was but yet how you could still create really stunning details. It’s also very forgiving and you can cover a lot in a little amount of time. I also really love the neutral and striking look of a clean black and white color pallet.

How do COLORFULL online art classes benefit both parents and kids?

Because Rachel and I are both moms, we understand the parent side and kid side of art. We know that parents are busy and often don’t have extra time to research and plan crafts. [They also may not know] which supplies are needed, so we take care of all of that. We also know that certain things must be done when planning a craft for kids in order for it to be a success. [This includes] age, skill levels, mediums, subject matters, and interests.

My sister and I have created a lot of art. We have [also] created a lot of art with our own kids and other kids which helps us to know what will work for them and what will not. At the end of every art lesson, our hope is that we helped a family create memories and masterpieces together. That is our heart, our mission, our goal–for families to create connections through creativity within their home.

Save 20% on all COLORFULL courses with my discount code THEMILLERACRES20

Click HERE for more homeschool resources!

Online Art Classes for Kids: An Interview with Klare from COLORFULL about Art, Homeschooling, and Entrepreneurship

Tell me about yourself and your family.

What are you passionate about and why?