Knack Summer Camp helps children find their art form – The Royal Gazette

Created: Aug 16, 2025 07:55 AM

Sarai Hines leads the weeklong Knack Summer Camp for children interested in art (Photograph supplied)

An art camp that wrapped up its second year saw the return of alumni to inspire newcomers.

Knack Summer Camp introduced five children to unconventional mediums such as rugs to help them express their creativity.

The youngsters showcased their works last Friday after a week of workshops and experiments.

Sarai Hines, who organised the camp, said: “It’s been quite a time. I feel like there are always people who tell me that I’m crazy to fit this all in one week.

“It’s amazing to see — they struggle at first, but then you see their little smiles when they notice that they’ve actually improved and were able to do it.”

Children work on their art pieces through the Knack Summer Camp (Photograph supplied)

The children started the camp off looking for inspiration from several areas, including patterns and textures in nature.

Ms Hines said she showed the children how to trace these patterns and, later, turn them into designs and collages.

She added that she helped the pupils with their preferred individual areas of growth, such as realism and using different mediums.

Ms Hines said: “Each year I try to build on something that they like and something that they’d want to learn so that I can help them improve their skills in whichever way that they would like to learn.”

Children work on their art pieces through the Knack Summer Camp (Photograph supplied)

Ms Hines said that she helped them tie their areas of interest into the theme of pattern recreation.

She said she taught the students how to brainstorm design ideas and create sketches to help their ideas come to life.

Ms Hines added that two children who attended Knack Camp before had returned and showed the others what they’d worked on before.

Children work on their art pieces through the Knack Summer Camp (Photograph supplied)

She said that although some had different levels of experience, they were all learning something new from her and each other.

Ms Hines explained: “I asked one of the girls to bring in her sketchbook and her piece from last year, and those girls were able to share what the process was like and speak from their point of view to say ‘it’s not crazy, trust the process’.”

She added: “It was nice that it wasn’t just me saying ‘please trust me’ — they were able to hear from two of those who had actually done it already and I think that kind of comforted them.”

Children work on their art pieces through the Knack Summer Camp (Photograph supplied)

Ms Hines admitted that some students were frustrated during the process when things did not work out as planned.

However, she said: “We talked about what it means to push through the struggle and that means that you care.

“We talked about being frustrated or being upset and that it means that you’re doing what you love to do and that you want it to work out well.”

Children work on their art pieces through the Knack Summer Camp (Photograph supplied)