Some people have the ability to use both hands with equal skill, and are referred to as ambidextrous. This occurs naturally in about 1 in every 100 people. Others teach themselves out of curiosity or necessity, following an injury or illness.
This clumsy challenge involves drawing with your non-dominant hand, and while it may leave you feeling somewhat ham-fisted and uncoordinated, it will also leave you thoroughly impressed by those who can do it all with both hands.
Filed under drawing
Henri Matisse, who was born in 1869, was an immensely talented french artist who worked as a draughtsman, printmaker, sculptor and painter. He is considered by many to be the most important french painter of the 20th century. During the latter part of his life, his health deteriorated, often leaving him bedridden or forced to use a wheelchair. As a result of these constraints, Matisse explored new ways of expressing himself and began to make large scale cut paper collages. They allowed him to show off his incredible sense of colour, and remain among the most influential works of his career. He referred to his experimentation with cut outs as “painting with scissors”, and covered the walls of his room with them, transforming his environment into “a little garden where I can walk.”
If you’re in need of some playful ideas to decorate your child’s room, why not consider colourful paper cut outs to brighten up a wall, or create a unique looking border. All you need is an inviting pile of construction paper, scissors, and some enthusiastic children to create an explosion of colourful, organic shapes.
Filed under Artists, Henri Matisse, paper crafts
This week, I was chosen by About.com’s Stay-at-Home Moms site as blogger of the week. To say I’m thrilled is an understatement! When I heard the news, I reacted a bit like the pint sized jumpers in the photo above. You can read Apryl Duncan’s review here:
http://stayathomemoms.about.com/b/2011/03/12/blog-of-the-week-art-club-blog.htm
A big thank you to Apryl, and a warm welcome to any new visitors dropping by!
Filed under Awards
Quilt making is the wonderful process of sewing many sections/patches of fabric together to create a whole. Making just one patch is a great way to introduce children to sewing, and provides a fun, creative outlet with few rules. It’s also an opportunity to scavenge about for interesting textiles to use and recycle.
Repetitive patterns are found everywhere, from the textile designs on our clothing, to the carpets we walk on. This project will offer children the opportunity to create their own repetitive design and play with their food, all at the same time.
Filed under patterns
Salt crystals have a way of transforming watercolor paintings into the coolest, texture filled creations. The crystals absorb the water surrounding them and push the pigment away, leaving white, speckled patterns behind. Once these paintings are sliced up, they make lovely, unique looking bookmarks that children will love.
The egg carton’s primary purpose is to escort eggs from the chicken coop to your home, where it either gets tossed in the recycling bin, or with the help of some ingenious humans, mutates into bug eyes, seed starters, sorting trays, cat beds, flowers, molds, lights, and creatures of all kinds. Finding a second life for an egg carton has never been a problem, but using it as a canvas to paint portraits and patterns on never occurred to me until I came across the work of Enno de Kroon. His “eggcubist” portraits play with the viewer’s perception, looking strangely deformed because of the peaks and valleys of his unorthodox canvas. They’re also very cool and look deceptively easy to paint. I found focussing on vibrant colours, patterns, and simple shapes worked best for children, and proved easier to execute. They’ll love the results.
Filed under Artists, egg cartons, Enno de Kroon, painting, recycling
Word clouds have become a popular advertising trend, and are great for making personalized valentine cards. Simply visit one of the many websites and decide on the text you would like to use, select various options like font and colour, submit your choices, and your words will show up beautifully arranged. It’s a great way to make unique looking cards that stand out from the unimaginative options available for kids.
Filed under Valentine's Day
Much to my amazement I’m still blogging my heart out, one year later. I have to admit I’ve enjoyed it, and would recommend blogging to anyone who has interests, passions, and opinions to share, without the stress of an editor anywhere in site. It’s your space to opine and spew at will. Just make sure it’s something that makes you happy because let’s face it, few blogs will turn into The Book of Awesome, or generate enough income to allow you to sail off into the sunset. In the meantime, I will continue to dream up projects for children, encourage creativity, and share with you the odd story about my own experiences. I will periodically remind myself to stop obsessively checking stats, and suppress the nagging doubt that each visit may be no more than an accidental nanosecond in length. But we bloggers are a resilient bunch, and so, in the spirit of self-delusion, let the journey continue and thanks to all who read and comment. It warms the cockles o’ me heart!
Filed under Misc
Dubuffet’s painting below manages to be captivating, humourous and disturbing all at the same time. It also serves as inspiration for this project which is about exploring the face in a playful way. Formal proportions are set aside in favour of deliberate distortions, whimsical expressions and a simple desire to doodle faces.
Affluence by Jean Dubuffet, 1961. Image: http://www.squidoo.com/dubuffet
ArtClubBlog 