Part of this year’s vacation involved heading to the beach in Nova Scotia, where I was finally able to try my hand at sand casting. It was as cool as it sounds, and kept us busy for a while, as we looked longingly at the Atlantic Ocean, which was way too cold to swim in. What is it about the Atlantic anyway? Even in Portugal, with scorching hot temperatures, it took a lot of enticing to get me in those frigid waters. Next year, I’m thinking warm Mediterranean…
It was on this day in 1852, that Spanish Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi, was born. His unique and imaginative style can be seen in the magnificent church, the Sagrada Família, and Parc Güell, where mosaics cover benches and ceilings throughout the property. It was amazing to see his work on a visit to Barcelona several years ago, and interesting to see how his designs were inspired by the things he was most passionate about, like nature. Children can easily incorporate meaningful objects they’ve gathered, along with mosaic tiles, to truly personalize this project. So gather up your bits and bobs, so we can celebrate the wonderful world of Gaudi.
Filed under Antoni Gaudi, Artists, mosaics
Here’s an idea for adding a little personality to those rocks you may be collecting over the summer.
Filed under rock painting
These bookmarks are inspired by the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who has a real fondness, if not obsession, with polka dots of every size and colour imaginable. She’s covered everything from floors and canvasses, to naked assistants, but I’m not sure she ever made it to bookmarks. These will, no doubt, make the perfect accompaniment to all those books on your child’s summer reading list.
Hungarian born artist, Simon Hantaï, was an important figure in European art until his death in 2008. He spent most of his life in France, and was best known for his abstract work. His desire to move away from conventional methods of painting, lead to a process called pliage. Hantaï invented this technique, which involved folding and crumpling unstretched canvas, before adding bold and vibrant colours to it. This enabled him to continue exploring patterns and repetitiveness, present in his earlier work, while focussing on the importance of white space and the idea of chance.
This project is inspired by Hantaï’s pliage work, and very simply explores the idea of painting and creating art in a non conventional way, by scrunching canvasses and having fun.
Filed under Artists, painting, Simon Hantaï
Even though spring appears to have finally arrived, I still have this nagging feeling that the warmer weather is just temporary, and the fact that I ditched my socks yesterday may not last. Clearly, the lasting effects of a traumatic winter are lingering, so a good dose of flower making should help.
Koinobori, carp-shaped wind socks, are a big part of Japan’s Children’s Day celebration on May 5th, a day which celebrates and honours boys, while March 3rd is reserved for girls. Carps are chosen as a symbol of strength, courage and determination – attributes desired in boys, and are flown from rooftops throughout the country.
I’ve always loved how children like to collect the most random things, and store them in small containers for safe keeping. So instead of making wind socks, we’ll be making small drawings of carps, and decorating a tin to store them in.
Filed under drawing, Japan, Multicultural Art, tins
Long before the beloved book there were scrolls, which first surfaced in ancient Egypt. They were traditionally made from parchment or papyrus, and provided a more practical way of keeping records than clay tablets. No kidding. By the 5th century, use of the codex book format, developed by the Romans, had surpassed that of the scroll. Today, scrolls are reserved primarily for religious purposes, and Harry Potter.
How did I end up with a monster scroll? First, I came across some very cool work by street artist Cranio, who made an extremely long drawing of his favourite characters, Indigenous Brazilian Indians, doing all sorts of fun things – the kind of drawing perfect for a scroll format. Why the monsters? Because my daughter had to draw some for art class, and I joined in and got carried away with how much fun it was.
Who would have thought a little egg painting would lead to such an exciting opportunity. Two of my projects, Painted Eggs and Painted Eggs II, have been featured in this weekend’s USA Weekend – a magazine with a circulation of 22
The power of the almighty googly eye does not cease to amaze me. My plans to make a kind and wise looking tree were thwarted by those eyes, turning said tree into a purveyor of nightmares. It began innocently enough, with the new season of Game of Thrones inspiring me to think of a project about enchanted forests and trees, and the role they’ve played in so many wonderful books and movies. Think of the Ents in Lord of The Rings, the grumpy apple trees in The Wizard of Oz, Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas, and the troll trees in Bridge To Terabithia…which brings us to talking trees. Just remember, when making your own, the use of googly eyes is optional.
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