Tag Archives: graffiti
Graffiti Friday #9
Filed under Graffiti Friday
ArtsBeat: Toronto Graffiti Scene
Graffiti In The City: What Will Stick To The Walls is a recent article about the Toronto street art and graffiti scene. I’ve been photographing graffiti and street art for a few years now, and provided photos for this article. It’s an interesting read that touches on a number of issues including a progressive way to deal with what is being seen as a growing problem.
Sgraffito
This summer, I saw some wonderful street art in Lisbon made by the artist Alexandre Farto, also known as Vhils. He creates portraits on the facade of buildings by chipping away at the plaster surface and revealing the underlying layers of bricks and stones. You can have a look at this video to see him working.
Portrait of Brad Downey by Vhils. Lisbon 2011
It was very impressive and had me wondering how this could translate into a project for children. Abandoned buildings…power tools…not practical directions to take! But those wonderful layers had me thinking about sgraffito. Sgraffito, which comes from the Italian word sgraffiare, means to scratch. It is a very old technique which involves applying 2 or more layers of tinted plaster on top of each other. A variety of tools are then used to scratch away sections of the uppermost layer, revealing the underlying colours, which add depth and texture to the work. It’s primary use was for wall decor and ceramics, and while it was explored in many parts of the world, it became immensely popular in 16th century Italy. While traditionally made with plaster, it can also be created with paints and oil pastels.
Filed under sgraffito
Travel Collages
I’m back from quite the adventure. Turkey is truly a visual feast, filled with warm, friendly people and breathtaking views. We’ve poured over our photographs and souvenirs (no mugs), and come to the conclusion that trip collages are a wonderful way for children to remember special moments such as these.
Embarking on your journey with your collage in mind is the best plan. Have children collect things along the way which they can easily bring back. This can include boarding passes, ticket stubs from entrances to museums or historical sites, receipts from purchases, labels from products used, maps, newspapers and so on. Once home, you can even print up some of your favourite photos to include in your work.
Looking at my daughter’s collage above, you can get a sense of her experience in Turkey. It was extremely hot so she chose to include a weather report from a newspaper; maps showing places we stayed and streets we favoured; ticket stubs recording our visits to memorable sites and museums; colouful images of mosques, graffiti and the Grand Bazaar combined with cloudless skies and endless sea. And of course there is the ubiquitous blue amulet which is believed to protect against the evil eye, sold in every possible form imaginable. She has chosen to spare us images of the topless granny on the beach, or photos of the thousands of feral cats that roam the streets in the intense heat. Did I mention it was hot?
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