Pepper Paints

Van Gogh and Oil Pastels

I started off this activity with a practice version so kids could see the importance of drawing and placement of the art. I made a simple picture of a pumpkin. It was like a puzzle.

This may be one of my favorite group projects so far! For the real activity– I took a poster of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and cut it up into 12 pieces. Each student received a piece of the art work along with a blank piece of paper cut to the same size. I numbered the back of the poster and the corresponding papers along with an arrow pointing to the top.

We used oil pastels to fill our papers. Trying to copy what was on our piece of art work.

After everyone was finished we put both the original art work as well as the students art work back together.

I love it! I am planning on pasting the pieces on to a black matte board to hang up at The Rec Center.

I got the idea from TEACH KIDS ART —thanks!!

Tribal Body Art

Our afternoon started like this; with some Jackson Pollock splatter painting:

Then like this:

Then they realized how much paint they had on their bodies and it could have been all down hill from there.

But, really it ended up being the kind of experience that we (crazy parents!) hope for!  I remembered that we have a book from the library  all about body painting that we have really been enjoying.  I have renewed it twice!

NATURAL FASHION TRIBAL DECORATION FROM AFRICA  By Hans Silvester

We looked at the beautiful photos together-quickly-

and they were off!!

Then it was in the pool to wash off!!

Really it was extraordinary.  I waited to actually read anything from the book to them until they were cleaning up.  But the information on these tribes was fascinating.  They paint each other and are the mirrors for each other.  Just as these girls did today.  They took turns painting each others backs and hair.  It wasn’t enough to see their own reflections in the mirror.  They continually asked for the others opinions.  They loved the tactile, sensory experience of it.  And when they were finished, they washed each other.  I took over 200 photos of them this afternoon-I am a little weary of posting many of them as they are in their bathing suites and some creep commented on my flickr page.

The author writes about the speed in which  the Surmi and the Mursi paint themselves. It never takes more than a minute!  ” A similar artwork created with painstaking meticulousness would not convey the same modernist immediacy that is so pleasing to the eye…..Modern artists like Picasso, Matisse and others, in the course of a long period of development, eventually recaptured the spontaneity that comes close to childhood..  It is this that marks the work of these African tribes-movement with out self-consciousness or inhibition, doing what comes naturally, determined by things that are ephemeral and perhaps even more importantly, brief:  they know the right moment at which to stop.  It is the same spontaneity we see when young children begin to draw something, break off, grab another sheet, draw something else, then start all over gain.  As they grow older, they become preoccupied with finishing touches…tiles on the roof, a fireplace, birds in the sky, clouds and so on.  They find it impossible to stop, and the more they persist, the more cluttered the drawing becomes, lost in the welter of higgledy-piggleddy detail.”

We used washable tempra paint and it all washed off.  Molly thought it was the best project we have ever done! Huh-it was all their idea!

I am really liking the new set up here-and of course I (Dawn) is not finished yet.  So it will look even better soon!!

I am glad when readers enjoy my photos but please leave them here.  Please don’t use my photos for your  own use.   I will have my Etsy site up soon enough for those that would like to purchase some of my work.  Thanks!!

Handmade Paper

Have you ever visited a real art supply store? Not Jo Anns or Michaels, but a real art store. Ohhh, you don’t know what you are missing. Looking at all the different kinds of pencils, paints and paper. Drawing paper, different weights of watercolor paper, and all the hand made papers. They are kept in a cabinet with wide shallow drawers. Some are sheer, some have fibers in them, many colors and weights. All are interesting and beautiful!

Today we made our own handmade paper. I love the results of handmade papers but not so much the process. At least not so much with kids. So be forewarned this is a messy project that takes a long time. So if all my negative comments haven’t sent you clicking elsewhere yet….read on.

What you will need: a large stack of newspapers, shredded paper or ripped up paper, crepe paper or tissue paper (for coloring your sheets of paper) blender, dish pan or tubbie, water, screen, sponges or rags, small cup, flowers, seeds, grasses fibers…

My husband made me these screens a long time ago. Basically they are a frame made out of wood with a screen stapled over the top-in various sizes.

fill your blender 1/2 to 2/3 full with shredded paper and a bit of tissue paper. Add some water not enough to cover and blend well for 10 seconds.

pour slurry into dishpan. add some water. you may want to blend up a second pitcher to add to dishpan.

There are many different ways to make paper but this is the way that works well for us. Place screen-screen side side up-in the dishpan. Use small cup to scoop slurry and pour evenly to cover the screen.

Once you have evenly covered your screen (trial and error for the thickness) now is the time to add leaves, flower petals, seeds or anything else you plan to decorate your papers with.

now carefully flip the screen over so paper lands on stack of newspaper

use sponge and rags to push on screen inside of frame to absorb water-squeeze out and dry out more. Continue this process until you can’t dry up anymore water.

carefully peel screen back, leaving paper on the newspaper stack. You may need to flick on inside of screen to get the paper to release from screen.

cover with more newspaper and add the next sheet of handmade paper to next layer of newspaper.

Leave the paper on the newspaper to dry then peel off your handmade paper.

When you get to the almost end of slurry in the dishpan and you want to change colors you can just slowly pour dishpan over screen to make a final piece of a certain color. Then start process over with another color.

If you add seeds to your paper you can give them away with a little note written on them-Plant me! I had planned to do this closer to Mothers Day to give away as gifts but it is still early enough around these parts to plant flower seeds.

Mexican Metal Tooling

This weeks Unplugged Project is Metal. The long weekend threw me off a bit so I am posting a day late-but better late then never! This Mexican Metal Tooling project is super easy, no mess.

You will need some heavy aluminum-we cut cake pans apart-scissors, stack of newspapers, paint brushes, permanent markers. Optional materials list to follow.

Place your aluminum square on your newspaper stack and use the back of a paintbrush to draw a picture/design. You can flip your square over and draw on the other side too so that some of your drawing sticks out and some is concave.

Now use your permanent markers to color in your picture.

The next part took longer than anything. I punched holes in the corners and used jewelry wire to string the tiles together and tied them to a dowel rod. We hung some beads off the bottom for weight. This is optional but I think it really looks great. Because we used permanent markers I plan to hang this on our back patio but tonight could not find a single place to hang it to get a good photo. This was the best I could do.

Note–after cutting the pans up the edges are a bit sharp, you may want to use masking tape and tape the square down to the newspaper while working on it. Be careful!

Here is a photo I took this morning outside-looks a bit better!

The pink flubber is alive and well at our house!


I have been reading The Creative License by Danny Gregory. -I know blurry picture.

Today I was doing a drawing exercise from the book and the girls eagerly joined in.

And when her Dad came home Ginger eagerly shared her drawings with him.

This is fast cutter Ginger at work!

Puddin’ Paint

I am so inspired by the interview Jean at The Artful Parent did with artist Laura Frankstone. Laura talked about the tough goals she set for herself to become better at drawing. Setting weekly and monthly goals for years at a time. How wonderful to be so committed to your art. It has inspired me to also set some goals in writing with an actual plan on how I will achieve them! Wow , it feels good when you read or hear about something that makes a lightbulb go off in your own head. Laura can be found at http://www.laurelines.typepad.com.

[Link fixed by Dawn who is a hero.]

We have been reading TELL ME A PICTURE by Quentin Blake. It has works from the National Gallery along with some characters that ask the questions that kids would ask about the paintings. My kids really liked this book.

We made chocolate pudding tonight for dessert. I was planning on letting the kids fingerpaint with it on large serving plates. We have done this before on fingerpaint paper but something about wet paper makes me crazy-like nails on the chalk board, so we tried plates instead. I put candy, sprinkles, colored sugars, and bunny shaped marshmellows in a mini-muffin tin along with some whip cream for a decorative touch. Suprisingly, the fingerpainting didn’t last long. It was all about the decorating! And then the eating and then when I walked away for a minute, it was finally about fingerpainting. At this point it was all about the mess. Uggg! But it all wiped up and washed off.