Scaled-down Autumn Nature 'Table'

We have grappling for a little while here with the issue of the 'nature table' in the Waldorf tradition.  We have been trying to maintain its tradition in our house, but it's placement has been problematic.

Our winter table and spring table were both in the basement... they looked nice, but we don't really go down there too often, so the purpose was rather defeated.  If I placed the nature table on a surface in our upstairs living/play area, it was simply dismantled and played with. 

Here's our Autumnal solution, a scaled-down nature display on our dining table.

Looks great with the autumn trees...

... and this morning, there were a few visitors for a morning pre-hibernation feast. 

In addition, Boo has a whole box of conkers, dried leaves and fir cones to make use of in her play, with which she seems most contented.
 
 
   

Jewels in the Rain

Turned persistently wet around here.  But we are out there, playing and walking, looking for mushrooms and slugs, until it just gets too heavy and we retreat.  Despite the insistent dampness, I love the Autumn/Fall - mycological treasure hunts, misty mountains and creeks, the glorious colours of the (somewhat soggy) leaves underfoot.  There is just so much to find and wonder at with a small one.

And Fall always means spiders; in the garden, in the house, webs strung between trees.  Noted these little jewels in our wet outside play yesterday.

If I only had a camera which could do these little jewels justice.... maybe soon :)

Happy treaure hunting!
  
 
 

A scrappy start... and a skirt.

 
I've reached 20 weeks, the half-way point to baby, and I can't believe how the time is just whizzing by, especially now I'm not lingering by the toilet bowl of a morning/afternoon/evening.  Time to get busy.  Thus far, this little collection of woolly warmers is all I have managed, though I am currently sewing up a bunny and a teddy.  The palette might have you thinking I'm knitting wee things for a boy, but that the colours are merely those scraps I had in my stash from previous little gifts etc.  It will be another two weeks before we know the gender of this little wriggler. 

In the meantime, I wanted to make sure Boo got a winter woolly out of me before the house may seem dominated by making/buying/preparing for the baby.  This little wrap skirt was from Catherine Tough's 'Easy Knits for Little Kids' book and was, as the title suggests, dead simple.  What was not simple was getting the little lady to stay still for half a second to pose for a picture. 

See what I mean?  Doesn't help that dark n drizzly days have set in round these parts.  The skirt was knitted with the yarn that is becoming my favourite it seems: Rowan Scottish Tweed.  The textures are great, the wool softens lots on washing and the colours are Scottishly soft. 

Happy Autumn!

Collagraph Capers

A collagraph is a relief print made using materials applied to a base surface.  The wonderful thing about collagraph printing is how endless the possibilities are, and also how its great for recycling/using up lots of bits you may have lying around.  Ok, so that's two things.  A pro printmaker may use thin wood as a base to avoid warping, but for working with kids, a thick piece of card works great, the back of an old sketchbook is ideal.

We gathered our materials:

We used some tissue paper, string, fabric scraps, kitchen foil, corrugated card and some dried corn husks.  The first step is to apply the materials to the surface.  Remember that you are thinking texture above everything - its the raised areas that will take the ink when its rolled over.  We used plain old pva glue, but if you are looking for something more durable, you will want to use wood glue, and seal with some shellac-based varnish. 

Lots of glueing ensued.

And here's mine.

 
The surface needs to be sealed prior to printing, so I applied a surface coat of pva, and left to dry overnight.

Next day:

I picked up some metallic water-based printing inks dirt cheap a while back in a sale, and was keen to try them out, so we rolled out some gold for Boo's printing tile, and used some coloured sugar paper.

You need a tray and roller for the ink, and the ink is applied to the printing surface thoroughly, making sure you get 'into' all the textures/raised surfaces.  The paper is laid over the top, and then pressure applied on top to make the print.  We used the back of a metal spoon as that can more deftly get into all the different textures, but this is tricky for a young'un, and Boo rather lost interest at this point.

So the results were...hmmm... well I thought I little too subtle.  So now I'm thinking of using the metallic inks as a second colour in a two-colour print, or perhaps trying coloured tissue paper as that may pick up more ink than the tissue paper.

So when it came to inking up my tile (Boo had scarpered by this point), I returned to the reliability of black water-based printing ink, and newsprint.

That's more what I was expecting, but I'm keen to explore using colours and different papers to print onto, so I'm sure there'll be some more experimentation further down the line. 

Rainy season is setting in here, so expect to see plenty more from the studio, especially as its days are numbered, it being required as a nursery early next year!

  

Autumn Tree Window Painting

We left Collage Collage the other day inspired not only by a great book and workshop, but also by their window decoration: printed white tree silhouettes with leaves collaged onto the inside.  Window painting, thought I!

Our house has a lot of windows so we are spoilt for choice but I chose the sunny double sliding balcony doors at the front of the house.  We stocked up on 'Posterman' pens at the art shop; great for glass, mirrors, and blackboards, as I remembered from my days of painting shop windows and pub signs for a bit of extra cash.  They clean off pretty easily too so no worries on that front.  Don't seem to come out of clothes so well though, so be warned when the little hands get hold of them. 

 I 

I drew the tree silhouettes and some mushrooms onto the window, and the little hands got stuck in and added their own creations.

Then we hit the studio, and painted some pieces of dampened newsprint with diluted Stockmar watercolours in Autumnal tones.  And yes, that's my girl painting in a tutu  - I can barely get it off her since we picked it up at the Sally Army last week.

When the papers were dry, I cut them into leaf shapes and we stuck them onto the trees.

They look great with the afternoon late Summer sun flooding in, and as Autumn progresses, I think we may allow the leaves to gradually flutter down off the trees to the ground below where the mushrooms are growing in the dampness.

The shift to Autumn always seems to inspire enthusiasm for seasonal crafting around here; check out last year's leaf monoprinting and leaf collage.

A page is turning for our family too, as Boo today had her first day at preschool at the Vancouver Waldorf School.  I'm so happy that she can spend some of her time in such a nurturing and creative environment, and I anticipate being continually inspired myself as a parent and 'maker of stuff'.

So proud.

  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  

Growly Goodness

We were back at Collage Collage yesterday (see my description of a workshop there here), enjoying another arty crafty tot drop-in with Erin.  Much to Boo's delight, in line with her ongoing obsession, the workshop was  all about bears, taking inspiration from another top quality book from Simply Read Books: A Growling Place  by Thomas Aquinas Maguire.  It's a flight of fantasy book, reminiscent of Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are'.  The artwork has a graphic, stylized quality and the panoramic landscape format reminds me of comic strips.  The girl in the story journeys with her teddy bear to the 'growling place', peopled with real bears, but she dresses them up in costumes and they are no longer intimidating.  With its magical bear storyline this book also reminds me of Last Night by Hyewon Yum and Wonderbear by Tao Nyeu. 

 I learnt from the Simply Read website that Maguire is primarily an industrial designer, hence perhaps the graphic, sculptural quality to his work.  He also looks like a schoolboy, but then I am middle aged!

I noticed on that last visit that the E15th St parade that Collage Collage is on, seems to have more thatn its fair share of arty crafty wonders.  Today I put my head into Spool of Thread  - another shop/workshop space, this time for adult seamstresses.  They stock some delicious little-un's sewing patterns from Oliver and S and some for the grown ups from Anna Maria Horner.  The range of fabrics is mouth-watering - Boo and I fell upon Heather Ross's 'owl and pussycat' fabric (she recites this poem with Dadda Boo) and I really want to come up with a project to make her something from that.  I left empty handed (this time) but with a desire to return with a specific project in mind. 

I also clocked The Art Way, another art workshop space for adults and kids, as well as Ruby Dog's Art House (always closed when we visit on Tuesdays alas) which looks v. alluring for a collage and print lover like myself.

There are also a couple of gallery spaces and laid back cafes along the parade, making it the most boho-creative little enclave I have come across for a while.  I would always choose to live on the north shore of Vancouver for the (literally 'awesome') natural world on our doorstep, but I sometimes feel its a bit culturally bland, so its great to know places where I can go to get an artycrafty fix before returning to the mountain air.