Paint yer t-shirt!

I recently read Susan Striker (author of the 'Anti Colouring Book series)' 's book 'Young at Art', a book discussing early art experiences for toddlers and preschoolers.  Striker advocates for allowing children to explore materials in a progressive way, rather than trying to force young children to engage in representation before they are ready e.g. providing pre-formed shapes, stencils etc.  It has made me reflect upon the kind of activity I am doing with my children and to consider avoiding the kind of known outcome that can result from some projects. 

With this in mind, when I bought some plain t-shirt for my little ones to make their mark on, I avoided providing stencils or shapes of any kind to use, and just provided them with some suitable fabric paint.

Boo was mostly interested in mixing the colours together, whilst Boo Two was mostly concerned with preventing me from taking his photograph.  It is hard to let go of the desire for a 'good' outcome, but really that satisfies only the adults. 

Exhibit A & B

Well, my exhibiting history may have been rather thin on the ground, err, make that non-existent in the last few years, but here's my little ones proving that its never too early to make a start on your exhibiting career.

Opus Art Supplies, North Vancouver, offered all kids interested in taking part in an art exhibition a free square board for their creation.  Here's Boo Two's sponge painting (he's not keen on the finger painting, constantly requiring a 'wash'!

And here's Boo's piece, complete with pink ballerina and collaged fabric flowers (think I've seen them somewhere before!).  I didn't make her this girly, please take my word for it, the pinktastic world is entirely of her own choosing.

Boo didn't seem too bothered about having her work exhibited, mostly she just wanted to take it home and put it on our wall, but its a great opportunity to do a 'special' (borrow mummy's artist quality acrylics) picture, and a great focus for the seemingly endless summer break we get here in Canada.  I for one hope they do it again next year.

Window wonders

Boo received a 'window stickers' kit a while back and we thought we'd give it a go.  The kit came with some templates for designs, which we used, but the really interesting things started happening when we started going 'freestyle'.

We used lots of colours to make this luminescent heart.

Then Boo did this cool little drawing of a man who appears to be jumping.

She followed this up by making some black 'lightning' and I made a little star to go with it.

We were soon out of most colours of window paint (you paint it onto acetate first and allow it to dry I should point out) so I am left wondering if I can make some myself?!  I would imagine it is based on white glue so I am wondering, would ink work to provide the pigment?   I may give it a go when I get a mo.

 

Scratch 'n' Print

Ahhh, printmaking, its been too long.  Now, I have to say, this method of printmaking is not my fave - I much prefer collagraph and monoprinting, but you can't knock foam printing for its simplicity and speed.  Perfect, really for naptimes, especially the short ones my 2nd child seems to delight in!

We used 'Scratch-Foam Board' manufactured by Scratch Art.  You simply draw onto the board using a pencil or ballpoint pen, then ink up with a roller and print.  The foam boards are pretty durable and stand up to multiple printing and washing.  

Here's Boo inking up her first foam board.

And here's the print, a 'man on a mountain with a stick'.  I am interpreting this as a portrait of her Daddy hiking.

And here's her second print, some flowers and grass and, if you look at the top left hand corner, there are 2 little people jumping on the flowers.  Love that.

This is one I did, of the daffs we had sitting on the table.

Boo loved this technique (so easy!) so that's good enough for me.

Fancy trying out some other printmaking techniques with your little one?

See also

leaf printmaking

Marvellous Monoprinting

Bubble wrap printmaking

Collagraph Capers

Playdough prints

Potato printed wrapping paper

Oh I mean't to say, whilst I bought a pack of foam board specifically manufactured for printmaking, if you are of frugal bent, I reckon you could probably fashion some serviceable foam board from those trays that food often comes in.

Papier Mache hearts

I know, I know, Valentine's Day is history, but I'm still a-catchin-up, having been through a bout of flu. I had four of these little beauties in the production line for 'V'day, but I'm afraid only one actually reached being finished in time. For the one most likely to complain if something was not produced for her on the day! In fact, this was originally intended to be a 'Mama n Boo' project, but like so many of my little brainwaves, it turned out (no doubt due to the laboriousness of the papier mache technique), ended up being a Solo Mama project. We started out with heart shapes cut out of card, which were then given some form with scrunched up newspaper and masking tape.

 

Then the papiermache began, using the laminating technique i.e. layering pieces of newspaper coated on both sides with paper paste. Don't forget to factor in drying time as it can take several days to dry, and you need at least 5 layers to make it strong enough.

After the drying, I got stuck into decorating, painting with acrylics and decorating with cut fabric pieces and beads, before putting a hook in the top and attaching a ribbon to hang it from.

Another mama heart for my Boo. Now for the other ones...

Tadpoling

Boo has been tadpoling a whole lot recently. No, not fishing for nascent froggies, but rendering what is known as a 'tadpole' in whatever drawing media she can get hold of. Tadpole drawings are the first emergent representations of figures seen in childrens' drawings and the interesting thing is that all children everywhere go through the same representational stages towards figuration. They require no tuition, it is simply a natural development inherent to the growing awareness of self in the small child. It felt like I was waiting forever for Boo's first tadpole, but I recorded back in October 2010 when she was 3... and here it is..

I thought that once the tadpole emerged there would be no looking back but she was back to scribbling and other mark-making much of the time. However, ground work was being laid, figures were sometimes just vertical lines, there was repeated use of circles, parallel lines, crosses, 'ladder' shapes, wee small circles moving towards their combination as the tadpole.

 It is almost as if the tadpole emerges as a true sense of self emerges, and I don't believe these expressions can truly be called 'art' in the formal sense, they are almost an assertion of the 'I' of the child. Boo was late to use 'I' in reference to herself, so it's perhaps not surprising that her tadpoles took a while in coming. But here they are now, and here they will stay, gradually becoming more detailed as fingers emerge, the tadpoles become clothed, they start to stand on drawn surfaces, and some of the them are beginning to perform actions (mostly dancing!) I have to say I love the age of the tadpole and look forward to when Boo is ready for a bit of observational drawing.

Baby's First Painting

Baby Boo Two is almost one and I thought it was about time for his first painting.

We made some 'paint' using cornflour, using a great recipe I found here on a great early learning blog called Imagination Tree. There is a great section on different types of play on here too if you get a chance to take a look at it.

I've made cornflour goop before but the addition of hot water takes you into a whole new dimension of cornflour goodness. It takes on a thick gloopiness that is just perfect for baby fingers.

Yumm!

So how did he get on? Well first he ate a bit, then gagged. Edible, yes, but tasty, no.

Boo was beside him demonstrating the correct method...

I put a bit of the paint on the paper to see if he would push it around a bit.

He happily did so for a minute or two.

Then he played with the paintbrush a little.

And that was it, he wanted out.

I think maybe having him in his highchair confused him (what is this blue stuff you're expecting me to eat?!)

Next time I think he'll be on the floor on a mat, wearing just his diaper, just like Meg's baby on Sew Liberated demonstrates.

Felty Fun

This week we have been enjoying some fabulous felty fun with these screenprinted animals which we picked up at Collage Collage.  They were drawn by artist Sarah Holtom who also runs workshops there.

I'd love to make some of these myself!

Let 'em draw on the windows

My latest fave art material for kids is window crayons. Boo got a pack of these, made by Crayola, in her stocking this year and has been enjoying finding a whole new 'blank canvas' for herself on the window panes. The timing seems apt as well as I finally decided to put our seasonal window trees to bed after enjoying 5 seasons with them. They apply really well, the colours are vibrant and they screw up so there seems to be plenty for many drawing sessions, as well as keeping little hands clean.

Here's Boo drawing a little red person, and then a little green person.

She informed me that this was herself and Boo Two which gave me a little warm feeling as its the first time she's drawn herself with her sibling. I haven't used other makes of window crayons so i can't compare how they perform with any others, though I know Lyra make some and I would love to try those also.

Only drawback we found was that, once applied, little hot hands could smudge the drawings and, when you have this little tyke around getting into everything, it was quite tricky to keep from just about everything in the vicinity being covered in smudgy crayon. But we love em.

Christmas Past

This year, we have mostly been reprising favourite Christmas crafty/bakey goodies from previous years.  Broken nights with the wee boy are zapping me of the energy to devise anew, but I'm reassured that seasonal rituals are just what small ones find most reassuring.  So here,in the spirit of ritual, are some of our christmas activities from years past.

Activity-based advent stockings

 

Salt Dough Christmas Tree Ornaments

 

Potato printed christmas wrapping paper

 

Plaster cast christmas decorations

 

Gingerbread House

 

Origami Advent Calendar

 

King Winter/Winter Waldorf Nature Table

Hope you are enjoying some Christmas making rituals!

 

 

 

Autumn Window Trees; the reprise

Just a year ago (was that all it was?!), we created our window trees - see their first Autumnal incarnation here.  My goodness, I look back at this and it seems me and the Boo had all the time in the world, now we snatch babe's naptimes as our together time, and to be truthful, mostly we are are outside hunting for spiders and worms rather than creating anything much.  But the trees have been taken to heart as tradition so on they must go!

My current motto for living 'keep it simple' was applied to the trees this season and we simply did some wax leaf rubbings, cut them out and stuck them onto the window.  I say 'we' but Boo only did a couple, leaving me to ensure the trees didnt look completely bereft.  Boo enjoyed applying some of them floating down and on the ground. 

We are loving Autumn right now, with it's bright days (for now at least!), plentiful spidery wonders to be found, funghi sprouting everywhere, leaves fluttering and bulbs to be planted. 

My daughter, the collagist

 
If I have perhaps been feeling rather guilty of late in that I haven't been devising exciting art projects for the Boo, she has managed to lift my spirits and reassure me that given space, kids mostly just get on with what it is they need to do as and when they need to for their development.  I've provided scissors in Boo's making space since she was two and have tried on numerous occasions to teach her to use them with little lasting success.  Now, however, she has seized upon them and it seems to be all she wants to do.  Cut, cut, snip, snip, snip.  We have amassed a collection of old cards, magazines, fabrics etc, and she seizes upon any bit of printed junk that comes through the door to add to her burgeoning collection of material. 

Her collages are completed on the easel, often over a number of days and with multiple layers.  They are often based upon figures which are embellished with different clothing, strange objects for limbs and other people's eyes.  I am wondering how much of an influence on her young mind was our recent visit to the Surrealism exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery?!

 
Meanwhile, I have been busy working on a project of my own, which incorporates use of collage.  Like mother, like daughter.

Watercolour update

 
A few weeks back I blogged about our experience with wet-on-wet watercolour, and concluded that we would try again with some better quality watercolour paper.  I'm pleased to report that improving the quality of the paper has resulted in far more satisfying results.  I'm trying to remember the specs of the paper I bought, I know it was Arches rough, I'm thinking it was 90lb (tho I get confused about the weights). 

Here's Boo's watercolour gallery for your perusal..