Monday, September 22, 2014

Tropical Bird Batiks

 Sonja, 4th grade



 Cora, 1st grade


 Sadie, 3rd grade


 Scott, 4th grade


 Andie, 3rd grade



Liam, 1st grade



Sorry for being such a blogger slacker lately! Fall starts a bit slower for me in my private classes as parents are trying to get in the swing of a new school schedule with sports and other activities. Since my summer class, Art Experiment Lab was such a hit with the kids, I decided to give it another go with my new group. It's a fun mixture of art and science. Our first project is always a winner, toothpaste and aloe vera lotion batiks. I was instantly smitten when I learned about this from Phyl at There's a Dragon in My Art Room, 4 years ago. In my summer class, I let the children choose whatever subject matter they wanted. This was a bit overwhelming for some, so I decided on a tropical bird theme with my fall crew. I did a few line drawing lessons on the white board and encouraged the kids to fill their space to keep the compositions interesting. Amazing how one thrift shopped bed sheet and some Dollar Tree materials could be used to create such beauties!

7 comments:

  1. One of these days I have just GOT to try this with kids. The colors are spectacularly vibrant!!!

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    1. It's a lot of fun Christie! It's a great lesson in patience for the kids since it has to be done in stages. The only down side for a large number of students in our area would be our drought situation and the amount of water needed to rinse the toothpaste and lotion. I tried to conserve as much as possible by making a water bath and soaking the batiks, rather than just rinsing them in running water. I just have a small group of kids though.

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  2. This is very striking. I agree with you about offering the kids a theme. They need a smaller field to play on. Thanks Mary.

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  3. Yay! So glad this crazy process is successful for you - the results are great!

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  4. I LOVE batik.
    toothpaste and aloe vera? Do tell.
    Where is your coastal location?
    Glad there wasn't much destruction from the hurricane.

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  5. Thank you Gretchen! Phyl, it's such a fantastic project! The kids always delight in making their batiks.

    Mary, you combine an equal ratio of aloe vera lotion and toothpaste in old cleaned out glue bottles and trace over your design with this mixture. Once it's dry, paint with craft acrylics or non washable tempera paints. Once the paint is dry, simply rinse in the fabric.
    I live in Orange County,CA. Yes, we got off easy. Thanks!

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  6. The subject is perfect with the technique! I love the bright colours the children choose to create their project! I will share this on FB and Twitter (like your other projects I must say)!

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