In honor of Cinco de Mayo several weeks ago, my classes created artwork inspired by Mexican Amate Bark paintings. I've seen these on a number of blogs including Deep Space Sparkle. Some children used grocery bag paper and others construction paper. I had originally planned to have them crinkle them up to mimic the look of the fig and mulberry bark that is boiled and then beaten. But some of their work is so delicate, I thought it looked better as is. They created a decorative border first with Sharpie and then added some stylized birds which are a favorite subject matter in this folk art. I fully admit, I have been a little bird crazy lately. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind. They used bright colored acrylics to finish their pieces. Because the paper was fairly thin, I mounted their work on brightly colored poster board. These pieces were created by 5 and 6 year olds.
Talented little ones! I thought they were made by much older students! It's always hard to get students to crinkle their work for the "look" of it. So why force it right? They are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMounting on the poster board really makes the colors "pop". Your little ones did a great job!
ReplyDeleteThese turned out beautiful Mary!
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify, these red borders are done via my favorite photo editor, Picnik. But I did use red and yellow posterboard to mount these before sending them home. Thanks for your nice comments. My young artists did a beautiful job.
ReplyDeleteMary, Create the amate paper first- use cheap white candles on the side to rub over the brown paper. Press hard. Then crumple the paper and brush with a brown /black water colour dye. flatten out with a hot iron on newspaper. It is then ready for painting or drawing on.
ReplyDeleteCheryl Perth Australia