We celebrate the first people that settled in our beautiful twin islands soon so of course the Picassos and I took some time to explore what they knew about the Amerindians! Most of my smarty pants could chit chat about crops they grew and could identify the Caribs for their 'warlike' traits and the Arawaks for their peaceful nature. But I wanted them to go a bit further and we talked about some of the things they left us... Like a mortar and pestle, chandon beni and place names like Arima, Tunapuna, Mayaro and Couva to name a few. 😀 A few of my Picassos were very well-versed and I was very happy to hear them shout out place names and crops etc! But things really got interesting when I told them the story of Hyarima - the chief of the Carib tribe who escaped enslavement from the Spanish and spent his life protecting his people from the invaders. Hyarima is the subject of our art piece today... take a look as they paint their impression of this hero of our indigenous people. I just love that we get to practice our portrait drawing skills while learning more about our indigenous people 🤓
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My tiniest artists were not to be left out of our Republic Day celebrations... ooh noooo! 😀 We talked about what it means to be a Republic and they learned that the President was our Head of State to which one little cutie replied "hmmm I did not know that." Lol So we painted President's House today - Doodlebug style which means His Excellency's abode is portrayed in a very psychedelic way... Because well these children are between the ages of 4 and 6 and in their eyes everything that isn't rainbow-coloured should be! The Picassos finally painted their clay Scarlet Ibises today and goodness they are so gorgeous! 😍😍 They also took care to paint the beaks and some children added black feathers in the tails. Take a look at their beautiful birds! The start of this term is smack in the middle of Independence Day on August 31st and Republic Day on September 24th so of course my little smarty-pants and I discussed what these days mean and the symbols that come along with our Republican status. For our art project we will be sculpting the gorgeous Scarlet Ibis out of clay! There's also another reason I decided to highlight our gorgeous national bird and it's sadly because some people have decided that the Ibis is fair game for wild meat 😩. It saddens me to no end to know that these lovely protected creatures have become a target in a place that is literally supposed to be a SANCTUARY. Let that sink in. So our art is dedicated to these fine birds, OUR national birds and I hope that we can all take a moment to appreciate their beauty and vow to blow the whistle where and when we can to ensure their survival. So the Picassos sculpted them today and they'll dry and wait to be painted in their scarlet colour next week! Take a look :) Interested in art class? Join the Mailing List and you'll be notified in time for our next registration. We'd love to meet your little artist!
One of the great things about art is you can literally use anything to get creative! Today the Picassos painted an underwater ocean scene. But to add another dimension to our art we talked about the Buccoo Reef in Tobago and how much of our coral has been destroyed by a combination of pollution and mistreatment of the reef by tour operators. They looked at pictures and we got down to our art for the day. I gave them very little direction. I simply put out some ocean colours in tempera and oil pastels and we talked for a few minutes about what we might see under the deep blue ocean. The only rule was not to paint any fish... we have a special plan for adding fish at the end. When the underwater scene was done to their satisfaction I handed out styrofoam trays for them to draw a fish from a very simple one to that was as detailed as they cared to get. So they drew BIG fish, and tiny fish and I even got some eels! When I started saving these trays I really didn't have a plan for them but lucky for us we have them today! My darling hubby has started asking "are we saving this?" before he throws any earthly thing away! LOL.. But I digress as usual... They cut the shapes out, painted them with black tempera and simply pressed them onto the ocean background, creating a school of fish silhouettes! This was so much fun and the kiddos really took charge of their artwork. This year for Indian Arrival Day we are casting our eyes across the shores to look at one of the traditions of the country that we have to thank for this very special holiday! In India elephants are highly respected and revered because of the Hindu God Ganesh. Every year there is a parade called the Elephant Festival and these animals are pampered and primped in all sorts of gorgeous finery before they are led through the streets for people to admire. The Picassos took a look at some pictures and even a little video clip of this festival and they really focused on the patterns, colours and even materials used to dress up the elephants. Then they got down to drawing the elephant from the angle they chose. Next week they will finish them off with all their finery to look just like they stomped out of Jaipur! To celebrate Indian Arrival Day I thought we could turn our attention to one of the beautiful and colourful traditions of India... the Elephant Festival. The Doodlebugs looked at pictures of these majestically adorned creatures while I explained that in India the elephant is greatly respected and revered because Hinduism is the main religion in India and Hindus believe that the elephant-headed God Ganesh is the most important God of all! Some of them had never seen this before and they were amazed by all the colours and of course they were full of questions. My favourite was "Aunty, how do they get the elephants to sit still long enough to paint them?" Huh? Honestly I must confess this is one of the reasons I love talking to children lol! Their perspective is so fresh and simple that it renews your sense of wonder! Anyway, after checking out the pictures of these beautifully adorned creatures they got down to making our very own interpretation of them! Today we focused on making the elephant and the first layer of the border and in the next class they will decorate them Jaipur style! The Picassos started off the term exploring the body in motion. Not an easy feat for this age group but we are not known for shying away from a challenge! Since the actual drawing and sketching of the human figure standing still, let alone in motion can be an exercise in frustration I knew the subject matter had to be enticing... So we're drawing and painting a cricket match! I brought out my trusty wooden man for the Picassos to bend and move so they could see the angles up close... and I also found a book on cricket with loads of great pictures of real cricket matches so they could mimic the poses. Each child chose a different composition so they are training themselves to think about what they want to focus on and then making decisions on how to go about laying out their artwork to achieve their objective. So you will see some of them drawing up close cricketers with a crowd in the distance, while others chose to look at the field as a whole so the cricketers are less in focus. So armed with these simple tools they got down to sketching a match! Take a look at what they've done so far... next week we'll be painting the scene. As turtle nesting season approaches I thought we could use our art to draw attention to the plight of the amazing leatherback turtles that grace our shores each year. The Picassos took in this video and we talked a bit about
While you're here be sure to check out what we're up to for Easter Art Camp!
My Doodlebugs also got into Diwali mode this afternoon as we spoke about what Diwali means to the Hindu community. We looked at pictures of the Temple by the Sea and then they painted a simplified version to what the Picassos are doing :)
Very sweet results! Take a look. |
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Be a fly on the wall in our art room! Take a look at what we do, how we do it and the smiles that I get to see week after week :) Archives
February 2020
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