Fun At the Ekka!

Last weekend was the final weekend of the Exhibition (aka the Ekka), the annual agricultural show that has become so much more .... wild rides, show bags, animal exhibitions, strawberry ice-creams, sideshow alley, fairy floss and dag-wood dogs, eating too much junk food and getting sick after a stomach clenching rollercoaster ride, spectacular fireworks etc etc

For some it is an amazing yearly fun fair, for others something to be avoided at all costs - whatever your opinion it has all the elements that kids love, especially the wild rides!

We started with a self portrait in black and white using thick and thin black markers. I encouraged the kids to think about facial expression to convey feeling, and to use a variety of line to create texture. Another topic of discussion was the use of diagonal line to convey liveliness and movement. I also encouraged them to draw directly with black markers, and I am really enjoying the spontaneous line work of their drawings, and the expressions on the faces!

We then used metallic markers to create a colourful background on black paper (the photos here do not do justice to the colours of the metallic markers!) We were especially trying to convey a sense of excitement and fun.

This has been one of our most effective pictures this term - I love the contrast of the black & white portraits against the explosively colourful backgrounds!

A Sunday Drive ....

We began by looking at some paintings by folk artist Jeanette Carlstrom, including 'House on the Hills' and (my favourite) 'Cats on a Stroll', especially noticing her use of colour, pattern and repetition. We also had some discussion about what we might see on a Sunday drive around our local area - including The Big Pineapple, strawberry farms, the ocean from the coast road (including dolphins, whales etc as this is whale migration season), Australia Zoo, the Ettamogah Pub and a host of other local landmarks.

We began by building a series of layered hills from the bottom of the page up. Over the hills we drew a winding road through the countryside that we filled with repetitive patterns.

After retracing all our lines in black marker we coloured all the solid shapes with wax crayon before painting the entire picture with watercolour.

I found it easiest with this particular project to set up a paint station for each colour, with the kids moving freely from colour to colour. This keeps the colours clean and makes cleaning up a breeze!

Thanks Amy at Artful Artsy Amy for her inspirational lesson idea :)

This painting was a lot of fun, and the students all did a fabulous job!

Folksy Birds - Paddy Art #4

Sally (our Pademelon Diversional Therapist) had a lot of old stamps and suggested that we might be able to use them in our art group.

I drew up some basic shape folk-art style birds on a couple of canvases, and the residents collaged the stamps all over them. This was actually quite a good sensory activity as they ended up with glue on their fingers which they rolled off by rubbing their fingers together.

Then it was a simple job for me to then paint in the background with off-white (although it appears quite grey in these photos), and add a black-glue outline to make the images 'pop'. I love the white-on-white texture that the painted-over stamps create around the edges of the birds.

I'm quite enjoying our collaborative projects - everyone can be involved to some extent... Some are very hands on, while for others it's an opportunity to sit around the table and enjoy the social atmosphere. Either way it's a way to create a moment of fun and meaningful interaction (and every one of those is so precious!)

Thanks Moonflitter Musing and Eva Crawford on Redbubble for your creations that inspired this project :)

Click here to see more of the art we have been creating at Pademelon (an aged care facility for people with dementia).

Wescoat Inspired Landscapes

Swirly trees with layers of black marker and soft pastel. Our landscapes are inspired by Gustav Klimt and Natasha Wescoat.

I love the freedom of line Ella has achieved in her picture above.