First Nation inspired clay mask

We kicked off the "Hello Vancouver" spring break camp creating mask inspired by the First Nation. It seemed quite appropriate when being inspired by our beautiful city to remember the people whose land we share.

I shared with the kids the traditional shapes they would find in First Nation art, along with a wide variety of samples of different animals created by First Nation artist. I also shared the symbolism behind each animal and we discussed the limited use of color the works.. Using that information as a jumping off point, we also discussed how in other cultures we use animals to symbolize different traits and powers.

Like in Harry Potter, a novel series very popular with this age group and easily relatable to the kids. Harry Potter's stag was a quick way to help them recognize the concept.

Then we discussed animals local to our city. What powers might they possess? What animals did they feel represented them? Or maybe held powers of protection?

Then with one last reminder that we were not necessarily creating traditional First Nation mask but using the art form as inspiration for our own interpretation, I handed out some oven baked clay in white.

8 year old, eagle

Using their kneecap as a base, they began to shape the clay and add the features they wanted to highlight the animal of their choosing.

eagle, 8 year old

cat, 8 year old

When the were happy with their mask, I gave them an opportunity to add holes in order to put raffia through when finished. Only one artist wanted to do this step. Then we put them in the oven to bake.

owl, 10 year old

When they were cooled, which takes about 15 minutes in the freezer, each child used red and black paint to add accent color....or in one case, color the entire animal!

owl, 11 year old

I am so pleased with the results, aren't they stunning?  Each mask is a personal reflection of the artist, of an animal that has some significance to them. I think they reflect each child perfectly.

Story Totems

It would be impossible to do a camp focused on Vancouver without a project designed around the Totem Poles in Stanley Park.

They represent several coastal nations from the area.

I did a quick presentation to the kids on the importance of the Totem Pole in the First Nation culture, highlight the storytelling that they share with the viewer.

I then showed them five basic shapes that make up the artwork and put out several examples of contemporary First Nation artist and asked them to find the shapes I was creating on the erase board.

They had a great time searching them out, I think it reminded them of a Scavenger Hunt.

Then I asked them to create images to make up their own story for a Totem trying to use the shapes most common in First Nation art.

I asked them to only be inspired by the artwork, not recreate it. They certainly did not have to use traditional animals either, but symbols that would be important for their story.

They could be real or make believe.  It was completely up to them.

I also told them that they did not have to share their story with me or the class, so that they would not edit themselves due to being shy.

Once they had a sketch they liked, actually they had three sketches of three different characters for their poles, I gave them a piece of styrofoam to use to create a relief print.

At this time, I did give them the "final" paper so they could judge how big to make each character but some kids found their totems didn't completely fit on the page once finished regardless.

This turned out to be a great lesson in using one's imagination to problem solve and come up with creative solutions. Love when art projects reinforce great life skills!

They cut each character out of the styrofoam so they could stand alone as an artwork and in hindsight, I would skip this step and just have them complete one totem with all three images.

Just imagine how many prints we pulled that day with eleven children and each child doing three prints of each of the three images.

phew. Just thinking about it makes me tired all over again.

I did only use black ink for this very reason.  Can you imagine if I had also been wrestling with color choices?

11 year old

6 year old

7 year old

9 year old

7 year old

12 year old

9 year old

9 year old

Below is a great example of a student who creatively solved the problem of totem characters too large for the paper.  I love that she worked out several solutions and this is a great example of a mistake being a wonderful opportunity to create something even better than the original vision.

oh yes, it also lost a leg in the process. maybe that's why it's toppling over

7 year old

And finally because I'm a glutton for punishment, I told each student to pick their very favorite character and make a stand alone print.

At the end of the day, I feel like the children walked away with a deeper understanding of the importance of the Totem Pole. By not just replicating a traditional First Nation totem, but implementing their own personal stories into a totem format, I believe they will now appreciate the Totem Poles on display in Stanley Park due to their new perspectives.

At least after pulling what felt like a hundred prints, that is my hope for the ending of the story of our Totem Pole art project.

The Artist of Hadia Gwaii and Bill Reid inspired artwork

I could not do a week on British Columbian artist and ignore the work of the First Nations. I chose to focus on the artwork from Haida Gwaii because I knew later in the week we would be working on Emily Carr, who spent a lot of time creating paintings from this area.

I originally thought I would focus on Bill Reid, but after doing a lot of research to learn more about this art form myself, discovered many exciting artist to present.

I focused strictly on printmaking since I try very hard to provide a variety of projects for the students to discover during the week and thought printmaking would match up well inspired by the artist of Haida Gwaii.

After going over the various forms found in this style of artwork, the students got to work creating an animal of their choice. They worked on copy paper until they were happy with a final sketch. At that time, they placed the sketch on top of a styrofoam circle and traced over their drawing with a very dull pencil, creating a light indent in the plate.

After that, they took the paper off and went back over the indents in order to deepen them and then made two prints in red ink on Bristol board.

When they were finished, I had them once again take the dull pencil and color out anything they wanted to remain red. This was quite confusing at first, especially since the pencil made the area black....that was going to stay red.

You can see why this would be confusing.

Once they had their "ah ha" moment and got the concept, they brought their plates back up and inked them in black.  

They picked their least favorite red print and then we placed the ink plate on the red print to create a reduction print.

I have them chose their least favorite so if they get it way off register the first time, they have a second try without ruining their favorite print. If they get it the first time, then they have a bonus print. In fact, several of them were so happy with their first print that they wanted to leave their second print in red.

Raven, 7 year old

hummingbird, 6 year old

bear, 7 year old

owl, 8 year old

salmon, 7 year old

bear, 9 year old

Raven, kindergarten

hummingbird, 7 year old

owl, 7 year old

turtle, 9 year old

bear, 9 year old

hummingbird, 6 year old

turtle, 7 year old

The afternoon class did the same concept but used wood blocks and carved their plates.  Below are the results.

raven, 9 year old

bear, 9 year old

Although not prints in the traditional sense of the Haida Gwaii work we looked at, these are beautiful works inspired by the amazing artist we studied that day.