I held both a morning and an afternoon camp at my studio, both with different themes. The morning camp focused on an art history theme where the kids did works inspired by famous artist. My objective was to present artist or works that were not the usual fare the kids are exposed too.
And first up were these hand puppets created by Paul Klee for his son when he was young.
hand puppets created by Paul Klee
I fell in love with them the moment another artist friend posted them on Facebook. I immediately added the art book focused on this collection of puppets created by Paul Klee to my studio library because I knew the kids would fall in love too.
And I wasn't wrong.
These puppets were not originally recorded as part of Paul Klee's work because they were never meant for public viewing, these were works of art created solely for the enjoyment of his son, Felix. A toy for entertaining himself by creating puppet shows. They were so popular with his son that every year Klee added a few more to the collection. A collection that unfortunately did not survive intact but what does remain is marvelous.
Klee created these with found objects, so you will see all sorts of things used to create each puppets unique personality. The kids were fascinated with the book and we spent a very long time viewing it and laughing at all the different puppets, guessing their names, and discovering interesting details.
Then they got to work creating their own puppets to enjoy.
Paul Klee inspired puppets created in camp
This project was one of those moments I felt like the world's greatest art teacher. It was a success from the moment I presented it and I was deeply smitten with each and every work created by the kids.
The kids embraced this project with the enthusiasm only kids can bring to a project and the creations are unique and come from an imaginative place that only a child can pull from, that place as adult artist we desperately try to tap into once again.
Above front and center is "Silly Warrior" created by an eight year old. (the puppet with the hammerhead for a hat and his tongue sticking out)
Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of it as the artist loved hand-sewing his cloth and took it home overnight to finish while I was photographing the rest of the puppets. He brought it back on the last day of camp but with all the craziness of the last day of camp I somehow forgot to take a picture.
10 year old, "Angel of Death"
On the first day of camp, each artist started by creating a ball of newsprint covered in masking tape and then stuck a wooden dowel into the paper and secured it with more masking tape. Then using plaster strips began to create the head.
7 year old, "Mr. Joy"
I had never used plaster strips before and will never use anything but plaster strips moving forward whenever creating a "paper-mache" project. The kids didn't mind the mess on their hands, it was easier for them to manipulate, and it dried very quickly.
8 year old, "Whiskers"
While they were putting on plaster strips, I brought out a box of junk that I collect of random found items. Wine corks, screws, buttons, and other odds and ends.....including a hammerhead without a handle even! The kids were welcome to take whatever they wanted from the box that sparked their imagination and embed it into the plaster, similar to what they had seen in the original puppets created by Klee.
10 year old, "Blue Genie"
Blue Genie has a cork stuck on the top of his head, while "Mr. Joy", (pictured above), has a screw and toothpicks embedded into his.
The directions on the plaster said it would dry in two hours, however I found that these puppets needed two days. I'm not sure if it was because the artists were overzealous in adding layers or the fact that they were able to fold strips to mold noses and such, but much to the kids' chagrin, we had to wait until Wednesday in order to add paint and facial features.
7 year old, 'Kitty" (she's holding a ball (glass marble) in her mouth
Another great things about the plaster, it did not need any prepping prior to using acrylic paint. Each child used the paint to create features inspired by the puppets made by Paul Klee. They also once again had access to the junk box and some fabric scraps to add accessories to their puppets. I stood at the ready with a hot glue gun to add their additions under each artist direction.
9 year old, "Captain Zeppelin"
This portion of the project had every single artist engaged in a way that I have rarely seen, each child spent so much time playing with the junk, trying different things out before committing to their final choices. The excitement in the air was palatable as each child excited shared what was coming from their imaginations with each other.
There was so much laughter and joy in the studio that morning.
We spent much longer than I had anticipated with this portion of the project and ran out of time to add the fabric skirts, so I promised we would finish the puppets the next morning.
12 year old, "the Fanciful Masquerader"
Adding the skirt is the only part of the project I would modify when doing it again, oh and I will be presenting this project again!
And again.
And again.
My thought was to have the kids hand sew on the skirts. This was not only unsuccessful, but also frustrating to the kids. I'm not sure if it was because they were rushing in excitement to see the puppets finally complete or an unrealistic expectation on my part, regardless I ended up hot gluing the skirts around the neck of the puppet. In the future I will do this part upfront and then try letting them hand sew on bits of fabric scraps and buttons to the skirt to add interest. I think that will be far more enjoyable and engaging for kids.
The kids were so excited to have the puppets done. The last day of camp was spent watching them create puppet shows that brought their creations to life. As I sat there watching them play and enjoy their handcrafted toys, I imagined I felt much like Paul Klee did all those years ago while watching his son at play. Such a sense of satisfaction and so rewarding to see the project bring such joy to each child. Like the kids, it was a moment of pure happiness for me too.
Will I do this again? you bet
Will I tell every art instructor I meet to try this project? absolutely!
No wonder Paul Klee continued to add a few puppets every year to his son's collection. Who could blame him after watching how much joy these imaginative puppets brought into the lives of the young artist who were part of the "Studying Under the Masters" camp.
No comments:
Post a Comment