For the LOVE of ART

I have always found joy in creating and color.  In grade school I felt cheated having P.E. twice as many times as Art in every six day cycle.  I could run and sweat at home.  I wanted to draw, and sculpt, and color, and paint.  I might even have wanted to attend school if I could participate in said activities on a daily basis.  As  it was I could carry out every other agenda item just as well at home and with the added advantage of doing it from my mommy's back pocket.  I liked the painting and pottery best.  For some reason we didn't do much of these at school.  I am sure pottery was not cost effective, and painting with 20 little darlings probably just pushed Mrs. Craig too far over the edge.  I didn't get to paint at home either.  Mom probably figured Mrs. Craig was remunerated to be crazy so she didn't have to entertain such outlets at home.  That and we didn't have a pottery kiln.

Is it any wonder that all the walls in my home are different colors?  Have you seen the post with pictures of my kitchen?  Case and point.  What you may not know is that I am also living out the pottery portion of my childhood dreams although I too am without a kiln.  We do what we can with what we have and I use paper mache.  In this I can kill both the proverbial birds as I sculpt and then paint the resulting figure.

I usually get the itch in the winter.  Where would the challenge lie to execute such plans in summer and to let the kids be creative outside and then fill the kiddie pool with bubble bath to soak them clean.  When the days are short and cold to match tempers we mix things up with a little flour and water paste- always sure to bring out the sunny smiles!

Our projects usually match some theme from our studies.  The first large scale project was when Madigan was 5 and crazy for horses.  We followed the KONOS horse curriculum and at its culmination made Shetland pony size paper mache horse.  It had a pretty heavy duty armature and lived well until it was at last put down when it had been ridden hard and broken all his legs.  One year in order to preserve my sanity I molded eight bowls from a stainless steel set we received as a wedding gift.  They were painted inside and out  in Mackenzie-Childs fashion.  This allowed hours of therapeutic endeavor.  Another time I requested that the kids create some raised relief art for wall display on cardboard.

Yesterday we made insects.  We just finished Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.  Thanks to my friend Lora for loaning us the book and turning us on to Apologia's sciences.  Her husband is our pest control guy.  Oh the irony!  It is a trip to watch the kids as they struggle to make with their hands what they see in their mind's eye.  This is one of the most fun parts of being a parent!

Can you guess the name of this insect?

Their insects will take a few days to dry.  They always use too much flour and water paste.  I will try to post a photo when they have been painted.  Sometimes the project molds before it dries and we throw it out and move on to the next.  The joy's in the journey not necessarily the destination.