Sunday, 10 April 2016

Art Workshops for children

This week I started teaching art workshops for children in my " garage studio".
Half of the garage is converted into a studio, this will work for the warmer season,but for the colder months I have to use our cottage.
The space in the garage is ideal, because of the concrete floor,so it doesn't matter if the art gets messy.
I teach 5 groups of home schoolers, total of 25 children.
This first workshop was inspired by the artist and architect Hundertwasser,very well known for his colourfull and 'out of the square buildings' in Vienna and his amazing artworks.
Hundertwasser believed that people are happier when they live in colourfull houses and close to nature.
He lived in and loved New Zealand and built the toilets in Kawakawa in the Bay of Islands,worth a visit.
I showed the children a book with his artwork and buildings to inspire them.
The children first drew their dream house or street with white chalk on black paper and they used oil and chalk pastels to colour and then glued different papers to the art work to add texture.
I asked the children to draw big and fill the paper and the houses could look out of shape and different and very colourful.
I sprayed the artwork with a fixative to protect the pastels.
Beautiful work emerged and the children loved the project.

a finished street

Colourful house

The drawing

A town

An apartment building with a tree growing through