Ossorio Assemblages

Using Alfonso Ossorio as our inspiration, we created little Ossorio Assemblages on cardboard for drop-in-art at the OKCMOA in June.

Assemblage in art is a 3-D composition put together with found objects...or in our case an odd variety of purchased item you can get at a hardware store, craft store or dollar store.

I laid out the items in assembly line fashion for the kids to choose their objects.




crafting goodies


electrical items from hardware store


random plastic toys I bought at a dollar store.


Recycle! So many things to save lids for!

CAUTION: We did use glue guns to assemble our pieces for instant hold. Parents and I were there to assist younger children. You could use a craft glue and wait for your piece to dry, but it just may not hold some of the items.

To take this project further you could paint a small canvas or board and lay your objects on top of it.

We had a great time and here are some of the finished pieces!

You will need:
-background piece of heavy cardboard, wood, canvas etc. to assemble pieces on
-fun objects either made or found!
-hot glue
-imagination!

Mother's Day Brooches

Happy Mother's Day!

Today my class of kiddos ages 3-5 came in with the favorite men in their lives to make something very special for Mom. We designed a fabric brooch for Mom and pinned it to a hand made card. Very special indeed.



I focused on fabric/textiles and design of this brooch to revolve around the exciting new exhibit at the OKCMOA, Sketch to Screen: The Art of Hollywood Costume Design. This new exhibit has been years in the making and was put together specially by our curators specifically for the OKCMOA. If you are local, I encourage you to come see this unique new exhibit that will be up through the summer. It has something for everyone of all ages.



This took a bit of prep work. I pre-cut all of the pieces. I cut stiff green felt for the backing and several fabrics of different colors and textures in 3 sizes, the largest circle being the size of the green felt.



The kids worked with their dads to assemble their brooch. They made design choices by deciding which fabrics to use and what order to put them in. When they were fully assembled with fabric, the dads used a yarn needle to attach a medium size flower button through all the layers to the top. To the top I hot glued a little sparkling gem to cover the thread and hot glued a bar pin to the back.





When the brooch was finished we worked on a card to pin our brooch to. We used construction paper and crayons to decorate the card. They wrote their messages and pinned on their brooches and we left the class to visit the exhibit. Perfect little gift full of a lot of love!









For this project you will need:
Brooches:
-Stiff green felt for backing
-fabrics of different colors, textures and sizes.
-flower button
-gem
-needle and DMC thread
-bar bin
-hot glue
-scissors for trimming

For cards:
-construction paper in different colors
-glue stick
-construction paper crayons
-scissors

Hanging Sculptures

What a weekend! If you are local, chances are I saw you at the OKCMOA's super sized Family Day! It felt like the entire city was there. It was a huge crowd of all ages that enjoyed the many activities revolving around the Jason Peters exhibit.

Be sure to save the date for the next family day. It is Sat. May 22 and it will revolve around the next exhibit, Sketch to Screen: The Art of Hollywood Costume Design.

Amid the facepainting, scavenger hunts, story times and dance, there were 3 art activities featuring three different artists. I made hanging sculptures. (I'd say the average age of my little artists was age 4, and as young as 2.) We folded, bended, hole punched and cut a variety of papers and attached them to a strip of tagboard that we made into a circle. When we were finished, we punched 2 holes at the top and threaded some yard to hang these beautiful moving hanging sculptures. They turned out great!

Some of these kids really got creative. The little ones liked using the hole punch-that is a great fine motor skill for your little ones to build hand/muscle coordination!



While a glue stick is good for adding small things to the top of your sculpture, tape is instant hold and will hold the heavier items better. Thinking about Peters: Focus on using all scraps! You cut it, punch it, you use it! The punched areas also allow light to come through which is a fun feature.

You will need:
-strip of tagboard/posterboard for the top
-Variety of papers
-scissors
-hole punch
-yarn
-tape
-glue stick

Here are a few examples!













This last one is not hanging, but was a really interesting. She told me it was an homage to the artist, Jason Peters. They added pieces from the Museum handouts they got-including a Peters portrait, attached their exhibit tickets...very fun. Love to see people expand on a basic idea! This is why I do what I do. I love to watch creative minds at work!

Printing Perfection

What a printing good time we had at the OKCMOA yesterday. I took several printmaking courses in college and although serigraphy was my favorite, this is much easier!

I washed the brayers from my earlier toddler class and had them ready for a fun printmaking afternoon at Drop in Art. It was a busy day with over 50 people coming through. At one point I was so busy I couldn't stop to make a tally! That is GOOD thing! As people came in the door I got them set up with foam and a pencil. I explained that we would draw our design on the foam pressing firmly with our pencil.

I wrote a few reminders on the board, the biggest one being being that you think in REVERSE! This is most important with any writing. They got busy right away- some making Valentines, others making whatever they wanted to draw.



I had printing stations set up with different colors of water soluable inks, plexi, and brayers. I put this all on a layer of newspaper for easy cleanup. For cost, I squeezed out the ink...I was afraid the little ones would use too much. This worked out fine. We talked about signing our print editions (ex: if we made 5 prints our first print would be 1/5-then 2/5 and so on) and where the title, signature and edition goes. This info goes in the white space below your print. Typically for printmaking, the edition on left, title in middle and signature on right.



Steps:
1. Draw on foam (remember design will print in reverse!)
2. Work ink with brayer on plexi to get a smooth inking surface. I apply a small amount of ink in a horizontal line a little wider than the brayer.
3. Roll ink on foam design
4. Lay paper on foam and PRESS PRESS PRESS! I showed the kids how to rub all over their designs to get full coverage.
5. Carefully peel and VOILA! This part is magical. They really were amazed!
6. Re-ink and go again!

Kids and adults had a blast!

You will need:
-foam
-brayer
-plexiglass-or other smooth surface you can roll ink on
-drawing paper
-ink (can use tempera paints, but I prefer the ink)
-imagination!

Look at some of the incredible prints!

Clay Vessels

Super day for Drop-in-Art at the OKCMOA yesterday. I had about 60 people come through. That is a good number. I had just enough clay and will do a project like this again as the parents and children really enjoyed it. Drop in art is from 1-4pm at the Museum every Saturday. I see all age ranges so I try to do things that can be done by everyone. I also have to do something that can be completed quickly and ready to take home. We used Crayola Air Dry Clay to create a basic vessel using the pinch pot method.

I had portions under plastic ready for the kids as they came through the door. I had them each work their clay by squeezing it in their hands first. Then I had them make a "crab claw" with their hand. I told them to stick their thumbs in the middle and use their fingers to pinch around the clay ball, forming a bowl shape that could be further manipulated into whatever vessel shape they wanted. I saw a lot of hearts, so I think these will make a great Valentine Present!

The problem with this short time frame is decorating the clay. It can't be painted or anything yet, which I would do if it was a 2 part session. So, I thought it would be fun to use beads, buttons, and other things to decorate our bowls. The kids loved picking out their pieces from an assembly line of items I had out on a table. Little fingers picking up little objects is great for building hand strength and using fine motor. Enjoy!

You will need:
-Air Dry Clay
-Pony Beads, buttons, shape sequins...

Here are some of their creations!