Raja Ravi Varma Embellished Prints

Embellished prints of Indian deities, on view now at OJAS gallery in Delhi. RRV was a prince who created lithographs (using oils?) of Indian gods and goddesses, very colorful classic imagery, in the mid 19th century. What makes these so interesting is that at some point the final prints were embellished with fabric, sequins, embroidery thread, gold, etc. I'm a huge fan of printmaking with kids, and feel that the fun can really begin once the plate has been created and the actual printing begins. This type of embellishment would be a really great third step (carve, print, embellish) after a big printmaking project and a fun way to explore different techniques applied to exact same images. Printing could be done using linoleum, collagraphs, or styrofoam...onto sturdy paper, and then embellished once dry. Elmers glue would be good for most of the materials, and one whole class could be set aside for sewing so conflicting techniques aren't happening at once. I always encourage children to keep every print, and then choose an unsuccessful image as a beginning of a multi media exploration. In this case that could be a good starting point for this type of experimentation. Another way to approach this might be to start with color copies (also on card stock or other substantial paper) of photographs that children take, lively scenes with many people or objects would be a good starting point.

Gujarat Mud Mirror Work

This is a great example of combining unexpected materials. Mud surface is flat and mirrored mosaics add depth. Found on the outside of thatched roof huts, and in some interiors. Children can design their own Gujarati style huts by embedding bits of aluminum foil in white paint (thickened with rice flour or some other medium, sand might work as well?). Foil bits should be cut and close by on the same day as the painting, so the bits can be pressed down into wet paint. Children should consider pattern and symmetry as they plan and execute their designs and consider important details like windows and doorways. Huts can be finished with straw on top for a roof.

Painted Trucks

Highly decorative trucks and lorries, bright colors, fanciful images, roosters, and flowers, tassels inside, etc. this is one way a truck driver advertises his pride in his job, and his vehicle. If you were choosing a truck to transport your items you might be greatly influenced by these decorations and the energy the driver put into his truck. invite children to transform a common object or machine using similar techniques, use your imagination, make it special, make it stand out. Could be fun for middle school, esp. Would be a great multi- media project, transform a serious sketch with fanciful add-ons like fringe, pom-poms, rhinestones, etc. or simply add colored magazine papers to black and white sketch or newspaper collage. Check out this blog for a great article on the painted trucks.

after making paper mache vehicles, and embellishing them with sequins, paint markers, bottle caps, etc. the artists were invited to draw their creations.

Vishnu and Sariswati

(Vishnu pictured here)

These four armed gods would serve as a really wonderful prompt for kids in a project that would challenge them to problem solve their way through a picture of someone doing many different things at once. Initiate a discussion with “when was the last time you did more than one thing at the same time?’ and ask children to show where/how their arms were positioned in the moments they describe. Tell them that Vishnu had four arms because he had so many important things to do (tell the stories of the various objects and their purpose), and Sariswati had four arms so she could hold all of her favorite things. Ask children to consider what they would do and/or hold onto if they had four arms.
Materials and project suggestions: Children can make paintings or drawings of someone with four arms doing many things at once, or holding on to four favorite things. It would look great if drawn on blue paper, cut out, and glued onto a different color background (or cut from white paper, and glued onto blue). Colorful details can be added to marker outlines with paint and detail brushes or oil pastels.

Gujarat Birdhouses

In the Jain faith it is believed that ancestors come back as birds and other animals, so to create elaborate bird houses for living birds is an important part of caring for your departed loved ones. Making bird houses, either functional, 3-dimensional, or paintings or drawings of imagined birdhouses, with this particular energy as a motivation—that you are providing for your loved ones--would be a beautiful project for all ages but especially good for pre-adolescents because they usually need projects to have some immediate importance and/or function. There’s a classic ‘design your dream house’ project for this age group, but the case of ‘design a bird house for your ancestors’ has the added benefit of not being so obviously self-interested and could be a good way for children of this age group to combine their own interests with some amount of compassion and care for others.

Materials and project suggestions: Pre-adolescents are generally quite content making elaborate drawings using pencils or permanent markers. Permanent markers are preferred because it discourages erasing, and challenges children to jump right in and deal with accidental marks or errant lines. This would be a beautiful project with younger children and a variety of paint or maker colors. A collage, using colored paper, hand-painted paper, newspaper, cardboard, etc. would look great and encourage children to think about ‘building’ the bird house, and if 3-dimensional projects are possible, it would be great for children to work with cardboard squares, paper towel rolls, toothpicks, and white glue.

CD streamers, Berlin

We were greeted by these strings of CDs when we got off the train at Friedrichshain, and it served as a great reminder of the beauty of really simple ideas and the iridescence and potential of these soon to be obsolete everyday objects.

Printshop, Berlin

*Obviously not India, but I'm eager to start posting and wanted to give Blogsy a test run. We wandered into this printshop on our first night in Berlin after a long and frustrating day and a half of travel. I bought a print of a zigzaggy television set and Ed chose one about a pumpkin family eating pumpkin pie. Printmaking with children is wonderful, there's so much to explore, so many experiments and tech inquest. This fall I printed Blexbolex inspired people with third graders. We drew with water based crayola markers on medium coated mat board collages plates. The markers allowed for incredible accuracy with color placement and transferred beautifully onto damp paper when we printed.