After unpacking our school boxes from our recent move, one of the first things I set up was our art supplies. Creative projects seem to be a very calming activity for the children and I wanted their materials to be available to them during this tough transition period. Though we are still technically on our “moving break” from school we decided to go ahead and do our Fine Arts Fridays project today. I found this particular project in the most recent edition of Home Educating Family magazine. Pat Knepley is the Master Artist in the See the Light DVD art curriculum that we use and her project and instructions were featured in this most recent HEDUA issue.
We used art tissue paper for the “stained glass” squares because the colors bleed together nicely. I thought it would create a lovely effect, and it did when lightly brushed with the liquid glue mixture. Tissue paper squares were much easier to place than construction paper squares, though they were harder to arrange as even a slight breath would blow them off the page completely. Though the twins and Chavah struggled with the time and effort involved in covering a 12 x 18 sheet of paper with 1 x 1 squares, they really enjoyed the project. If I did this over again, I think 8.5 x 11 paper would be perfect for the younger children. The older girls didn’t seem to mind the work involved in creating their masterpieces. After covering the sheet with tissue paper squares, we used light pencils to trace a branchy-tree pattern on black construction paper, then we cut it out and glued it over the colorful background we had just created. The end result is quite eye-catching. Each tree was expressive of the children’s different artistic styles, and this is one of my favorite parts about doing art projects as a family.
I encourage you to get Pat Knepley’s article yourself and try out her project. The instructions were very easy to follow, the materials were inexpensive, and the effort involved on my part was minimal once I explained the basics.
Hebron Heights Academy 