be a true detective!

each time we clean and curate the beach, children find something that they want to take home. children still haven't unlearned to value and be curious, they instinctively know that trash can be treasure. apart from the instrinsic value  like colour /texture /material of each object there is also a poetic value, a story hidden within each object. we want to find that story: let's be true detectives!

we draw the object in its original size: outline in pencil first, then colouring in with colour pencils. sharpen those pencils and look closely! by doing so we are practicing observation skills as well as three dimensional and life drawing. these school children are just 7 years old and doing an amazing job: without instruction they start drawing the object from all sides, indlucing top, bottom and side view. each view reveals  different details!

like an archeologist we make a list with the following facts: date found, site found, material, colour and object characteristics. then we add these assumptions: provenance and age of object. with some luck this information is even revealed to us. look at this broken piece of porcellain: it has the inscription 'made in china'. with this information at hand, we start to imagine the life story of this trash/treasure, using  basic questions like: who did this object belong to? how was the object used? why and where was it lost? how did it end up on tong fok pebble beach? i asked the children to use either themselves or a family member as protagonist to make the stories realistic and as close to their lives as possible.

please double-click image to enlarge

above are some of the stories the children came up with. a wonderful way to get us thinking about our consumerist habits and their impact on nature and about life cycles of products. 

next time you go to the beach and find some trah/treasure pick it up and think about its story ... if you come up with a story or a poem or an inspiration of any kind please send it to me:)

happy diwali!

pigments&paints workshop

this is a workshop for the radical self-reliant artist: make your paints from sratch! all you need is terracotta bricks, egg and water! 
egg tempera paint has widely been forgotten because it can't be preserved (meaning can't be mass produced and sold). used by monks in the medieval times to paint the elaborated initials of bible transcriptions, it is a highly resistant paint that makes beautiful bright colours when applied in layers. recipe here: http://wunderkinderhongkong.blogspot.hk/2013/08/mix-it-yourself.html

discovering bricks and clays: 
there are endless variations of the colour 'burnt sienna': bricks found on the beach, ground into powder and bound with egg yolk, using water as a thinner. and the hues and tints of clays found in south lantau: ground into powder with a mortar and bound with egg yolk, using water as a thinner. 
further reading on 'burnt pebble beach red': http://liinaklauss.blogspot.hk/2013/03/burnt-pebble-beach-red.html

discovering plants:
the bright red flowers of 'sleeping hibiscus' (bot. malvaviscus) make a beautiful purple tone. leaves of malvaviscus when crushed in a mortar make a slimy green substance that can be applied directly onto paper without water nor binder. the leaves when mixed with water have the same quality as soap: foamy and slimy, they can serve as hair conditioner or shampoo. and as if that is not enough the petals of the malvaviscus flower are edible and make a highlight to every salad or desert!

you find more of my thoughts about colours here: http://liinaklauss.blogspot.hk/2013/03/the-real-thing.html

for further reading on the subject of making your own paints please refer to the following literature:
Cennino Cennini: 'The Craftsman's Handbook' / 'Il Libor dell'Arte' witten in the early 15th century, cennini reveals the secrets of the painter guilt with detailed instructions for egg tempera, under paintings, coatings etc: highly recommendable!
Victoria Vinlay: 'Colour' written by a SCMP journalist, vinlay tells personal stories as well as historical facts of paints and how they were invented, discovered, traded and used: good read!

mind-your-head

'mind your head' is my workshop contribution to imagine peace festival 2014 on lantau island, hongkong. we let ourselves be inspired by the extravaganza of nature and create head-pieces made from the beauty that surrounds us: lush leaves, green grass, fresh fruit and flowers. and off we go to find all of these adornments on our walk along the beach and through the beautiful wetlands of pui o. apart from natural objects we find bottle caps, fishing nets and a lot of broken down pieces of plastic. we take our findings and turn them into bouquets on each other's heads, just like children adorn each other. it is an act of giving and receiving. by adorning our heads with beauty of the natural world and the throw-aways of the human society, our heads are decorated on the outside. on the inside we start to think: why is there so much rubbish in nature? where does it come from? where does it go to? questions like children ask. honest questions hard to find a simple answer to. 

 the process of adorning each other with the treasures of nature honors ourselves and is a deep prayer to the beauty of mother nature herself. let her be healed. and let us heal within her.

last-minute Lai Tse!

Sometimes it's good to live so 'inconveniently' far away from stores: instead of buying the traditional red 'Lai Tse' envelopes this year, I spontaneously decided to make them by hand. Reusing newspaper for the envelope and a sponge floor mat as a stamp, I created 20 pieces in just about an hour. So if you still don't have your Lai Tse prepared this is the perfect solution!

*For those not living in Hong Kong: 'Lai Tse' is a red envelope handed to children during the Chinese New Year Celebration. The envelopes contain a new money bill, for example HK$10 or HK$20. 

Have a wonderful Year of the Horse everyone - so fast, wild and free!

The biggest canvas on Earth

We are very fortunate to live on Lantau. The children can run free and experience the expansiveness of nature. On the beach we find everything we need for our art class: the sand is our canvas and using twigs as pens we draw a huge planet Earth complete with trees, houses, a school bus and a huge rainbow. Sadly we also find a lot of man-made waste in nature. It's composed of anything that floats: bottle caps, toothbrushes, drinking bottles ... the list is infinite.  We use our findings to make all kinds of insects and fantasy creatures. "Why is the toothbrush on the beach?" asks one of the students. A very good question. It's a long story to tell... 

Stranded goods to Christmas tree goodies

Last year I was given a shell by my dear friend Philine with a hemp string wrapped around it and a loop at the end. "Put it on your Christmas tree", she said. Such a simple and decorative idea! I found out that the name of the shell is 'Tower Shell' or 'Turritellidae'. Now we simply call it 'Turritelli', a word rolling wonderfully over your tongue. For this year's Christmas I couldn't resist to copy the idea for my Wunderkinder class. Making a few alterations, we are using soft wire instead of string. And we are adding gold and silver glittery glue plus glitter (there can never be enough!) to make the ornaments sparkle - now they almost look like icicles! 

Follow the steps as shown in these pictures. It's easy! 

Peaceful and happy Holy Days to all of you:)