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:)

Origami: the Sacred Lotus

Yes, I do adore Lotus flowers!(bot.Nelumbium speciosum) They seem to glow from within, flowers so beautiful they seem from beyond this world. It is hard for any artist to capture something that beautiful, something that perfect. I'd like to show you a version that comes close to the original and isn't that hard to make: the origami lotus.

 

Instead of using origami paper I prepared sheets of newspaper that I tinted with wood stain pigments beforehand. These pigments give off warm colors that look very natural. The folding of the petals is actually easy, it can be done by 6 year olds. Here is a YouTube video that's easy to follow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phYNG2YikxA

The trick is the larger the paper petals the easier the folding. For our lotus we folded 12 petals (purple) and 4 outer leaves (green) but you can also go with 8 and 4. Tying the bundle of petals together and then inverting them is a bit more challenging and needs the help of an adult. 

Our hands being coloured purple after folding so many Lotus petals!

This photo I took in a temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia this spring. Even withered the beauty of the Lotus still radiates.

Botanical drawings: Wild Chinese Pineapple

This plant with its spiky leaves and round fruits grows on beaches in Hong Kong. Its name is Wild Chinese Pineapple or Screw pine (lat. Pandanus) and it has an important role in keeping the sand and soil from being washed into the ocean. Parts of the fruit can be found in the sand and they look very pretty,almost like little brushes. See, a couple of them even germinated in my garden! So with this background knowledge and a big green Wild Pineapple in front of them, the children start to draw. It is a difficult task as the surface is made up of an intricate and repeating pattern. How patient they copy each seed and how beautiful those drawings turn out! I am once again very proud of my little artists:-)

Tonight is Mid-autumn Festival in Hong Kong!

If you haven't made a lantern for tonights Mid autumn festival yet, here are a couple of really cool upcycling ideas!!! I took those pictures this morning at Lantau International School where a lantern competition is held each year. Only recycled material is allowed for use. Thanks L.I.S. for this great event and thanks to all the children and parents for sharing your creativity!

Botanical drawings: Kadena de amor

There are so many names for this beautiful flower (bot. Antigonon): Chinese love vine, Heart on a chain, Chain of hearts and many more. We stick to its Spanish name Kadena de amor because this creeper is a native to Mexico. 

In the next couple of lessons we will explore botanical drawings. Today we start out with the heart-shaped leaves of our Kadena de amor. The frottage technique is perfect: placing the leaf underneath a thin sheet of paper and rubbing over it with a soft pencil or crayon. An easy way to do a perfect copy! Next step is to cut out the leaves with a pair of scissors. Then we draw the vine and glue the leaves onto the stem. 

So far so good. Next lesson will be all about pink flowers and butterflies:-)