Reader Art Project: Holy Trinity

It is a beautiful thing to me when someone is able to use one of my art projects as a tool for reflection and worship. One of my most frequently read posts is an art project based on Andrei Rublev's icon, "The Holy Trinity", in which artists of all ages are challenged to imagine and reflect upon the nature of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Recently Katie Munnik of the Presbyterian Record and the author of a blog called "The Messy Table" contacted me to let me know that her church in Scotland had found this project to be both meaningful and fun during Lent.

Katie writes, "We were also thinking about Christ and the questioning call in Matthew 16: 'Who do you say the Son of Man is?' We used an idea from Explore and Express, using Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity, and wondering together about why we talk about God as three and as one. It is a complicated and simple idea - that we know God differently, but that God is one."

You can read the rest of Katie's lovely article about their Lenten Art and Talk workshops here.

Interspersed in this post are the results of the wondering from both child and adult artists. Thank you, Katie, for sharing!

Easter Club Week 2/Oster AG Woche 2

Reviewing last week’s story together.

Wir besprechen kurz die Geschichte von letzter Woche.   

What’s in the gold box?  It must be something really valuable.  Is it a gift? 

Was ist in der goldenen Schachtel?  Es müsste etwas Wertvolles sein.  Ist es ein Geschenk?

Once when Jesus was asked who he really was, he replied by saying, “I am the Good Shepherd”. And he told this story . . .

Einmal als Jesus gefragt wurde, wer er wirklich sei, beantwortete er, “Ich bin der gute Hirte.” Danach erzählte er diese Geschichte . . . 

One very important aspect of Godly Play is the creative phase that comes after the story.  This is the time that the children to reflect, so that they are not just being fed information. Since children express and communicate so often non-verbally, a combination of play and art helps them in the process of developing a language to express abstract ideas. 

Ein wichtiger Aspekt von Godly Play ist die Kreativphase. Während dieser Zeit haben Kinder die Möglichkeit über die Geschichte nachzudenken und ihre Gedanken zu verarbeiten. Kinder fangen natürlich als nonverbale Wesen an und entwickeln die Kindheit hindurch Sprachfähigkeiten, mit denen sie zum Ausdruck über abstrakte Themen kommen.  Spiel und Kunst helfen Kindern in diesem Entwicklungsprozess.

Our creative phase this week was exciting.  We had something going on in every corner of the room, and it might have looked a little like a three-ring circus to a visitor.: ) Each week a group of 3-4 children reflect on the story together and decide what and how to fill up the space on an 80 x 80 canvas.  In addtition to reflecting on the story, they have to work as a team to decide who is going to do what and have to verbally communicate their ideas and wishes for the painting. 

Die Kreativphase diese Woche war aufregend. Es gab etwas in jeder Ecke los and sah wahrscheinlich so wie eine Zirkus aus. : )  Jeder Woche ein Gruppe von circa 3-4 Kindern reflektiert gemeinsam über die Geschichte der Woche und bekommt einen 80 x 80 Leinwand zu gestalten.  Neben dem Reflektieren ist das Kunstprojekt eine gute Gelegenheit Teamarbeit und Kommikation zu lernen.  Die Kinder tauschen ihre Wünsche und Ideen mit einander aus und müssen danach entscheiden, wer was macht und wie.

Group 1 is doing a mixed-media collage based on “The Mystery of Easter”. 

Gruppe 1 denkt über die Geschichte “Das Geheimnis von Ostern” nach und gestalten eine Kollage.

Here a boy is working on the background.

Hier malt ein Junge den Hintergrund. 

The two girls in the group are cutting out collage pieces to later glue on the painting.

Die zwei Mädchen hier schneiden Kollage Teile aus.

Group 2 is reflecting on the story of the Good Shepherd. 

Gruppe 2 reflektiert über die Geschichte, “Der Gute Hirte”.

Here they have drawn the shepherd and sheep with oil pastels.  Next week they will paint the background with watercolors. The technique here of painting watercolor over oil pastels came from a project by Kathy at Art Projects for Kids.

Sie haben hier den Hirten und die Schafe mit Ölpastellen gemalt.  Nächste Woche werden sie den Hintergrund mit Wasserfarbe malen.  Die Technik in diesem Bild kommt von einem Projekt bei Art Projects for Kids.

  

Remember all of the nature materials that the kids gathered in the park last week?  Well, we set to work making something out of them.  With a little string, clay and glue, you can come up with all kinds of fun things. 

Erinnert euch an die Naturschätze, die die Kinder letze Woche im Park sammelten?  Wir haben ganz viele Dinges aus ihnen gebastelt.  Mit Seile, Kleber und Ton kann man viele schöne Dinge machen.

We also had some dirt, egg shells,  and cress seeds on hand, because I was inspired by Caro at Naturkinder.  The cress will start growing in a couple of days and will be absolutely gorgeous. Thanks, Caro for the great idea!

Wir haben auch Blumenerde, Eierschlalen, und Kressesamen auch gehabt, weil Caro von Naturkinder mich inspiriert hat.  Die Kresse geht in ein paar Tage auf und wird wunderschön aussehen! Danke, Caro für die tolle Idee!

And, of course, playing with the stories was also an option.

Und natürlich dürfte man mit den Geschichten spielen!

See you next week!

Tschüss!

Doing Art Together

My own children were my first guinea pigs in learning to teach art to children and incorporate it into their spiritual journey.  When they were still quite young, Kate, my art teacher friend in Texas, highly recommended that I read a book called Doing Art Together by Muriel Silberstein-Storfer.  Kate had finished an internship under Muriel at the MET in New York and her own teaching style had been highly influenced by Muriel’s work.  Like Drawing with Children that I mentioned in a previous post, this book helped set me on the path that I am now on.

    

I don’t know if Muriel has a background in or any connections to Montessori, but her principles fit very well within the Montessori context.  The basic philosophy of the book is that children explore art at their own pace with the help of a simple structure and prepared environment.  Parent and child sit at the same table together with each focused on his/her own work.   The importance of the child’s “work” is validated by the parent’s involvement in his/her own art. To this day in children’s church, I often sit with the children during the creative phase and work on my own artwork as they are working on theirs.  I rarely finish anything (!), but this communicates to the children that what they are doing is valuable. It also sharpens my ability to be spontaneously creative.

A typical session is comprised of three rounds in which children are given opportunities to work with paint, collage and sculpture respectively. Depending on time, one can do all three or just one or two.  (I had never worked with collage much before and actually discovered through this parent-child workshop that collage is my favorite artistic medium.)  Muriel also gives teaching tips for each medium as well as suggestions about how to talk with the children about their work.

Some significant practical advice that I gained from Muriel’s book was how to prepare the environment in an orderly way to teach respect for the materials and avoid chaos, but at the same time allow children the freedom to manipulate the materials as they choose. (I have to admit that I had always been nervous about children and paint, but Muriel’s tips convinced me that I could paint with my children and still keep my walls intact!) Painting materials are set out on tray with one tray per child / parent.  Small amounts of paint (primary colors, black and white) are squeezed into furniture castors so that only as much paint as needed is used.  Two paintbrushes (one large and one small), a sponge, and a water container for rinsing are set on the tray as well.  After the session, the child is involved in the clean-up process as well.

Here is my set-up for a left-hander.  I use baby food lids instead of furniture castors for the paint and yogurt cups for water bowls. 

This is my son at age 3 shortly after we started the Doing Art Together method. 

My 1-year-old daughter also participated, but I started her off with finger paints first. 

If you are seeking to incorporate art into your children’s ministry, classroom, or even at home, this book is a must-read!

Click on Doing Art Together for more about Muriel's work. 

Teaching Children to Draw

When I tell people that I give my children drawing lessons, they often look at me as if I could turn water into wine.  Although it's been a magical experience to teach them, the method that I use to do it fortunately doesn't require any supernatural abilities. On a trip to the States just before my son turned three (almost 5 years ago), I was looking for some books with art projects for children.  I caught a glimpse of the book below:

 

Every once in a while you run across a book that changes your life.  As soon as I saw this, I knew that I had to have it. I was especially intrigued by the subtitle: "A Creative Method for Adult Beginners, Too".  Could I (gasp!), who had always tried to draw, but was unable to overcome my perfectionism, actually learn to draw as well?  The answer was yes, and I would get to teach my children and others as well.: )

The premise of Mona Brooke's phenomenal book is that absolutely anyone can be taught to draw.  There are basic components in drawing, that once you know them, enable one to learn.  It is comparable to the phonetic sounds in a language that help one to learn to read, or notes in music.  Knowing these basics principles, according to Brookes, is key to developing drawing skills. 

Equally important is having the right attitude, which proved to be the key to helping me as an adult, and is also essential for children to progress. One of Brookes' sayings that has become my mantra with children, is that "in art there are no mistakes, only changes to be made".

The following is a little bit of what I have learned from Ms. Brookes. A typical drawing lesson begins with simple relaxation exercises for the eyes and limbs.  Then we review the basic shape "families" by finding things in the room or outside the window that belong to these families. Next, I give each child a set of warm-up exercises that are much like scales and etudes in music.  Below is what I gave my 4-year-old daughter on Tuesday.  My sketches are in black and hers in red.  The object is not for her to make an exact copy of what I have drawn, but rather to fill in the space in a similar manner.

On this particular day, we decided to do a still life of pumpkins, chestnuts and leaves.  I recently started letting her use oil pastels and she was very excited about this.  Together, we drew the still life with me guiding her through the shape families that the objects are composed of.  I drew on my paper and she drew on hers. 

Here is the her result below.  You'll notice that it is not an exact representation, but that is not the purpose of drawing.  When we draw, we interpret what we see rather than making exact copies.  What is also interesting in her pictures are the repetition of certain elements that are early indicators of design.

I know for sure that I didn't find this book by accident. Though creative as a child, frustration at not being able to draw realistically led me to give up on myself as an artist.  And in another life, I might have studied art education.  There were other factors as well that caused me to follow another path, including lack of an adequate art program at the time I was growing up; the Berlin Wall coming down as I was entering university and making the idea of learning Russian irresistable; and the lie that art teachers are only people who couldn't make it in the art world themselves.  Anyway, the path that I eventutally followed led to some very valuable life experiences, and when the time was right, God began to resurrect dreams that had been dead so long that I had forgotten about them.