CONNECTing in May: Creating a Sense of Place

Home sweet home.

Home is where the heart is.

There’s no place like home.

There is a reason we reflect so readily on the idea of home. Home represents security, comfort, love, and safety. Home is the place where family gathers, where good  times are shared, where important decisions are made. For many of our Arts For Life families facing long medical journeys, home is the end goal, the sustaining vision, the light at the end of the tunnel.

This month at our art tables, we are inviting young artists to talk about, share, and create work along the theme of home, location, and family.

One way we’re doing this is with this Colorful Collograph House Print lesson. Students begin with the simplest of materials (thick white paper, or cardstock) cut into the simplest of shapes: a large rectangle for the main part of the house, and triangle for the roof. Next, inspired by their own homes, as well as their “dream” homes, the students add details – windows, doors, trim, stairs – by cutting scrap cardstock into smaller shapes and gluing them onto their houses.

 

 

Once all the details are safely in place, students then use a roller to roll ink over their houses, covering every little inch, and press the ink-covered surface onto a separate sheet of paper.

 

Students then choose a different color of ink for their backgrounds, and roll that color over the rest of their papers.

 

 

 

 

And then…the big reveal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My House” by Alan

 

It’s a simple process, but the results reflect the subtle – and sometimes not so subtle – differences between how each artist perceives the idea of home.

   

                                                                                                           “Home” Prints by Mollie, Brooklin,  & Kaylee