Creative House Classroom

EP4 Nature Based Self Portrait

It’s Earth Days, artists!!! 🌎🌿🌸 Did you know that Earth Day began on April 22, 1970? So today is the 50TH ANNIVERSARY of reflecting on our planet, our environment, and what we can do to keep it healthy -- and it’s celebrated in 193 countries! The Earth is what we all have in common. In today’s lesson, we’re going to use the supplies of Mother Nature to create self portraits, based off of !

Let’s talk about self-portraits… a portrait is a representation of a particular person. Therefore, a self-portrait is a portrait of the artist by the artist! Self portraits allow an artist to create and reflect how they see themselves 👀 -- this can be done REALISTICALLY or in an ABSTRACT / SYMBOLIC way! Self portraits can be a way for artists to document how they see themselves (or want others to see them) or they can be about experimenting with new techniques! 🎨They can be done in any MEDIUM: painted, sculpted, drawn, digitally, photographed, and in today’s lesson… with nature!

So let’s talk about our inspiration behind these! is made up of a mother and daughter duo, Vicky and Brooke, who use found objects in nature to create both self-portraits and portraits! We might look at their work and see materials such a leaves, sticks, rock, flowers, moss, dirt, shells, weeds, and more!

Grab some outdoor materials you can find 🐚🍄🌿🌼🍁🌾, and let’s get to art makin’, artists!!!

Happy (Early) Earth Day, artists!!! 🌎🌿🌸 Earth Day is a day to reflect on our planet, our environment and what we can do to help keep them healthy. In today’s lesson, we’re going to create our own works of art based off of British artist !

Andy Goldsworthy makes site-specific sculptures and land art in natural settings! His art involves the use of natural and found objects (such as flowers, mud, ice, leaves, twigs, pebbles, pine cones, etc.) to create temporary works of art! 🍃🍁🐚🍄🌼These pieces appear naturalistic, but create CONTRAST from their surroundings in both FORM and COLOR.

The "Land Art" movement creates temporary art by working with nature. Many Land Art creations are made solely by using bare hands and natural tools. Since Land Artwork is temporary, it should be photographed immediately upon completion so that it captures the art before it decays, falls apart, or floats away! 📸⏳ “To work with nature means to work with time!”

What's one common theme we notice in Andy Goldworthy's artwork? It's that he tends to create radial (circular) art! ⭕️An object or shape with radial symmetry can be "divided with a line" in any directions and each side of the line is identical. For us to start our Land Art pieces, we'll begin by creating a MIDPOINT in our center, and then building out from there!

Happy art makin’, artists!!!

Did you know that the egg has been an ancient symbol of new life? The egg brings hope and purity. In some cultures, it means luck! 🥚Eggs are often used in "celebrations of Spring" throughout many cultures. 🌸 After they have been decorated with different colors or designs, they might be given as gifts to friends and family! One way eggs are commonly decorated is by marbling them.

The origin and development ​of marbling was practiced in Japan as early as the 12th century. ​The first forms of Japanese marbling were called Suminagashi, or "ink floating."​ Delicate, swirled patterns were ​produced on paper when colors of ink were floated on the surface of the water.​

Well, we won’t be using any water or ink today… but for our lesson, we’ll be marbling paper with LOTION (or shaving cream, if you have it!) AND FOOD DYE! 😱If you don’t have food dye, do not fret! You can use paint, fruit juices (or even some fruits and vegetables), or run your washable markers until the sink to get some colored water.

Happy art makin’, artists!!!

Want to see how we can transform a toilet paper roll into a Japanese koi fish? 😏🎏Here is what you will need: a toilet paper roll, scissors, glue (or tape), paper, and your choice of coloring materials (Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencil, or Paint).

Did you know that Koi fish are fresh water fish that originate from Eastern Asia? People in Japan believe that the koi fish symbolizes wealth, prosperity, love, successful career and good fortune.

Koi fish come in a variety of colors, not just orange. The color of the koi fish depends on the variety. They can be white, black, blue, red, cream and yellow in color. They can also be covered with different spots. Koi can grow up to 3 feet in length, and can live about 40 years! It is believed that the oldest-known koi lived to be nearly 230 years old.

This lesson was loosely based off of Arielle Goddard on Pinterest.

Happy art makin’, artists!!!