Week 3 and Still Learning...

Can't believe it's the third week in already! I have been learning so much from the kids, as much as they have been learning from me. It's a blessing to be able to bring intense bright colors into their dull, Huaycan-colored lives (grays and browns are the colors of the town, all dirt hills and mountains). I have begun a Collage workshop, which is my medium, and it has become quite the popular and most filled class (13 students total which is a lot for our small classroom capacity.

COLLAGE WKSHP: The first project we did was ripped paper strips, layered horizontally to create landscapes of their choice. Before the actual activity, I showed the kids some different types of landscapes, in different colors and explained it can be representational or more imaginary with non-realistic colors. Some are almost finished, and the final pieces will be shown at the Student Art Exhibition I'm setting up, for the 2nd Anniversary celebration of the Light and Leadership Initiative.

ART CLASSES: The kids have been working on a couple of different things, depending on the age groups. We did some blind drawings where one student would dictate a scene in a picture to the blindfolded student who has to draw exactly what he/she is being told. It's a great icebreaker and the kids are always shy to do it at first but are very much into it after a few minutes and the feelings of not knowing how to draw well are POOF! ...just gone! Another project the older teenagers are working on is Pointillism, based on Georges Seurat's paintings. These girls are wonderful students and because they are older and more focused, the pointillism paintings/drawings are coming out amazing, I will definitely be posting some of these artworks up soon. In the meantime, no complaints. The art classes are really going well and I have been able to work with the limited supplies we have. However, I think it is time to stop avoiding 3D works and develop a sculpture lesson. It's just not my strength but I know they will love to get their hands messy. ...Until the next project!