Hundertwasser Inspired Art

Traditionally art is an important aspect of many early childhood programmes, and one we utilise a great deal at Mairtown. Historically, the father of kindergarten, Friedrich Froebel, believed that young children should be involved in both making their own art and enjoying the art of others…as this encouraged each child's "full and all-sided development" (Froebel, 1826). These are certainly wise words and a good reminder that children should have opportunities not only to create their own art, but also to enjoy viewing the skills and talents of other artists.

An artist the children at Mairtown are very familiar with is that of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Hundertwasser tends to appeal to children, he uses a lot of bright colours, often leaving no hint of the white paper he began with. He also represents many aspects of his work, in an almost child like manner (for instance his lollipop trees) and as the children of Mairtown know, Hundertwasser was not a believer in straight lines. These factors make him a natural choice to study and to use as a provocation for the children to create their own Hundertwasser inspired pieces.

Each year at Mairtown, as part of our fundraising, art created by the children is used to make calendars, cards, diaries and notebooks - and yes - our inspiration for this years work was Hundertwasser.

We began our work by using black vivid on white paper, adding colour with a selection of dyes. When this had dried the children highlighted aspects of their work with gold and silver pen, this layering process really adds a depth and vibrancy to the finished pieces.

What I really loved about supporting the children in their Hundertwasser inspired work was how I was able to work one-on-one with the children. I was able to share with them my interpretations, and listen to their opinions on Hundertwasser’s work. Many children told me stories about what they felt was happening in his pictures; I listened to some wonderfully imaginative almost fairy tale like stories and sometimes clearly stories based on the children’s own personal experiences, or past exposure to different artwork and artists.

‘Children’s interest in making art is increased if adults encourage them to talk about art and artists – who artists are and how they make things.’ (Douglas, Schwartz and Taylor, 1981)

Every child was able to look at a large selection of Hundertwasser’s work, and pick one that they were drawn towards – it was so interesting to view the art piece they choose through their eyes; how they noticed different aspects of the images and what these may be compared to my thinking, how they asked such interesting questions, and ultimately how at the end of completing their own work, all the children at Mairtown created pieces that are unique and so totally different from one another.

‘Art generates a Love of Learning and creativity; it develops a willingness to explore what has not existed before. Art teaches risk taking, learning from one’s mistakes, and being open to other possibilities. Children who are creative are also curious and passionate about knowing more…art develops the whole brain’ (Drawing on earth)

As a teacher I like to provoke thinking amongst adults as well as children. One aspect of art that I am passionate about is that I believe art is not and should not be restrictive. I feel that children’s work has to demonstrate their individuality in order to be classed as art. For instance, if children all produce something that looks the same then surely this does nothing to foster their creativity or imagination. If children struggle to recognise their own work, then at the end of the day, I don’t feel that this is truly art or that I am fulfilling my role as a teacher.

Here is a selection of some of the children's stunning, and completely individualised work:

The young child doesn’t critique his work – he paints freely and with pleasure, enjoying the fine and gross motor experience of moving paint over paper and watching lines, shapes, and colours come to life. Art puts a child in the “driver’s seat” and provides freedom: the freedom of choice, thought, and feeling.

Art work in the form of calendars, diaries, notebooks and cards can be ordered from kindergarten up to Friday 21^st November 2014.

Hei konā mai,
Christine

Family fun and Poohsticks

On Saturday 8^th of November six months of visioning, planning and preparation came together when we met up with children, families and friends at Mair Park for our Poohsticks fundraising event.

 In case you are feeling a little perplexed about what ‘Poohsticks’ is all about here is a wee explanation:

"The trick is to drop the stick in a 'twitchy' sort of way" Eeyore

Poohsticks is a sport first mentioned in the House at Pooh Corner, a Winnie-the Pooh book by A.A Milne. Poohsticks is traditionally played when each player drops a chosen stick over the up-stream side of a bridge into a river, the winner is the person whose stick emerges first from under the bridge (The enchanted 100 acre wood).

Poohsticks is a bit of a favourite game for children who attend our weekly Nature Programme, so when we were visioning innovative fundraising ideas earlier in the year; this concept became a group favourite.

It was an absolutely fantastic day, we were blessed with glorious weather and thanks to the excellent pre planning skills of one of our Dad’s (thanks Phil!) our Poohsticks race down the river captured the turn of the tide.

Hopeful winners lined the bank of Hatea River to countdown the start and then watch all two hundred and fifty of our Poohsticks be dropped from the Mair Park Bridge.

On the river we had dads Nigel and Dave ready in kayak’s to assist stranded sticks and capture the winning numbers as they crossed the finish line.

It was nearly a photo finish!

On the completion of the race participants were enticed back up to Mair Park to partake in delicious kai options (including Choice Blocks and Latino Coffee) and be entertained by local musicians Ryan Karaka with Lex and Jay and Tauraroa School Jazz band In the Foyer.

Thanks to the generosity of so many local businesses we also had five Poohsticks prizes and thirty three spot prizes to give away! It was so wonderful watching so much joyfulness being spread amongst community.

On behalf of the teaching team, I want to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported us in making this such a successful family day. We also want to acknowledge our parent support group: Katie, Emma, Kirsty, Yvette, Karla and Michelle who have worked so hard behind to scenes in preparing for this day, also Sarah who has organised so much of the administration.

What has been most affirming for me is how lucky we are in our kindergarten community to be able to draw on the wealth of knowledge and skills of our attending community. When we all do a little bit, we have a lot to celebrate. The monies raised from this event will be used to re-develop an area of our outside playscape.

‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’                             

   - Winston Churchill

The beautiful images captured in this blogpost were kindly supplied by two of our families; Thank you Sam Cotterill  - Craig and Colleen Smith.

Noho ora mai

Kim

  

Dragons in the Library!

Almost two months ago now, spurred on by one of our children, Oscar, whose lunch box is covered in dragon stickers from the movie ‘How to train your dragon 2’, we began some art work at Mairtown.

From a teachers perspective this has been a really interesting topic to work with alongside the children. It isn’t a subject I would usually have chosen for art work and observational drawings, but these dragons (namely Toothless, Stormfly and later the twins Belch and Barf) along with the knowledge the children have of them, has really piqued and sustained their interest.

What this reiterates for me is just how wonderful early childhood education is. How we can follow the passions of children then plan and negotiate the next steps together.  And of course when we do follow the interests of the child (not necessarily the teachers) their work will feed back into all the key learning areas – physical, emotional, social, mathematical and literacy.

Many teachers start their planning with a topic (bugs, spring, volcano’s), yet we should start planning with the simple questions - Who is this child right now in front of us, What are their interests and learning intentions, and, How as a teacher can I support and facilitate this?

By looking at some of the drawings of the children’s dragons, the complex shapes, and vibrant colours, it is clear to see how the children’s connections with these fantasy creatures has allowed their imaginations to inform their work.

“Art can bring imagination to life and give life to imagination” Dogra 2010

Many children have drawn several dragons; some children have drawn over 10 each. This alone shows the level of engagement this topic has offered.

Kolbe (2014) can probably answer why this has been so engaging for the children when she states, the key to sustained engagement of children is allowing them to choose for themselves; to choose the objects and materials for their own playful and imaginative purposes – the children will then decide for themselves what learning they will do.

Whilst we were still working on dragons at kindergarten, Glenn who visits us on the library bus asked if we’d like to select some of the children’s art work for an upcoming exhibition that was taking place in the library.  Of course, along with the children’s agreement we choose to exhibit our colourful and stunning dragons!

Regular readers of our blog, and our kindergarten whānau, will know just how much we value and cherish the arts for all it can offer; the arts are certainly recognised as an important and valuable element of our kindergarten programme at Mairtown.

With that in mind I’m going to share how our work on dragons has now – over two months later, come to an interlude - perhaps only temporarily! Last week some parents and a small group of the children, who had been working on these splendid dragons, joined me as we took a visit into the town library to see their works of art on display. Any trip is exciting for the children, but the underlying theme of this excursion was the empowerment the children received as they spotted and recognised how their work was professionally displayed, how it was valued and respected by others within our community and how members of the public openly talked about the talents and skills of these children. The children definitely recognise themselves as successful artists; just imagine listening to this little snippet of a conversation I overheard as two children contemplated at their work.

Emma: 'There are the dragons, there are the dragons, look, look' (in a very excited voice!)

Peter: 'I see them, there's mine, there's yours, yep, all there'

Wyatt: ‘You know, I want to be an artist’

Payton: ‘I am, I am already an artist’

Our artists at the Library in Whangarei

Viewing our works of art professionally displayed.

Not only is it empowering for the children to have a sense of who they are, their skills and their talents, it is really re-affirming for me as their teacher to know that these children recognise that they are being nurtured and valued in a community that cherishes them for who they are – as competent and successful learners.

“Drawing acts as bridge between the inner world of imagination and reason and the outer world of communication and sharing of ideas (Hope, 2008; p11). Drawing helps to generate and develop ideas, it clarifies ideas, observations and relationships; it represents and analyses concepts and it develops understanding and communicates with others. These perspectives explain why drawing is useful in developing children’s communication in the early stages of life.” (Joyce, 2012, p.9)

Hei konā mai, Christine