Christie, from England, made this beautiful mixed media artwork with her three kids aged 13, 11 and 1. Let’s take a look and see how this masterpiece was created…
What did you do?
We worked together to make a collaborative Lockdown art-attack. My 13-year-old loves whittling sticks, so he made 3D branches. My 11-year-old loves painting, so decided to get creative with his rainbow leaves. Then we pulled together to make our family sunrise scene, beneath a rainbow tree, working together to paint the different elements of it 🌈🌳We wanted to represent the joy we’ve found in spending extra time together, the silver-lining of this strange situation; making lovely memories whilst we’re quarantined together. In addition to a bright hopeful sunrise representing the hope we have for the future.
Things you need:
Materials:
– Acrylic paint
– Water colour paint
– Poster paint
– Sticks
– Plain paper
– Clear drying thick glue
– Scissors
– Large canvas
Instructions:
Background: Initially a watercolour painted base for the sunset, graduating from dark to light.
Grass: Adding watercolour grass, using fine paintbrush strokes for grass blades. Using a darker blended shade for the shaded areas, and lighter closer to the sunrise.
Tree trunk: Blends of gold and black acrylic were used to form the tree trunk, graduating as the light would fall realistically.
The people: the people were scaled to imagine we were all that size, proportionate to each other (picture represents Mum and children aged 13, 11 and 1).
Tree branches: They are tree branches whittled by the 13-year-old to his desired shape. They are glued on with thick (clear drying) glue, in the form a real tree would take.
Leaves: leaves are plain printing paper painted with poster paints (6 sheets, each one a different colour – red, blue, purple, yellow, green and orange). Once dry they were hand-cut into leaf shapes and glued on with thick (clear drying glue).
Notes: sticking on the branches and leaves can be fiddly, laying the canvas flat helped, we left it overnight to dry before placing upright.
What’s your next project idea:
We’re considering geometric wall art designs.
How are you finding being housebound with kids so far?
I am actually really enjoying being housebound with my children, we were quite concerned to begin with, worrying about the workload we’d receive from their school and as I am currently finishing my dissertation for my final year of university, I was worried about how I would manage my workload without childcare for my youngest and needing to be focused on my children. Surprisingly, we found a great routine very quickly, with my children waking routinely to complete their schoolwork (which has been in all different mediums and a manageable amount).
Myself working during my youngest’s naptime and evenings means I’m also on track to finish my degree on time. We have tried to play, make or do something exciting every day, including gardening, swimming pool, painting, reading, dancing, board games, etc. My older two and I play multiple games of bingo every evening (with a book of bingo sheets, phone app number generator and sweets to win!). It has been a lovely time to strengthen our family bond and enjoy each other’s company. We are aware how difficult this time has become for some people and are concerned about the pandemic, although we’ve tried to focus on the positives to get us through this strange and uncertain situation.
Any tips to help people when they are housebound with kids?
Try to find enjoyment in the extra time, find things that you don’t usually get time to do, spend those extra minutes together reading, crafting, expressing yourself, or doing something silly. Search for activities on social media, there are endless ideas and projects to work on. We’ve found the excitement and distraction of having something to focus on, a brilliant way to avoid feeling stressed or upset by the current situation.
Tell us what you love/think about the Housebound with Kids Facebook community. How has it helped you?
We are new to the housebound with Kids community, we were made aware of it when we shared this piece on another page. We are looking forward to seeing the ideas others share and getting involved.
