Tooling Foil Masks with Folk Artists

Discussion: Mayan Masks

Pattern

Tin Art

Folk Artists

Folk Art Tin work, known in Mexico as hojalata, goes back to the 16th Century. Artists use natural, oxidized and brightly lacquered paints to create ornaments, nichos, mirrors, lanterns and other decorative pieces. Our interesting variety of tin work comes from Oaxaca where the artists use more natural and lacquered tin, and from San Miguel de Allende where oxidized tin is more popular.

The Maya occupied a vast area covering southeast Mexico and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Mayan culture began to develop in the Pre-Classic period, around 1000 B.C. and was at its heyday between 300 and 900 A.D. The Maya are well known for their writing, of which a great part can now be read, as well as for their advanced mathematics, astronomy and calendrical calculations.

Mayan masks had a wide variety of uses: 

Some of the most complex masks were created to adorn the faces of the dead.

The Mayan's wore masks during important events, including during battle.

Whatever the use of masks in battle was, today’s scholars are able to learn a lot about the Mayan civilization from surviving masks made by the Mayan people.

There were also masks that showed the faces of people. We know that some masks were used in wedding ceremonies, 

There were masks made to commemorate many births and deaths.

The Mayan's also used masks for entertainment.

The uses of masks by the Mayan people were as varied as the style of the masks themselves.

Tips for tooling Foil: 

Use dull pencils (we used colored pencils

Work on a pad of folded newspaper

Project create a two tear tooling foil sun mask 

Step1: On the first square, draw a new pattern on each of the four sides

Step2: cut the corners off the second square turning it into a circle

Step3: Think about what type of mask you are making, add eyes, nose, mouth, ears hair, etc. 

Step4: using sharpies color both of the tooling foil pieces

Step5: using a large bead hot glue the square pattern foil underneath the round, mask foil 

MATERIALS: 

2 sheets of 5”x 5” tooling foil

Dull pencils

Newspaper

Sharpie markers. 

Hot glue gun

Beads

Pattern Sugar Skulls with Folk Artists

I do not normally encourage coloring pages for any art project but I needed a starting place for this age group. I wanted the preschool students to focus on pattern and not worry about drawing/painting a skull. Time and age were major factors in this decision and the results are wonderful. 


DISCUSSION:  Pattern 
What is pattern? 
Where do we find it? 
What does it need to be a pattern? 
Repetition Who has a pattern on today 
Lets make some patterns on paper. 
Day of the dead Sugar skulls  


ARTIST: Sugar Skulls Artisans, Folk Artists.
Sugar art was brought to the New World by Italian missionaries in the 17th century. 
Mexico, abundant in sugar production and too poor to buy fancy imported European decorations, They learned quickly from the friars how to make sugar art for their festivals. 
Clay molded sugar figures of sheep and sugar skulls go back to the Colonial Period 18th century. 
Sugar skulls represented a departed soul the name is written on the forehead and was placed on the gravestone to honor the return of a particular spirit. Sugar skull art reflects the folk art style of big happy smiles, colorful icing and sparkly tin and glittery adornments. 
Sugar skulls are labor intensive and made in very small batches in the homes of sugar skull makers. 

PREPARATION: for PRESCHOOLERS: print skull coloring page (I used this one: http://www.artyness.co.uk/skull-stencil.html) and glue it to construction paper of any color. 

PROJECT: Create paper sugar skulls 
Step1: fill the eyes with a flower 
Step2: fill the forehead with lines or dots 
Step3: fill the nose with a plaid 
Step4: fill the rest of the face with more patterns. (this is tough for first year preschoolers, age 3 but much easier for 4 and 5 year olds. MOST IMPORTANT that ALL students have fun). 

MATERIALS: 
copy paper with printed skulls 
Construction paper in any color but black 
Glue sticks 
Oil pastels

Folk Art Tissue Birds with Maud Lewis and Grandma Moses

DISCUSSION: folk Art: 

what is folk art? art without formal training

are we folk artists? 

Look at our two examples of folk art

how are they the same?

how are they different?

Maud lewis 

Maud Lewis  1903-1970

Nova Scotia, Canada

Born in Ohio

She suffered from disabilities as a result of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

lived most of her life in poverty with her husband in Marshalltown. 

he began her artistic career by hand-drawing Christmas cards. 

These proved popular with her husband's customers as he sold fish door to door and encouraged her to begin painting. 

She used bright colors in her paintings and subjects were often of oxen teams, horses, or cats. 

All of her paintings are of outdoor scenes. 

Her house was one-room with a sleeping loft and is now located in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax.

Most of Maud Lewis' paintings are quite small - often no larger than eight by ten inches

She is known to have done at least three paintings 16 inches by 20 inches. 

Her technique consisted of first drawing an outline and then applying paint directly out of the tube. 

She never mixed colors.

She painted on everything in the home as she often did not have enough money to buy supplies
for additional information, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Lewis

Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), 

better known as "Grandma Moses", was a renowned American folk artist. 

She is often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age

She did not start painting until she was 7-0

Began painting to give as gifts she said it was easier then cooking a present.

sold her paintings for $2 and $3 dollars.

Although her family and friends called her either "Mother Moses" or "Grandma Moses," she first exhibited as "Mrs. Moses," yet the press eagerly dubbed her "Grandma Moses," which stuck." [1] 

LIFE magazine celebrated her 100th birthday by featuring her on its September 19, 1960 cover.

for additional information, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses

PROJECT: create folk art inspired bird drawing with tissue paper

Step1: brush onto your page a mixture of glue and water

Step2: place in pre-cut squares of all different tissue paper

slightly overlapping edges is good but don’t overlap too much

Step3: fill your page with the tissue

Step4: using squeeze bottle squeeze in a bird on top of your tissue

circle for the head

oval for the body

half circles for wings

rectangle for tail feather

triangle for the beak

small circle for the eye

add a heart in the middle if you like.

MATERIALS: tissue, water and glue mixture, black glue mixture in squirt bottle.

Snowmen with Maud Lewis

PREPARATION:

I created our snow paint before we began.

It is half Shaving cream and Glue.

Discussion: Folk Art
A folk Artist is an untrained artist someone who has not studied art in school
Are you guys folk artists?

Maud Lewis is a Folk Artist
1903-1970
Nova Scotia, Canada
Born in Ohio
She suffered from disabilities as a result of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
lived most of her life in poverty with her husband in Marshalltown.
he began her artistic career by hand-drawing Christmas cards.
These proved popular with her husband's customers as he sold fish door to door and encouraged her to begin painting.
She used bright colours in her paintings and subjects were often of oxen teams, horses, or cats.
All of her paintings are of outdoor scenes.
Her house was one-room with a sleeping loft and is now located in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax.
Most of Maud Lewis' paintings are quite small - often no larger than eight by ten inches
she is known to have done at least three paintings 16 inches by 20 inches.
Her technique consisted of first drawing an outline and then applying paint directly out of the tube.
She never mixed colors.
She painted on everything in the home as she often did not have enough money to buy supplies

for more information on Maud Lewis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Lewis

Read a book The Snowy Day or any snow book.

PROJECT: On blue paper create a snow scene
Step1: Paint a tree with no leaves
Step2: put a red bird on one of the branches
Step4: Using the “snow paint the bottom of the page
Step5: paint in a large circle
Step6: paint a medium circle on top
Step7: paint a small circle on top (snow man)

MATERIALS:
Shaving Cream
Glue
Red Paint
Brown Paint
Blue paper 9x12