I See You! Swedish students stop to take a closer look.

In a small classroom in Finland students stop, take a moment, and visually explore photos of kids attending school in China.  They see, if only for a few moments the visual characteristics and features of the child in the photograph. Using tracing paper the students traced the figures out of the photographs and onto a piece of paper. They added color to the students along with their own artistic touches. Throughout the process the students were encouraged to look closely at the photographs and asked; What did they see? Who is in the picture? What can you learn about them, what is the image telling you?  Once the drawing were completed I transcribed short letters from each artist to the child in the photograph. They explained short things about themselves such as their favorite foods and hobbies.

Now they eagerly await for the exchanging of artworks.

Sincerely,
Rachel Kangas

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

The artists in China challenge realism!

The creation has sought the views of the children. They thought that their own photos can be printed out and then they were able to discuss their appearance characteristics. They also could talk about their good characters, talented things even favourite clothes, habitual actions, preferred colors and so on.

There are two kinds of creation, one is to draw themselves, the other is to draw among each other.

Some children believed it can be realistic. They stuck photos on the window and keep papers above them to describe in detail. Some children could also exaggerate some features of their own such as a round face more round, big eyes bigger, even can express themselves with decorative techniques besides expressing some features they don’t have but want to own. For example, short hair girl painted her wanted long hair, lively become calm. In the process of painting, they devoted themselves to draw a variety of styles of themselves.

King regards,
Teacher Lisa and Miss Wu Juehua

The artists in Grade 3 (9-10 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-9 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Piirtään ja väritään!

(English below)

Kaneleiden eskarit tekivät innolla ja keskittyneesti ensimmäistä tehtävää, jossa piti The Monkeysin lähettämät kuvat jäljentää ja värittää omaksi taideteokseksi. Jäljentämisen ja värittämisen apuna käytimme leivinpaperia, jonka laitoimme kuvan päälle. Kuvan ja leivinpaperin laitoimme ikkunaa vasten, jotta näki ääriviivat, joita piirtää ja värittää. Lisäksi meillä oli piirtämiseen lyijykynät ja värittämiseen puuvärit. Saimme yhden aamupäivän aikana tehtyä kaikki taideteokset. Tässä kuvia prosessista. Kaikki Kanelit lähettävät paljon terveisiä The Monkeys –ryhmän lapsille ja aikuisille. Jäämme mielenkiinnolla odottamaan seuraavia taideteoksia.

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The Cinnamon preschoolers excitedly and with great concentration made their first project from which The Monkeys sent their woks. From those artworks we traced and colored in the picture to make our own artworks. We used baking paper to trace by putting the baking paper on top of the picture. We put the picture and the baking paper against the window so that we could see the outlines we would draw and color. We used colored pencils and crayons. We did everything in one morning. Here are the pictures of the process. All the Cinnamons send many warm hellos to the Monkey kids and adults. We look forward to the next artworks. 

The 6 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

Upeita taideteoksia Päiväkoti Pihapirttista!

Paketti on saapunut! The package has arrived!

Hello! Beautiful thank you for your artworks, they were great! Here are our responses to your artworks :). Let's keep in touch! Kanelit/Eskarit/ Päiväkoti Pihapirtti.

Monkeys tekivät suoraan taidenäyttelyn ystävänsä taideteoksista!
The Monkeys immediately made an art exhibition of their friends' artworks!

The 6 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

Olet inspiraatio!

(English below)
Kun palasimme hiihtolomalta takaisin päiväkotiin, meitä odotti ihana posti: saimme kirjeen. Kirjekuoresta paljastui upeita piirustuksia meille meidän omista leikeistämme ja kiinnostuksen kohteista. Kiitos Tiikerit!

Nyt olemme itse viikon ajan piirtäneet ja värittäneet kuvia kaavapaperin läpi teistä Tiikeri-lapset. Se ei ollut kovin helppoa, mutta hyvin me selvisimme siitä. Saatte postia piakkoin!

yt. Pippurit ja Mantelit

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When we returned to the daycare from the ski holiday, we had a wonderful package waiting for us: we received a package. The envelope had many amazing drawings, which came from our own jokes and interests. Thanks to the Tigers!

This week we have been painting and coloring pictures of the Tigers. It was not that easy, but we managed to make the artworks. You will receive mail soon!

Kindly,
Pippurit (gingerbreads) and Mantelit (almonds)

The 5 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

Using light and transparency to make art!

Using our friend's artwork as a direct inspiration for our artwork is a pure collaboration!  At first, the Tigers were wondering how can we do that?  How can we make something together with our friends when they live in Kontula?  This was the first time the Tigers used tracing in their artwork and they did an excellent job!

When they finished tracing we had a talk about the original artwork- what was the photographer trying to say with their image?  From that, the Tigers chose colors to try and bring that idea to life. We had a good discussion and compared the original artwork from their artwork they made. 

Colors and lines, make such a difference even if it's coming from the same source. We learned how we can "say" what we mean.

Thank you for being such an inspiration for us!

Sincereley,
Arlene, Floriin, Anna-Maria & The Tigers

The 5 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

The Monkeys translate their friend's artwork!

Our new friends in Kontula have become even more alive as we all sat around to talk about the self-portraits.  What do you think this picture means?  What do you think our friend is trying to say with that gesture?  Through the process of trying to understand what the picture is conveying, we started to connect with the picture and the person behind the camera. "I like horses too!" "I like to do gymnastics too!"

We had a good discussion about translation.  Can we say something exactly in another language?  We practiced saying hello and how are you in different languages.  Even from that we sometimes got stuck because the direct translation wasn't always exactly the same. 

We tried applying this concept of translation to picture form by tracing the self-portrait.  Then when we added color, we could play around with how color enhances and changes the meaning of the picture.  All the elements come together so choose carefully what you would like to communicate!

The Monkeys did an amazing job!

Sincerely,
Arlene, Sanna, Ben & The Monkeys

The 6 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.