Dear You Art Project

Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project

The Musical Tigers get inspired by Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky

2014, 5 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, VietnamArlene TuckerComment

Art is another form of self expression and today the Tigers taught me a lot about that!  We started the session by looking at artists such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.  These two great artists were very much inspired by music. We talked about the kinds of sounds and music we started to hear when we looked at their paintings. 

Then we listened to some music and hopped along to it to see visually and physically how the rhythm is.  We jumped when the tune was high and crept closer to the floor when it was low.  After we felt comfortable with the music we shimmied to our drawing tables and started painting away to Schneider TM's song called "Frogtoise" and to Nightmares On Wax song, "Les Nuits".  Can you hear the difference through the brushstrokes?

We can't wait to hear what songs our friends in Vietnam created to!

The Monkeys Move to the Beat!

7 years old, 2014, Collective Art, Finland, Greenland, Pre-SchoolArlene TuckerComment

Our bodies react to music sometimes in ways we can't control or foresee. We just have to experience it to believe it! Today we tried to become more aware of why and how that happens.  First, we started off by having a dance party to just let our bodies lose and move to the beat.  Then we dived into our paints and let our dancing hands guide the brush.  The stories created and felt were amazing!  

First we listed to Dean Martin's "Let it Snow". The Monkeys will be performing this song for the Christmas play so it was fun to practice it with them.

When The Monkeys listened to Helado Negro's song titled "Invisible Heartbeat" images of ocean with whales and mermaids came swimming into the artists' minds. We got into groups to create collective paintings. Bringing all of our imaginary worlds together and making them come to life is always exciting!

How do you move, what do you see, how do you feel when you hear certain songs?  What music do you hear when you look at the Monkeys' paintings?  We are excited to see what our friends in Greenland come up with!

Mice wonder, "Candy can be black?!"

2014, Vietnam, 5 years old, FinlandArlene TuckerComment

Greetings once again from our Finnish Vietnamese group, Tigers and Mice enjoyed last week to the fullest knowing that Halloween was around the corner and they had a terrifying candy bag full of their favorite sweets. Here in Hanoi, we decorated our bags with different shapes and used our imagination and some music to decorate the candy bags, they turned out scary and colorful at the same time! 

Last Friday was our international show and tell circle, we shared candies, jellies, lollipops, marshmallows, and even pancakes and ice cream. We even had a girl that loved flowers so much that thought it would be nice to have them in her candy bag. 

The surprise came when our dear Tiger friends showed us a small piece of black candy... 
- What's that?? Chocolate? no wait chocolate is usually brown...
- Hahahaha, no its something we call liquorish.
- Is it black candy? Ewwwww!

Apparently some colors are not meant for candy if you ask our little mice! Black is definitely one of them... Hopefully they get to taste that Finnish delicatessen one day! 

See you next month Dear you Community and have a nice autumn were ever you are!

Xin chao!

Toti Álvarez

Mmm... Margot and other Czech sweets!

4th Grade, Czech Republic, Dear You Art Workshops, 2014Arlene TuckerComment

Our second meeting with students  from Central Point International Elementary School in Prague, Czech Republic was the most difficult workshop we have had together so far. I started the lesson by showing short examples from the history of still lifes to the students; the works from Rembrandt, Picasso, Warhol,etc. I explained what a still life is and how the authors were trying to get closer to depicting the reality by using all their senses.

Afterwards, I put  candy in the middle of the working table and told the students that instead of eating the candy we will use them as tools [that is why I told them at the beginning that this is going to be the most difficult workshop so far]. We first drew the packages of all the sweets on look through paper and than we used the actual candy to „paint with them the smell“ of the different kinds of Candy we have in the Czech Republic. So hopefully you will smell the Margot (famous Czech candy) in Finland soon.

It was a really great afternoon and the concept of our class also inspired other teachers from Central Point School.  In the end, the students looked really amazed what they were able to create and I enjoyed both the lesson and the results of their work.  

- Rudolf Samohejl

 

Belgian Chocolate for Halloween sounds good to me :)

Belgium, Pre-School, USA, 2014Arlene TuckerComment

Naomi Kite, the Pre K teacher at The International School of Antwerp, and her artists have created beautiful Candy Bags for Halloween!  

Naomi said, "They chose lots of lollipops with fantastical figures on them (I think these might be imagined lollipops, no one could exactly tell me if you could buy these in a store) and Belgian chocolates of many varieties. : )"

They will share these with their friends at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA.

Sweet Times at Helsinki's English School

4th Grade, 2014, Czech Republic, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandArlene TuckerComment

Have you ever eaten a small black square that tastes like salt and medicine? Well, it's called Salmiakki and it's considered quite a treat here in Finland.

This time in our Dear You workshop we shared delicious tastes and sweet sights as we made candy arc pop-up cards for our friends in Prague.

We drew some candy and glued our art on our pop up card arcs. Then we described in writing what our pictured candy tastes like. Some of our candies were real while others were make believe. They all looked pretty delicious to me!

Everyone can enjoy these sweets, even the ones who are missing a sweet tooth. I hope they munch these sweets up with their eyes back in Prague!

- Nooralotta Ikonen
http://laiskia.blogspot.fi

Randlevskolen working on "Sweets for you"

2014, 5th Grade, 4th Grade, DenmarkArlene TuckerComment

Tatjana Knudsen and her 4th & 5th grade artists are full of energy after their Efterårsferie holiday! 

"They were very creative and concentrated while they were working on their candy bags. This project lead us to a wonderful talk about the words "candy", which is American and the word "sweets", which is English. I think that all my students now know the difference between the two words.

THIS really is a wonderful way to mix art and language learning."

- Tatjana Knudsen

Candy Talk and Candy Art in Estonia

2014, Estonia, Dear You Art WorkshopsArlene TuckerComment

Evelyn Müürsepp, the Dear You Workshop Leader in Estonia, shares a bit about their artistic approach to October's project.

Evelyn said, "We made candy pouches, drew candies and tasted some candies.  From the discussion we had it came out that candies are not such a special thing- kids can have them when they want and refuse them when they do not want them.  Too much candy is not good.  We fantasized about different possible and impossible candies when making our project.  We used scrap paper and leftovers to try to have the same principle (re-use, recycle) also in the future projects."

The candies will soon be posted to their friends in Berlin at Felix and Friends School.


Creative Sensing Across the Baltic Sea

Finland, Dear You Art Workshops, 2014Arlene Tucker1 Comment

Silence. Not a sound anywhere... except ... Clink! "The sound of keys hitting metal." Wroooom "The sound of the printer working." Fifteen different sounds found in silence.

This time during the Dear You Art Workshop Meilahti's eighth graders focused on their physical senses: touch, vision, smell, taste and hearing. We started off our second workshop with the small meditation on sound. This meditation showed us that silence wasn't that silent at all. Do we take all our body's sensory data as self granted?

We pondered what senses we mostly use when getting around in our day to day lives. Do we just use our eyes or do we open up all our senses to be here now?

Since we don't have the chance to visit our new Danish friends right away, we decided to take a different approach. We drew on top of the printed out photos from Denmark, sensing the environment and artwork they've made through our imagination and our own creative process. We represented our sensory feelings through the use of form, color and lines.

After much creating we made a video message to Denmark, but alas, the camera didn't record. But fortunately we still have these beautiful creative pieces that truly speak for themselves. And so, we'll let the art do the talking on our behalf in Denmark!

- Nooralotta Ikonen
http://laiskia.blogspot.fi

The Tigers are Sweet!

Dear You Art Workshops, 2014, Vietnam, FinlandArlene TuckerComment

Not only are the Tigers sweet, but they have a sweet tooth and sweet sense of humor!  It was fun talking with them about what kind of candy they like and when they give candy to their friends and families.  Aleksi likes Salmiakki like a good Finn!  

I'm not too sure if their friends in Vietnam can even imagine what Salmiakki tastes like!  Toti, that's going to be an interesting challenge for you to explain :).

This topic started some great stories on the candy bags they sewed together.  For example, Vilma said, "I drew raining lollipops!" Ida and many of the other Tigers drew ice cream and cookies for their friends.  Using autumn leaves the Tigers picked up from the forest adds a beautiful touch to their artwork too!

This was the first time The Tigers practiced writing their new friend's names on their bag.  I'm sure everybody is excited for their next meeting on Skype!

I know I am!
- Arlene Tucker


Sewing, Symmetry and Candy!

2014, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandArlene TuckerComment

The Monkeys and I talked about symmetry and what it means to draw a still life. We found symmetry in the leaves they picked up and we also found symmetry in our bodies. We put the idea of what is symmetrical to use when we created our candy bags!  The compositions The Monkeys made when putting their candy together was great too!

We didn't do any tasting in class, but it was fun to talk about flavors and more importantly, why and on what occasions we give and eat candy.  Halloween is coming up and so this was a fun step towards getting ready for the holiday!  It was mentioned that we also give and eat candy on Easter. We'll have to wait a few more months for that one :)

The Monkeys had great questions for their friends in Greenland.

Nikke asked, "What kind of candy do they have in Greenland?
Minea asked, "Do they like our drawings?"
Lotta asked, "Have they eaten our candy before?"

Thanks Monkeys!
- Arlene Tucker


The Danes give thanks with Efterårsferie!

Denmark, Holidays, CultureArlene TuckerComment

The Danes celebrate Thanksgiving in October with their holiday Efterårsferie!  This year's Autumn holiday will take place from Saturday, October 11 to Sunday, October 19, 2014.  It usually happens on the 42nd week of the year.  Another fun fact is that Efterårsferie used to be called Potato Holiday!  Can you think of why that is?

Thank you, Tatjana Knudsen from Randlevskolen, for sharing with us!  We will celebrate Efterårsferie with you in our own home.

Denmark is such a beautiful country.  Below are some pictures from my trip to Copenhagen and Århus from a few years ago.  If you haven't been already, you gotta go!

I wonder what our friends in Denmark will do.  In any case, have a beautiful time!

With love,
Arlene

ps. As far as I can see, the original purpose for Efterårsferie was so that the children could help the families with the potato harvest.  Wow times have changed, but it's nice to see that the tradition is still alive and well!

Happy Double Ten Day!

Holidays, Taiwan, CultureArlene TuckerComment

Taiwan's National Day is also referred to as Double Ten Day.  It celebrates the start of the Wuchang Uprising of October 10, 1911, which led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in China and establishment of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912. 

If you will be in Taiwan, expect loads of fireworks, food, parades and singing!  Double Ten is also a lively celebration in Chinatowns across the globe.

Wishing everybody at U.S. Kids in Taipei, Taiwan a wonderful ++ holiday!  If you know of anything special happening, please let us know.

XOXO,
Arlene