2014 School Auction Project: Phase 1

This project has been brewing since the September. I spent some time pondering the dream catcher concept. And, as lovely an image as it is, I realized a three dimensional dream catcher wasn't that appealing to me. The process may have been interesting, but when I thought of the product at the end I was less stoked than I like to be going into this project. I still love the image of dream catchers and the idea behind them, the feeling they evoke when looking at them or talking about them. I decided it's a solid idea. They are related to the curriculum the class has already covered this fall. Conclusion? A print project. Final piece is a matted and framed print piece of a dream catcher. And a hand bound book with the children's poetry and illustrations/stamp designs. The students are between 7 and 10 years old, there are only 13 of them. We broke into working groups of 4 at a time. Even the kids who I thought would have a hard time carving created beautiful stamps that they are proud of and that stamp quite beautifully. 

Plan:
Each child will write a poem.
Each child will design and carve a rubber stamp feather plus other images if they wish, using carving tools and rubber blocks.
Each child will illustrate a page to go along with his/her poem which will be part of the book.
I will use all the stamps the kids have carved to make the dream catcher print. The net in the center of the dream catcher will be a mandala of the children's stamps and each child's feather will "hang" from the net.

Materials:
Lots of rubber blanks
Carving tools
Ink pads, assorted colors
Heavy duty cotton paper, vellum
Bookbinding materials.
Frame for the final large print.
 
Possibilities:
There may be water colors involved.
We may make more than one...
The stamps will make it possible to make more and different works, such as cards, stamped clay pieces, printed fabric

The beautiful thing about these collaborative projects with the kids is they evolve as we go along. I have to be able to go with the flow of things. It wouldn't work if I clung too tightly to an image or idea. That would be frustrating and not at all fun for any of us. This is about the joy of creating and spontaneity and community.


Resources:

I recommend you support your local art supply store, but if you don't have a local place to purchase, go to Amazon.com or dickblick.com (DickBlick will give discounts to teachers and schools). I find that my local store is competitively priced and willingly gives discounts for school projects or even donates to local schools - don't hesitate to ask!

Making an Impression: Designing and Creating Artful Rubber Stamps by Geninne Zlatkis
Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden
Speedball Speedy Cut Carving Blocks
Speedball Linoleum Cutter assortment
ColorBox acid free ink pads, as many colors as you need.
There's also the matter of framing it, which could be quite expensive, but I'm going to troll my local thrift stores for a lovely frame and figure it out from there.