December Magic

This December, no holiday class but a couple of art and craft projects to do with your kids. Today, here’s an advent calendar! I know, it’s a bit late… I should have posted this before the 1st of december but I only came up with the idea on the 30th of November and finished it late in the night, just on time for 1st of December.

It’s made from felt, some glue and a couple of sticks to hold it together.Material was obtained from Sagacity. It is up there on the wall because that’s where the screws are on the wall!

Instructions:

After cutting the large shape (basically a triangle, a bit curvy at the bottom; the wooden sticks are glued left and right, behind), each of the 24 bauble is cut in 2 layers of felt: green/bauble colour (I chose purple, red and turquoise although we haven’t turned up any red yet!). A number (cut out of felt) is glued to the green side. The 2 layers of felt are glued together, leaving a small opening at the top (above the number). Then, each bauble is glued (or you could use small golden safety pins) to the tree. Here’s the trick: you place the bauble with the number upside down, coloured (i.e. not green) side up. You put a dot of glue on what is now the bottom of the bauble. Once dry, flip so we can see the number (see detail pic below).

Optional: fill each bauble with a small present. Or not. Everyday, empty the bauble (if applicable) and then flip. The coloured side of the bauble appears. Felt against felt will stick (a bit, just enough), and day after day, the tree becomes covered in baubles as we approach to Christmas day and it is filled with coloured baubles!

If you need more details, leave me a message. And if you have pictures, I’d love to see them…

Next: the nativity scene out of clay… maybe.

Kid’s interpretation of Verner Panton

Children's Panton Collages

This was the last workshop before my Summer break. Kids enjoyed a tour of the museum and had fun experimenting with colours before making their own design.

In August, I will be starting my Masters in Fine Arts in LASALLE College of the Arts… Isadora’s Workshop will therefore run much fewer workshops. If you have a project in mind (Holiday workshop for a group, birthday party, or corporate event), please let me know early so that I can plan! Details of how to contact me can be found here.

Verner Panton Workshop this week-end

Variation 1 on Verner Panton

Venue: National Museum of Singapore Exhibition Gallery 2

Led by: Isabelle Desjeux

Dates: Sun 14th June & Sun 28 June 2009, 11:am – 12:30pm & 2:00pm – 3:30 pm

Tickets: Sistic

Did you know that colours interact with each other?

Did you realise that an object painted in one colour actually shows more than one colour?

Did you realise you could make flat paintings look 3-D just from the way you’re using colour?

These notions were well understood by the artists of the Op Art movement.

Verner Panton’s collection of textile prints, now visible at the National Museum illustrate these notions beautifully. They are a great place to start when you are trying to explain colour theory or how colours interact with each other.

Through a 90-minutes walk-through and workshop, the children (from 7 onwards) get to understand and experience for themselves the effect colour combinations can have on them. Shape is an important part of the design too, of course. So, when it comes to designing their own motif à-la-Panton, they get to choose their own shapes and colour combinations.

Variation 2 on Verner Panton

Stick Puppets at the Museum: a success

A seed collection

1. Pick Up Sticks (and pods, and seeds and other stuff from the floor)
2. 

   Sort

3. 

   Display

Then, let the participants choose 5 of these yummy unusual objects and challenge them to make a creature. The results were amazing! See some pictures below and in my Gallery.

A Mouse

A Goldfish

An Owl?

A Millipede

If you’d like to try, either go and pick your own from the sidewalk, parks, gardens, or come and visit me at the museum again the 6th and 7th of June (2-5pm).

If you’d like to help (and have fun in the process), please pick a small bag of “tree stuff” as in the picture above and I’ll gladly come and pick it up anywhere in Singapore. Or you can bring it to me and I’ll treat you to a cup of tea/coffee/Milo and a quick workshop on how to make a mouse, an owl… or a strange creature from this wonderful material that grows on trees! Please leave me a message below…

Verner Panton @ National Museum Singapore

Starting next week, this new exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore promises lots of colours. Verner Panton was one of the great designers of the 20th century, famous for his love of vibrant colours, unconventional designs and playful mood. Bring the kids along: they’ll have a blast throwing themselves into the wacky colourful foam room.

I will be running a workshop on the 14th and 28th of June, especially for children 7-10 years old. We’ll be having fun with colours and shapes, seeing how these interact to make us feel different. And of course, kids get to bring home their own art. For more information and booking, click here.

Programs held in conjunction with VERNER PANTON the Collected Works