The Giving Tree: CMW Art Kids at Art Basel

This month was pretty action-packed for our team! From Thursday 15th-Sunday 18th May, we set up camp at our Art Kids Space in the lovely Hong Kong Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. 

Colour My World was involved once again with Art Basel this year, introducing Art, Drama and Creative Inspiration to children from 4-10 years in our specialist Art Kids space and through our wonderfully insightful Kids Explore Art Exhibition Tours, all led by a very capable cohort of talented, expert staff. 

Working together with Art Basel, we developed an action-packed, colourful weekend of activities, games and creative learning to ensure that 2014 was our best year yet! Finally, after months of hard work, dedication and planning, all of the hard work paid off.

Our theme for this year was 'The Giving Tree,' based on the book by Shel Silverstein; about a little boy who loves a tree and the tree who loves him back as he grows up into a man. 

'The Giving Tree' by Shel Silverstein

Inspired by the book, our talented sculptor and sculpture teacher Ian built our very own Colour My World Giving Tree, on which some lucky children would get to hang their very own decorated leaves, bugs, hanging character ornaments and most important of all…wishes! 

You see, this wasn't just any old Giving Tree - this was a MAGIC WISHES Giving Tree! Our budding little artists created their own individual pieces of art and then helped us to decorate our lovely tree with their very own magic wishes, which as we all know, will definitely come true (as long as you say the magic rhyme, of course). Do you know it? Maybe you can make some wishes of your own at home!

Oh lovely, MAGIC Giving Tree, 

I have a wish for you.

I want to make a wish, wish, wish

I WISH it would come true! 

Our visitors left their wishes wrapped around the Wishing Tree for extra wish power (there's strength in numbers), so we wanted to share some of the best ones with you at home. We hope you find them as funny as we did - there was a lot of laughter at the end-of-day packing-up! (Just wait until you see the last one). Please like and share or leave us a comment below! 

'I wish all my toys are alive'

Not a big fan of homework, we see…:P

You and me both...

'I want to be the best student in school' (good wish!)

This kid just had to make sure the Giving Tree got the message

'Dear Wish Tree, I wish I was the smartest in the World' - Gabriel

A SECOND house, that is...

**Stuffs Cheeks with Seeds**

'My wish is I can play all day' - Ian

'I wish for all the Lego in the world'

Does chocolate count? 

This kid added a diagram with dimensions, just in case.

Awww...

'Make Lovisa [my] little sister. And I will offer my bug and leaf' - Irina

Axel likes the idea of flying planes...

We hope your dream comes true, Jennifer :)

'I wish to go to the World Cup in Brazil (Football)'

'I want to have an iPad to play Minecraft after'

Here, Kitty Kitty!

'The Tree of Giving give me a Winx'

This kid just wants to make the winning shot

'I wish [for] a Crocodile Time Machine'…we really want to see that too!

'My wish is to be a composer' (another great dream)

'I wish I could live in a hotel with a swimming pool under it. Thank you Wish Tree'

We're noticing a bit of a Lego theme here...

'Wish for my Mum to be happy' (so cute!)

'I wish [that] I can see my friend before I leave'

Ahhhhh….

Because who doesn't love puppies? 

Now that's dedication. This kid should be president. 

This little artist was feeling some sibling love :) 

And finally, we thought this one was hilarious. We hope that Adrian's Mom sees the funny side...

After much debate and speculation, we realised Adrian meant 'Dad, Mom'...

We'd also like to say a big thank you to our wonderful team of  talented helpers who helped make Colour My World Art Kids and Kids Explore for Art Basel such a resounding success! Aren't they a happy bunch?

Don't forget to like and leave us a comment below if you're interested in finding out more about our specialist programmes in Visual and Performing Arts! 

Easter Poppin' Fine Art Easter Camp

What an array of beautiful art our budding Artists created this week and last in our Easter Poppin' Fine Art Camp for older kids. Inspired by the Great Works of some of the world’s most famous (and memorable) artists, students painted marvelous paintings that magically sprang into life as a 3D scene when opened! We couldn’t believe our eyes as we saw their amazing creations come to life during our busy camp classes with Mr. Cannon and Miss Kass.

Lucie carefully paints her background while Mikaela designs her cut-out pieces based on reference. 

So what is a 'pop-up'? And how do we create these beautiful books? Firstly, our students carefully study their chosen piece of art. Then, after considering choices in line, tone, composition and structure, they begin to sketch out their ideas. Once they are happy with their work, they begin to cut out the pieces which will 'pop' and paint in the background, which is a separate piece that has been pre-creased in the middle, to give the illusion of a 'room' or space. 

Isabelle carefully cuts out part of her 'pop-up' layer:

Finally, using carefully positioned tabs and structural elements similar to those used in pop-up greeting cards and children's books, our students learned how to engineer and construct 'moving' art, creating the illusion of 'life' and 'story' within their chosen painting. 

Bedroom in Arles (1888)
Vincent Van Gogh, Oil on Canvas

The work of Vincent Van Gogh inspired some of our young artists, who looked to his famous works Bedroom in Arles (1888) and The Starry Night (1889) for inspiration. Mathilde chose Bedroom in Arles as her starting point, and recreated the famous scene using techniques she learned in Mr. Cannon's camp class. 

Mathilde's background was created by first mimicking the delicate wood-grain of Van Gogh's bedroom floor, which she chose to recreate in a wonderful green tint - a choice which we felt really captured the dreamy, whimsical mood of the original painting. Notice how she has tried to maintain the overall integrity of the original while still injecting some of her own personal style into her pop-up book: a fire-engine red table, for example. We think Mathilde may have a bright future ahead as a furniture designer! 

Mathilde recreated Van Gogh's famous bedroom painting with her own stylistic flair.

Meanwhile, Kristy decided to use Edvard Munch's The Scream (1893) as inspiration for her pop-up book. The Scream is one of Much's best known paintings, and also one of the most famous works in the History of Art. Munch created The Scream right around the end of the 19th century, also known as Fin de siécle - a time when Van Gogh was also painting one of his most famous works, The Starry Night. 

The Scream
Edvard Munch, 1893

Both Vincent Van Gogh and Munch are considered to be pioneering artists in the expressionist movement which began in the early 20th century. They wanted to explore art as a way of expressing inner feelings and thoughts - even if it looked a little abstract. Colour was very important - and it had meaning for the artist and how they felt while they were painting. 

Sometimes, they might create a 'series' of paintings, if they wanted to show a variety of 'moods' in the one work. Did you know that Munch actually painted three Scream paintings? Each one differs slightly in the use of colour and tonality, but all three feature the same, silently screaming figure on an isolated bridge. We still don't know for sure exactly what inspired Munch to create his famous painting, but we had a wonderful time studying and learning techniques from one of the forefathers of Expressionist Art.

We really loved Kristy's bold choice of colour in her final pop-up book. She chose a fiery palette of reds, flint and black to capture the sense of torment and unrest suggested by the pose of the character in the original piece. With Mr. Cannon's help, she carefully designed and cut out the bridge seen behind the figure (what a great idea!) as well as the figure itself, to add extra depth and dimension to the piece. We really think it pops. Great job, Kristy!

Kristy was inspired by Edvard Munch's The Scream (1893) for her beautiful pop-out book

Still Life with Skull, Leeks and Pitcher
Pablo Picasso (1945)

Pablo Picasso was a firm favourite with our budding fine artists. Picasso was an extremely influential artist during the twentieth century, and continues to inspire illustration and fine art works even today. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the century, not least because of his revolutionary approach to perspective, depth and space in his work - a concept that would come to be called the Cubist movement. Picasso's style was characterised by strong, graphic lines, chunky shapes and an almost child-like quality that gave his work a vibrancy and sense of life that had never been shown in that way before. 

Guernica (1937)
Pablo Picasso

People most often associate Picasso with this style, for which he is the most famous. His epic painting Guernica (1937) - inspired by the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War -  is one of the most instantly recognisable (and beautiful) examples of Cubist art that we have today. Even though Picasso is most often associated with broken planes of perspective (or eyes and ears in funny places!) he didn't actually start out that way. 

The Old Fisherman (Salmerón) (1895)
Pablo Picasso 

Did you know that before he began painting in what was to become his revolutionary Cubist style, Picasso actually trained as a traditional fine artist? It's true! His early paintings are influenced by Renaissance artists  and depict his favourite subjects (portraits and religious themes) in very traditional media and approach. Look at his early painting, The Old Fisherman (Salmerón) from 1895. 

It is a beautiful painting, but it lacks the movement, life, intensity that his much later work Guernica captures. Can you see the difference? Imagine how different our understanding of the World of Art would be if he hadn't made his great discoveries in line, shape and form? It just goes to prove that you don't always have to think about things in a traditional way to create truly Great Art. 

And we're certainly glad that Mikaela didn't! Look at these beautiful colours! Mikaela chose her palette very carefully, paying close attention to colour theory and visual narrative. She had great fun interpreting Picasso's Still Life with Skull, Leeks and Pitcher from 1945, with some of her own ideas in colour, composition and texture. Mikaela was delighted with her final project, and we have to agree. We think the results are just stunning! 

Mikaela is proud to display her beautifully-arranged work. We love her sophisticated choice of colours!

We really enjoyed exploring and interpreting the work of the Great Artists during our unique Easter Art Activity Camps this week. We learned so much and all of our budding artists had great fun interpreting their favourite works using their unique artistic vision. We hope you like them too! Write us a comment below and let us know which are your favourite works of art! 

For more information on our Art Programmes or Camps, call us on 25805028 or email: info[at]colour-my-world[dot]com for more details.