Assemblage is the art of assembling bits and pieces together to make 3-dimensional art. It can, and often does, involve collage. We’ve tackled assemblage before when the kids made these gorgeous trees. This time, however, we didn’t do much gluing. These latest pieces became more like sculptures than collages. The kids painted, beaded, and wrapped, enjoying each new step in the process. To me, these are some of the most beautiful things they’ve made this year. Art isn’t always about beauty, especially with 4-yr olds who are more interested in the process than the product. But as a graphic artist I am drawn to design and aesthetics. And to me, these sculptures could be in a museum!
Supplies:
Phase one
~ Twigs & pinecones (I was fortunate enough to find twigs with the pinecones still on them! Early April in Connecticut is pinecone heaven, apparently)
~ Pasta (I dyed some of mine using this technique, but you don’t have to since they are getting painted)
Phase two
~ Yarn (if you want to wrap two branches together, or even just to wrap around one branch)
Process:
Phase one
~ Kids painted the twigs and pinecones first. They noticed how it was hard to paint in all of the nooks of the pinecone. They quickly figured out that they needed a new “dabbing” technique.
~ Next they painted the pasta. This is actually challenging! They are slippery when wet so there was lots of giggling when pasta went flying across the table.
~ They put their pasta on plates to dry.
Phase two
~ At the next class, I put all of the dried materials out. I have to admit that at this point, I was planning on making mobiles with them. But the pinecone twigs were really fragile, so I made a decision that we needed to wrap them together with the sturdier stick. Once I told the kids we were going to do this, one of them said, “and we’re going to wrap the wire, too!” I thought for a second, and then said, “Yes!” It felt right to just go with what they suggested.
~ They beaded their wires first.
~ Then they carefully wrapped their twigs together with yarn. (I tied and trimmed the yarn.)
~ They were now down to two parts which they had to put together.
~ Lastly, they wrapped their pasta-beaded wire around their twigs. This part was the coolest because they saw it all come together! Ok, maybe it was cooler for me than them. They were ready to move on to the next project, but I was literally jumping up and down and clapping at their creations (weird art teacher)!
I have, like, 25 photos of these guys! I could not stop.
This pasta art project is actually part of a blog-hop between me and some other artsy moms. We call ourselves the Rockin’ Art Moms! (We have a pretty cool Facebook page and Pinterest board, too….come follow!) Above is a collage of all of the other projects that you can see today. Aren’t they crazy cool? Did you know you could get this creative with pasta? Here are the links starting from top left (some will go live later on in the day so check back):
Macaroni Frames // Pink Stripey Socks
Art Assemblage with Kids // Art Bar
Painted Macaroni Necklaces // MollyMoo
Pasta Necklaces // Mer Mag
Pretty Pasta Pendants // Pysselbolaget
Pasta Sculptures with Preschoolers // Meri Cherry
Macaroni Pom-Pom Flower Necklace // Willowday
Pasta Art Activities for Kids // The Artful Parent
A Modern Macaroni Masterpiece // Handmakery
Stained Glass Pasta // Babble Dabble Do
Pasta Drawing Prompts // Picklebums
Painted Pasta Art // Learn Play Imagine
Mosaic Art Project for Kids // from Buggy and Buddy
Macaroni Mosaics // CraftWhack
Spaghetti Tower Marshmallow Challenge // Tinkerlab (not pictured above but super awesome)
Also, the Rockin’ Art Mom’s want YOU to join us! If you are feeling inspired and want to try a pasta project of your own, we are opening up this challenge to everyone!
Here’s how it works: Create your own unique pasta project (or do one of our projects) and post a picture in one or both of these two places:
1. The Rockin Art for Kids Facebook Page
2. Instagram using the hashtag #TheMacaroniChallenge (we decided that sounded cuter and more retro than pasta challenge, ha!)
Challenge ends on May 3rd, 2015. During this week the Rockin’ Art Moms will be sharing some of our favorite projects on our Facebook Pages.
BONUS: Everyone who joins us in the challenge will be entered in an amazing Rockin’ Art Moms Gift Basket giveaway. The winner will be selected at random from the entries and announced on Instagram and the Rockin’ Art for Kids Facebook page on Sunday May 3rd, 2015. DEADLINE EXTENDED to Sunday, May 10th, 2015!!
Prize basket giveaway will include books from the Rockin’ Art Moms:
The Artful Year from The Artful Parent // Playful
from Mer Mag // Tinkerlab
from Tinkerlab // 150 Screen Free Activities for Kid from Fun at Home with Kids
// Happy Handmade (ebook) from MollyMoo
I hope you guys try!! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!
xo, Bar
If you’re weird, I’m right there with you – these are gorgeous! I can absolutely see them hanging from the ceiling with fishing wire to make one big display. How lovely!
ooh…i love that idea Rebekah!! if only my art classes weren’t in my living room. one more reason to start looking for a studio space. i would LOVE to hang these from the ceiling!! thanks for stopping by! xo bar
I just adore the pics of the kids making in your posts, pure joy. What an engaging idea xx
thank you michelle! they are quite the budding artists…i love watching them ♡ xo bar
Gorgeous, Bar!
This is a stunning project! So creative and the results are lovely!
These are beautiful, Bar! I love how you extended this into a multi-part project.
I wish I was a kid in you class, Barbara! I love your projects, the colors and it’s fantastic to see what your little artist can come up with.
Thank you so much Karin! I wish I could have been a kid in my art class, too 🙂 xo bar
I can’t tell you how much I love that you incorporated nature into your project. It’s just gorgeous.
thank you allison!! i was pretty lucky to find those branches that had the pinecones on them…they were the inspiration! xo bar
I LOVE these! I love everything about this project. The child in me wants to get started right now. My little girl will be amazed when I set this up for our quality time when my little man is sleeping. Have shared it on my facebook page too. The world needs to see these!
hi ann, thank you for leaving such a nice comment! i am so happy that this project has inspired you. send me a photo if you do decided to do it!! barbara@bruccistudio.com. xo, bar