splash painting with scissors

Splash painting is a fun activity for EVERYONE. Normally, people will connect painting with messiness. Parents don't always allow children to paint because of the possibility of getting their clothes dirty. This activity will use diluted paint so they can manipulate with their paintbrushes, fingers, arm movements, feet if they prefer, Popsicle sticks, etc. They could use basically anything to splash the paints. A huge range of colour will be provided for them to create their own piece according to their personality. I decided to create this activity because children are able to let loose and enjoy painting. They can use their whole body to paint. They are allowed to use as many colour as they want to create this painting. This is beneficial to all children, especially the children with special needs because they are not restricted to sit at a table and use a paintbrush that they might not be able to hold. All children can move their arms and fingers will be able to paint. By looking at the final piece, we would be able to predict each personality by their use of colour and patterns in the picture. 

As I was doing the painting, I thought of another adaptation to this activity. Parents often think children will make their clothes dirty. Therefore, children will be provided with a plain white T-shirt for them to paint, design, and/or wear. Older children will be able to cut and design the T-shirt they way they want. Younger children will be able to paint the T-shirt or wear it to paint so their pretty clothes won't get dirty. This helps them show their own identity as well. This activity promotes individual differences because everyone is unique in their own ways. No T-shirt will look the same.

Colour

 "Colour makes each of us respond with feeling. Some of us have favourite colours. Children develop their colour preferences and palettes early in life. These influence the colours that we use to select articles of clothing, home furnishings, and cars, and to do art" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 136). There is a whole range of colour for children to choose from. They are able to mix colours to create an unique one of their own. This activity allows them to express their feelings using colour and explore colours. Many boys like blue, but there are thousands different shades of blue everywhere; light blue, sky blue, dark blue, navy blue, blue green, blue violet, etc. Therefore, this is a great activity for children to express themselves and have fun!

Art film

When we were watching all the trailers in class, I found most of them very interested. At the end, my group members chose to watch The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (2007). As I research into this film, I found that the storyline came from a real story that happened in France. The story is about Jean-Dominique Bauby, an editor of Elle Magazine who suffered from a stroke. He got the lock-in syndrome where he is conscious inside but was not able to move or communicate with others. His only way of communication was to blink his eye.  He wrote this book by blinking to letters that the translator point to or said. Days after his book was published, he passed away due to pneumonia. This story really touched me cause of the spirit that is in him. He tried his best to live and use his only ability (blinking) to write a book. He inspired me to live everyday meaningfully and worthwhile. 

The movie has a really good composition and colour contrast. I liked how the movie is filmed using “his” perspective by using first-person filming technique. We can see the blur when Jean first wakens up. It is normal to have blurs. The director added in the blur to make it more realistic. He also showed us how he got his right eye stitched up. This makes us understand his perspective more which will make the film more touching. They have also used good colour contrast throughout the film. It has dull colours in the beginning and gradually adds more colour in. They have also showed high contrast to highlight the main points/ideas.

pAtTeRnS iN uRbAn SeTtInGs AnD nAtUrE

Patterns!

"Patterns have their own identity. They can be ornate and fancy, or plain and simple, regular or irregular, symmetrical or asymmetrical, sequenced or alternating." (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, Pg. 142) Pattern is based on repetition. It involves recurring shapes or objects. In this case, it would be normal bold normal bold. 

I love patterns! Maybe because I am a very rigid person. I like things that repeat itself. I am constantly looking for patterns. However, there are many patterns around us that is so common that we don't realize. Once I knew we have to write a blog on patterns, I immediately look for patterns and took pictures of it. First thing in the morning, I found the bricks outside of my house. Then it was tiles on the floor at where I was eating lunch. Next is the keyboard and dividers at the library. I found many patterns that look so cool.

We are surrounded by patterns, we just don't notice it. The keyboard that we are typing is a pattern. I like spotting patterns cause of the repetitiveness. Children are often fascinated by patterns. They found them amazingly attractive. Sometimes children try to figure out where does it start and where does it end. It is amazing to watch children do and think about patterns.