All Saints

When a person died doing the work of Christ, early Christians celebrated that person’s sacrifice. The day of his death became a holy day and was considered the birth of that person as a saint. Eventually, so many people had died for Christ that there weren’t enough days in the year to commemorate them all. One day was set aside to celebrate all the saints. The day, called All Saints Day, was originally celebrated on May 13.

Halloween began as a Celtic celebration of the end of the goddess Eiseria’s fertility. It corresponded to the harvest, the end of the earth’s fertility. On this day, it was believed that all the evil spirits would come back to earth to wander among the living and, in order to scare away these evil spirits, people lit bonfires and wore masks. The festival was called Samhain.

In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved All Saints’ Day to November 1 and the two celebrations were combined somewhat.

So what does any of this have to do with art? Take a look at Fra Angelico’s All Saints:
This masterpiece was painted between 1423 and 1424 on wood panel. It once decorated the alter of a church near Florence, Italy, but can now be found in the National Gallery in London, England. Just as each saint had his/her own birth day, each saint in the painting is different. And just as all the saints are now celebrated on the same day, all appear together in this one large painting.

Stay tuned for more about Fra Angelico. In the meantime, have a safe and fun Halloween!

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Create Your Own Clay Monster

Remember making a clay sculpture? Today, decorate your home for Halloween with scary, clay monsters.

Supplies Needed:

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 ½ Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Optional Supplies:

Paints
Paintbrushes
Craft Sealant

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly stir in the water and the oil until there are no more lumps. The mixture should be smooth.

When you made your first clay sculpture, you laid out wax paper to protect your workspace. This time, use newspaper. When you’ve created the shape of your monster, press the newspaper against it so the black newsprint smears over your monster. This will make it look darker and dirtier. You could even choose scary phrases to press into your monster, though the phrases will read backward.

Mold the clay into any size and shape monster you like. If you need some inspiration, read Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Poke sticks into the clay to make long, spiky fingernails and teeth. Use sequins to make scales or polka dots. Remember that you are going to heat the monster in the oven so you should stay away from most plastic items (which will melt) and certainly paper (which is prone to catching on fire).

When you’ve finished your masterpiece, place it on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about 50 minutes. Once the sculpture has cooled you can paint it with a craft sealant to give it a shiny appearance or display the monster without sealing it.

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Create Your Own Ojo de Dios

The Huichol tribe of western-central Mexico doesn’t have TVs or computers or microwaves. They live simple lives, remaining separate from what we think of as society. Instead of a writing system, the Huichol tribe passes on knowledge and stories through traditions, ceremonies, and art. The Ojo de Dios, or God’s eye, is an example of traditional art that is used to pass down knowledge.
An Ojo de Dios is made by wrapping string around sticks. It represents the eye of God which sees and understands all things. The father weaves the inner eye when his child is born and then another layer is added each year until the child turns five. The Ojo de Dios is believed to give protection to the child.

To make your own Ojo de Dios, follow the directions below.
Supplies Needed:

Colored yarn
Two sticks or Popsicle sticks
Scissors
Glue (optional)

Gather your supplies. Your sticks should be about the same length. I recommend using thicker sticks than I used because they kept threatening to snap in half as I wove.

Cross one stick over the other to form and X. If you have small hands, use a little glue to keep the sticks from uncrossing or moving around. Wrap your piece of yarn around the cross and tie and knot. Now you’re ready to begin weaving.

Lay the bound sticks in an X in front of you with the knot on the bottom. You will begin with the upper right stick. Wrap the yarn from underneath so the end is to the left of the stick. Then flip the end back over the stick so it ends to the right. Wrap the yarn under again so the end is to the left of the stick. This makes one complete loop.
Now spin the sticks clockwise and repeat these steps on the nest stick. Continue going around until the eye begins to form. Keep in mind that as you work you are looking at the back of the Ojo de Dios.
Change colors if you’d like, or complete the entire Ojo de Dios with the same piece of yarn. To change colors, just tie a knot between the two pieces of yarn and continue weaving with the new piece. You should tie the knot over one of the sticks because it will be easier to hide. Don’t clip the first color too short. You should do a few rotations with the new color to hide the end before cutting it off.

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Create Your Own Pop-Up Pumpkin Card

Yesterday you learned about how pop-up books became popular. Today you can make your own pop-up. Spread good wishes for Halloween with this festive pop-up card!

Supplies needed:

Orange construction paper in at least two shades
Brown construction paper
Heavy piece of paper to be the card
Scissors
Glue Stick
Clear Tape
Pencil


Fold the piece of heavy paper and half and set it aside.

Fold each sheet of orange paper in half and then in half again. Trace a circle onto the orange paper. Try using a cup or a bowl to do this.
Cut the circles out and fold each one in half. Then unfold them and stack them on top of each other, alternating colors. Staple them together. Make sure to put the staples on the fold line.

Glue the outermost circle to the inside of your card, centered on the fold line.
Decorate the card anyway you want, then send it to someone you care about.

I left out a step when I made my pumpkin card. You have to tape the half circles together and I thought glue would work just as well; it doesn't. So here are the directions for taping. Glue the bottom half circle to the card. Roll a piece of tape (so it's sticky on both sides) and attach the bottom half-circle to the one next to it. Then tape half-circle 2 to half-circle 3 near the bottom. Tape half-circle 3 to 4 near the middle. Tape 4 to 5 near the bottom. Use this pattern until you reach the second to top half-circle. Roll another piece of tape and attach this half-circle to the top half circle. Glue the top half-circle to the card.
I ran out of orange paper so I couldn't make another pumpkin. Instead, I made a bunch of grapes. Look at the grapes above to see the taping pattern. Below is the finished pop-up card.
Be creative. You can make any simple shape pop-up this way. Try a festive fall apple.

For more pop-up instructions go to pop-up master, Robert Sabuda's site.

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Pop-Up Books: A History

The first pop-up book (or moveable book) was not for kids. It was a book about astronomy, published around 1306. In the book, a series of wheels were attached together so they could spin. The circles could be rotated to illustrate theories. For the next 400 years, pop-up books were used only by scholars.

In the 1700s people began creating pop-up books for kids.

One company, Dean & Son, made about 50 titles between 1860 and 1900. Each element of the scene was attached to the one in front of it with a piece of ribbon. When the ribbon was pulled, the whole scene popped up.

Because pop-up books are so complex, each book must be put together by hand. This was true in the 1800s and it is still true today.

Lothar Meggendorfer created some of the most complicated and original pop-up books of the 1800s. It wasn’t enough for one scene to pop-up on each page; Meggendorfer often had half a dozen parts of a scene moving at once and in different directions. Below is an example of a Meggendorfer pop-up.

The first pop-up book that resembled the books we’re used to was created in 1929 by S. Louis Giraud. The illustrations in the book popped up automatically when the reader opened the book rather than when the reader pulled a string or tab. Pop-up books continued to be popular as a growing number of talented artists created unique books. An example of a pop-up by Giraud is shown below.
Check out this gallery of pop-up books through the years, put together by Rutgers University.

Come back tomorrow to make your own simple pumpkin pop-up card.

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