Paper Bag Princess

Am I glad I started blogging Hana’s art! Look what came in just today. I think they have been working on making their own machines and objects in class. It is all wonderfully creative, I must say, but also quite big and bulky.

This is a building, made by joining two boxes together. It is a sky scraper, and can be placed in one position only. It may not be thrown away, so we’ll put it somewhere until she forgets about it.

This particular item is a ‘thing to watch the stars’. She made her own telescope in class with a number of packaging materials. She is now officially a star gazer.
Then this is her inspiration on the ‘Paper BagPrincess.’ I can see a line here. I think they’ve been working on recycling in class, and working with used materials. The teacher must have read (list to audio) the Paper Bag Princess in class (about a princess who wears a paper bag as dress). We don’t have paper grocery bags here, but we have plastic ones. She made pants, and said she was the ‘Paper Bag Princess’.

And this is the production of one day.

A Whale

A whale with a hat. What more can I say?

Sea

A boat at sea (purple sail) under a rainbow, a sun, and another rainbow in oil pastel.

A3 Versus Scrap Paper

Here some art work that came from school. They have bigger paper than we have (A3 versus A4), and nicer too (at school they have virgin white paper, here at home she’s got to do with the recycled paper, or lined paper or whatever lies around).

She likes big papers, but I like her work on miniature scraps and irregular bits and pieces better.

A Study of Castles

“Will you marry me,” asks a friend.
“No”, Hana replies.
“Why not,” he asks?
“Because I am not a princess.”

She is into princesses, and castles.
“Remember when we saw the two princesses,” she reminds me.
“No, when?”
“We saw them in front of the church, they were getting married.”

Every girl in a fancy dress, whether it is a bride or a brides maid, is a princess in the eyes of Hana.

Hair Extensions

Art should have a purpose. In case you wonder what these are, I was wondering too, until I saw her wearing them, clipped to the top of her head. These are genuine hair extensions. She was not happy with the length of her hair, so she made longer hair and clipped it to her own hair.

Scrolls

There was a time when Hana used to fold her art work. This was after the time that she’d staple it with 325 staples. She’d fold it into intricate patterns, and everyone would get a folded piece of paper, which - upon unfolding - would show a drawing.

These days she’s into scrolls. Everything gets rolled up, and needs a rubber band (The rubber band is absolutely vital).

A work of art is not complete until it is rolled up (preferably a little rumpled) and tied with a rubber band. It does have something serious to it; a scroll.

And this shows up when it becomes 'unrolled'. It is a house. But as the artists is not in right now (she has a play date with Ali; one does need to network), she cannot explain the finer meaning of the drawing. You’ll have to wait for that.

Butonned Christmas Tree

Hana's teacher is obviously cleaning out her closets, and this 'belated' Christmas Tree came home today. At the beginning of the year her teacher sent us a (very long) list of things she would be interested in having in case we were throwing them out. Toilet paper rolls, shells, pebbles, magazines, old film roll cases, shoe boxes, you name it, she wanted it. Buttons featured on the list as well. I know see what she does with it all. It's a nice idea.

Marlene

We do not have a Marlene in the family, so I do not know where she got the name from. This one is on a post card, destined for her grandparents in Holland.

I like the movement in 'Marlene'. She's got cute 'clumpy' feet, long hair ending in curls and she seems to be going somewhere. With a smile.

Cubism

Suddenly abstract blocks appear in different colors, and with different faces. I am not sure where the sudden inspiration comes from. I know that in class she learns about different emotions (happy, sad, angry etc), so maybe that's what keeps her busy.