Collage Portrait

Aimee and I have been working on mixed media this past month.  I think she did an outstanding job on her collage portrait. 

Why I like collage for children

Aimee has been working on a mixed media project here on Vera Lane.  She's a self-taught talented young artist.  Aimee loves using her natural ability drawing cartoon characters from YouTube videos.  Her art style has taken on that of the images she’s copying.   While her drawing skill is exceptional, I am trying to get their out of her comfort zone and open up possibilities.

 When a child digs into a basket or box of scraps, they see possibilities.  A variety of shape, color, texture, and patterns is at their fingertips.  It's a treasure hunt.  It's old school.  It's up cycling and repurposing.  It's an opportunity to never look at a piece of paper the same way.  Tags, sheet music, scrap paper bits, gift wrap, letters, junk mail, tickets and other bits of ephemera --- fill a box and let your child create. 
 
Whether working to create a collage to depict an image or scene or totally non-objective, children are choosing and judging spatial relationships.   The child observes and works with balance and proportion, positive and negative space. This endeavor opens up creative thinking.  What I love most about this process is the “play” of arrangement, there is no commitment until the piece is glued in place.

And then, that special piece of paper sparks imagination.  When Aimme looks up and me and asks, "May I take this piece home?" I know I have created another fan of paper.