Backyard Art Camp: Antoni Gaudi Mosaics

 I am so excited to host the Backyard Art Camp series here today.  Melissa at A Happy Stitch and Jane at Buzzmills have created such an amazing series of artist inspired projects for children. 

If this is your first time visiting, let me introduce myself.  Hi, I'm Courtney.  I am a stay at home mom to three little boys.  I love to sew, cook, garden and do anything creative.  I especially love when I can create with my boys alongside me.  My blog posts have become a little sparse since the birth of our third boy this April, but we're starting to get into a rhythm that allows for a little creative time again.

It took me a while to figure out which artist I would like to plan a project around.  Initially I chose Henri Matisse, but after a few library books about him, I could tell he wasn't resonating with the boys like he did with me.  Finally, I thought of the awe inspiring works of Spanish artist Antoni Gaudi.  I fell in love with his mondernisme style of architecture when I visited Barcelona, Spain while in college.  I showed my boys a scrapbook I made when my husband and I traveled there before they were all born (I convinced my hubby he just had to see Barcelona).  We also looked at some travel guides and brochures I had picked up in Spain and watched this Rick Steve's video.  It was love at first sight for them, too!

2004 - our visit to parc guell to see el draco and the amazing benches

We talked about Gaudi's natural inspiration and the use of organic curves in his work.  We talked about mosaics.  

The boys were excited to make mosaics just like Gaudi!  Our first step was to make our mortar.  We borrowed a little sand from our sand box and made this recipe for sand dough. Measuring, pouring and mixing is fun!

We really wanted to make animals like Gaudi's famous Draco!

  The sand dough really didn't hold up well to three dimensional shapes, so we turned our attention to the mosaic suns from Parc Guell:

I helped the boys spread the dough out on disposable plates and they got to work designing their tiles.  I happened to have these tesserae on hand because I had a little craft obsession with mosaics a few years back.  I was glad to use some, but I certainly wouldn't buy them for this project!  You can use pebbles, seashells, pony beads, sequins or almost anything else that is small and plentiful!

The boys had a great time arranging their tiles and enjoying the sensory experience of selecting tiles.

Jack wanted to make a "J," so we talked about how you can see Gaudi's sun because he used different colors in the background to make it stand out.  Jack decided to make a yellow "J" and to not use any other yellow tiles in the background.

Of course Will had to make a second project so he could make an initial, too!

They are very proud of their projects, and they really enjoyed the process of making them.  They are already talking about doing it again soon with seashells.

Thanks so much for letting me share our little project with you, and don't forget to check out the others in the Backyard Art Camp Series!  Thanks,  Courtney