Boat Floating kiddies party

A friend's son was turning 4 and she asked if I would make some Origami Boats that the kids could float down a little stream where the party picnic was going to take place.

What a fun party idea! And a fun project for me.

It turned out to be a lovely, sunny winter's day. The setting (in Tokai forest) was beautiful.
I set up a small table where I could help parents and their children to make and decorate their own boats. I made a poster with all the folding instructions for parents to follow.
The boats were made from sheets of coated paper that had a plastic feel, which was perfect because the paper didn't absorb water. I used toothpicks and electrical tape in different colours to make the flags, and the boats were named and decorated using permanent waterproof markers.

 

 

 

 

 

Making the boats was a lot of fun,

but the MOST fun was had during the much anticipated BOAT RACE!

 

The kids (and adults) had an absolute ball running backwards and forwards watching their boats floating down the stream. Again, and again, and again....

 

The boats, I'm pleased to say, were a great success. Even the ones that had capsized or been sunk by a mini waterfall (and rescued by a kind dad with a long stick) had survived and were still in one piece by the end of the party.

Our 3 kids were excited to be taking their boats home and were looking forward to playing with them in the bath... which they ended up not having... because they all fell asleep in the car on the way home, and went straight to bed after a quick wash of their muddy feet :)

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Max!

Thanks for a really great party. xx

 

Photographs: courtesy Sally Petersen and a few of my own

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Here are some examples of other Origami Boats that I make to sell:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to see some other examples of the Origami goodies that I make and sell, please go to my Facebook page by clicking HERE. :)

REWIRED. Creative Block - artwork

The task in one of my process art classes was to create an artwork called 'Creative Block', using... a... block.
We were given a selection of wooden blocks in various shapes and sizes to choose from. The idea was to work on every surface, using anything we wanted (pencil, ink, paint, magazine pages, fabric, found objects etc.) to create our final work.

I am a "Creative Block Survivor" (more about that later), and could not help but interpret this project literally. The subject immediately brought up strong feelings for me .

I chose a beautiful small block of Oregon pine. I loved the colour, the grain, the smell. My plan was to do sophisticated, beautiful, emotional ink illustrations leaving much of the wood grain visible and to carve into the wood in places. I most certainly wasn't going to glue any bits onto the wood. That would just be ... um... tacky! ;)

I grabbed a magazine to page through for inspiration and to look for possible references for my illustrations I'd planned. (I'm not very good at drawing from my imagination).

Before I knew it, I was like a woman possessed, wielding a hot glue gun. I went mad sticking and gluing all sorts of bits and pieces onto my block. I was having so much fun.

The end result was really surprising. Not at all what I'd envisioned or set out to do.

But, it made me smile.

I called it "REWIRED".

My Lesson:

To let go, be free, have FUN, express yourself in WHATEVER way. Stop taking art and creativity so SERIOUSLY! Who cares what other people will think.

... But is it ART?... Hell Yes! Because it means something... to me.

... Would it sell? ... Hell no! Most probably not ... So then, why do we make art? ...

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

- Thomas Merton in No man is an Island