First before doing my workshop I actually show them what I made and then I allow them to hold some of my work like a paintbrush I let them wear my bottle cap hat and they remember that Kids go to a museum and they are not allowed to touch any thing You have to put faith and trust in kids I start the workshop by telling kids that I was walking down the street to the store and I heard a sound go like Pssst Then I heard it again Pssst I ask what was that sound They say A cat or Someone calling you Then finally one kid will say It was your imagination I say That's right and that's how I start When I give them a piece of sandstone I would tell them to look into that stone and carve what they see and if they make a wrong line they can always erase that and start over When making art you can not make a mistake A mistake can make you see something in another way and you can grow from that
O Then I give them glue and art paper so they could use that sand from their carving to do sand paintings by using their imagination I feel that hands on is very important for each and every child but now there are many schools that don't teach art Art helps them to work together as a team and learn how to solve a problem Kids like bottle caps because they have a shine that's magical I use a wire hanger modeling clay and bottle caps to make a snake One time there was a lit tle girl I had flattened out a bunch of caps She got scissors and cut a diamond shape out of the cap I
liked her idea She actually taught me something For many many years I have been receiving boxes and boxes and boxes of letters from kids telling me what a wonderful time they had making art They write and thank me for showing them how to turn trash into treasures It allowed them to use their imagination When I'm working with kids and see they're happy'm happy too At the end of each workshop that I have done everyone leaves with a smile When I do workshops with kids it allows them to not just make art but it allows them to be able to work together like a team a skill they will need later in life I like the fact that the activities in this book can also be done by kids working together Folk art is not possible without imagination I hope that everyone reading this book will open up their mind and explore their own
Introduction What Is Folk Art An old man goes into his workshop every morning and works until noon making wind toys He saws and carves wood into cars trains and airplanes then paints and assembles the parts to make these whirligigs as they are called For a couple of hours after lunch he sits at his roadside stand selling these wind toys to passing motorists To him it is just a fun hobby a way to pass the time The old man may not even realize it but he is a folk artist Every Saturday evening the man puts out a card board box of his scraps for the garbage collector to take but the garbage collector rarely gets a chance to pick them up Every Sunday morning a middle aged woman from down the road rides her bicycle up to the curb She loads her knapsack with all the scraps Sometimes the old man sees her and waves When the woman gets home she glues the scraps of wood and metal together to make collages She does not realize it either but she is also a folk artist Folk art is all about taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary The old man uses some wood and his imagination to make colorful toys The woman recycles his garbage to make more artworks If there is one common theme that runs throughout the many different types of folk art that appear in this
