“When I stand in front of a canvas, I never know what I’m going to do – and nobody is more surprised than I at what comes out.” Joan Miro
Why not try and make your own Joan Miro art, there are some ideas below to get you started.
Arts and Crafts Zone
Welcome to our Arts and Crafts Zone! Here you will find some fun and creative activities. We also have lots of information on our Artist of The Month - which will be updated each month - and even some fun ideas on how you can create your own artwork in his style.
Yayoi Kusama - Artist of the month May
Let's get dotty
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who is sometimes called 'the princess of polka dots'. Although she makes lots of different types of art – paintings, sculptures, performances and installations – they have one thing in common, DOTS !
Yayoi was born in Japan in 1929. She loved drawing and painting and although her parents didn't want her to be an artist, she was determined. When her mum tore up her drawings, she made more. When she could not afford to buy art materials, she used mud and old sacks to make art. This is a drawing she made of her mum when she was 10-years-old.
In the late 1950s she moved to New York as lots of the most exciting art seemed to be happening there. It must have been a bit frightening arriving in a big city with such a different culture from what she knew. But she was determined to conquer New York. She later wrote about her feisty attitude: ‘I would stand up to them all with a single polka dot’.
She had the first of many exhibitions there in 1959. She met and inspired important artists including Donald Judd, Andy Warhol and Joseph Cornell, and her art was a part of exciting art developments such as pop art and minimalism. She was also one of the first artists to experiment with performance and action art.
As well as being an art pioneer, Yayoi Kusama put her creativity into other things including music, design, writing and fashion.
Here are examples of some of her art....you could try these for yourself
Activities to have a go at....
Have a go at making your own Yayoi Kusama inspired art using water colour paints, pens , pencils, poster paint , anything you like as long as you use bold and bright colours. Remember her signature style is dots so you could use big dots, small dots, fill your page with dots– Go crazy! You could also colour one of these colouring n sheets using vibrant colours just like Yayoi.
Joan Miro - Artist of the month April
All about Joan Miro
Joan Miro was a Spanish painter and sculptor who was born in Barcelona in 1893. He started drawing and painting when he was about 8 years old and by the time he was 18 he had his first solo art exhibition - this was a special event where people could buy his artwork!
Many people who saw his first works of art didn't think he was very good because they didn't understand his paintings, but this didn't stop Joan, he moved to Paris in France and worked even harder!
All his hard work paid off and he became very successful artist, lots of his sculptures and artwork can be found all over the world and in lots of galleries. His most expensive painting was sold in 2012 for nearly £32 million! Wow!
Joan Miro said he got his ideas for his pictures and sculptures from his dreams, he used lots of abstract shapes and lines to create his work - check out some of his art below.
Make your own Joan Miro art!
As you can see from the art examples above, Joan Miro loved to use different shapes, colours and lines to make his art.
Junk Sculpture - Use items from around the house to create a sculpture, you can use things like toilet roll/kitchen roll tubes, straws, cardboard shapes (can even be cut out from old cereal boxes), milk tops, any old tubs or bottles. Let your imagination run wild! You can use glue or sticky tape to stick it all together, then if you want you can paint or colour it in. Remember to ask a grown up before using anything from around the house to make your sculpture.
Clay/Play Doh sculpture - If you have air drying clay in the house you can use that but if not then simply use some Play Doh (don't forget to put it away afterwards) and create some Miro style sculptures. You can try and copy some of his real life sculptures or use your imagination to create your own ideas.
Joan Miro Line Drawing - a very simple yet effective idea to create your own piece of art work. Simply use a black felt tip pen to draw some shapes on white paper, add lines and dots in, let them overlap if you want. Then use lots of different coloured pens/pencils or even paint to colour each shape.
Roll a Miro - this can be played as a game or you can simply use the shape ideas from the picture to create your own art. If you want to play it as a game, roll a dice and which ever number it lands on you use a shape/body part from that column.
Art sessions with Rory
Rory McCann is kindly going to release an Art session each week, the sessions will be between 30 minutes and 1 hour. They will mostly be using simple materials from around the house, such as paper, paints and the inside of cereal boxes, at the start of each video there will be a list of the things that you will need. If you did want to buy some dark blue card for future sessions then you can but there is no pressure to do so.
These will be simple, easy to follow Art sessions that will be fun and help develop Art skills. The videos will be released every Tuesday and can be accessed on YouTube (but we will also post the videos here).
Drawing Ideas
Watch some of the videos below to help you draw, simply follow what they do in the clip and try your best!
These fantastic videos were recommended by KS1 children. The children have said it helps them to draw neatly!
If you fancy getting crafty have a look at these websites for some ideas:
https://www.happinessishomemade.net/quick-easy-kids-crafts-anyone-can-make/
https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/crafts-for-kids/
https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/craft-ideas-for-kids/
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/craft-ideas/how-to/g1389/diy-kids-activities/
Once you've created your works of art, why not post something to an elderly relative or even to a local care home. Some older people may not be able to see their families for a long time, so it could really make their day to receive some beautiful artwork! 