I've been wanting to make an advent-type calendar for years, but I never remember to do it until it feels like too big a project to accomplish in time. I've drooled over Annie's embroidered felt solstice calendar, loving the native landscape it depicts and the beautiful handwork that went into it. This year I missed my deadline again, but on the night of December 1 I decided to go for it anyway, exchanging the medium of felt for paper and letting it evolve as we moved deeper into the season. My kids have already asked if we could do this at all of the cardinal points of the year - the equinoxes and solstices - so I think it was a success! (bear with the dismal photographs - inside and dull paper colors made it really challenging for me, but you get the idea)
It started pretty empty - some bare trees and a log. The first couple of days the girls found mushrooms (of course) and weeds, and a few little animals...
...a moon on the full moon, and an owl to appreciate the moon...and a couple of my favorites, the underground dwellers, a field mouse in its burrow and the vertebrae of a snake that never quite made it to its wintertime meal...
Every day the girls took turns pulling a new detail from a pocket and deciding where it should go in the scene, and glueing it on. I loved the collaborative art aspect of it, and I would listen to them talk about what was happening in the scene and figure out what should maybe come next..."a red bird, bringing decorations of some kind to the tree!" or "I hope it snows soon!" It's been a lovely way to celebrate the changing of the seasons...
No comments:
Post a Comment