Matisse Stocking
"Creativity takes courage."
- Henri Matisse
Matisse is the artist who made me want to be an artist. I was in fourth grade and we had to write a report on a famous painter. My classmates were all choosing the usual suspects--Monet, Van Gogh. Da Vinci, and Picasso. In fourth grade you play it safe and blend in, so I went to the library to find a book on Monet. As luck would have it, they were all checked out so the librarian handed me a book on Matisse instead. I felt an immediate connection to his work. His use of color and pattern and his free-form spontaneity were unlike anything I had ever seen. His paintings were fun and free and I didn't know colors could evoke feelings like lyrics to a song, but his did. They inspired me and I wanted in. It was the first hint I had that maybe I was part of the tribe. Maybe I was a color-loving, rule-breaking, free-form artist too.
I have been holding onto a large sheet of thick styrofoam for a little over a month. It's about 4 feet by 3 feet and every time I find a temporary home for it, one of the girls pulls it out to play with it. It is light because it is made of styrofoam, which looks a lot like snow and it doesn't snow in California, so........... kids. I have been strangely protective over this sheet of styrofoam. I find myself saying "you are going to break it, be careful!" as if it were heirloom China. Why? I just knew it was going to become something great. Like maybe an oversized Matisse stocking or something.
Materials:
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1. Trace your stocking shape on your white sheet
2. Use an appropriate cutting tool for your material. For thick styrofoam you will need a utility knife
3. Gather your colored paper and start cutting organic shapes. Think: coral, leaves, seaweed, stars. Remember to save the pieces of remaining paper. If you look at Matisse's work you will see that he often used the remains of his cut-outs in his work
4. Play with color, start laying out your shapes, and experiment with different color combinations.
5. Start piecing together your collage like a quilt. Work out your composition before you glue it down.
6. Glue down your composition and add a felt boarder at the top of your stocking.
7. Add the finishing touches--pompoms and a hanging loop out of yarn
As H would say in a French/Italian/Spanish accent, "Voila! A masterpiece!" (now kiss your fingers and fling them)
xx
a.
