The Light is On, Welcome Home

The glue wash seals the tempera paint, adheres the collage pieces,
and creates a semi-gloss finish to the background.

First Connection. A glue wash connects the smaller pieces of maps to the background map for a two layer effect.

For collage, we use foam brushes and a dilute glue solution (for this it was 2 parts water to 1 part glue -- NOT the consistency of milk.)

My favorite part is watching the children place the smaller maps on the large. Would they turn them a certain way or would they simply land them hoping to avoid gluey fingers?

Either way, they are looking at the materials in a very specific way.

Second Connection. Naming the finished work. The teacher asks, "Is the child making a connection to travel, mapping, place in the title?" Is there poetry in the title? The answer is YES. So yes, to art, and then yes to experiential learning and comprehension. And mostly, yes to the open imagination of the young artist.

Here are some of the titles, The Flash Map Drawing, Flower Garden Map, 2 Airplanes/5 Highways, A River and a Road.

Collected works

Detail, Star Chief and A River and a Road

Map detail, Mount Rushmore