April 7, 2023
Resources for Paper Flower Gardens Project
NEW: a rotating group of artists and art educators will be bringing you high quality art projects and lessons at Outside the Box Creation! Our artist this month, sculptor and art educator Jessie Zeh, has worked hard to bring you the April project: folding, cutting, layering, and sculpting paper flower gardens based on Lois Ehlert's Planting a Rainbow.
DOWNLOAD YOUR PROJECT PLANSetting the Stage
Main Project Final Product Example
Welcome to the April project from Outside the Box Creation! We're so excited to introduce this month's project and dive into paper arts. We'll learn a few different techniques for working with paper, play around with layering our flowers and plants to create the look we want, and work with tissue paper and Mod Podge to transform our canvas panels into gardens.
Our inspiration for this project is American artist and children's author Lois Ehlert (1934-2021). Millennial parents may recall some of Ehlert's work: the famous children's book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Ehlert's distinct style of layering paper shapes and using found objects to create beautiful stories has laid the foundation for our paper flower gardens today! Images found in Planting a Rainbow will serve as a guide for our little artists as they dream up their own gorgeous gardens.
Have fun!
Supplies Needed for Insider's Club Members (or if you're a box subscriber & want to purchase additional supplies)
Recommended book - optional: Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. You can purchase it or find it at your local library.
6"x8" Canvas Panel like these
Multicolored Construction Paper like this
Multicolored Tissue Paper like this
4oz of Glossy Finish Mod Podge like this
Glue sticks like these
Foam brush for spreading Mod Podge like so
*The above Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of them we may earn a very small commission but it does not increase your price at all, so we hope you will!
Watch The Main Project Video
Taking It Further
Here's another method of creating flowers and plants from our construction paper.
Read Along
Enjoy reading the book along with our April artist in residence, Jessie Zeh!
About the Artist
Jessie Zeh
Jessie Zeh is a sculptor and educator in Western New York. She received her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Alfred University in sculpture, foundry, and glass blowing. She taught classes in community centers, libraries, and the YMCA in Cape Cod Massachusetts and then later in Western New York. Jessie lives on a small farm with her husband, two daughters, chickens and goats.
These photos show Jessie's creative and inventive jewelry design!
gypsymetal.facebook.com
About the Insider’s Club
Don’t forget to join our private Facebook Group for additional inspiration!
The Outside the Box Insider’s Club is a monthly digital membership that includes videos, downloadable curriculum/project plans, and tips to make it easy for parents to do art regularly with their kids! If you know someone who would enjoy this, please share the Outside the Box Insider's Club. If you have been a box subscriber for a year or more and have accumulated a large stash of art supplies, you may want to switch to the Insider's Club digital membership.