Collaborative Art for Auction Fundraiser

All the children that attend the Montessori school where I teach participated in this collaborative art piece that will be auctioned at their annual fundraiser next month. The children, ranging in age from three to six, are studying Australia this year. We used Aboriginal art and the animals of Australia as our inspiration. The Aborigines have a beautiful way of depicting animals in a simple, almost graphic style. The piece measures 36 x 48 inches.

Each classroom depicted a different animal. I created stamps from craft foam or stencils cut from acetate of the animal shapes. The children first did a rubbing of a pattern using oil pastel to establish a background. They printed or stenciled their animal and added some decoration with paint applied with a Q-tip. The parents will receive the original art on the night of the fundraiser. I made color copies and adhered them to the canvas with Elmer's glue and a sponge brush. I coated the finished work with Mod Podge.