It's Been a Long Time...from our clay modeling archives today!

It's been a long time since I have posted anything at all. Last week was quite busy all through the weekend and I haven't been able to upload any tutorials recently. Just came across these snaps of clay modeling we had done some time back...maybe at beginning of the last year...thought I should share some pics of the same.

Clay Modeling 

It was one of those boring summer afternoons here in Dubai...yeah...Dubai and how can it be boring?...Well summers here are hot and boring seriously...either you stay indoors or you spend time loitering around the shopping malls...and people who know me, would also know that I am not of that types who would love to spend hours at a shopping mall doing nothing. Well, so my kid and I, yeah again...my child and I, are most of the time stuck together since the daddy of the house is too busy with his own activities, even on weekends! So my child and I, have to keep each other entertained..

So we took out our stock of clay and our plastic clay modeling tools that came with the clay pack. And we decided to do something creative that afternoon. And the credit of this entire model goes to my daughter for it was her idea completely. Initially, I thought we would model a simple model of a house from clay but she said no...and suggested why not try modeling a mushroom house instead...so there we were...She also had a story to tell...and it went like this...

Once upon a time, there lived a little girl called Melony. I asked her why Melony?...and she continued...Because she loved eating melons and she had a big garden full of melons. So, this Melony lived in a Mushroom house, and she was fond of gardening, and her garden was filled with melons and roses...

Clay Modeling a little girl 'Melony'

As she wove her story round the character of Melony, we had a nice and playful afternoon, modeling a mushroom house, surrounded with a garden filled with roses and melons. Here, is the final model of the clay mushroom house. By the way, we used plasticine clay for this model.

Clay Mushroom House 

As you see in the above picture, we build a mushroom house complete with doors and windows and a small garden. The small garden is complete with a pathway lined up with melons and roses. To the extreme left of the picture, you can also see a tiny girl (yes that's our Melony) with her baskets of flowers and melons.

And here are some more pics of the same clay mushroom house with Melony.

Mushroom House with Melony

We had a wonderful afternoon with stories and clay...laughter and fun...and wonderful memories that I could share with all today!

Thank you for stopping by...have a good day!

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Origami Mandala and Calmness

Sometimes I wish that I could go into a time machine right now and just look at my self and say, 'Calm down. Things are gonna be fine. Things are gonna be all great. Just relax.' Tristan Wilds

These days, I am simply struggling to be in a place of calm, a place where I can relax and just do what I want to. Believe me, being calm and in a relaxed state of mind, is a fortune that comes to the fortunate few!

Now before I begin here's an origami model I folded earlier. The original design is by the artist Vagner Alves who named it as the Mandala Serenata. I have used gift wrapping paper to fold this model.

Mandala Serenata
Design by Vagner Alves,
folded by Art Hours

And now, about the next Origami Model. Well, I have not named this mandala as calmness...but this post is titled as calmness. While I was folding it, truly I was at peace with myself...and it brought down some stress levels indeed! 

The Origami Mandala design is actually a variation of the artist Vagner Alves' model called Mandala Serenata, that I have posted above.

Category: Modular Origami

Level: Intermediate

Materials used: Rectangular paper strips of size: 10.5cm x5.25cm, cut out from colored printer paper.

Final Model Size: @13.0 cm in diameter

Origami Mandala folded by Art Hours

You will find the diagram to Vagner Alves models on the link given below.
http://artsorigami.blogspot.ae/

Thank you for stopping by...Be calm and have a good day!

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Monday Musings: A New Day, a New Start!

Every day, I try that I will try to create something new, and sketching is one of my favorite hobbies but life has different plans each day...however, today, while I was cleaning my closet, I came across this small pack of dry crayons that I had probably used when I was in college. So it would be probably 15 years or longer...ah and those lovely days and lovely memories...architecture college and friends, submissions and deadlines, panels and discussions, and what not!

Anyways, I made myself pause with whatever I was doing (or thinking) at that moment, took out a sketchbook and made a quick sketch from an image I had saved earlier - an image I had captured on my mobile one evening thinking that I would sketch it later...but that 'later' never seemed to arrive.

'Front Porch' - A sketch using dry crayons by Art Hours

It was difficult to capture all the lines and angles perfectly with the crayons, but in the end, it was a rusty look that sort of made the sketch look more appealing...A new day, a new start! 

That's all I would say today...every day is a new start...so let's not waste any moment...for time once gone, never returns.

Have a great Monday...have a great week ahead!

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Diya or Candle Holder: Tutorial using Air Dry Clay

Last year, around the same time students at Art Hours, were involved in activities related to Diwali crafts. I was digging up through the archives in my laptop, when I found a few pictures. Thought I should share it today with you all...and if it could be of any help...so you can make your own candle holders using air dry clay. Not a very difficult process either...can be tried by anyone and you don't need to be an expert in clay modeling to try out this one.

Air Dry Clay Candle Holders for Diwali

Materials required: 

Air dry clay, toothpick, clay modeling tools like a knife, some plastic or metal moulds for making the designs, poster colors or acrylic colors.

Procedure:

Take about 3" diameter ball of air dry clay (size of the clay ball depends upon the size of the candle holder you wish to make or actually the size of your palms) and roll it flat with the help of a roller. Let the thickness not be less than 1.0 cm since the clay will shrink by a few mm once it dries. So let's say we have rolled out a flat slab of 1.0 cm thick. Thereafter, trace the outline of your hand with a toothpick or any sharp instrument. And then cut out the hand shape. The kids used a plastic knife that comes with the kid's clay modeling tools to cut out the hand shape and it worked out just fine.

The kids used a combination of clay moulds, sketch pen lids, and even toothpicks to inscribe some design on the hand surface before leaving it to dry.

Thereafter, we took a bowl and left the hand-shaped clay cut-out on the bowl to dry. Let the clay models dry naturally for at least 48 hours before you apply any paint for further decoration. 

Leave the clay candle holders to dry out naturally

After 48 hours, we applied colors on the candle holder and they were ready to use. The finishes will depend upon the paint you have used. If you desire a glossy finish use acrylic colors, otherwise poster colors also will do.

Candle holders by Art Hours

Lef Inset: Candle Holder with application of Poster Colors
Right Inset: Candle Holder with application of Acrylic Colors

Try this activity with your kids or students. Art Hours clay modeling students simply loved making this one.

Made your Diwali a memorable one...Have a great festive week ahead!

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Monday Musings: All We Want is Love!

All we want is Love...a beautiful quote and we all would've heard it somewhere. Love is something that connects us all humans...It's what we all crave for! Don't you all agree?

When you land in some trouble, you look for your dear ones for love and support; when you want to take a new step in life, you long for the support of your dear ones; when you have accomplished the goals in your life, you want to share the happiness with someone dear...so, whether you are happy or sad, love is something we all want ourselves to be surrounded with. Everyone wants love, everyone needs love...so cherish the love you have in your life...love your parents, love your elders, love your brother or sister, love your children. Love your friends too...Remember, without love, a human being is not a human...without love this world will cease to exist.

Hand Lettering  - "All we want is Love"

Even, nature teaches you to be compassionate, teaches you to love. The crane, which is closely associated with love and harmony, are known for their loyalty towards their mate. Not only will you find them as favorite subjects in many Asian paintings, they are also popular in America, where crane statues adorn many landscaped gardens. 

Origami Cranes 

I believe you must love to live...what do you think? Share with us your thoughts.

Have a lovely Monday...Have a great week ahead.

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Origami Candle Holder

Last year, around the same time, while I was digging the internet to find some interesting Diwali craftwork for children, I discovered different origami models serving as candle holders. Here, are a few origami models that I tried. Each origami candle holder turned out beautiful and just perfect for holding candles for any occasion.

Origami Candle Holders: Model 01 and 02

Origami Candle Holders: Model 03

Out of all the above models, Model 02 is quite easy to make. And, this is what we are going to learn to make in this post.

This Diwali, learn to make a candle holder. An easy model to try and even an origami beginner who isn't aware of complicated folds can try making this one.

Try it out with your kids this Diwali week and involve your children in the festivities and fun. 

This origami candle holder is a single sheet model and the steps to fold it are very simple. Also, it takes less than 5 minutes to make it. So, go ahead and make loads of them this Diwali season. You can fold them back and reuse it in the next season...so that's budget friendly and economic reuse of paper too. 

Materials required: Square Origami paper or square colored papers. The size of the paper to be used depends on the size of the lights you are going to use. For this tutorial, a white square paper of size 6"x 6" was used.

Here's the procedure showing every step.

Step 01:

Start by making creases along both the diagonals as shown in the picture below.

Step 01: Make creases along both the diagonals.

Step 02: Fold down all the four corners to meet at the center. Now, this is what is called an Origami Blintz base.

Step 02: Fold down all the four corners to meet at the centre

Step 03: Turn over the model.

Step 03: Turn over the model

Step 04: Now, fold the four corners again to meet at the center. So, now we have applied a double blintz to the model.

Step 04: Fold down the corners to meet at the center

Step 05: Now, fold the tip of the flap, upwards to touch the outer edge of the square shape as shown in the picture below. Repeat for all the remaining sides.

Step 05: Fold the tips to touch the outer edges of the square

Step 06: Next, turn over the model and fold all the edges to meet at the center one by one. Crease well. Then open the folds and you will observe the creases as you see in the picture below. Do not skip this step.

Step 06: Apply the creases

Step 07: In this step, open the flaps and let it touch the corners as shown below. Crease well again.

Step 07: Open the flaps to touch the corners

Step 08: Now, insert your fingers below the triangular flaps at the corners and press the model downwards following the crease you made in step 06, to get a depth in the model. You will see a square base is formed at the bottom. And it is done. The candle holder is ready for use.

You can use this for holding LED lights or Diyas. 

Tips by Art Hours:

• Use colored sheets to make them colorful and decorate with sequins or glitter as desired. 
• This model will turn out well with a little thick paper and last longer too. So, a chart paper or card paper would be ideal for this model.

Origami Candle Holder

Now, mind you, this candle holder is safe for use with LED lights or diyas...after all its just made from paper and not safe to use it with wax candles.

I loved this origami model in particular because they can be safely compressed back and reused while they last, for more than one season. You just need to take them out during any festivity which requires a candle holder and reuse them; be it Diwali or Christmas or any other festival of lights, parties or occasions that call for a candle holder. So try making this origami model...decorate with a different theme this year and let your Diwali celebration be an eco-friendly one.

Here's a quick preview of the steps to making this origami candle holder on our youtube channel.

Have a Happy and Safe Diwali.

Thank you for stopping by...Do like and share this post, leave in your comments and queries. We are looking forward to constructive comments.

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Monday Musings: To Praise or Not - A Teacher's Predicament!

Should you praise or reward a student even if he/she is not performing well...will too much of praises spoil the child? If a child is not praised will he feel inferior to others? How often should you reward your students? How to keep the students motivated? These questions must be every teacher's predicament.

Well, after conducting so many classes for my students since the last couple of years, I still face this regular predicament whether I should offer praises or reward to a child or not at all. I believe that every kid likes to receive praises and rewards and he/she performs better and works harder. But if a student gets too much praise or receives a reward too often or too easily, the results are not positive.

Well done

Initially, I had a 7-yr old student whom I rewarded with a chocolate in every class, wanting to reward her for the patience and hard work she exhibited during the Art Hours classes, but in one of the classes, I didn't reward her with a chocolate since chocolates were out of stock. So she boldly claimed her reward and when I said they are out of stock and that it doesn't matter, you have done well today as always, she was upset and felt unrewarded. The praises didn't matter to this child, it was only the chocolates she cared about!

This made me think, and I stopped rewarding my students with chocolates for quite some time, thinking that it builds up an addiction...also consumption of chocolates not good for the teeth and so on I thought...what if parents complain that their kids aren't allowed too much of chocolates...so quit rewarding with chocolates. But then how to keep these little minds motivated? Are chocolates the only possible solution? How can I encourage them to do better? Was there any way to reward them?

Best Artist Tags by Art Hours

So, I devised this method. Every week I would give away small reward tags with handwritten messages appreciating their work of art. Small words of praise like "that's awesome work", "splendid", "wow, well done", "keep it up", "best artist for the day", "good job", "work harder", and so on were small lines that made them happy and kept them motivated. It kept them interested in their art work and also guessing as to who would win the best artist tag the next week...and this made them perform better. Also, I encouraged the ones performing better to appreciate their neighbor's work and not look down upon them. 

The kids who just came to Art Hours are not only learning new things every week but are becoming better artists with every passing week. 

Reward Tags by Art Hours

Sometimes, I just keep the reward tag in front of them and tell them I will give it only if he/she truly completes the work in every aspect...strict ain't I? Well, sometimes you have to be! And sometimes, these little students are so adorable that I end up giving 'well done' tags to all of them in the batch. 

So well, this is our post today on rewarding a student. Don't give false praises. Only praise and reward when he/she truly deserves it. Exaggeration or too many praises can be deceptive and even a child however small he/she is can understand the difference between honest appreciation and a false one. Let every child earn the reward.

If you agree with me, please drop in your comments. We would love to hear some constructive comments and feedback. 

Thank you for stopping by...have a great Monday!

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Monday Musings: Knowledge is Power, but Character Respect

You would have heard of the saying that Knowledge is power. I agree with it truly. Nothing can beat you if you have the knowledge. However, the lines by Bruce Lee go on further saying that Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. And these lines form the basis of our thoughts today.

Monday Musings: "Knowledge will give you Power, but Character Respect"
Hand lettering by Art Hours 

You may have all the knowledge in the world, but if you are not humble, not kind, nobody will respect you. Respect will come to you automatically, with the inherent goodness that you have. Nobody likes an arrogant person. Isn't that so? Think about it today. 

Have a great Monday...

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