If you are going to make figurative abstracts with wooden branches,
don't forget that James Surls is THE perfect artist to use with that
unit. THat is exactly what he does, but he does it with TREES. I crave
his work!!! He used to have a studio north of Houston that I took my
third graders to every year. Great guy, and his work is so magical.
Then, you lucky Colorado folks (any one from Co?)
inherited him as a resident. He is awesome with kids, a lot like
Morales with a ponytail down his back, and such a gentle man. Look for
him on the web. Years ago I had kids make sculptures with sticks and
branches, and they were wonderful. I had paint for them, and yarn and
feathers, buttons, moss, etc. Even some squiggle eyes for a few of
them...that was a strange combo. You could papier mache over them, or
use them as armatures. We painted directly on them. We spray painted
some of the most complex ones. The only problem was that not everyone
remembered their branches and I had to supply about 15 of them. And
some kids' branches were less than ideal...too brittle is the worst
flaw.
