3rd-Peacocks

1st-Faith Ringold Story Quilts

1st Grade: Faith Ringgold Story Quilts

1st graders listened to the story, "Tar Beach" by Faith Ringgold. Tar Beach is about a young girl who imagines she is flying over the Hudson Bridge and the city. She imagines that the lights are made out of diamonds and that she owns the bridge and all that she sees. Faith Ringgold is an artist that created paintings based on her own childhood. She pieced together fabric pieces and made frames for her paintings. These frames were similar to quilts. 

To begin this art work, students drew a self-portrait of themselves on a half-sheet of white cardstock. I did a step by step of a basic person with their arms in "flying postition". Students traced with black sharpie and added color with markers. Next day, students painted a blue background on a white cardstock paper. I gave them a choice of all blue or blue/violet. This was done with tempera paint. Students also completed the coloring of their person this day. Next day, students drew the bridge with white oil pastel (step by step for this). Gold or silver glitter was also added for the "lights" of the bridge. (I added glue for this and we had a "glitter station"). Students glued on the person above the bridge and added stars with cu-tips and white tempera. Students also glued on craft jewels for additional stars. Students traced around this art onto a separate colored 12 x 18 paper. Students glued on pre-cut squares of decorative paper around the art for a quilt like border and drew "sew" lines with sharpie. A great way to use all the scrapbooking paper I had donated to me!

These are quite amazing I think!