Arts Around the World: Hojalata Folk Art from Mexico

The first country on our Arts Around the World journey this year is Mexico. Our first project focused on Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead, a holiday celebrated in Mexico. For our second project, we focused on the folk art of Mexico, specifically from the Oaxaca region. Folk art is popular art forms that have been passed down through the generations. We looked at one particular form of folk art called hojalata ("oh-ha-la-ta") art, or tin art. 

Folk artists use tin to create these artworks, cutting and shaping the tin and using different techniques, like embossing, to create patterns and designs on the metal. Artists then add lacquer or enamel on the tin in bright colors. After looking at examples of hojalata art, students created sketches of different animals from Mexico. 

Using reference images, students brainstormed a few different ideas before choosing one for their final artwork. The following class, students learned about embossing, which is a technique where you carve, mold or stamp a design on a surface, like paper or metal, so that it stands out in relief. The two materials typically used for embossing are paper and metal. Metal embossing is used to put a design on metal sheets. 

The metal is pushed with an embossing tool or stylus to create a raised effect on the opposite side. Students taped their design on top of an aluminum sheet, so it would not move around. Then they placed this on top of a piece of felt, which provided a softer surface to work on. Using a wooden stylus, students pressed down on all their drawn lines. 

Students were amazed to see their lines coming through, creating a bumpy raised design on the opposite side of the metal sheet! After they went over all their lines once, they removed the paper on top and went over all their lines again with a blunt pencil. This creates a bumpy texture that you can see on both sides of the metal, but we used the side where the lines were raised. 

After students were done embossing, they used colored Sharpie markers to color in the areas in between the raised lines of their design. The lines created borders for their shapes, and we discussed color choice and how to use complementary colors to help their designs and patterns stand out. The final step involved getting the metal hot glued to a background color, creating a frame for their work. 

To share our finished work with each other, we did a turn and talk using our fortune tellers. Students picked partners and used their fortune tellers to ask each other questions about their work. We also did a gallery walk, where we walked around the room to see everyone's work. Below are some examples of our finished embossed hojalata artworks:

Alex, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Andy, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Ava, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Kaiwan, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Lucas, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Manha, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Mariana, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Ruken, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Sarah, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Shane, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Stephanie, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Arts Around the World: Dia de Muertos Calaveras from Mexico

The first country on our Arts Around the World journey this year is Mexico. We learned about Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead, a holiday celebrated in Mexico on November 1st and 2nd. Families gather to honor and remember friends and family members who have died. 

Traditions include building altars to honor family members and decorating them with sugar skulls and marigolds, a kind of flower. We watched a video about the holiday. The skull or calavera is a common symbol of the holiday. We looked at examples of sugar skulls and noticed that they had a symmetrical design and were usually very colorful. 

We designed our own calaveras, creating a symmetrical design. First students used pencil to draw their designs and then outlined them with Sharpie marker. We added color using markers, trying to emphasize our symmetrical designs with our use of color. 

For the background, we made papel picado, which translates to perforated paper. Papel picado is a form of Mexican folk art where tissue paper is cut into elaborate designs. Papel picado is used to decorate for holidays, such as Day of the Dead, but also other celebrations such as birthdays and weddings.

Students used tissue paper and folded it up a few times before cutting out their shapes. We noticed that when we cut triangles and semi circles they became diamonds and full circles when cut on a folded edge, as they doubled. 

Students carefully glued down their papel picado to a background color which they selected to complement their tissue paper color. They thought about what color background would allow their papel picado to stand out.

They then cut and glued their calavera designs and glued them on top of their papel picado backgrounds. Below are some examples of our our artwork. Some of our calavera designs are also currently on display near the art room.

Ava, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Bianca, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Brook, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Carson, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Jacob, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Naomi, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Samuel, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Tyler, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Willow, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Martin, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Sarah, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Tyler, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Arts Around the World

This year, 2nd grade artists will be traveling around the world in their art and music classes! Ms. Patashnick and I are collaborating on an integrated curriculum focusing on art and music from Mexico, South Africa, France, South Korea and New Zealand. In art class, we will be learning about the culture, art forms, techniques and artists from those countries. In music class, students will be learning songs, culture, musical traditions and about musicians from those same countries, as well. 

To start off the year, students previewed artwork from each country. Each group of students received images of artwork from a different country. They began by sharing what they noticed about the artwork with each other, and made predictions about what materials were used and why the artists might have made these artworks. Students also considered whether the artwork had a function of some kind and shared information they already knew about that country. For example, some students at the New Zealand table noticed that the designs reminded them of the movie, Moana.

We are starting with Mexico this month, so check back to find out what we are learning about! In May, students will demonstrate what they have learned and created throughout the year at a culminating art and music showcase for their families and members of the Hosmer community. Feel free to ask your students about their artistic and musical travels throughout the year!

Arts Around the World: Hojalata Folk Art from Mexico

The first country on our Arts Around the World journey this year is Mexico. 2nd grade students began by learning about the country. 

We learned that Mexico borders the United States and has tall mountains in the center of the country, deserts in the north, and rainforest in the south and east. Many students already knew that Spanish is the official language spoken in Mexico and that their currency, or money, is called pesos.

We focused on the folk art of Mexico, specifically from the Oaxaca region. Folk art is popular art forms that have been passed down through the generations. We looked at one particular form of folk art called hojalata ("oh-ha-la-ta") art, or tin art. Folk artists use tin to create these artworks, cutting and shaping the tin and using different techniques, like embossing, to create patterns and designs on the metal. Artists then add lacquer or enamel on the tin in bright colors.

After looking at examples of hojalata art, students created sketches of different animals from Mexico. Using reference images, students brainstormed a few different ideas before choosing one for their final artwork.

The following class, students learned about embossing, which is a technique where you carve, mold or stamp a design on a surface, like paper or metal, so that it stands out in relief. The two materials typically used for embossing are paper and metal. Metal embossing is used to put a design on metal sheets. The metal is pushed with an embossing tool or stylus to create a raised effect on the opposite side. 

Students taped their design on top of an aluminum sheet, so it would not move around. Then they placed this on top of a piece of felt, which provided a softer surface to work on. Using a wooden stylus, students pressed down on all their drawn lines. 

Students were amazed to see their lines coming through, creating a bumpy raised design on the opposite side of the metal sheet! After they went over all their lines once, they removed the paper on top and went over all their lines again with a blunt pencil. 

This creates a bumpy texture that you can see on both sides of the metal, but we used the side where the lines were raised. After students were done embossing, they used colored Sharpie markers to color in the areas in between the raised lines of their design. The lines created borders for their shapes, and we discussed color choice and how to use complementary colors to help their designs and patterns stand out. 

The final step involved getting the metal hot glued to a background color, creating a frame for their work. Below are some examples of our finished embossed hojalata artworks:

Wyatt, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Ellian, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Zaol, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Perin, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Nico, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Lily, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Katie, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Jashua, 2nd Grade (McIsaac)

Sofia, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Sophie, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Zayn, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)