Earth Day Art

Happy Earth Day! 

In celebration of the Earth, today, we've posted some examples of nature-based art, and art using recycled materials. 

We hope this inspires you to create something today.

Nature-Based Art

You can use materials you find in nature to write words and make shapes. I used pine cones and boughs to make art in the parking lot of the activity center. It was a fun and challenging project because the wind kept blowing the materials around!

  

Here are some other examples of nature-inspired art from our friend, Mr. Jared Hopkins. He is an art teacher at Payette Lakes Middle School and the parent of Alice, a Roots alumna.

Made by Alice Hopkins

Made by Audrey Hopkins

Made by Jared Hopkins

Here is a video he made showing more of their art-making process:

What materials are right outside of your house that you could use to make art? We hope you enjoy the process of finding them just as much as the process of creating.

Art Using Recycled Materials

For this project, I used an egg carton, a skewer, a toothpick, a piece of paper, a crayon, paint, and a foam paintbrush. You can also use crayons, markers, even food coloring to create the colors of your "tree".

 

1. I used scissors to cut an old egg carton so that it looks like this:

  

2. After I cut out the pieces, I painted them green

  

3. Once the pieces dried, I used a piece of paper and a crayon to make my tree trunk. This is also where I gathered a skewer and toothpick for other tree trunks. You could also use the leftover strip of egg carton in the pictures above as your trunk.

    

You don't just have to make a tree! What other ideas can you think of that you would like to make? What types of recycled materials are you excited to use? 

We can't wait to see what you create! You can post photos of your nature-inspired art or art using recycled materials on the blog with your name. If you want you can also add a description of the materials used, or a title for your artwork.

If you do something else to celebrate Earth Day, please share that too!