Hi all! This post is going to be about my tree book. I will tell you about the process and I will describe my tree book.
Before I start,I would like to thank Peg Gignoux for helping us create our tree books and also giving us all personal attention and help. Thank you Peg! (link- https://gignouxart.com/)
First, to make our tree books, we needed to make the cover of the book. To make the cover of our books, we took pieces of board and screen printed words on it. Those words are related to trees. We also painted a large piece of paper blue for our sky background in the books.
Next, we did Akua printing. To Akua print, we used a jelly pad and put some ink on it (Akua ink). We spread the ink on the jelly pad with brayers in a thin smooth coat. After we prepared the jelly pad, we laid some flowers or leafs (plants) on the jelly pad. Then, we laid a piece of paper (plain, map, or old dictionary paper) on the jelly pad and used the brayer to rub in the ink on the paper. The product of the print was a colorful background and a white shape OR a colorful shape and background.
After we Akua inked, we folded out blue paper (one per person). We folded out paper in a way so that there was a hole in the middle for some extra details. While we folded the paper, we put in some Akua prints on the inside so that their would be a color on the inside. Then, we attached out covers to the books with glue and held them together using clips (laundry clips).
After we assembled the structure of our tree book, we got to do the personal decorating with Akua prints. If we didn’t have enough, their was a community pile so we could take some prints that were people’s extras. Once we were satisfied with our Akua decorating, Will you put in three coin envelopes. I put two in the middle of my book and one on the outside. I also decorated the envelopes so that they blended in with the background.
In the envelopes we put a picture of ourselves, a Connection To My Roots piece, and a Life List. In addition, we glued on a wish(es) and a When This Is Over poem.
Our Life Lists are what we want to do in life. If you try to make one of your own, the ideas put on the list don’t need to be realistic, their are no money limits, and no one can tell you no. Those are the ideas we made our life lists on.
Some parts of my life list…
Get on pointe
Get a top 5 on swim team champs
Ride a camel
Go on vacation with a friend for two weeks
The connection to our roots piece is a writing piece about a person or multiple people who have changed your life. This person to be your grandmother, grandfather, a parent or guardian, etc. I wrote about my grandparents and parents.
A piece of my roots writing…
My grandmother is an important person who helps shape my life. I remember times when I bake with her in her small compact kitchen. I remember how she watched me lean over the fish pond in her yard when I was four or five. I remember when I ate with her at the coffee table. She taught me German games. She showed me my dad and his brother’s rooms. I remember all the cards she sent and will continue to send me. She is a role model. She is an important role model in my life. Thank you, grandma.
Our When This Is Over poems are about what we shouldn’t take for granted. I think Covid has had an impact on us and that is why we can come up with such good detailed ideas for what we should not take for granted.
My When This Is Over Poem…
When This is Over
April 14, 2021
By Sandy
When this is over, may we never again take for granted
Eating out for pleasured time
Traveling for our pleasure
Seeing people for fun
Going to school to learn our best
Trying on new clothes in the dressing room
Living new
A new day with an easy start
Going out for fun and the pleasure
The pleasure of the sun on my face
A constant routine
The life of fondness
And the kindness of people’s hearts
When this ends
may we find
that we have found
strength in our minds
the habits we made
stability in our lives
the mistakes we made
the love for each other
the way we lived before
will never be the same.
The last attachment we made was our wish(es). These are three of my wishes…
Give to charity
I wish for peace
I wish for happiness
Once we added in our writing pieces an image of ourselves into our tree book, we made our last finishing touches and then our teacher took the tree books to the Frank Gallery. (https://www.frankisart.com)
Before we took our three books to the Frank Gallery, we started reading Wish Tree by Kathrine Applegate. Wish Tree connects to our books because of the tree theme. I recommend the book to everyone who has not read it. It is an amazing book!
My experience at the Frank Gallery was amazing. I saw a lot of friends and I also saw a lot of tree books from other classes and I saw how they were different. I enjoyed also looking at some art in the gallery. The pieces were amazing!
My overall experience was a really enjoyable one and wouldn’t have been the same without Peg and the teachers who made this process possible. Thank you to everyone who help!
If you are interested, try making one of your own.If you do attempt to make a tree book of your own, I recommend that you do it simpler if you don’t want to spend a month on it.
Thank you for reading! It has been a long post.