The hallway at OJCS has gotten a lot brighter with Grade 3’s Mexican Folk Art cats. I invite you to take a stroll and stop to admire the beautiful patterns and cute cat creations.

This project was inspired by the artwork of  the Huichol Indians who live in a distant part of Mexico. They use art to record dreams, stories and express their beautiful culture.

One specific type of art they practice is yarn art.  The Huichol make this art by spreading a mixture of beeswax and pine resin (sap) on a board and then pressing pieces of colourful yarn onto it. 

Huichol art is distinctive for its use of bright colours and many different patterns.

Grade 3 tackled this project in stages. First they drew their cats, decorated them with patterns using markers and cut them out.

Second, they created flowers and leaves by tracing different sized circles on coloured paper and gluing them together to create a layered effect.

Finally, they arranged all of the pieces on a background, glued them in place and added more pattern details for the final effect.