Thrifty Scissors

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Mosaic & Collage Index


Read more about "Ricardo Cat" at my new art repository.

The invention of Mosaic may perhaps be attributed to the Romans. They used it to pave their buildings and cover their walls. The Byzantines, however, made popular, under the name of "opus Groecum," or "Groenieum," a kind of mosaic composed of little cubes in clay and in colored and gold glass. This process must have been used at Cordova, for the ceiling of the mosque, for instance; it prevailed in the early stages of Arabic art. It is presumed that these mosaics are the work of several Andalusian artists, although originally they were executed in old buildings by Greek workmen, steeped in Byzantine traditions. In the same sense may be considered the marvellous mosaics of the Koubbet-es-Sakhra, in Jerusalem.

In Egypt, in Arabic period, mosaic was made in two ways. It consisted of small marble cubes applied to a mortar bed, or of various pieces of marble fixed in a single piece which formed the background of the work. The latter method resembles inlay work. The marbles which were most frequently used in the mosaics of Cairo were red, yellow, black and white.

Collage is a technique using magazine and newspaper clippings, ribbons, paint, bits of colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty. It is the hands on method most often used by art teachers in America to teach students about mosaic art because it may be used to demonstrate similar design principles used in both applications.

For this same purpose I have combined these two art practices under the same index.

Artifacts Representing Both Mosaic and Collage Applications:

Mosaic and Collage Projects from Art Education Daily:

More Featured Collage/Mosaic Arts and Crafts:

Weaving Index

A Jacquard Loom, was invented by Joseph
Marie Jacquard in 1804.

       Weaving, the art of making cloth by means of a loom, from threads or yarn. It is not known when weaving was first practiced, but it is certain that it is one of the earliest of the arts, and it seems probable that hand looms were invented independently by several of the ancient nations. The Greeks and Romans brought the weaving art to a high degree of perfection. Among modern countries Italy was the first to acquire fame for the manufacture of woolen and cotton cloths. France, England, Germany and the United States later developed extensive weaving industries. Since the fibers of wool are much more easily worked than are those of cotton or flax, woolen cloth has always been made among the more primitive peoples before they attempted fabrics of linen or cotton.
       In weaving, two sets of threads are necessary, one running lengthwise of the cloth, and called the warp, the other running crosswise, and called the weft, or woof. The threads of the warp are arranged on the loom by being wound on a yarn beam, at the back, and stretched evenly to the front, where they are fastened to another beam, upon which the cloth is to be wound. In passing from one beam to the other, the warp threads are laid through the heckles and also through a comb on the batten. In laying the warp, every other thread passes through one heckle, and the alternate thread passes through the other. The weft is wound upon bobbins, which are placed in the shuttle, by means of which the weft is laid in position. Weaving by hand loom includes the following steps: (1) Pressing a treadle, which is connected with the heckles by a cord that passes over a pulley on the top of the loom. This spreads the threads of the weft, raising one-half and lowering the others, so that they form an angle called the shed. (2) Throwing the shuttle across the warp and thus laying the thread of the weft in position. (3) Striking this thread with the batten, so as to drive it close up against the one previously laid. (4) Springing, down the opposite treadle and thus preparing the web for the nest thread of the weft.
       Weaving in these times is almost exclusively done by power looms, operated by steam or electricity. Simple as the hand loom is, it contains the elements of all modern looms. The complexity of the pattern may be increased by placing more than two frames in the heckle and dividing the weft into more parts, also by inventions which raise certain threads in the warp at one time and certain others at another. An invention known as the Jacquard loom operates upon this plan. Any number of cords can be used, so that a pattern of any degree of complexity is possible, and since all cords are tied together in the form of an endless chain, the pattern may be repeated indefinitely.

Weaving Artifacts for Teachers:

More Information and Ideas at Art Education Daily:

More Weaving Crafts from Easter Egg Crafts Blog:

Page last updated October 11th, 2017

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Bird Index

Examples of Bird Crafts and Poems in my collection below.

Birds, the only feathered creatures of the animal kingdom. They belong to the back-boned or vertebrate group, are warmblooded, and most of them can fly. Because of their varied and beautiful coloring, their gift of song and the gentle nature of the majority, birds are perhaps the best loved by mankind of any group of animals. It is true that some species, like the hawk and the vulture, have seemingly no lovable qualities; there are birds, too, of ugly shape and plumage, and there are birds which utter harsh cries instead of singing notes. Yet, to the average person, the word bird brings altogether pleasant associations - thoughts of a graceful bright-hued form flitting through the trees, of a nest of tiny creatures fed by a devoted mother, of a chorus of woodland songsters.

Bird Artifacts for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

His Wish

His Wish

If a good little fairy should come up to me

And give me a wish, I just know what twould be.

I'd wish 'stead of one little boy I was three,--

One English, one Chinese and one just me.

Thats what I'd wish, and do you know why?

'Cause 'stead of one best day that seems to just fly,

I'd have three of those days in the year, oh my!

Guy Fawkes' day and New years and Fourth of July.

The Happy Wind

The Happy Wind

by Ninette M. Isowater

A Happy little southern wind

Went wandering away;

It was the dearest little wind

That ever went astray.

It touched the city's outer edge,

Then swiftly turned aside,

For it had heard that little winds,

Caught by the hot streets, died.

It wend along a country lane,

And through the meadows fair;

It lifted up a horse's mane,

And stirred a baby's hair.

It lingered in a quiet place

Where tall, fair lilies grow;

When moon drew near, it hid itself

Where pines stand in a row.

It slept until the shadows turned,

Then, dancing, went its way;

No other little wind that blew

Had such a pleasant day.

The Fourth of July

The Fourth of July

by Aunt Fanny

Come, wake up, girls, come

wake up, boys!

The dawn is very near;

The day we celebrate with noise,

The jolly Fourth is here.

Come, get your crackers for

the fun,

Both big and little size;

We'll wake up echoes when

the sun

Begins to open his eyes.

It's pop and bang till shadows

fall,

Then, when the night comes

on,

The most exciting time of all

Is fireworks on the lawn.

Pa sets the rockets 'gainst a

post, They fizz and screech and

fly,

They fizz and screech and fly

Away up out of sight a'most,

Then crash against the sky!

Monday, September 4, 2017

Sea shells, star fish, mollusc shells and sea horse clip art

Shells, star fish, mollusc shells and sea horses drawn by me and for classroom projects and personal crafts only. I will be posting a variety of project suggestions here that use them.

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

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