Mexican Folk Art!

Our first Paint Your ART class this month was held was held on May 5th, which is also Cinco De Mayo. To celebrate, we decided to try some Mexican folk art by making our own Mexican mirrors. 

This is a multi-media project that can include tempera paint, watercolors, Sharpies, doilies, mosaic paper, scratch board, tooled foil sheeting, acrylic gems, beads, yarn, and anything else you can think of. You will also need one small round compact makeup mirror and a sturdy substrate such as railroad board, corrugated 
cardboard, or heavy cardboard. 

We used a variety of round objects, such as plates and lids, to trace and cut around, as well as funky scissors for interesting edges, and hot glue, and tacky glue. You'll also need glass cleaner and paper towels to clean up the mirrors once the project is completed. 

To create their mirrors, students have many decision-making opportunities as they work through each layer from the mirror in the center outward. Designs can include etching, painted patterns, collage, ink, mosaic work and much more. Each design can be layered outward under the previous design or simply painted or drawn or glued along the outer edge of the previous design. Each artist decides how large their mirror design will be or how many circular patterns to add. These intricately designed Mexican mirrors were created during a two-hour class period.