Weaving

This project was created by Lower Primary students the materials required were:

Coloured cover paper - A3 / White cartridge paper - A3 / paints in primary and secondary colours (other mediums may be used instead such as felt pens or coloured pencils / brushes / scissors
Students painted a design onto the cartridge paper - we looked at abstract art resources such as Kandinsky, Mondrian, Vassarely and Picasso for inspiration
The backing sheet for weaving was created using coloured cover paper - fold cover paper in half, leave a border at the top and sides, rule a parallel line across the top of the folded paper for the top border and rule vertical lines from the fold of the paper up to this horizontal line. These were approximately 2cm in width. This backing sheet can prepared prior to the session or students can rule their own.
The painted pattern is turned over and ruled with horizontal lines approximately 2cm apart. These are numbered from the top.
Students cut up the background sheet and then cut the painted artwork one strip at a time and weave through each strip to create the finished work. It is best to work one sheet at a time as students can easily follow their pattern and if the project is not completed in one session the work remains intact.

This project has been used at a Lower Primary Level however it could be extended to higher grades using more sophisticated designs and materials such as:

Instead of using plain cover paper for the background create another patterned panel of contrasting colours. This maybe using warm colours for the foreground and cool colours for the background, or complementary colours
Contrasts in texture using pencils against felt pens or paints against soft pastel (in one exercise we used only black and white)
This project can also be taken to another level with Secondary students using painted canvas woven and PVA or other clear drying glue painted over as a stiffening effect.