My students in 4th grade enjoyed making these Mola's inspired by the Kuna Indians. To prepare them for this project I showed them a DVD by Peggy Flores on creating art inspired by the San Blas Island, Kuna Indians. It helped them see the steps that would be involved in making the paper molas. Fortunately I have an example of a fabric mola made by the Kuna Indians and we discussed how it would compare to the familiar craft of applique quilting. The process is basically back wards from adding fabric to the top of the background piece. After planning what animal would be the focus of their project they drew their animal onto the background paper. They used their scissors to poke through the center and cut their animal out. I stressed that the negative space around the animal was the part of the paper that we were keeping so they were to take care with that part of their design. They chose from bright construction paper and glued on to the back of the top piece. This new color filled the animal space. They then drew a line within their animal leaving some of the color for their design. This process continued until the came to a part where they could use an exacto knife to add more interesting details to their animal. The scraps that were left from the cutting were used to make a design on the background of thier artwork.
The students really enjoyed this project and the results were great. I've done this project ever since I started at the elementary level. Since showing the DVD from Flores I have abtained a larger number of excellent end products. It helps those visual learners to see where we are going with the project. Also in the pasts I only used scissors but recently allowed the use of exacto knives.This has really helped with the finer details. I demonstrate how to use the knives with a cutting mat underneath and stress safety.
I'm looking forward to displaying all these Mola's at the November 25th art show.
