Tacoma Art Museum: Eric Carle Exhibit

Today we had a fun field trip with our homeschool group to the Tacoma Art Museum to see the exhibit, Eric Carle: Books and Beyond. Anyone with kids is probably familiar with Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar and numerous others). The exhibit featured some art from his books, as well as other art he's done for personal use. He calls the two either his "book art," or his "art art," - art for his books or art simply for art's sake.

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photographs of the exhibit, but we saw some familiar favorites - the ladybug and butterfly, brown bear, and a blue horse from one of his newer books. He has also done a lot of beautiful abstract art, utilizing a lot of the same techniques and vibrant colors that makes his work unique. I'm not usually a huge fan of modern or abstract art, but his work was very beautiful. He does wonderful things with color and texture that bring his work to life.

Afterwards, the museum staff led the students in an art lesson in Eric Carle-inspired collage making. The kids used tissue paper to create their own works of art. Some used templates provided, and others free-formed it with blank paper. My kids enjoyed making theirs, although Grayson found it a little tedious to cut tissue paper and try to paste it where he wanted it.

David went to work with gusto, and found that crumpling the tissue paper gave his work a different texture.

Ella was engaged and focused on hers for a really long time. It is great when something captures her attention for a long span of time, given she's only 3.

All in all, they were happy with their work and asked to get some tissue paper so we can make more collage art at home.

David's artwork

Grayson's

Ella's art - her template was a dog as well, but she covered it pretty thoroughly with tissue paper