Underwater Scenes at Kids Arc Foundation

Kids Arc was one of my favorite facilities. It was open, bright and colorful. It was filled with art. These beautiful paper cranes were hanging from the ceiling. There must have been hundreds. They were made by the kids and ARI volunteers during a previous session and have hung here ever since!

Using a method called wax resistance, we worked with a large group of children, teaching them about creatures and things you might find underwater. We began with a large display board with lots of different underwater creatures with the Thai word and English word next to it. We took turns saying the word in both languages. 

After our language lesson was over, we began with a blank sheet of paper and used crayons to draw our favorite creatures from the board of underwater animals. 

Then, we covered our crayon drawing with watercolors in blues, purples, and green washes. The kids were hesitant to paint over their carefully drawn sea creatures. But, after a few demonstrations and a bit of trust, they found out the magic of wax resistance! 

The kids worked very well together and had lots of imagination with little guidance from the volunteers. I found the children at this facility to be extremely beautiful. Absolutely stunning faces! Their exotic features and dark hair is something I envy and find so beautiful. 

Everyone was very proud of their work and excited to show off their “magic” painting. 

Their excitement for art and their very steady concentration was a beautiful sight to see. I am continually blown away by the natural beauty and simplicity of Thailand. 

As we finished our day together and cleaned up our paint supplies, I noticed the gorgeous teal color coming out of the sink drain. Beauty is everywhere; you just have to take the time to see it. 

Art Heals! 

Krista Wanous

Miss International 2012 

Baan Chang Elephant Sanctuary

While volunteering in Thailand, we were expected to work 9-5 during the week, but on the weekends, we were free to do what we pleased. I usually like to stay off the beaten path where crowds of tourists aren't found but one major “touristy” attraction I just had to was the elephant park. There are many different elephant parks to see in Thailand but many of them do not treat the elephants well. After a few days of research, I found an elephant sanctuary that had excellent reviews and history of well-kept animals. When we arrived, a pasture full of big beautiful elephants and joyful tour guides greeted us. I was so taken back by the size of them and began wondering if riding them through the jungle was really a good idea.

After a few riding lessons I was feeling much more comfortable with the elephants. I preferred riding the elders because I thought they might be more reliable when going outside the barriers of the park. The young baby elephants were rambunctious and naughty. They liked to stray away from the heard, steal bananas from the tour guide baskets, and give unexpected suction-cup like kisses on the neck.

After lunch, we began our trek into the Chiang Mai Mountain jungle.  Right when we were all mounted on our elephants and ready to go, it started pouring down rain. If anyone is familiar with the Thailand rain, you know it comes and goes unpredictably. You just have to learn go get a little wet. So, here I am, on an elephant’s back, with my best friend, in the rain, hanging on for dear life as we head up a mountain trail thick with greenery. What a fabulous moment. I will never forget how thankful we were when the rain stopped and the sun came out and warmed our shivering bodies. The rest of the walk was absolutely beautiful, stopping at scenic views to look out over the mountains.

After our walk was over, we stopped at a small pond to let the elephants cool down. I even got to join my elephant in the water and give her a bath! I climbed on her back and poured water all over her head and body. She flapped her ears with joy. I felt such a beautiful connection with my elephant and was so thankful for this day. I will always remember this experience and the enlightenment it has brought into my heart.

All my love and gratitude, 

Krista Wanous

Miss International 2012 

Sensory Fun with Hope Home

Today we decided to begin our workshop with a few songs for Hope Home. With the challenges of wheelchairs and limited movement of the participants, our volunteers found joy and harmony with musical instruments, as well as singing voices, to get the kids started. Nom Chok loved the music, especially loud music! He insisted on stealing our cell phones so he could put the music right onto his ear and hear it as loud as possible.

Spices used: cinnamon, ground cumin, turmeric, paprika, and chili powder. We started with just smelling the spices, feeling them with our fingers, and possibly even tasting them. The kids instantly were filled with laughs as they experienced the different smells. Volunteers helped by putting small amount of water in with the spices to give the kids an array of “paints.” 

Even though “spice paints” cannot compare in vibrancy of regular poster paint, the effect seemed to be just the same. Phil, one of the participants at Hope Home, started to explore the act of licking his paper after he had painted on some spices. Phil would laugh and smile then stick his tongue out and rub it all over his painting! It was inspiring to watch how much fun he was having. He couldn’t believe we were letting him eat the paint! 

Not every participant at Hope Home can show excitement as much as Phil can, but small movements and facial contact let us know they are loving the workshop. Near the end of the workshop, the volunteers hung a streamer curtain to hang down and blow in the wind. Some of the kids found this interesting and funny, as they watched it unexpectedly move in the air. Exploring the sense of feeling, especially the wind on one’s skin, was another aspect of this workshop. Volunteers took out foam core paper and fanned the kids. Joy smiled so big when we fanned her with 3 fans all at once! 

Overall, it was another great day at Cultural Canvas & Art Relief International. 

I am so blessed and elated to have had this special day with the most beautiful children I have ever seen. 

All my love, 

Krista Wanous

Miss International 2012

Marble and Body Movement with Young Lions

Our lovely Young Lions, with all the spunk and movement they have, were able to experience Marble Art. Marble Art is a type of painting using small dots of paint, in this case poster paint, then using rolling marble to move the paint around on the paper. This makes for marvelous pieces of art, as well as visual movement of the paint onto the participants paper.

After sharing a few giggles, warming up with coloring and singing one of their favorite songs, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” we moved onto putting our paint carefully onto the paper using popsicle sticks. The kids were very concentrated and excited to see what this would turn out to be in the end. 

The Young Lions took turns using the marble-rolling tray to move the marble balls back and forth, moving the paint in the process. Some of the children explored the action of bouncing the marble balls within the tray to get a different outcome on their paper. 

In the end, the painted papers were gorgeously painting with bright colors, and the children loved every minute of experiencing it. 

Krista Wanous

Miss Internationals 2012 

Eric Carl Style Pictures with the Healing Family

Our workshop at the Healing Family Foundation was one of my favorites, but I think I would probably say that about all of the workshops I did in Thailand! During recent workshops, we have been doing a lot of craft project and playing a lot of games. We decided that we should have a change of pace so we led a workshop that was focused more on "traditional art".

The idea of the workshop was that we would be making pictures in the style of the artist/author Eric Carl. The first step was that everyone painted a piece of paper so that it had as little white space as possible. This yielded some lovely paintings. I had the pleasure of helping one of our sweetest students. We worked together all afternoon smothering her paper in paint and stamping elephant figures.

While we waited for these to dry, we all sang some of the workshop participant’s new favorite songs, "Baby Bumble Bee" and "Baby Shark".

After the paintings were dry, we cut out shapes and glued them onto another piece of paper to create beautiful pictures of whatever the participants wanted. 

Because we had never done a workshop like this before with The Healing Family, we didn't know how they would react or how well they would do with the assignment. Fortunately, everyone enjoyed the workshop, and the increased allowance for creativity. One man in particular made an exceptionally beautiful picture. 

Thailand stole my heart, 

XO 

Krista Wanous

Miss International 2012 

Wat Pa Pao Music Workshop

The Wat Pa Pao workshop was extra special because we got to do our lesson inside the Wat Pa Pao Temple! I was such an amazing way to spend an afternoon, making beautiful artwork inside a building covered in beauty. 

We created shakers that derived from our research into cultural musical instruments, to which we came across the traditional African Shekere.

They started to decorate the paper that became the 'skin' around the plastic bottles. We gave the students blank paper, their own blank canvas, to decorate with whatever design they desired. They were given crayons and pencils. Then, we handed out glitter and colored sand to jazz it up if they again desired.

The last element was the most essential- the beads, rice and beans, to create the sound within the shaker. The kids used up each different type of noisemaker as we encouraged them to add more to make a richer sound. After this, came the final step of adding ribbon to the neck of the bottle to which bells were tied onto. 

Once we were done we asked the kids to sit in a circle so we could make some of our own music right then and there! Each person had their own short beat that was continued while others added their own beat. We listened to how the sound and music grew around the circle until there was a collection of sounds. This was simply to have fun and let lose and to experiment with their shakers as to what sounds they could produce. 

It was a lovely afternoon with these young boys. I will never forget the gorgeous temples of Thailand and the day I got to do what I love best inside these sacred walls. 

Art Heals,

Krista Wanous

Miss International 2012 

Young Lions Making Mosaic’s from Found and Natural Materials

I was so excited to lead my very own workshop with the Young Lions. Especially with a group of kids who is consistently excited about art! The mosaic idea is a project I have been interested in a while so I jumped at the chance to see how the kids would take to it. 

It started pouring down rain when our workshop was about to begin so we all crammed inside the CCT office for shelter. PeePo helped me explain to the boys that a mosaic style piece of artwork is made up of many small pieces resulting in one larger image. We passed around some examples and the boys got ants in their pants! We quickly handed out cardboard and began choosing supplies. We had sticks, a variety of beans, leaves and sand, regular rice and colored rice as well as some miscellaneous findings from the yard. 

The boys came up with some very creative things. Even the volunteers were getting into it! The boys had some very imaginative ideas. They made, boats, trees, landscapes, and abstract images from our found materials. Even though we aren’t supposed to pick favorites, my favorite time is always with the Young Lions because they are naturally gifted artists and they are always happy and excited to participate in our projects. We also chose on of the boys in this group to do an illustration that might get featured in the next Bobiam clothing line! If his design is chosen, a portion of the sales will be sent back to him and his family in Chiang Mai! Most of the Young Lions are what they call “neighborhood kids” who are usually sent out on the streets to beg or sell flowers to provide for their family. With the help of Bobiam, they might find a little more income. 

By the end of our session, the rain had cleared up. We said our goodbyes over juice boxes and the boys splashed home.  The floor of the office was a mess with beans, grass, and sticks so we spent a lot of extra time cleaning up! But art is supposed to be messy so we didn’t mind. 

Thank you CCT!

Krista Wanous

Baan ViengPing Orphanage doing Abstract Cubism Portraits

This is my first time leading a workshop at CCT. Emma, my new friend from London, and I are glad to be partnered together to bring some brilliant ideas into our session. We were excited to work with Baan Vieng Ping, an orphanage for girl’s age infant-15. When we arrived we were greeted with dozens of beautiful smiling faces. We gathered around in a large open recreational room and formed a circle. We played games like “Waaahhh!” and “Ahh, See, Go!” .The girls giggled and laughed with us as the games got more and more exciting. We began our art portion of the workshop with examples and descriptions of cubism. We encouraged them to make their creations as unique and unconventional as possible. The abstract cubism techniques we were teaching them about were meant to represent their personal self in some way while following the guidlines of abstract cubism. 

The girls worked diligently for a long time, adding small details and coloring in every unused inch of the paper. Although we can’t show pictures of some of the girls faces, their art portraits are just as charming.  

When everyone was finished, we welcomed the girls back into the circle to share their portraits. Each delicate beauty held up their project with a shy smile while the rest of the group applauded.  To wrap up our session we had each participant write their name or something unique about themselves on a strip of paper that was made into a paper chain which we called,  “Chain of Life” to hang up in their community room. 

It was such a joy working with all these young ladies. We are looking forward to our next visit!

With love,

Krista Wanous

Miss International 2012

Leaving my Mark in Chiang Mai

Creating community service art projects is another way that Cultural Canvas enriches the lives of children.   On my third day, I worked with some other volunteers to create a colorful entrance for the children of Hope Home.  Each volunteer artist was allowed to decorate a band of color that would wrap around the entrance pillars.  After a bit of brainstorming the message of my section was clear, I would write ART HEALS in English and Thai and incorporate the hand print logo associated with the organization that has given me so much inspiration, Free Arts Minnesota. 

It was so much fun painting this mural. It was a sticky, hot, muggy afternoon but we didn’t mind the heat. Our rainbow mural turned out to be a colorful and delightful addition to the Hope Home entrance. 

My handprint and a piece of my heart will forever be left in Thailand!

And, my heart will forever be left with these wonderful women I got to meet during my journey. I will miss you all!

ART HEALS!

Krista Wanous

Miss International 2012