I modified an earlier art journal reflection project ("Dump Sheet Self Portrait) to help immigrant women and children being detained at a Texas detention center while seeking asylum from violence in their homelands. The participants included 220 women and children ranging from toddlers to the mothers in their early to late 20s. They had about 90 minutes to create their artful reflection.
The process included the following steps (which I had printed in Spanish and English to refer to):
Memories of Home
Mixed Media Layered Art
1.
Write
or stencil your name onto the background paper.
2.
Choose
1 or 2 two foam stamp shapes that remind you of home and stamp them on the
background paper.
3.
Choose
one stencil shape that reminds you of home and use a colored pencil, marker,
pen, or crayon to outline the shape from the stencil onto the background paper.
4.
Use
a #2 grey lead pencil to write your good and bad memories from home on the
cut-out shape of a head.
5.
Glue
the Psalm 23 scripture to the background paper.
6.
Glue
the head to the background paper.
7.
Use
any color crayon that you like to outline the face. Add eyes, nose, and a
mouth. Add hair.
8.
Decorate
the background with more stencils and stamps that help to tell the story of
your home.
9.
Use
water color or tempura paint to color parts of your art. (It is okay to paint
over all or part of your face.)
10. Glue
the second Bible verse onto the page (Psalm 118:24)
11. Paper
punch a shape and glue onto your page.
12. Title
your art. You can name it anything you want. Sometimes it is fun to name it
simply Memories from (your home country).
13. Write
March 2015 in the corner so you can remember when you created your art piece.
