Samoan Language Week - by Tayla and Pipi

Room 8 celebrates Samoan Language Week

Last week we started an art project to celebrate Samoan language week and we are going to explain how we did it. We looked at photos of traditional Samoan tattoo designs which is what we based the art on.

First, we started by choosing our pastel colour combinations and started to blend from whatever angle you want. When we finished colouring our whole page with pastels then we painted over with black paint. When the paint has dried you get a sharp object and start to scratch designs into the dried black paint.

We also made some Siapo flower patterns made out of coloured paper that are displayed on our walls. We watched a video on them and how they are common designs in Siapo (Tapa) cloth. Then we folded a piece of coloured paper, cut it into a leaf shape and cut shapes out of it to make symmetry. When you unfold it it looks like a flower.

It was a bit tricky to get the blending right and also where to fold the paper. Once we got the hang of it it was fun.

By Pipi and Tayla