Joel Penkman is a New Zealand Born artist and graphic designer who specializes in food art. Her realistic paintings are made from egg tempura which she makes herself. Penkman believes that food speaks to everyone in unique ways. You can see examples of her work here.
Activity: This week's project is Picnic Art! We are going to take inspiration from the ideas of food artist, Joel Penkman, but instead of drawing or painting the food we see, we are going to make the food for our project out of felt!
Materials:
● Felt, multiple colors
● Scissors
● Needle and Thread
● Poly Fiber Fill (if you want to stuff the felt and make your foods thicker)
● Pencil and Paper (for sketch ideas or list of what you want to make)
● Black Marker
Alternatives: You can use cloth material or paper to create your picnic food. If you don’t want to sew by hand, you can also use a sewing machine or fabric glue for this project.
Directions:
1 - Decide what food you want to include at your picnic.
2 - Sketch your food shapes onto paper with a pencil. You can cut out the food shapes and then trace them onto your felt using pencil.
3 - Use a black marker to draw the outline of your food on your felt. Make sure you draw two of each shape, as you will sew them together. Example: If you are going to make an apple, draw the shape of the apple on the felt twice.
4 - Cut out the shapes you just drew.
5 - Take the two pieces of the felt food that you cut and place them on top of each other.
6 - Take your needle and thread and sew along the outside edge, sewing the two pieces together. If you are using the Poly Fiber Fill to stuff your foods, leave about an inch unsewn, stuff it, and finish sewing all the way around.
7 - When you reach the end of your sewing, make sure you tie a knot to keep it sewn shut.
8 - Repeat for each of the foods you decide to make for your picnic.
Remember, you’re the artist here! Get inspired, be creative, and, most importantly, have fun!
Share your work with us by using the #wamcreateclub hashtag!
