Story Time with Mills Brown: A Tea Party with Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist who was known for his colorful cut-outs, unique portraits, and cozy interior scenes. In this video you’ll learn a little bit about Matisse, and then use his philosophy on color, shape, and joyful subject matter to host your own imaginary tea party!

We will use recyclables to create the small sculptures that will become your tea set.

 
Download Art Project
 
What you will need:

• Empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls
• Liquid glue and water
• One paint brush
• Tissue paper and/or construction paper
• Scissors
• Tape
• Paper plates (can be substituted with cardboard, or any similar shaped recyclable)
• Mason jar lids (can also be substituted with cardboard, other plastic lids, small paper plates or bowls; anything that will sit flat, and can be a base for the tea cups)
• Hot glue (optional)
 
Directions:

Plates
1. Use a paint brush to mix glue and water in a small bowl.

2. Cut your paper into stripes, squares, or Matisse-inspired shapes. You can find a template on the following pages if you want to trace Matisse cut-outs. **Tissue paper or construction paper is great for this step, or you can use fabric strips, like I do in the video!

3. Paint glue onto the plate’s surface. Add your paper or fabric shapes one a time, taking care to add more glue on top each time.

4. Set aside to dry.

5. Once the plates are dry, use scissors to cut off extra paper from the edges.

Cups
1. Cut your cardboard toilet paper roll to the size you’d like for your tea cup.

2. Attach the roll to your base (Mason jar lid, cardboard, or other) with glue or tape.

3. Create a handle for the tea cup with construction paper.

4. Use a paint brush to add glue and paper or fabric to the cup, just like you did with the plates!

 
Add more to your tea set

What else is in your recycling bin? If you have extra toilet paper rolls, try making a vase with flowers for your tea party. At the end of the PDF you will find instructions from Lia Ferro for a fun tissue paper flower project.

Can you think of an idea for a kettle? We’d love to see what you come up with!

Make sure you share your art with us! We want to see your tea party! Tag us @arlingtonartscenter with the hashtag #aacartonline.