Last week, I told students the legend of Bodhidharma or (known as Daruma-Daishi in Japan). He was a monk from the 5th/6th century shown below. The legend says that he meditated for 9 years without moving and in that time, he was so focused that his arms and legs just fell away leaving his focused face. A few centuries later, farmers made the first daruma doll in Japan, based on Bodhidharma, wearing a red robe with no arms or legs. They made it in hopes for a good harvest. From there, the doll became increasingly popular and is now a popular style of toy, even found in the form of hello kitty. I talked to students about how this is a wishing doll (great for the new year!). To use it, you have to think of a wish or goal and paint one eye black. After working hard and your goal or wish is achieved, you can paint in the other eye. I stressed that this doll is not a charm like a four leaf clover, but a symbol of perseverance just like Bodhidharma. This egg shaped doll is weighted so that when you tip it over, it bounces back up! For our first class, students finished up some of their work from ancient Egypt and also thought of their wish or goal, and wrote ways they can work towards it. They also did a sketch of how they want to paint their daruma. We will create them next class!
I just noticed that I did not post about our project before winter break! To continue learning about Egyptian art, I talked to students about the scarab, a symbol for Kephri, or the sun god, Ra. Like the dung beetle rolls balls of dung more than twice it's size, ancient Egyptians believed that the sun god rolled the sun out every morning. Students spent one class learning and sculpting their scarabs into small amulets. The following class they painted them. Just this past week, they also got string to turn them into necklaces, since scarabs are found in jewelry (not just Egyptian!) as a charm.
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