By the South Lake Art League
At Kid’s Art, the students learned about Mexican Folk Art, which is still practiced
today: the art of creating bark paper. The art was done by peeling the
bark from fig or mulberry trees and processing it by boiling it
in vats for hours turning it into pulp.
The pulp was then poured onto a wooden board and beaten till the fibers turned into a paste. It was mounded into the shapes they wanted and left to dry in the sun.
The villagers (Mayan Nahua people) then, mostly women, painted what
they saw around them, birds, lizards, flowers, etc with vibrant colors. Since there were no paints, they used colors from fruit & vegetables.
The students at the South Lake Art League used grocery bags that had been soaked in water and then ironed. Each student painted one of his/her favorite thing on their ‘bark paper.
Learn more by visiting their website at South Lake Art League. The gallery is located in Historic Downtown Clermont at 776 West Montrose St.
Visit and see all the fine artwork by local artists…young and older.
