Koi - Sandpainting

'Drawing From Nature'
A Science and Art lesson for kids
By Carol Felixson
Special to The Times

August 3, 2003 What large, colorful fish are often mistaken for giant goldfish? They are called koi and can be found in freshwater ponds all over the world. Koi have been bred in Japan and China for thousands of years. Their Japanese name is nishikigoi (ni-shi-ki-GOY). Both koi and goldfish are members of the carp family. Because of their beauty, koi are often called "swimming flowers" or "living jewels." They can live to be 70 years old and sometimes reach 100 or more. You can tell their age by counting the rings on their scales. After studying about koi, Natasha Hicks, 11, of Los Angeles decided to make this sand painting of a koi pond. In sand painting, designs are made with colored sand instead of paint. Native American and Tibetan people use sand paintings in their healing and blessing ceremonies. Natasha wanted to be sure her pond sparkled, so she used glitter for the koi and plants and sand for the other parts. Natasha first sketched her design on cardboard. She used a paintbrush to fill an area with glue, then added either glitter or sand. When the glue set, she lifted the cardboard and shook the loose particles into a container. She repeated this process for each shape. Once the painting was completely dry, she sealed it with hairspray. Good job, Natasha! Note: Japanese pronunciation provided by Mariko Bird of the UCLA Center for Japanese Studies. * Carol Felixson is director of education and community outreach for UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve and UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden. Both sites offer ideas for drawing from nature. To see previous lessons from this series, go to http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/kids.html and http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/stunt/newsforkids.html. The next lesson appears on this page on Sept 7. Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times