The exhibition Dreaming Alice: Maggie Taylor Through the Looking-Glass illustrates Lewis Carroll’s fantastic story of Alice traveling through a mirror into a new dreamlike world. Maggie Taylor captures the magic of Alice’s adventures by creating landscapes layered with interesting color combinations. Paint your very own imaginative world inside of a “mirror” and experiment with mixing colors to make new, out-of-this-world shades!
What You’ll Need
● Aluminum foil
● Cardboard
● Tape
● Paint
● Paint cups or palette
● Water
● Paintbrushes
● Q-tips
● Dish soap
What You’ll Do
1. Tape a piece of aluminum foil shiny side up to a cardboard base (or to another available hard surface) to create a “mirror”. Take a moment to admire your reflection on its shiny surface!
2. Pour paint into cups or into a palette. Add a splash of dish soap to each paint color then mix together. The soap will help the paint spread and stick to the foil.
3. Use a paintbrush to paint a wonderland landscape all across your “mirror.”
4. Experiment with mixing colors. What out-of-this-world colors can you make?
5. Use a Q-tip to draw into your colorful wonderland landscape. The Q-tip will remove the paint to reveal the shiny foil surface.
6. Leave your painting out to dry then admire your imaginative wonderland creation!
Tips and Tricks
● Make a mirror world together! Collaborate by using a larger piece of foil to allow more space for multiple people to paint.
● Aluminum foil is fragile and can rip easily. Practice being gentle with your materials while painting.
● Add a bit of story to your painting! Who might live in the world you made in this mirror? What life might be like there?
Credit: Lesson plan developed by Madeline Olesky, Family Programs Intern and 4th-year Psychology-Neuroscience major in UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
