Koru Paintings

The Maori culture of New Zealand creates beautiful pieces of artwork featuring Koru designs. Master this motif in a colorful painting.

• 1.

  A Koru is a curved shape representing a baby fern frond. The Maori culture of New Zealand uses this motif in their artwork.

• 2.

  The Koru symbolizes new birth and growth. Look at pictures of fern plants ready to unfurl. What shape do the plants make? Compare the ferns to samples of Maori art. Use a colored pencil to practice making Koru on a piece of construction paper.

• 3.

  To design a Koru painting, use a colored pencil to sketch one large Koru on a piece of construction paper. Draw two smaller Koru on either side of the larger one.

• 4.

  Using a paintbrush, paint each Koru a different color. Use another color to fill in the background. Try a hard-edge style of painting by using a flat watercolor brush loaded with paint to create even strokes and to build up an even bead (thick edge) around the color. To keep colors from blending, allow an area to dry before applying wet paint to adjacent areas.

Benefits

• Students learn the history of New Zealand’s Maori and their Koru designs.
• Students replicate the Koru motif in a drawing.
• Students use a hard-edge style of painting in a Koru painting project.

Adaptations

• The Maori culture is rich and varied. They create a variety of traditional arts such as carvings, weaving, kapa haka (group performance) and whaikorero (oratory). Research one of these art forms.
• Where in the world is New Zealand? New Zealand was the last land mass to be discovered on earth. Look up information on the geography of this diverse nation.
• New Zealand’s national emblem is the kiwi bird. The Maori named the bird for the sound it makes – "Kiwi! Kiwi! Kiwi!" What can you find out about this unique bird?