SURPRISE!! I am enrolled in an art history course I took as a freshman long long ago. In a city far away. Today was my first assignment and I *get to* practice formal analysis. It's not often I walk through my house acting as if I'm in a Woody Allen film critiquing fine art at the MET, but here is my long awaited chance, to hone my art speaking skills and categorize thoughts into coherent writing.
Medieval Art: Shrine of the Virgin, ca.1300, German; Made in the Rhine Valley, oak, linen covering, polychromy, gilding, gesso; Sculpture, Wood. Dimensions: Open: 14 1/2 x 13 5/8 x 5 1/8 in. (36.8 x 34.6 x 13 cm) Closed: 5in. (12.7cm) Other (figure of Christ): 9 5/8 × 3 13/16 × 1 9/16 in. (24.5 × 9.7 × 3.9 cm) The Shrine of the Virgin combines sculpture with illumination using the pictorial arts to represent a christian narration of the nativity. It was created in the Rhine Valley, of modern Germany around the year 1300 A.D. The shrine which was most likely used for devotional purposes also represents the Incarnation, God taking on human form in body, uniting the divine, holy spirit, and human nature (Jesus). This is a rare altarpiece which stands a little over 13 inches, with its intricately illustrated modular wings that open and close to either represent the Virgin Mary or Virgin, God, and the early story of Jesus’ life. When the shrine is closed it represents the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Jesus. The form of Mary and Jesus is compact and slightly heavy. The sculpture was carved from a tree limb or log as can be observed from the bottom of the piece. The shrine is a sculpture in the round (and inside), although intended to be viewed primarily from the front, not much detail is added to the back of the piece only the veil upon Mary has been given attention. Mary’s human proportions are realistic but possess a slightly elongated neck, a rigid upright position (the position of Mary’s breast for example) with a square or boxy appearance are common elements in the Gothic period. Mary, Jesus, and God all have drapery that has depth, defined "v" shapes, and distinction but is less flowy than what would come later in the Renaissance period. The texture in Mary’s gown and God’s robe is intended to be smooth and gilded with gold to represent the divine. Carved details represent adornment and embellishment such as Mary’s crown, robe, and slippers, to symbolize the intended nobility of the Messiah. The illumination of the shrine when the “wings” of the altarpiece are opened narrate the Annunciation, the Nativity, the gifts of the Magi, the presentation, and the boy Jesus at the temple. It illustrates the major events of Jesus’ early life as recorded in the bible. In the illumination the scale is relatively the same throughout the narration of the depiction of people and the linear painting uses a limited reference to perspective. A few compositional elements, like the window in the Nativity and Joseph behind the bed, help to define space and depth. The angular characters of the narrative are placed in a contemporary setting of the Gothic period and not of biblical times. The tilted head posture of the figures in the illumination represent the adoration of the divine as well as the halos that encircle their heads. The subtle but angular carving of the drapery in the sculptural Mary, Jesus, and God and of the illuminated painting of the narrative early life of Jesus represents the Gothic style in the depiction of the figures, form, and design. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464142?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&deptids=17&high=on&ao=on&ft=*&offset=40&rpp=20&pos=44
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Students were directed to create a main character, create some narration or joke around the character, a name, a setting. They also needed to include at least three sequences, in the joke or story. Art supplies only require paper and pencil and coloring media. Materials Sketchbook Pencil coloring media, coloring pencil, markers, crayons Paper Ruler Jim Davis was born July 28, 1945 in Marion, Indiana, and raised on a small farm with his parents, James and Betty Davis, and his younger brother, Dave (Doc). Like most farms, the barnyard had its share of stray cats; about 25 at one time, by Jim's estimation. As a child, he suffered serious bouts with asthma and was often bedridden. Forced inside, away from regular farm chores, he whiled away the hours drawing pictures.In college, he studied art and business before going to work for TUMBLEWEEDS creator, Tom Ryan. There, he learned the skills and discipline necessary to become a syndicated cartoonist and began his own strip, GNORM GNAT. When he tried to sell the strip to a newspaper syndicate he was told, "It's funny, but bugs? Who can relate to a bug?" After five years of GNORM, Davis crushed the bug strip idea and tried a new tact, studying the comics pages closely. He noticed there were a lot of successful strips about dogs, but none about cats! Combining his wry wit with the art skills he had honed since childhood, GARFIELD, a fat, lazy, lasagna loving, cynical cat was born. Davis says Garfield is a composite of all the cats he remembered from his childhood, rolled into one feisty orange fur ball. Garfield was named after his grandfather, James Garfield Davis.One of my lessons, during the safer at home recommendations was an everyday composition. A composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or 'ingredients' in a work of art, as distinct from the subject. The term composition means 'putting together' and can apply to any work of art, from music to writing to photography, that is arranged using conscious thought. The students were instructed to include at least one living creature. All five of the projects I compiled for the the remote learning of this school year included easily obtainable art supplies, easily understandable projects, and adaptable to all grade levels K-8. Students were encouraged to spend time on their work, however given home teaching situations, they could easily accomplish the work with in a reasonably swift amount of time. Materials Sketchbook Paper Pencil Colored Pencil Markers Crayons ![]() Inspiration Realism The Realists depicted everyday subjects and situations in contemporary settings, and attempted to depict individuals of all social classes in a similar manner. Classical idealism and Romantic emotionalism and drama were avoided equally, and often sordid or untidy elements of subjects were not smoothed over or omitted. Social realism emphasizes the depiction of the working class, and treating them with the same seriousness as other classes in art, but realism, as the avoidance of artificiality, in the treatment of human relations and emotions was also an aim of Realism. Winslow Homer, Jean Francois Millet, John William Waterhouse During our extended spring break this year the school in which I teach art has taken the opportunity to rearrange, clean, organize, and move classrooms. Next year I will be teaching art in a separate building from the school, due to a larger enrollment in lower grades. The classroom I was in this past year 2019-20, will now be a K-3 classroom which is the first year ever that our school has separated K-3 and K-4. So I will have a room that was in dire need of storage for supplies. It is now coming together. Every year I post pictures of moving rooms and organizing, I am hoping I can catch a break for a year or two after this summer. These cabinets are being installed by a much needed cheerleader for the art program. I cannot be thankful enough for the support and encouragement that comes to me. My passion is to give these kids an experience in art education that not only teaches them creative skills and techniques but equips them with critical thinking and communications skills they can use beyond the classroom. It may seem like just cabinets, or just some paper, or yarn, or paint.. It is so much more and the picture is much bigger. Beneath the surface of it all, these cabinets this learning space is means to enhance the learning, enrich the childhood of those families this school serves. What a blessing to be a part of the change for the positive!
Lydia Nielsen, 7th Grade The art of the triptyck, we studied, was based in the Gothic period. The artists the students were introduced to were Giotto and Van Eyck. Both artists used religious subject matter. Students were encourage to think about a three part composition that could include the change of seasons, stages of growth, metamorphosis, three related compositions. We used tempera on board. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Illustration board or thick paper Tempera paint Brushes ![]() Giotto 1266-1337 When Giotto was a young boy tending sheep in the mountains of northern Italy, he drew pictures to pass the time. A traveling artist discovered Giotto’s drawings and offered him an apprenticeship. There he learned how to make paint from different minerals which could be used to create different colors of paint. Giotto is best known for painting people who appeared three-dimensional rather than flat. Many paintings of Giotto’s time were made with egg tempera on special panels of wood. Egg tempera is made by grinding minerals, berries, clay, even insects into a fine powder and mixing it with egg yolk and water. This paint makes a thin fast drying coat of bright color. Van Eyck 1395-1441 Jan van Eyck was the most famous painter of northern Europe in the 1400’s. Van Eyck was the first artist to really master oil paints, a new material in his time. Unlike egg tempera oil paints could be applied in thick coats and in thin glazes and could create rich velvety colors that glow. One of van Eyck’s most famous paintings is an altar piece called a triptych, which is a wood framed panel made in three parts. There are pictures on the outside of the panels when it is folded shut, and more on the inside when it is opened up. Last year I used this activity as an "ice breaker" for every classroom. For a theme to the activity the students discussed seasons. We listed what colors might be in each season these suggestions help the student make choices in their selection of colors. There is no right or wrong because many might find green in every season (evergreen in winter). I hear from the children that this is an activity they had already done (in previous years with other teachers or on other schools), I think it is so popular because the results are exciting and very vibrant and is a totally fun experiment with how material may react. Sometimes it is nice to do a project that requires little technical skill and allows for some personal choices.
Probably one of my favorite switch-em-up projects. I collect all the broken bits, discarded trinkets, junk drawer items. I also send a call out to have such items donated. I also ask for boxes, wooden, cigar, jewelry... We look to the artist, another favorite, Joseph Cornell. Students will glean from a collection of "junk" or are encouraged to bring their own. The narratives that the students may come up with might be as simple as similar shapes or colors, or the items they choose can tell a story. Students use glue to make these box sculptures. Issac Nielsen, 5th Grade Materials Boxes, wooden, cigar, jewelry Trinkets, game pieces, broken items, etc Glue, Hot/Tacky Joseph Cornell 1903-1972
was an American artist and filmmaker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde experimental filmmaker. He was largely self-taught in his artistic efforts, and improvised his own original style incorporating cast-off and discarded artifacts. He lived most of his life in relative physical isolation, caring for his mother and his disabled brother at home, but remained aware of and in contact with other contemporary artists. I Love this artist a lot. Working during the period of art nouveau, the organic and decorative as well as symbolism in his work make it magical and mysterious. Students are introduced to Klimt as an artist and also to the concept of symbolism and what certain shapes, numbers, or object might mean. We practiced in the sketchbook then transferred those ideas to black paper outlining our trees in white, adding details in color, and accenting with metallic paint or markers. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Tempera Paint Metallic Paint/ Markers The Tree of life is an important symbol used by many theologies, philosophies and mythologies. It signifies the connection between heaven and earth and the underworld, and the same concept is illustrated by Gustav Klimt's famous mural, The Tree of Life. For Klimt's admirers, the mural also has another significance, being the only landscape created by the artist during his golden period. Klimt used oil painting techniques with gold paint, to create luxurious art pieces, during that time.
Silas Rekow, 8th Grade Schools will have events, announcements, fundraisers -you name it- that children may embrace the opportunity to advertise for. In this particular project the students that created the posters were involved in the play they were creating their advertising for Wizard of OZ The Deleted Scenes. We looked to the work of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and his poster designs. We also discussed the information we needed to include in order to effectively communicate to our audiences, who was our audience? Arwynne Buss, 8th Grade Materials Sketchbook Pencil Coloring Media, Colored pencils, Sharpie, Markers, Watercolor, Tempera Paper- Poster sized Brushes ![]() Lautrec (1864-1901) eventually established himself as the premier poster artist of Paris and was often commissioned to advertise famous performers in his prints. The pinched features and animated demeanor of the singer Jane Avril, the image wearing one of her famously outlandish hats with a snake, are subjected to the artist’s crystallizing vision. By exaggerating the characteristic features of women performers, Lautrec conveyed the essence of their personalities. Mono-printing is a form of printmaking that has lines or images that can only be made once, unlike most printmaking, which allows for multiple originals. Students were introduced to Mary Cassatt and her work during the impressionist period, particularly her technique in making monoprints. Students created a painting in tempera on a cookie sheet and quickly transferred the print to a piece of paper. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Clean cookie sheet Tempera Paint Brushes Paper ![]() Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Pennsylvania but lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children. |
AuthorI have a passion for the visual arts and love sharing it with others. I have enjoyed teaching all ages and love to incorporate art history and traditional disciplines as well as innovative ideas. Art is vital to who I am as a creator and educator. Archives
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