Mrs. Buss created these Masks, she chose to represent envy and justice. In many tribal cultures of Africa, masks are made to represent emotion, morals, or an event. In this project think about what emotion you might like to represent, happiness, joy, peace, etc... Think about what shapes or colors might represent those emotions. More geometric, squares, triangles might represent something different from curvilinear or curvy lines. Masks can represent some thing about ourselves, something we want to be, or they can disguise. You can also represent characteristics such as beauty, strength, wisdom, or knowledge. Often masks represent what is desirable or they represent something to avoid. In my examples I chose envy (undesirable) and justice. Have fun with creating your mask. Instructions
![]() Inspiration Traits representing moral values in tribal masks are found in many cultures. Masks from the Senufo people of Ivory Coast, for example, have their eyes half closed, symbolizing a peaceful attitude, self-control, and patience. In Sierra Leone and elsewhere, small eyes and mouth represent humility, and a wide, protruding forehead represents wisdom. In Gabon, large chins and mouths represent authority and strength. The Grebo of the Ivory Coast carve masks with round eyes to represent alertness and anger, with the straight nose representing an unwillingness to retreat.
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The quilts of Gee's Bend are quilts created by a group of women and their ancestors who live or have lived in the isolated African-American hamlet of Gee's Bend, Alabama along the Alabama River. The quilts of Gee's Bend are among the most important African-American visual and cultural contributions to the history of art within the United States. Arlonzia Pettway, Annie Mae Young and Mary Lee Bendolph are among some of the most notable quilters from Gee's Bend. Many of the residents in the community can trace their ancestry back to slaves from the Pettway Plantation. Arlonzia Pettway can recall her grandmother's stories of her ancestors, specifically of Dinah Miller, who was brought to the United States by slave ship in 1859. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilts_of_Gee%27s_Bend In this project students create four colored collage quilt cards that are 4.5 x 5.5". Students are encouraged to use at least 15 scraps on each card. They are also reminded to consider using a special color palette, Primary, Secondary, Cool, Warm, or perhaps the Color Spectrum.
![]() Inspiration Read Belle, the Last Mule at Gee's Bend. Connections to the famous civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the small town of Gee's Bend are made in this story. In learning the history of this community and the creative spirit that comes from making students can create their own creative color collages through paper scraps. www.amazon.com/Belle-Last-Mule-Gees-Bend/dp/0763687693/ref=asc_df_0763687693/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312089887152&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12247586967805817146&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019332&hvtargid=pla-568008936922&psc=1 Students learned about Harriet Tubman. She led slaves out of slavery during the Underground Railroad in the South before 1865. Harriet was called the “Moses of her time” because she led slaves to freedom. When guiding slaves to freedom, she used the North Star to lead the way much like the Star of Bethlehem led the Magi to Jesus. There were a lot of big ideas, but three main points I led the student to express- -Quilts were commonly made in the 1800s and the star pattern was very popular. Students used the geometric shapes (we discussed squares, rectangles, and triangles in my antique quilt example). Students used parallelograms (diamonds) to make their stars -Students learned about constellations and drew a big and little dipper to locate the North Star -They included an Image of Harriet; students used a provided image or drew her themselves. There were a lot of big ideas and I was honored to lead a discussion about civil rights, inclusiveness, diversity, and adversity. The students were kind and thoughtful in their understanding of these monumental and historical figures during black history month at St. Paul’s. I look forward to more opportunities to make firm connections from our American past to our futures.
In one of my lessons planned for the month of February and Black History Month is a Pop Art Portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. I wanted to tie this legendary historical figure to a movement of the time. We looked at Andy Warhol's portraits and talked about his collaboration with the artist Jean-Michael Basquiat. The students watched Mr. Martin Luther's speech, I Have a Dream. We talked about some of their observations. We talked about the civil rights movement of the 1960s and how Martin Luther was an advocate for equal rights for African Americans but also for other minorities, women, and people with disabilities. I downloaded this printable from the blog link listed below. I used color theory as part of the lesson. Student were to chose a primary, secondary, cool, or warm color palette. In a variety of ways to service all student levels we colored plain paper in kindergarten with markers, colored pencils, or crayons. Older students used sharpies to color transparencies for a stained glass look. In this particular printable we talked about the word chosen on the bottom "dream".
![]() Inspiration Andy Warhol (1930-1987) loved celebrities, so he painted them as well. From these beginnings he developed his later style and subjects. Instead of working on a signature subject matter, as he started out to do, he worked more and more on a signature style, slowly eliminating the handmade from the artistic process. Warhol frequently used silk-screening; his later drawings were traced from slide projections. At the height of his fame as a painter, Warhol had several assistants who produced his silk-screen multiples, following his directions to make different versions and variations. Jean-Michel Basquiat's (1960-1988) art focused on ideas such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) Was a Civil Rights Activist that not only stood up against segregation and the equality of african Americans but also for the rights of women and people with disabilities. Link to Martin Luther Jr"s speech I Have a Dream www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/martin-luther-king-i-have-a-dream-video-washington-dc-lincoln-memorial-civil-rights-movement-a8286926.html Link to Printable and other Martin Luther Jr Projects www.triedandtrueblog.com/martin-luther-king-day-window-art/ ![]()
After creating a drawing of a mythical creature using at least three characteristics of living creatures, let's create a fabric story of this creature. Using felt squares and fabric scraps collage a picture of your creature to tell a fabric story.
Inspiration We look to two examples of how stories can be told through fabric. The Unicorn Tapestries (1495-1505), Metropolitan Museum of art. In tapestry threads are woven to make the structure and picture. Faith Ringgold 1930- Ringgold is an American painter, writer, mixed media sculptor and performance artist, best known for her narrative quilts. Her artistic practice is extremely varied – from painting to quilts, from sculptures and performance art to children's books. As an educator, she taught in both the New York City Public school system and at college level. In 1973, she quit teaching public school to devote herself to creating art full-time. In her work of the story quilts we see that fabric is sewn together to make the structure.
![]() Inspiration Roberto Benavidez (b. 1973) “The greatest influence on my recent work is the piñata,” explains multidisciplinary artist Roberto Benavidez. His papier-mâché and crêpe paper versions of beasts and demons plucked from Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1450) have become something of a viral sensation. Piñatas are usually considered a throw-away amusement, designed to be hung from a tree and smashed up by kids at a birthday party, but Benavidez treats the form seriously. His Bosch-inspired sculptures—faithful 3-D reproductions of the painting’s strange characters—are elegant, funny, and a little frightening. The larger piñatas in the series are the size of small children, with delicate layers of crêpe paper covering their bodies like fur or feathers. Benavidez, who identifies as mixed-race, feels a cultural connection to piñatas as a sculptural form that has been a part of Mexican Catholic traditions since the 16th century. “By drawing from Western art imagery and incorporating Italian crêpe paper in my work, I’m touching upon the craft’s history, as well as highlighting its parallel to my own identity,” he explains. This week, students revisited the American artist Wayne Thiebaud. We looked to Mr. Thiebaud's gumball painting. This project is aimed at students of all levels. Tracing templates to create shapes; plates and buttons or pennies, using a ruler, or getting creative by filling the gumball machine with sometime wackier than gumballs! Have some fun with this project, get colorful, and creative!
![]() Inspiration Wayne Thiebaud (b.1920) is an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs—as well as for his landscapes and figure paintings. Thiebaud is associated with the pop art movement because of his interest in objects of mass culture, although his early works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists. Thiebaud uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work. The Kings Cake, Galette des Rois is a tradition not only in France but other cultures such as Spanish and German speaking countries, Greece, England, and in the United States in specifically in New Orleans and other southern states. In the baked cake a baby figure is representing Jesus is to be found by the lucky guest who becomes "king" for the day. This tradition is representative of the Magi, Wisemen, or King's search for Jesus. ![]() Wayne Thiebauld is an American born artist that looks to pop culture and commercial design. He uses the subject matter of cakes, pies, donuts, lipstick shoes. In his later work he creates landscapes. His style is defined by the this almost frosting like layers of paint. In this lesson we will create our own magnificent King Cakes. What will yours include? How many patterns and colors? Materials
![]() Inspiration Wayne Thiebauld is an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs—as well as for his landscapes and figure paintings. Thiebaud is associated with the pop art movement because of his interest in objects of mass culture, although his early works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists. Thiebaud uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work. A short video of him and his work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTZJfenUpsA Epiphany is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God as Jesus Christ and takes place on January 6th, the twelfth day of Christmas. We think about the sky, was it nighttime? How do we know? The story tells us there was a star. What color is our nighttime sky? Students learned about silhouettes and how the Magi figures will be black against the skyline. Our templates are limited to a camel smaller than the figure. I explained to the students how they can use them as a guideline and make the camel taller, the hats different on the men, the gifts in their hands different shapes. Modifying the project with templates ensured the success of the students, We were limited to one class period. With more time we wold have explored creating our own figures for our silhouettes against the skyline. Inspiration In the book of Matthew we read: 2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. In month of December students will be making art projects focused on the anticipation of Christmas. In this first week we looked the painting by Jan Van Eyck, The Dresden Triptych painted in 1437. A triptych is a paint or low relief sculpture with three parts. In Mr. Van Eyck painting, to the right is Mary in a blue dress pregnant with Jesus. In the center Mary is in red and holding Jesus, to the left St. Michael and a priest. We talked about the first Christmas and how the Nativity might be represented in a three paneled picture of their creation. Materials
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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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