![]() Andy Goldsworthy, Rowan Leaves and Hole, 1987. One of my favorite artists that I first learned about from my early college years is Andy Goldsworthy, a born in 1956 in England. I love his impressive use of nature within nature. He uses the brilliance of nature to create a new experience. In many of his works he uses a circular placement of sticks, stones, leaves. In combination with the concept of a mandala we can all embrace what nature has to offer. In gathering things that surround us and rearranging them gives us a sense of beauty and importance. Mandalas have long since been a part of the human experience. From the ancient Minoan labyrinths, navajo mandalas, Tibetan monks, rosette windows of medieval cathedrals, and many other cultures, the placement and design in the round is as old as humankind.
A lot has been written on the subject of mandalas. Search for yourself! These are a few links I found informative:
https://www.invaluable.com/blog/what-is-a-mandala/ http://www.mandalaproject.org/What/Main.html https://artfulparent.com/mandalas-in-nature-mandala-art/
0 Comments
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 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. 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. This week we look to the artist Elizabeth Catlett. Her sculpture is reductive, meaning to take away. In our project we will plan and experiment with Ivory soap. Plan to keep your designs simple and close to the shape of the soap, Practice thinking about what you may want to carve by drawing in your sketchbook. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Ivory Soap Plastic Butter Knife or other tools for carving and making marks Inspiration Elizabeth Catlett (April 15, 1915 – April 2, 2012) Catlett was an American and Mexican graphic artist and sculptor best known for her images of the African-American experience in the 20th century, which often focused on the female experience. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C. to parents working in education, and was the grandchild of freed slaves. It was difficult for a black woman in this time to pursue a career as a working artist. Catlett devoted much of her career to teaching. However, a fellowship awarded to her in 1946 allowed her to travel to Mexico City, where she worked with the Taller de Gráfica Popular for twenty years and became head of the sculpture department for the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. In the 1950s, her main means of artistic expression shifted from print to sculpture, though she never gave up printing. Video Link to the Lesson by Mrs.Buss
youtu.be/40xUqNeGb7M In this lesson we look to the artist Frida Kahlo. She created many self portraits and included animals or items symbolic to her in her compositions. Picture day is also coming soon at St Paul's and we read in the lower grades K-5 the book, Mrs.Toggle's Picture Day by Robin Pulver. Students are given directions to create a portrait of themselves and to include 1-3 things that are their favorite or have significant meaning to them. In my example I chose to include a landscape and a Blue Jay because it is my youngest child's favorite bird. Many things can be added to make your self portrait your own. Your pet, favorite color(s) in the background, a favorite place, a favorite toy but something that hold importance for you. Practice your drawing in a sketchbook or separate piece of paper, practice eye, ear, nose, mouth, shapes, practice your favorite or important items. When you are ready draw the portrait on the watercolor paper with pencil draw lightly so you can correct or make any changes. Use any colored media, colored pencils, crayons, markers, oil pastels, and/or watercolor. fill the page and like Ms.Kahlo use VIBRANT colors. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Watercolor Paper Crayons Color pencil Markers Watercolor Water cup Brushes Mirror Visual examples of your favorite or important items ![]() Inspiration Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors. She is celebrated in Mexico for her attention to Mexican and indigenous culture and by feminists for her depiction of the female experience and form. Kahlo, who suffered from polio as a child, nearly died in a bus accident as a teenager. She suffered multiple fractures of her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, broken foot and dislocated shoulder. She began to focus heavily on painting while recovering in a body cast. In her lifetime, she had 30 operations. Life experience is a common theme in Kahlo's approximately 200 paintings, sketches and drawings. Her physical and emotional pain are depicted starkly on canvases, as is her turbulent relationship with her husband, fellow artist Diego Rivera, who she married twice. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits. We began our very first school day and very first hour in 6-8th grade practicing mindfulness. We settled our minds and bodies to let thoughts and feelings like anxiousness, fear, or even excitement pass by us. We also allow our mind to wander... Only for a few minutes and then we recognized that maybe we may have felt calmer. As a class we discussed subconscious and related it to dreams or day dreaming, much like the meditation that we just practiced. We also discuss the concept of abstract art and looked to the work of Joan Miro. We watched a brief video on his work. I described automatic drawing and the kids went to work. I began each grade this week with the same lesson, 3-5th grade and 1-2nd grade. Surprisingly the kids were very receptive to settling their minds for just a few minutes. This year my goal was to introduce mindfulness as a starting point to the day in our art room. The world moves so fast, we get caught up even as children in the hustle and bustle. MaterialsWatercolor Paper Pencil Colored Pencil Crayons Watercolor Brushes Water cup Inspiration![]() Joan Miro (1893-1983) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona in 1975, and another, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, was established in his adoptive city of Palma de Mallorca in 1981. Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride. In numerous interviews dating from the 1930s onwards, Miró expressed contempt for conventional painting methods as a way of supporting bourgeois society, and declared an "assassination of painting" in favour of upsetting the visual elements of established painting. My children and I decided to have an art date. It works well because I can get some teaching experience and I have to admit with the heat we were all a bit squirrelly. I didn't spend half the time explaining how awesome Mr. Matisse is and why. We did however accomplish the project with success. In this project the kids create their own paper by painting tempera paint on the paper. It was allowed to dry while they were instructed to make a silhouette of a figure, which I ended up compromising, as long as it had a body and limbs. (I can't and I'm done, two of my least favorite phrases ever uttered by child or student, because it simply is never true) After the silhouette was made we collaged the background with our dry painted papers cut into shapes. Some shapes geometric some shapes organic. Materials Pencil White paper Tempera Paint Brushes Water Black Paper Scissors Glue/Glue Stick ![]() Inspiration In the late 1940s, Henri Matisse turned almost exclusively to cut paper as his primary medium, and scissors as his chief implement, introducing a radically new operation that came to be called a cut-out. Matisse would cut painted sheets into forms of varying shapes and sizes—from the vegetal to the abstract—which he then arranged into lively compositions, striking for their play with color and contrast, their exploitation of decorative strategies, and their economy of means. Initially, these compositions were of modest size but, over time, their scale grew along with Matisse’s ambitions for them, expanding into mural or room-size works. A brilliant final chapter in Matisse’s long career, the cut-outs reflect both a renewed commitment to form and color and an inventiveness directed to the status of the work of art, whether as a unique object, environment, ornament, or a hybrid of all of these. https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1429#:~:text=In%20the%20late%201940s%2C%20Henri,be%20called%20a%20cut%2Dout.&text=Henri%20Matisse%3A%20The%20Cut%2DOuts%20is%20a%20groundbreaking%20reassessment%20of,this%20important%20body%20of%20work. |
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
August 2023
Categories
All
|