Our most recent artist was a Russian and the Father of abstract art--Wassily Kandinsky. For a musician such as me, it was exciting to hear about the connections between art and music that Kandinsky emphasized, as well as the meaning of different hues of color. Students had fun listening to music while looking at his art. We crafted our Kandinsky creations by rolling some dice for abstract shapes, watercoloring, and adding "textures" to the work. I may be partial, but I think our abstracts could rival Kandinsky himself, and would certainly make him proud.
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Before we worked on our Christmas candle projects, we studied the great Vincent van Gogh. The kids LOVED hearing about this quirky painter and his eccentric habits. They also LOVED emulating his style in our Starry Night Over the Twin Cities chalk pastel pictures. We had a blast using the heavy strokes and overlapping, vibrant colors characteristic of van Gogh. Here are how they turned out. There are lots, because I was in love with the work everyone did on this one! Another round of sketches was collected just before Thanksgiving. Below is just a sampling of the fun and creative sketches I got to enjoy! As a side note...there are a few from the last round mixed in that I missed posting last time. Our latest artist study involved a Swiss sculptor named Giacometti. The students really enjoyed guessing the names of his spare, thin, small sculptures that center around people and animals. The thing they enjoyed the most was looking at the emotions and movement portrayed by the seemingly simple sculptures. We then had a blast (I say we because I made one too!) creating wire and aluminum foil sculptures of our own. Another dimension was added with shadow projections on a piece of tag board. This was a quick, fun art lesson working with another 3 dimensional medium. Check out some of the results below!
So the last couple weeks we spent on a really neat and much-copied Dutch artist named Piet Mondrian. The kids absolutely LOVED his work and the simplicity of it. When asked why they thought it was still so popular today, one thoughtful seventh grader responded that it may be because it always seems so modern, it never really goes out of style. That was a great addition to our discussion, especially since the type of work that Mondrian is most famous for is called De Stijl. The students greatly enjoyed watching Mondrian's work "morph" from early to late. They had a blast recreating their own De Stijl animal outlines. Here are just a few--they were all so great it was hard to choose. Super work, artists!
Salvador Dalí is one of the most recognized artists of recent times. His "Persistence of Memory," among other works, captured the imagination of art lovers around the world and in our classroom! The students learned that not only was he a painter, but he worked with many other media as well, and LOVED to be silly and off-the-wall. The many mustaches of Dalí were a big hit with the students, too. We decided to make our own dream collage sculptures, using giant cardboard boxes cut up and painting different portions of dreams on each "tile." It was a challenge for many reasons, and eventually we had to just say--what's done is done. It was a learning experience for everyone, and one that stretched our creativity and patience. Many students didn't quite get to finish in the way that they would have liked to, so there are not many samples below. But the project was still enjoyed. Thanks for your inspiration, Dalí!
The first round of sketches were collected this week. Lots of unique and creative sketching going on! These are some of the best from each grade. Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 6 Time for our first art blog post! Our projects to start the year this year were a getting-to-know-you kind of project incorporating silhouettes and collages. We traced each other's profiles, then added things inside our head that fill it--what we love, what we think about, and what defines us. Here is a sampling of some of the best work from this project.
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Middle School ArtHere is a sampling of some of our art projects. We hope you enjoy the creativity and talent as much as we do! Archives
November 2015
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