Our school has the best garden, thanks CitySprouts! After learning about the natural earthworks of Andy Goldsworthy, the 3rd graders made a plan to use naturally found objects in the garden to create temporary works of art. They collected leaves, rocks, sticks, apples, straw; and worked in teams to create something special. They watched a short excerpt from Goldsworthy’s documentary: Rivers and Tides, and gained a lot of inspiration!
It just wouldn’t be Fall in the art studio without any leaf art! With the 2/3 and 4/5 spec. needs classes, we experimented with 3 different methods of creating art with leaves. First, students made crayon rubbings of leaves. Second, they used tempera paint to print the leaves; and third, they sprayed watercolors over a leaf for a silhouette of a leaf.
Can you think of other ways to make art with leaves?
The 1st graders practiced their painting palette skills. Given only primary colors and white, students were challenged to create 6 different shades of one secondary color. They had to keep playing with amounts of each color to create the different shades.
Continuing on with the sense of touch, the 2/3 and 4/5 Spec. Needs classes played with shaving cream. What a fantastic material! After some playing and smushing, the students dropped liquid watercolors onto a pad of shaving cream. They carefully swirled the colors through out the cream, and pressed paper on top. After scraping the shaving cream off the paper, a wonderful marbleized effect is left. If you haven’t tried this, I highly recommend it!
Save the date for this exciting program, hosted by the Peabody Museum, in Cambridge. Ventura Fabian, and his son Norberto, are artists from Oaxaca, Mexico, who carve wood into alebrijes. Our Morse 2nd graders just finished up a project where they created their own Oaxacan alebrijes. If you can make it, it promises to be a memorable event!
The 4/5 spec. needs class has just started a sensory art unit that will explore art in conjunction with the five senses. This week and next week is focused on the sense of touch. Coloring on sandpaper is a very tactile experience; sometimes it feels sticky, sometimes scratchy. The magic part of the day is ironing the crayon-on-sandpaper onto fabric. The heat transfers the crayon image from the sandpaper to the fabric! If you look closely, you can see the sand granules in the photos below. Next week, our sense of touch will lead us to a squishy, soft art making experience.
Do you know how to pronounce “Oaxaca”? Every 2nd grader should be able to tell you! They are learning about the Mexican folk art of Oaxacan alebrijes. Instead of carving fresh wood, the students assembled their animals from wood pieces. Our next step is painting bright, colorful patterns on the alebrijes. A great picture book about this folk art is Dream Carver!
(I think the bug-eyed look is popular this year!)
The mixed K/1 and 2/3 spec. needs classes came and did more investigating with seashells…this time with clay. They pressed and rolled the shells through clay to create various textures. After being fired (“the clay turned into a rock!”), the 2/3 class painted black glaze into the shells marks, and both classes painted watercolors over the tiles.
The 1st graders have learned the 3 most important art equations: red+yellow=orange; yellow+blue=green; and blue+red=purple.
Do you know how the color wheel tells you the answers? Ask a first grader!
They proved the art equations this week by painting their own color wheels. Primary colors first and secondary colors second.
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