Symmetrical Monsters

We had a great day in art class. Not only did we have a birthday girl in class, we also had a special guest parent working with us!

We began class by asking the question: "What is symmetry?" The truth is we really had no idea! At least, the kids were not familiar with the word. Once we discussed it's meaning, the kids were able to identify symmetry all around us, from the tables and chairs to one another's faces.

We followed up with a few worksheets to accustom the kids to thinking about, identifying and creating symmetrical images.

After that we got out paints and paper! I did a demonstration for the kids using a folded piece of paper and 4 colors of paint. I painted on one side of the paper only, filling a monster (triangle) shape with color. Then I carefully folded the paper in half and pressed it. When the paper was opened again, voila!, a symmetrical monster! As a final touch we added eyeballs to our monsters. The kids had alot of fun. It is a special project and well suited to the age because controlling the materials and being exact is not important. The most important thing is to be open to the unexpected results.

And the results were exciting and unexpected! After the kids finished we took a few moments to do a mini art critique. All the kids were brave enough to share their work - and all the kids participated in commenting on one another's work. Wonderful!

Mark Rothko and feelings

Today we started class with a slideshow exploring the abstract work of Mark Rothko. We looked at a number of his color paintings. The kids had a chance to pick a painting and talk about what it elicited within them. Sometimes the images reminded us of things, places or people from our lives, but more often we noted that they gave us a particular feeling.

With the idea of connecting colors and feelings, we did some small works on paper. We began with by brainstorming a list of emotions. Then we picked four emotions that we wanted to work with (happy, excited, sad and "wild and crazy") and began work.

First the kids chose the paper color (blue, green, red or purple) that they felt matched best with the emotion. Then they used soft pastels to color their papers using (mostly) rectangles. Beautiful, exciting work!

                                   

We also finished the surprises for Donuts for Dad this morning!

A surprise for Donuts for Dad's Day! (but not yet)

Today we worked on a special surprise for Donuts for Dad's Day! (No peeking!)

While the kids worked individually with me on their surprise projects the rest of the class had a chance to work in their sketchbooks designing their dream houses. They also had some time for free drawing.

Next week we will get back to work with a new project based on Mark Rothko's work with color. I expect the kids to make -alot- of small pieces. Get ready for color!

A Return to Outer Space (and welcome Maddox!)

Happy New Year!

We started the year off right in art class by welcoming Maddox (our 10th kindergartner!) to class. As you can see below, Maddox is already an artist and went right to work creating his own outer space scene. Excellent work, Maddox!

The rest of the class proceeded to cut out the planets, stars, and spaceships that they drew before the new year and then glued them to their outer space backgrounds. As you can see, this work is spectacular. It will look even better when I am able to frame (and slightly flatten) them! I hope to have them hanging in the classroom hallways in the coming week.

Beautiful, exciting work!