Channeling Kandinsky

So, some art projects come about because they are a natural fit with something we are currently studying. Others (like the one I am sharing today) come about because I have too much stuff!!!!

My student teacher had a bunch of left over felt from a project she did during one of her Social Studies units. Then I got another donation of fabrics from the quilting ladies at a local church. Fabric overload!!!!

So, I decided to do a textile art project. A very, very simple art project that was inspired by my love of all things Kandinsky and, especially, his use of circles.

The inspiration:

The project in process:

The finished project:

They look so pretty and a spot of colour to our windows. I love how they sway in the breeze when I open the windows. Such a simple project. I love it!!!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Gallery Walk Part 2

Here are the other half of the wonderful art pieces my lovelies did at the Art Gallery last month. Better late than never, I suppose!!!

Square
"I like squares because I like squares."
M.I.

Cachao
"I like it because I painted a Canada flag."
S.Z.

The Scrape of Storm
"I named it The Scrape of Storm because I used the comb and scraped it and for the storm part I did lots of black. Altogether it looked like a storm."
K.B. 

Diamond
"I named the painting Diamond because I like diamonds."
R.L.

Fish
"I named my art Fish because it looks like a fish."
J.K.

Undersea Storm
"I think it looks like underwater."
R.M.

The Tornadoes
"I called it Tornadoes because I see a tornado."
J.M.

The 2 4 6 8 Line
"I wrote The 2 4 6 8 Line because I like lines and numbers."
T.Z.
         

 
Line + Diamond + Circle 
( The artist used the symbols for the shapes not words but I can't get my computer to do it properly. Sorry!)
"I like my painting."
M.Y.C. 

The Big Dude
"I called it that because it looks sort of like a dude."
D.H.

The Fiery Land of Doom
"It looks really dark and really doomy and fiery."
E.E.

And one last one that, unfortunately, does not have an Artist's Statement to accompany it as this lovely went on a vacation right after the field trip.

So, there you have it! All of the masterpieces created by my lovelies on our wonderful field trip to the VAG. If you haven't been, you need to go and check it out! Especially right now over Spring Break...they have daily programing that is free for children 12 and under. So, what are you waiting for? Check it out already!!!!

Click on the picture to go to the Family Activities page at the VAG!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Gallery Walk Part 1

Last week we went on a fabulous field trip to the local art gallery. I bet you never thought you would hear the words fabulous and field trip together from me ever, did you?

We saw the Emily Carr/Landon Mackenzie exhibit and did a great workshop where the students had to do very abstract art in the style of Landon Mackenzie. For some this was easy peasy lemon squeezy but for others thinking abstractly was very difficult. 

I have been meaning to post these photos all week and today is the day. You could say that this overdue post is in lieu of working on report cards (which is what I probably should be doing!!!!). 

Randoming

"I named my painting Randoming because the painting is really, really random and I really like random stuff."

A.L.

Diamond Sun
"I named my painting Diamond Sun because I love the sun and the diamonds."
A.C.

The Black Sun
"It has some lava and has some weather and a black sun. I have some diamonds and some rain."
D. Z. 

Mommy's First Painting
"I named it Mommy's First Painting because my mommy does not know how to paint."
J. H.

Northern Lights
"I called mine Northern Lights because I like the Northern Lights."
T. B.

Confusion
"I named this painting Confusion because I was confused when I made it."
L. W.

Sunrays
"I called this Sunrays because it has sun rays."
J. G.

The Storm
"I couldn't sit still. My fingers were all over the page. I love the colour purple! Full of fun energy!"
Y. Z.

Shapes
"I named my painting Shapes because I love shapes."
Y. Z.

Under The Sidewalk
"I named my painting Under The Sidewalk because my painting reminds me about under the sidewalk. When you go under the sidewalk it is small and dark."
J. C.

Stay tuned...there will be more to come later in the week!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Learning About Colour...

In art we have been working our way through the basic elements of art. I told you about the lesson we did on line last week. Before that lesson we did a lesson on primary and secondary colours. 

Once again, I got my basic inspiration from pinterest. (Honestly, HOW did I live before the invention of pinterest? It is a teacher's dream filing cabinet!!!!!) 

I wanted to use Piet Mondrian for the primary colour part of the lesson. But I also wanted to incorporate secondary colours into the final piece. When I saw this image, I had my inspiration!

We started with Mondrian and, using construction paper and glue, created our own versions of his grid-based paintings.

Then we learned a bit about Keith Haring and practiced making "Haring-esque" people. The kids had fun with this as I let them start with stick people (something I usually don't let them do!) to get the body's action. Then they drew a curvy person around it. Their final versions were coloured in secondary colours using crayons and added to their Mondrians. 

Again, my camera phone stank at taking pictures (thought iPhones were supposed to have good cameras?) and most of my pics of the art came out so blurry you can't really appreciate them. But, here are three that worked out!

They looked totally awesome all grouped together on the bulletin board and were a big hit at parent-teacher conferences. 

Next up....texture!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Learning About Line....

So, we've started learning about the basic elements of art this month. 

Since both last year and this year I am teaching art to two classes it means that some of the students had me for art last year, too. And, that means, I have to get creative and find new lessons to introduce the basic elements.

And that is how we came to be doing line pumpkins this past week. 

I found a wonderful lesson on one of my favourite art blogs, deep space sparkle. Her lesson looked like this...

Click on the picture to go straight to her lesson!

and it inspired this!

It was a great lesson on different kinds of lines (straight, curvy, spiral, thick, thin etc) but ended up also being about colour a bit as I encouraged the students to play with blending when colouring in each section. 

I wish I had more to show you but my darn phone takes the world's worst pictures!!!! (Pretty sure I complained about that last time on here, too!!!!) I need to get with it and start carrying my camera around with me everywhere I go!

Stay tuned for some (blurry) pictures of our colour lesson on primary and secondary colours!

Cheers!

Olwyn

3D and Wayne Thiebaud

Before Spring Break started we were working on shape and form in art. We used Wayne Thiebaud as inspiration for our 3D art. 

Check out what some of my lovelies did!

Nice, huh? Bet it makes you feel like eating cake!

We are now moving on and working on colour in art class. We'll be starting with primary colours so stay tuned for some art around that concept.

Happy Monday!

Olwyn

Community Art

Every Thursday morning we do art with the whole community. That means that we have roughly 72 students all working on the same art project at the same time. It can get a little bit crazy!

I love it because 9 times out of 10 I get to come up with and teach the lesson. If you haven't figured out that art and creativity are my favourite things to teach, then I guess you haven't been reading very carefully!

Anywho, last week I wanted to do a project that was simple, small and made a big impact. I found this wonderful project done at a school with an artist in residence and it looked pretty amazing. 

from here

I took this amazing installation piece as my inspiration and we did a lesson on symmetry, colour and shape. The final result is a beautiful bulletin board outside of our community. It makes me happy each and every time I walk by.

And the quote is something I think that we could all bear to hear more often...

Happy Flying!

Olwyn

Go Canada Go!!!

Are you busy watching the Olympics at all hours of the day?

I talked to a cashier at Safeway the other day who got up at 3 a.m. to watch an event live and was veeeerrry tired at work when I saw her. 

Seems crazy to me when there is so much instant replay!

Anywho, our student teacher, has been doing an Olympic unit in gym with both my class and the class next door. 

We made torn paper collage Canadian flags in a community art lesson. Students got to watch the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics on the smart board while they created. Which was very cool since they were all very wee when it happened!

Then our two classes did an Olympic walk one morning on our way to gym. It was so cute. The students waved their flags proudly as they paraded past the office. There were Canadian and Olympic flag bearers and everything!

Once at the gym, we sang Oh Canada and then did our own version of the opening ceremonies around the gym to raucous cheers of "Go Canada Go!!!!"

Then our student teacher put up a display on the wall near the parking lot (A bulletin board that has been empty since we moved into the school. Well, not anymore! Our community is calling dibs!!!)

And, right there is another reason why I am loving having this student teacher. She has brought a new perspective to activities - a fresh eye through which I can see. 

I would never have thought of doing this activity. For one thing, I am not an Olympic (or any other sporting event) lover. For another thing, I do not like teaching gym (that's why I traded my gym for art!!!) How lucky the students are to have had the experience of this Olympic unit. I am glad that she was here to think of it and teach it.

And equally glad that I won't have to think about it for another 4 years! 

Cheers!

Ms. Hughes