O'Keeffe-scapes

Georgia O’Keeffe was a ground breaking artist in the early – mid 1900’s.

She is best known for her up-close paintings of flowers.  … So close, sometimes, that her subjects tended to look abstract and beautiful in form, value and color.

This idea of beauty carried over into anything she made including her paintings of bones.  Bones are not generally thought to be beautiful but O’Keeffe was able to share her perspective with anyone that would take notice to her art work. 

In this project, we observed bones and used a viewfinder to select an interesting composition.  We also did a lot of experimenting with value.  While we warmed up using graphite to create different values, we journeyed to using charcoal (a material that O’Keeffe used in her early art works).  The journey included the discovery of patience + practice = results.  What started as a simple moving line on paper transformed into a 3-dimensional form.  Color was later added in the negative space to add contrast and give the illusion of space. 

 Take a look at all that we did.

 I think 6th graders did fabulous, but it wasn't until I read their artist statements that I discovered what was going on inside those deeply focused heads.  ... and it helps to know that they enjoyed the challenge too.

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ZENDALAS

I like to begin each quarter relearning the elements and principles of art.  Then we do a project that I consider a playground to experiment with the elements and principles.   

For 6th graders that playground is the Zendala project.  I enjoy this project because it is rich with cultural significance but also dashed with a contemporary twist.  The idea is they are creating a design that is symbolic of themselves.  Every choice they make is a step towards personal expression.  The first decision everyone makes is what type of balance they would like to use - radial, symmetrical, or asymmetrical.  I don't hold back that radial is a challenge for me personally, since it requires such precision; it would drive me crazy.  Although some do enjoy this challenge.  We are all different and this simple fact should be celebrated in everything we do and make. 

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Sweet Treats

In 2nd grade we learned from one of my very favorite artists, Wayne Thiebaud.  He paints things to look so delicious and REAL.  How did he get his yummy looking pastries and treats to look so ... yummy?  Well, this is how we began our adventure ... wondering this very thing. 


French Pastries - Wayne Thiebaud



As a class we came to some insightful conclusions.  1. He drew 3-D shapes (forms).  2. He added cast shadows and showed value.  3. He made the paint and decorations look like icing. 

After sketching some forms we were able to draw all sorts of things from cupcakes to brownies to ice cream cones.  Knowing how to draw forms gave use the skills to draw many things.  We took it to the next step and designed our own layer cake for a special celebration.  We painted them with value and added decorations, a cast shadow, and a space.  I looooooooooooooooove these!