MS: Lichtenstein Portraits

Middle School students drew self-portraits in the style of American Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. They learned that by isolating and enlarging a comic strip panel, Lichtenstein was both making a parody of comic books while also elevating mass-produced visual commodities to fine art. Before the lesson, I had students bring in props and take pictures for them to trace. For their skin and hair, they colored over a sheet of Ben-Day dots, a printing process seen in old comic books. Lastly, students adjusted their facial features to look more stylized and traced everything with black marker.

UE: Totem Poles

I was always intrigued by totem poles for their beautiful craftsmanship and storytelling. Students are so great at coming up with stories so I was excited to do this lesson with them. They first learned that totem poles are carved out of large trees by indigenous people of North America. Some totem poles tell legends, celebratory events or unpleasant events, while others symbolize a tribe or a family. Animals play an important part in totem pole mythology. I looked up their symbolism, typed up the information and had students write a short legend using three of the animals according to their attributes. Since we couldn't carve wood, I used recycled paper as the next best thing. Students divided up their paper into thirds, drew an animal in each section and also designed the back. Then they colored their totem poles and I helped them cut small slits for bird wings and beak. Love how they're turning out!

LE: Aboriginal Dot Painting

Lower Elementary students are studying different cultures around the world. Artist and traveler, Brendan Burns, visited the class and shared about his experience in Australia and how he fell in love with the didgeridoo. Didgeridoos are hollow wooden wind instruments carved by indigenous people of Northern Australia and often decorated with dot painting. To prepare students for this visit, I had them learn about Aboriginal Dot Painting. There is a lot of mystery behind the precise meanings of these paintings because clans imparted secrets into them; the dots cover up the secrets about the location of water holes and sacred ceremonies only revealed to the people in the clan. Aboriginal Dot paintings also have an underlying reference to the Dreamtime or the Dreaming, a sacred and complex set of beliefs of how the earth and all of its creation came to be. We chose to draw a lizard since it is an Australian animal prevalent in many dot paintings along with water holes, which you need for survival in the desert. Using q-tips and paint, students applied dots along the contour of the objects. Having Brendan show us the didgeridoos with the beautiful dot paintings on them really completed this lesson for the students. I could hear their brains click! I also included photos of Brendan playing the digeridoo and students dancing along to its deep resonant sounds. Thank you Brendan!!

LE: Cave Paintings

When I think of cave men, the "it's so easy, even a cave man can do it" Geico commercials come to mind. But a look at cave paintings prove otherwise. They are breathtaking, anatomically precise, and there's nothing easy about it. The purpose of these mysterious paintings are yet to be discovered, but one theory is that shaman (communicators of the spirit world) painted animals in order to capture their spirit and ensure the success of the hunt. Students pretended they were shaman and started their mystical process. They first crumpled up a recycled sheet of paper and painted an animal in earthy colors. They also added a layer of soft pastels and colored the background. When they were done, they "signed" their painting with their handprint, a symbol of the shaman's identity.

Thank You Aaron Meshon!!

I am so excited to show these photos. Last year, UE students created personal maps that were inspired by RISD illustrator Aaron Meshon. Aaron found the students' work online and generously mailed us his beautiful postcards!! I was speechless. He also included a wonderful letter for me to read to the class. The students were so awed and touched. They LOVED the postcards and couldn't stop looking at all the clever and fun details in them that make Aaron Meshon's maps so unique. I think they all want to go to RISD now! If you're reading this Aaron, my students and I say a big THANK YOU and we are your biggest fans!!

Community Art Project

This year’s community art project was inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s Farbstudie painting. You may remember that I did this lesson with LE at the beginning of the year for the sole purpose of experimenting with color. I've expanded that lesson to incorporate the symbolic significance behind the Circle. According to Kandinsky, the Circle is the most peaceful shape and represents the human soul. Other meanings are unity, nurturing, and infinite energy.

The goal of this project was for students to explore different expressions of the Circle and communicate it through rings of color. After discussing extensively as a class, each student from LE-MS painted their idea on a small square canvas. Some students painted cycles, such as seasons, planets revolving around the sun, human and animal life, or time. Others painted the emotional quality of the shape. Teachers will be participating in this as well so stay tuned for the final product!

MS: Optical Art

Middle school students are finishing up their optical drawings based on the work of French Hungarian artist, Victor Vasarely. Special thanks to Mrs. Smith for inspiring this lesson! The students were really invested in their drawings and they came out great.