7th Grade Chalk Pastel Close-Ups

In seventh grade art we learned about the work of Georgia O'Keeffe. O'Keeffe was an American painter who specialized in close-up paintings of nature (mostly flowers). Here are some examples of her work:

 

We discussed O'Keeffe's process of "selection, elimination, and emphasis." The students decided this meant that it is okay to eliminate some things from your composition, and select/emphasize other parts for dramatic effect. They worked on this in their own chalk pastel close-ups. Students did not need to do a flower -- they could do anything as long as it was close-up and required blending. Check them out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6th Grade Abstract Landscapes

This year, the sixth grade learned about Wassily Kandinsky's landscape paintings. Kandinsky was a Russian Abstract Expressionist painter. We looked at examples of his work (below) and spent multiple class periods debating the artist's intentions.

 

For this painting, students debated whether Kandinsky was trying to paint an inviting landscape or a scary one. Students had to explain why they thought it was scary/inviting. The question I posed was, "Do you want to visit this house? Why or why not?"

 

For this painting, students debated weather the landscape has a stream or a road, and whether the composition is inviting (and why). They really got into this one. Pretty heated arguments!

 

And below you can find the students' abstract landscape paintings. Students were only provided with primary colors and black and white. I think they did a great job of blending, color mixing, and showing a range of values!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FYI this is a man holding onto to a cup and a bowl to prevent himself from being sucked out into the universe. Yes, you read that correctly.

 

 

Cool paper-towel texture technique!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7th Grade Stained Glass

This year, seventh graders made "stained glass" window panels out of black paper, transparency sheets, markers, tissue paper, and the use of X-Acto blades. We began by looking at examples of stained glass and learning the history and original purpose of the art. (A long time ago, most people were illiterate; stained glass was an excellent way to visually present information, especially bible stories.) For our project, students could choose to create an abstract or representational panel. Below you can see examples of their beautiful art.

I feel it worth mentioning that it took me about three weeks to successfully hang these artworks. I tried masking tape, packing tape, frog tape, two different brands of sticky tak, and hot glue. All of these adhesives failed to hold these art projects to our cafeteria windows. It was frustrating. A last, however, I tried 3M duct tape. The stained glass has been hanging ever since. Thank goodness.

 

 

This student chose not to use an X-Acto blade.

 

 

 

Thanks to the seventh grade, our cafeteria looks a lot better now!

Exploring Memory

For high school introduction to 2D and to 3D art classes, students were to create a work of art themed around memory. The only other requisite for this project was that 2D had to create a collage, while 3D had to create paper sculptures. Everyone was encouraged to interpret the theme of memory however they pleased. Some chose to illustrate memory loss, others examined the troubling memories of soldiers, and a few students drew upon their dreams and nightmares. Below you can find images of them working, as well as beautiful picture of their final projects. Everyone worked extremely hard and it shows in their meaningful, thoughtful, and symbolic work.

This student did her project on phosphenes, or colors and lights you see behind you eyes -- especially when you rub them. Very cool and abstract idea.

 

Here's a picture of a student as he's finding his grandparents' wedding announcement in the old newspapers (from the 1960s) we were using for collage. He cut out the announcement and brought it home for his family. What a cool coincidence!

This student based her project on memories of the American Civil Rights movement. The gray flowers represent African Americans, while the more colorful flowers represent the oppressive majority. The gray color embodies how African Americans "were not allowed to express themselves freely" and often "faded into the background and weren't noticed" (quoted from the students' artist statement). She separated the rose flowers and gray flowers to remind the viewer of segregation. Even cooler -- the newspaper she used for this collage was printed during the heart of the Civil Rights era -- the early 1960s. 

 

The coolest paper fish I've ever seen! It's about 3 feet long! A lot of engineering went into the creation of this fish. This student worked tirelessly and it shows!

 

This beautiful project reads left to right and represents memory loss, or the fading of memory over time. Notice how even the background fades to white. Very thoughtful.  

 

Here's the same project from a different angle.

 

 

 

Memory of riding an elephant. Red symbolizes how elephants are endangered in some places and should be protected.

Check out what's inside the pupil...! PS this collage is almost three feet wide!

A collage about New York City ("the city that never sleeps").

 

First Project: Secret Messages

For our first project in middle school art this year, everyone created an abstracted "secret message." Students chose a message, idiom, or quote they thought represented themselves in a positive light. Students then wrote the message in all capitals, and using markers, filled in the spaces in and around the letters. This created a kind of flat and abstract painting. Many people didn't even realize the works of art contained words (which means our messages truly are "secret!"). Take a look!