WES Kindergarten Art: December 2010

The WES Kindergarten artists have been learning about

American artist and author,

FAITH RINGGOLD.

Faith Ringgold was born in 1930 and grew up in New York City's Harlem. She is most known for her "story quilts". She adapted one of these quilts, titled

"Tar Beach",

into a children's book in 1991. This book was recognized as one of the most distinguished American picture books for children in 1992 when it was named a Caldecott Honor Book.

We spent a lot of time looking over the illustrations in Tar Beach, and decided to try creating versions of our own.

Here is our process...

The students began by painting a night sky background using different shades of tempera paint.

They thought about the direction of their brushstrokes as they blended the colors over the entire paper.

Then, using colored construction paper, they began cutting shapes as they pieced together a version of themselves flying through the sky.

They dipped their finger (aka their "Handy Dandy Tool") into the glue...

and then spread the glue onto their cut pieces of paper...

before putting their paper shapes in place.

This technique allows for better glue control.

The students were encouraged to think about size as well as how they would position the arms and legs of their person to give the illusion of flying.

Once their person was glued into place

it was time to add the stars. Small dots of glue were squeezed onto the paper...

and then sprinkled with glitter for that all important shimmer and shine!

Then, each student created a "quilted" border around the edges of a separate, larger piece of paper. Small, pre-cut squares of wallpaper were used for this. Loads of thanks to Mrs. Littlefield and Mrs. Gilblair for their help in pre-cutting these squares!

The Kindergartners had fun choosing from all of the different colors and patterns. One little artist commented that they reminded her of her Grammie!