Tuesday, November 8, 2011

MASKS

The second Kindergarten art project for the 2011-12 school year was for each student to design a
SYMMETRICAL MASK.
A good deal of time was spent discussing and exploring the concept of
SYMMETRY.
The students discovered that if a line were drawn down the center of their own face, whatever facial feature appeared on one half also appeared on the other.  This creates a visual sense of
BALANCE.

With this concept in mind, the students were each given a white mask template.  They painted their template a base color of their choice.


 Then, they were provided with an array of items and began working out their symmetrical design. 
Whatever items they glued to one side of their mask had to have an identical item on the other side that was:
the same shape
the same size
the same color
and
 glued in the same place on the opposite side of their mask.
Phew!


With the design complete, the last step was to add some hair.  The students experimented with ways to fold and roll long strips of colored paper to add while still keeping the concept of symmetry present. 


It was a challenge, but what FUN they all had throughout the process!


Many of the masks were on display in the Kindergarten wing through the month of October.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Artist: VINCENT VAN GOGH

Wow!
This 2011-2012 school year is really buzzing right along.
The Kindergarten artists began their year in September learning about Dutch artist
Vincent Van Gogh. 
 In particular, they studied several of his sunflower paintings and then worked together to create this larger than life group sunflower arrangement.
 
 They began by observing real sunflowers and discussing their parts, shapes and colors. Then, they drew what they had observed on large white paper.  The parts of the flowers, and the vase, were then filled in using glue and small pieces of torn construction paper.  The overall finished piece is more than 8 feet tall!  Initially, it was displayed in the Kindergarten wing, but it has now found a permanent home in the Wells Elementary School library.
We hope you'll stop by to take a look!