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.

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!

Artist: GRANDMA MOSES

The Kindergarten students have been busy learning about

American Artist

Anna Mary Robertson Moses

better known as

GRANDMA MOSES.

They looked specifically at her rural winter landscapes while creating one of their own in a similar style.

Here is their process...

 

The students began by painting a winter sky using watercolor.

Gluing along the torn edge, they attached a piece of white paper (for snow) to their sky.  This created a HORIZON LINE  (where the earth and the sky meet). 

Next, they began recycling colorful scrap paper from previous projects...

into interesting details by cutting and combining basic shapes...

and carefully gluing them into place.

They learned how to make objects appear

 NEAR and FAR

 by placing SMALL DETAILS up near the HORIZON LINE,

and LARGE DETAILS down near the BOTTOM EDGE.

Carefully tearing brown paper into long strips gives a natural look for tree bark.

The glue is spread on the back of each piece of torn paper...

and thoughtfully put into place.

Small evergreen trees are placed in the BACKGROUND closer to the HORIZON LINE.

PEOPLE are added. 

DETAILS such as coats, snowpants, boots, mittens, scarves and hats are included.

Some even added their own extra touches to their pictures...

making their pictures unique!

A sampling of work from each Kindergarten class will be on display in the Kindergarten wing through the month of February.

We hope you'll come by to see!



Artist FAITH RINGGOLD

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!

With the border complete, it was time to join their two pieces together...

and then join everyone's together... 

 to create one large story quilt. 

What an exciting event!

With this nice, long, curved wall in the Kindergarten wing, every single piece of art was able to be squeezed into this display

(98 paper quilt pieces in all, I believe).

Wow! 

That's one loooong quilt!

These pieces will remain on display through December.

We sure hope you'll fly by for a peek!

SHAPES, PATTERNS AND PAINT!

The Kindergarten students have been busy in art these past few weeks

 exploring shapes and patterns using paint and markers.

They began with a watercolor technique called wet into wet, 

which simply means putting wet paint onto wet paper. 

They concentrated on holding the paint brush correctly

 while 'tickling' the paper with the brush.

They watched the paint 'explode' into beautiful designs on the wet paper.

They had to work quickly before the wet paper dried.

 It was fun to experiment with the colors.

They got some beautiful results while mastering the materials.

Next, they tried a more controlled painting style. 

 They began by using a permanent marker to draw the shapes we've been studying 

 (squares, rectangles, triangles, ovals, and circles).

 Then, using only one color, they painted the background with watercolor.

This took lots of control!

 They did a great job.

Once the paint was dry, they used markers to create patterns within each shape.

They were very creative...

and worked hard...

on the finishing touches.

There are over fifty pieces of art on display in the Kindergarten wing.

We invite you to stop by to view them!



FALL SCARECROWS

Each kindergarten class created one of the life size scarecrows pictured in the art display above.

We began by tracing one child from each class on a large piece of mural paper.

We discussed what SHAPES we found on the paper once the tracing was complete.

Then, working as a group, each class made decisions about specific COLORS and DETAILS they would like to include on their scarecrow. They worked well together gluing small pieces of torn construction paper into each area making sure to OVERLAP each piece.

The next week, the students created the vegetables for the garden by choosing and cutting the appropriate SHAPES and COLORS.  They also cut long, thin strips of paper for the straw hands, feet, and hair.

Scroll down to see a close-up of each scarecrow.

(You may click on an image to enlarge it.)

Ms. Defelice's class (L), and Ms. Gledhill's class (R)

Ms. Robinson's class (L), and Ms. Grant's class (R)

Ms. Wilson's class (L), and Ms. Millian's class (R)

This display is on the round wall in the kindergarten wing where it will remain through October. 

Please stop by to check it out!