Laurel Burch Inspired Cat Sculptures

Second grade students were introduced to the artwork of Laurel Burch. She loved to create artwork about cats, and many of her paintings have been reproduced on fabric to create bags and clothing. Laurel Burch had a very hard life, but you would never know it from her artwork because her art is very whimsical and fun. Much of her artwork features pattern and repetition. Students created cat sculptures from toilet paper rolls and other scraps of cardboard. They used bright colors, pattern and repetition of shapes and colors, much like Laurel Burch did in her artwork.

 

Monet's Pond

Second grade students studied Claude Monet, a French Impressionist who lived 100 years ago. He was one of the first artists to think of painting outside. He loved to paint nature so much that he moved to the country to paint. He is famous for painting the water lilies that grew in the pond behind his house. Students discussed his water lily paintings and used tempera paints to paint their own pond, with painterly brushstrokes, just like Monet.

 

Metal Tooling Masks

5th Graders learned about the art of repousse, also known as metal tooling. Students designed symmetrical masks and embossed them on to pieces of metal. They colored them with permanent markers and used beads, twine and raffia for embellishment. Students discussed the purpose of masks around the world. Many of their masks were inspired by masks from Africa.

 

 

Cave Drawings

First grade students learned about some of the first artwork ever made; cave paintings! When students came to art, the room had transformed into a cave. The tables were turned on their sides, with brown paper taped to them. Then students took a virtual tour of the cave at Lascaux, looked at photos of the cave paintings, and read the book, "The Cave Painter of Lascaux" by Roberta Angeletti.  Students drew their own versions of the cave paintings and then crumpled their brown papers to make their paper look like the cave wall.

 

Kindergarten Castles

Kindergarten students drew castles and printed the castle bricks with sponges. After taking a virtual tour of Warwick Castle in England, they used crayons and cut paper to add details to their castles.

 

Romare Bearden Inspired Collages

Third Grade students looked at artwork by Romare Bearden. They discovered that he created collages from cut up photos, paintings and other papers. He included people and places that were important to him. They found that he loved music and grew up during the Harlem Renaissance, so instruments are often featured in his artwork. Third graders created their own collages with tissue paper and drew an instrument of their choice as the focal point.

 

 

Dali Inspired Animals

Second Grade students learned about Spanish artist, Salvador Dali. Students watched a brief video about surrealism (Get Surreal! With Salvador Dali).  Students discussed the meaning of surrealism, as well as where the surrealists get their inspiration. Then they looked closely at two of Dali's works that feature elephants with extremely long skinny legs. Students brainstormed animals that could be drawn in this way. Students chose an animal to create in the surrealist style.