Hello there! Do you know about the artist Henri Matisse? Well, he was an unstoppable artist who never gave up. Henri was one of those few fortunate artists who were well known when they were ALIVE! He was famous for his canvases that burst with color and pattern for most of his adult life. When he was…
Tag: Elementary
The Language of Learning: Talking to Children about their Art
For young children, art making is their main means of expression. It is how they are able to share stories and it is how they reflect on their experiences to better understand their world. As a parent and teacher, it is often the adult’s responsibility to foster the child’s interest as an artist and help them to…
PEOPLE: From Collage to Drawing
PEOPLE. That is what we are. Super complex beings on the inside and out. Have you ever sat down to draw the human figure? Drawing people from observation is quite challenging let alone creating one from our imagination. There is so much to include, so where do we begin? SHAPE. We begin with geometric shapes. Read on, I…
Winter Landscapes
Have you ever noticed the night sky during a winter’s snowfall? It is a stunning mixture of purple, magenta and blue. First grade artists created winter landscapes using these colors to illustrate the beauty of the winter sky. We learned about the art of Barron Krody, a local Long Island landscape painter who paints on an…
People in Collage
It is beneficial to allow students to explore an art medium before giving them a thematic goal or asking them to work with a specific content. After a collage exploration (which can last for one class or more) and a lesson focused on creating a shape collage, students will be ready to connect shapes to…
Mondrian Inspired Assemblage
Piet Mondrian was inspired by music. He loved Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and dancing, and was motivated to express his love through art with color and shape, movement and rhythm. Inspired by Broadway Boogie Woogie, this art experience offers students the opportunity to listen to the music that inspired Piet and, by tapping into a kinesthic…
Paper Sculpture
How can you take something flat and change it into something 3-D? Students are prompted with this question and offered the challenge of transformation. Paper sculpture has a strong mathematical connection and allows students to understand form through hands on exploration. By taking a flat paper and rolling it into a cylinder, students see a…
Expressing Emotions through Color and Line
Music can transform any ordinary experience into something profound. Humans are inherently musical beings. As one of the first art forms, it is written in our DNA. For this selection of art activities, I play a collection of songs that have a strong emotional quality and allow students to explore color and line to express…
Fuel the Maker in YOU 