CartaBella

l'Artista Blog

November 2, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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MONDAY MONTAGE. in the style of . . . Mondrian

http://coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/lessons/Prek.htm

My daughters-in-law discovered this website with Art Lesson Plans they knew I’d like. So this week my Homeschool art class did one of the Piet Mondrian lessons and loved it! We studied “Broadway Boogie Woogie,” the New York artist’s painting made in 1942-43. It was easy for my young artists to “grasp” what the artist communicated—after we looked at a street map of Atlanta and compared Peachtree to NYC’s Broadway!

Then we used matchbox cars, dipped in yellow paint, to imitate the straight street lines. So much fun to run the little car’s tire marks right across the white paper until a grid shows up. Wooden blocks dipped in red and blue paint made “buildings” appear in the style of Mondrian.

What did we do with the leftover paint? Primary colors can be blended to make orange, green and violet. Beautiful apple core prints stamped and danced across the blank cards and we ended up with decorative note cards to take home.

October 20, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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Painting in the
style of Van Gogh!

IMPASTO recipe: 1/2 C. medium thick tempera paint + 1 Tbsp. white detergent powder (or cornstarch, white flour, etc.). Thin with water or add more powder to thicken. Scoop dollops of paint onto sytrofoam grocery trays, keeping colors apart. Apply paint to heavy paper or posterboard using a popscicle stick to texturize the paint– make lines, squiggles, shapes, etc.

October 20, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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MONDAY MONTAGE. Why are young children so attracted to the paintings of Van Gogh?

The appeal of cheery sunflowers seems to resonate with everyone. The lure of Van Gogh’s intense palette, combined with the harmony of his compositions and the use of complementary colors, is a tribute to the artist’s ability to express himself in a universal language.

Of course kids are also drawn to Van Gogh’s impasto technique, especially if an art project includes replicating impasto, by adding flour or sand to tempera paint, for the Van Gogh effect!

Yesterday my husband and I attended a stimulating seminar, “Van Gogh Reconsidered,” sponsored by mueoarts, a local urban church in Atlanta with a lively engagement of the arts within their community. Next Sunday’s final session will include a panel discussion. Visit their site to find out more about their academy, studio and gallery.

October 10, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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MONDAY MONTAGE. Extreme Building Blocks.

My preschool grandsons are not the only ones who enjoy my basket of blocks! ALL of my students, including Middle Schoolers, love to work hard at creating fantastic buildings with just a few simple shapes.

Try similar constructions on paper by using the blocks as tracers. And then fill in with color— crayons, pencils, markers, or even paint or cutouts of scrapbook paper.

October 10, 2008
by Bonnie Porter
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Yesterday, my art-teacher friend, Melissa Duffy, reminded me of an effective classroom exercise for picture studies. Homeschool students, as well as any family or group gathering, would find it entertaining and educational, to set up a Tableaux re-creating a favorite painting.

We tried it in one of my art camps this past summer and had so much fun we’ll do it again next year—with more preparation and attention to detail.

CARL LARSSON: The Flower Window, watercolor painting from artist’s book series, “At Home”
ART CAMP 2, July 08, spontaneous tableaux vivant with Mattison Frank posing as Suzanne, Carl Larsson’s daughter featured in the painting.

Before radio or television, tableaux vivants were popular forms of entertainment. And before the age of color reproduction of images, the tableau vivant (often abbreviated simply to tableau) was sometimes used to recreate paintings “on stage”, based on an etching or sketch of the painting.

Now I’m trying to decide which painting to choose for my students to study via this Tableaux exercise! Any suggestions?