The Art Chamber

I thought I’d share with you some of the work we’ve done in Art class so that whoever stumbles upon my blog can get some ideas or inspiration for their own creative purposes. But really, I just wanted to show off how very creative children can be when they’re inspired.

For every grade level there are specific lessons I teach that are reinforced by hands-on art activities.  What I mostly teach is history and appreciation.

For example, in 2nd Grade our lesson is about Chinese art. We learned that ancient Chinese scroll artists need to meditate first before proceeding to paint. They painted ‘feelings’, not particularly a figure they see right before them. Below, the students began quietly painting after listening to traditional Chinese music and looking at pictures of China’s tranquil scenery.

They then made customized paper lanterns for fun!

The 3rd Grader on the other hand are learning about Art in the Ancient World. We first discussed the beginnings of painting, which can be found on the cave walls in Lascaux, France. Like the cave men, we used charcoal [pencil] for drawing and then we ‘sort-of’ blew red powder paint over our hands, like they similarly did back then.

The 5th Graders began this school year learning about Medieval Art. We discussed Heraldry, and how there are plenty of symbolism in a family or group’s coat-of-arms. So they made their own (on recycled folders):

Now we’ve begun making Castles after learning its use, significance, and different parts.

Finally, the 9th Graders are learning about Modern Art. We discussed how Impressionism was born, and tried to emulate Degas in drawing using [oil] pastels [on brown envelope] , and they did more than great!