Wow! A second cycle of art is already behind us. My amazing young artists at FISD have been very busy, as usual, keeping the beauty of art-making alive. The amount of photos we have on the Artsonia digital art gallery proves how productive students have been. Click on the following link to see the plethora of individual student artwork from our school.
Following are images and brief descriptions of some projects students have participated in. Some projects have come to successful ends, whereas others are still in progress. Either way, the students are learning many new techniques and skills to incorporate into future art to develop confidence and success.
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Project: Assemblage
Below are examples of our students' initial sculptural work with assemblage. Assemblages are created from found objects. Children took a look at the assemblages by artist Louise Nevelson and then contemporary artist and activist Angela Pozzi. The students discussed how we can use materials for our art to make a healthier earth. We also discussed how art can be used as a vehicle to make people more aware of problems in our world. For example, artist Angela Pozzi does just that: she shows people that their pollution strips away at animals' natural habitats, especially in the ocean (see more about Pozzi and her artwork here). The older elementary students will continue with this project to create robotic and mechanical assemblages that have specific jobs to keep our earth healthy. We plan on exhibiting these group projects at Science Night in January.
Project: Collages Showing Depth Using the Rule of Thirds
Secondary students had a crash course on how to use a trick that goes back to Renaissance times - the Rule of Thirds. This technique is now commonly used to create well-balanced photography and cinematography. For their collages, students were encouraged to create a background, middleground and foreground to show depth within their picture plane. They also took a look at the work of Romare Bearden, a prolific artist and collagist from Harlem, who was greatly influenced by the generation before him, the men and women who helped shape the Harlem Renaissance.
Project: Learning from the Masters
One thing that the secondary students do regularly is to create artwork inside visual journals. These notebooks are like sketchbooks, but students are encouraged to do more than simply draw. They are prompted to color, sew, and add paint to their visual journals. They are encouraged to write and take notes and harness ideas that inspire them. The visual journal is an art piece unto itself. Below are some images that were created in two students visual journals last semester. You can see more images at the FISD Digital Art Gallery on Artsonia. Here is a direct link for this particular project:
Projects: Drawing from Observation and Printmaking
For these activities older students created art in the spirit of painter, printmaker, entrepreneur and naturalist John James Audubon. We drew and drew, and then we drew some more. As a class, we traipsed outside to draw within the field. We also drew from life, observing specimen on loan by the Science Department (thanks, Science friends!). Finally, students took their drawing skills to the next level: they were taught a printmaking technique to create prints from their original studies and then drew into those. It was a great learning experience, and most of us enjoyed being outdoors instead of cooped up inside a classroom. If you come to Science Night in January, you will be able to peruse a small compendium (a bound artist book) of beautiful prints that were created by these students. Later, the artist book of prints will be available for viewing through the Flatonia Secondary Library.
Project: Sculpture - Manipulating Paper to Create Form
Secondary students practiced folding, bending and connecting paper to create an intriguing three-dimensional form. They were allowed only paper, scissors and their set of hands for tools. As they experimented to create their forms, they were encouraged to create an intriguing relationship between the object's positive and negative space. Their paper sculptures are proudly displayed on the bulletin near the counselor's office in building A.
Project: Weaving Paper and Fibers
During this project, students were taught the age-old skill of weaving while using paper. Some students enjoyed the activity, finding it to be relaxing. As a result, we dug out some cardboard looms and started practicing weaving with yarn and fabric scrap as well. Because students enjoyed weaving so much, I anticipate that there will be more images of woven art for you to check out in the future.
Project: Creating Painted Paper
For this activity, younger elementary students were shown how to paint old paper for reuse. Before the paint dried, they were shown how to add different textures and patterns with forks, sculpting tools and bubble wrap. While they did this activity, students learned about the collage work of author and illustrator Eric Carle. The students' faces lit up when they realized they were already familiar with Carle's illustrations from books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? They were told that their painted paper was going to be cut into organic and geometric shapes and then collaged together to create images of animals, just like in Carle's books.
Project: Organic Shape, Pattern and WILD THINGS!
The most recent project that the younger elementary students worked on was to create WILD THINGS, inspired by Maurice Sendak's book Where the Wild Things Are. Children did this by tracing an organic shape for the body, and then adding monster essentials (the parts of the body a living creature needs to survive and live a happy, healthy wild-thing life). Later, students added pattern to the the wild thing's body, and if time permitted, they were encouraged to give their wild thing a special habitat. The children were so proud of their wild things that we marched around the room holding our artwork up high in the air, creating a wild thing parade. It was a wild experience and monster-loads of fun!
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Thank you for reading the FISD Art Newsletter. We look forward to sharing more of our art at the end of next cycle. Until then, you are always welcome to check out individual student art work at
Work is added to the secondary gallery regularly.
Thank you for supporting the FISD Art Department,
our creative young artists,
and have a holiday!
