Monday, January 30, 2017

Inspired by Monet's Waterlilies

What color is water?



First and second grade artist learned about Impressionist painter Claude Monet. We talked about how Monet broke from the art traditions of the time by painting outside in nature and trying to capture the beauty of sunlight at different times of day.  We looked at examples of his many waterlily paintings.

Google Arts & Culture has some very cool tools for getting up close and personal with famous works of art. 

You can take a virtual tour of Monet's waterlily paintings at the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris using Google Art Project.  
Click here to check it out! 

You can use the ZOOM tool to get close enough to one of Monet's Water Lily paintings that you can see each impressionist brushstroke. 
Click here to check it out! 



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Friday, January 27, 2017

Rainbow Week Color Wheel Collage

It is Rainbow Week at Waitsfield School! Each day the school lunch is centered around a different color of the rainbow and all of the students wear that color. (Today was green day!)  Kindergarten artists worked collaboratively to make a Color Wheel Collage by finding examples of each color in magazines.  They had a little help from some first and second graders to finish the collage.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Portraits Inspired by Sandra Silberzweig


Sandra Silberzweig is a contemporary artist from Toronto. She has a condition called synesthesia, which is a crossing of the senses.  This means that she may "hear" colors or "see" music.

Here is a poem she wrote called "When you are a synesthesia goddess ...... your day dreams are always in color"
I am a synesthesia goddess
I have no fear of color
It lives in my soul, dances in my heart
Spills out of my fingers flowing down a canvas
I can see your aura
Taste the color black
Feel the chill of the green wind
Smell blue butterflies
Hear the yellow rain
Life is never boring when inspiration is always around



Click here to read more about Sandra Silberzweig, the work she has done to share her experience with synesthesia and how she has turned this condition into a driving force for her creative work.


Silberzweig's paintings are bold, colorful and imaginative.  She primarily paints stylized, patterned-filled portraits.


Third and fourth grade artists looked at examples of Silberzweig's artwork, then created portraits inspired by her unique style.  We used chalk pastel and oil pastel and focused on choosing warm and cool color combinations and creating patterns.


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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Paul Klee City Collaborative Mural

First and second graders learned about Paul Klee's painting "Castle and Sun," and created collages inspired by this painting. Click here to see this work!  Then we used cardboard scraps to construct this collaborative city mural. 


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Wishing for Snow in the Mountains!

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