Academy Arts Monthly April-May 2015

We hope this periodical update will help you connect to what your children are doing in the art rooms and evokes conversations about their thoughts and processes, as well as their finished projects.

If you have not received the email from Shutterfly’s This Life, with the link to your child’s DIGITAL ART PORTFOLIO, please email Jess Killo at Jessica.killo@germantownacademy.org. The link you

received will bring you to your child’s updated portfolio throughout the year with new artwork every month. So please keep that email! Smugmug will also host these images along with many

other process pictures of the students in action.

*For more pictures please visit our Lower School Art Gallery on SmugMug: http://smu.gs/1vT3TTz   -Jess Killo and Alia Tahvildaran

ART QUEST SUMMER 2015

KEEP THAT CREATIVITY FLOWING! SIGN YOUR CHILD UP FOR ART QUEST THIS SUMMER. WE

HAVE MANY NEW COURSES THAT ARE SURE TO EXCITE AND IGNITE YOUNG IMAGINATIONS.

GO TO WWW.GACAMP.ORG

Did you miss the Lower School Art Exhibit in the Arts Center Gallery?

You can still see it online! Go to Lower School Art on Smug Mug for

the virtual tour gallery.

   

     

Also, visit the blog http://www.saythingswithcolor.com/to learn even more about the process of art with kids. Art teacher Alia Tahvildaran blogs about projects, materials, inspirations, activities, and good reads to help empower parents to create with their kids at home!

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Want to see what is happening across the PK-12 campus in the visual arts? Follow Art Across the Academy on Twitter @GA_Art3

Pre-Kindergarten: Art and Music: You Are My Sunshine - Pre-K students

made artwork using words and pictures, in the style of a rebus, based on the song You Are My Sunshine. They collaged their suns using triangles and circles and printed raindrops using cardboard tubes and paint. In music class, Pre-Kers learned how to sing and sign the song in American Sign Language. Art and Science: Radish Plantings and Still Lifes – In science class, Pre-K students planted radish seeds during early spring in the Lower School Organic Garden. About a month later, they were ready for harvest and taste testing! Next, in art class, Pre-K students took their tiny radishes and painted them BIG on their paper paying close attention to color and shape.

Kindergarten: Egg Tempera Chicken Paintings - Kindergarteners hammered chalk pastels and mixed the colorful pigment with the yolk and egg white from 4th grade’s

Zentangled egg project to make their own egg tempera paint. They used their homemade paint to fill and decorate drawings of

chickens they made by using lines and basic shapes.

Art and Friends from Mexico – After learning about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and her artwork in the picture book Frida by Jonah Winter, Kindergarteners made crayon and watercolor self-portraits. Next, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo Kindergarteners used bright colors like they heard about in Spicy, Hot Colors by Sherry Shahan to decorate wearable sombreros. Kindergarteners discussed how the sombrero comes from Mexico, but not everyone in Mexico wears sombreros—like our Kindergarten pen pals at The American Institute of Monterrey (AIM) in Mexico! Kindergarteners responded to AIM’s video by writing cards along with copies of their self-portraits as part of this year’s cultural exchange!

1st Grade: Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals - 1st grade enjoyed a visit with friends from Francisvale and have been baking dog biscuits, felting wool cat toys, and creating dressed up dog and cat collages based on the homeless animals at this local shelter. Cherry Blossom Trees - After reading The Cherry Tree by Daisaku Ikeda 1st graders started to create their own Japanese cherry blossom trees using and choosing a variety of painting techniques such as blow painting, color mixing on the painting, and pre-mixing colors. They will be creating Japanese-style chops to stamp and sign their artwork.

2nd Grade: Georgia O’Keeffe-inspired Flowers - After reading Through Georgia’s Eyes by Rachel Victoria Rodriguez 2nd grade artists learned how to mix tints and shades to create their flowers. Like O’Keeffe, they created large flowers so that viewers “could not ignore their beauty.” Last, 2nd graders chose a favorite quote from the artist to add to their sculptural flowers. Nature Scrolls – 2nd graders collected natural items from around campus and made detailed drawings of them. They used watercolor to paint them, cut them out, and experimented with different compositional arrangements to fit them on their scroll.

3rd Grade: - Watercolor Still Life Painting - 3rd Graders studied still life drawing in February. The focus was to practice drawing from observation and create a reasonable sense of proportion and placement of the still life objects. The students then outlined each object with a matching crayon color and mixed corresponding watercolor paint to fill all of the spaces. The 3rd graders learned that wax in crayon resists the water in paint. The results were stunning! Clay Animal Puppets- Students designed and sketched an animal to have a cylindrical body and separate limbs and head. Using the slab and coil

building methods, 3rd graders sculpted the six parts of their ceramic animals. After the clay was fired in the kiln, it was carefully painted with acrylics. The students constructed their puppets with aluminum wire to allow for moving parts.

4th Grade: Still Life Drawing- 4th Graders worked hard to create amazing still life drawings. They began by learning the various grades of graphite pencils and how to apply them. The students studied some key words

to be mindful of while drawing from life - Scale & proportion, point of view & perspective, placement, overlapping & depth. They learned about applying value, blending with tortillions, and creating gradient scales. The 4th graders had to train their eyes to see dark and light color in a gray scale. Partway through this lesson the students had an opportunity to critique each other’s artwork for artistic growth. Zentangled Eggs - 4th Graders received some history on the art of egg decorating and had a quick study on the many cultures that have done this, even as far back as 60,000 years ago! They poked holes on both ends of their eggs and blew the yolk out to make the egg hollow. Next the students finished their eggs with the Zentangle doodling method. Dave the Potter - Poetry Pottery - 4th graders learned about an enslaved African American potter from the 1800’s named Dave. Dave was a slave that had the unusual ability to read and write. He would frequently adorn his pottery with short poems and couplets about his life. The students wrote poems about freedom in their homerooms and took short excerpts to inscribe on their pottery tile. The pots were then hand glazed with earth tone and rustic colors.

5th Grad  e: Chinese-Inspired Kites – 5th graders began their China unit in art class. They learned about the architecture and landscapes of China and studied the legend of dragons through images and mythological story. The students measured and cut sails and constructed their kites. They painted their kites with tempera and stamped their names with inked chops. Screen-Printed T-shirts – 5th Graders have been studying the rainforests and preparing for Forest Fest. In art, they designed and cut stencils for their Forest Fest T-shirts. The students screen-printed these designs on their shirts. Please follow the directions given back with your child’s t-shirt to ensure the permanency of the inks!