The 1st graders began with their class teacher to research the procedure of recycling trash: after talking and understanding the topic, we collected some paper bags and boxes to be used in our art projects. With creativity and fantasy in profusion, artists of 1st grade transformed the old paper bags into newly crafted animals of their desire.
Two things are great: they used materials properly and they went beyond my expectations and felt free to create birds, dragons, cute cats and ducks. The recycling topic is very dear to me: if we can pay attention to what we consume and upcycle the trash into new art, it is amazing, and we will help save the earth from pollution. I am a big fan of Barry Rosenthal, a famous artist who picks up trash from the landscape to create art and photograph it. I received the message from the teacher of the 1st grade with enthusiasm and passion, and we did not stop at just one recycling lab only: we opened boxes from the lego and from pasta, glued them backwards and painted them into a sort of city with colorful houses and roads.
4th grade students were studying the eye in their classroom. What an occasion to see how important the eye was throughout the history of art. It was considered divine by Mesopotamians and Egyptians, a sign of pushing away bad luck by the Greeks, en vogue painted in miniatures with jewels for a short time in the 1700’s between royal lovers, mysterious sights of ladies and gentlemen during Renaissance, a mirror of the soul for the Surrealistic movement, and sometimes we can even behold eyes in in nature, for example in trees, or the universe. After studying how to illustrate an eye through sketches, 4th graders engaged themselves in painting one. It was a challenge to choose and create the eye, but the results were full of satisfaction. Here:
2nd graders instead created a sea landscape using collage technique, learning that there are many ways to create an artwork, not just by drawing. They used different materials such as painting, tissue papers, newspapers, and magazines to elaborate their pieces of art. Using different materials instead of drawing, forced the artist to step outside of their comfort zone, and to be creative. They also learned how to display a boat in movement at sea.
October is the month of Halloween, so I always stop the curriculum and find a fun lab for my students. This year, 3rd graders and other classes will create coffins with a character coming out of them. The process of creation is tedious and difficult, which will teach what I want them to learn: how to take their time to create a masterpiece and to look at all the individual steps with lovely, careful, attention to all the details.
Kindergarten: we will continue to experiment with colors and see the thousands of different possibilities of creating works of art, utilizing just two colors with opposite hues: black and white, dark, and light.
