The Ratner Montessori School Art Program

I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, I have enjoyed hearing about the travels, the cousins the students played with and what their favorite food was! Each class has started a new project and the art room and Maker Space are hopping. If you ever doubt my love of my job, picture a class of 4th grade students using power tools for the first time. I love seeing the confidence of the students grow, their willingness to fail at a new process and their obvious joy of the creative process. 

***For my 7th and 8th grade parents, I will have a table set up at the Winter Band Concert for you to sign the Scholastic Art Award forms. The deadline for entry is December 11th, so please make sure to sign the form for your child before you leave. I usually put the mother's name on the form, but either parent signature will suffice. 

As always, thank you all for your help and support.

My family holds a apple turkey design "contest"  for the kids each year at Thanksgiving. This was the winner this year.

Kindergarten Art

I have missed seeing my Kindergarten students the past 2 weeks! This week we will begin a longer project based on the paintings of Marc Chagall. The project involves text, drawing, painting, oil pastel and collage. We began the project by looking at several examples of Chagall's paintings and talked about the use of color, fantasy and the feeling they experienced when looking at his work. What sort of things did Chagall like? Why did he use the colors he used in his work? Does his work tell a story? These are just a few of the questions the students were asked when they were studying his work. The process should take us up to Winter Break and possibly extend beyond the break. This is a very creative group of young artists, I am excited to see the work they create as they are inspired by Chagall.

1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade Art

We started a new process this week based on Zentangle designs. Zentangles are highly detailed patterns created with the repetition of curves, lines anddots. Simple shapes are repeated, overlaped and combined to create the image. I enjoy the focus of zentangle designs and the success the students achieve with the work. There are several levels of skill involved in creating a zentangle pattern. Some students can view a pattern and quickly determine what steps are needed to create the work. Other students can easily create their own patterns and repeat the lesson to others. I appreciate the variety in skill level and the students enjoy the work. The 1st and 2nd grade classes will create a large circle "mandala" using at least 7 different patterns. The 3rd grade class will create a more difficult zentangle cube sculpture. This week our focus is on breaking down several patterns and practicing line control in the designs. 

This is an older students completed zentangle mandala

4th, 5th and 6th Grade Art

We have begun a sculptural project based on the assemblage work of Louise Nevelson. The students watched a short video and a presentation of several images of her work while making note of the compositions and materials used in her art work. We talked about the negative space created with her assemblages, the use of black, white or gold color in her work and the relationship of shapes and layers in her art. All the students had lessons on the drill press, the scroll saw and the belt sander in the Maker Space. They are beginning to gather wood materials to create their assemblage sculpture. The 6th grade class has the option of working on a free standing sculpture, all the other students will work within a set scale to create their work. If you happen to buy any clementine oranges in the wooden boxes, please save the boxes for the art program.

7th and 8th Grade Art

We are collaborating with Language Arts to create a visual representation from a choosen quote based on the book "Animal Farm".  The students worked with Mrs. Urban to define the quote and began to develope an idea of how they would represent the quote in a visual language. We worked together to give them a few guidelines to follow and work on their individual projects began last week before the Thanksgiving break. Many students are creating a diorama in the black display boxes on the second floor. They have to design the scene, add details and create props that illustrate their quote. Other students are creating a poster to illustrate the quote. I expect this project to take a couple of weeks to complete as the class is a bit shortened with band rehearsals this week and next week. 

The Ratner Montessori School Art Program

Well, we had a good run of solid weeks of school, now we enter the holiday zone! I am able to see all my classes with the exception of  the Kindergarten class and feel assured that they have art every day in their classes. The fact that the students all have access to art in their main rooms is one of the cores of Montessori philosophy that I appreciate. You can see the benefits of daily access in their willingness to explore materials, the care taken with each material and the general thoughtfulness the students show in their art. I appreciate the support in each classroom as it affords me more detailed instruction with the students. 

Frost "trees" on my car this morning 

Kindergarten Art

The Kindergarten students worked very diligently last class to complete their entire tipi designs. They cut out the large template of the tipi shape, drew out their designs based on traditional tipi patterns, added their pictographs and finally painted the designs using red, blue or yellow paint. I will place all their tipis on top of their cubbies for you to take home at conferences. They are a bit large and difficult for the younger students to carry. I hope you will all enjoy displaying the pieces in your home for Thanksgiving. We will not have class this week due to conferences and will miss class next week for Thanksgiving.  

1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade Art

The lesson this week was on silhouettes of tree forms and how to create the form of a tree using India ink. We talked about the different sizes of branches, how a tree has large, medium and small branches and the overall form of trees without leaves on them.  We discussed the difference between realistic paintings of trees and how some artists imply trees in their work. Students could choose to paint one or several trees using any method they prefered, realistic or more creative. The ink was applied with a brush on top of the chalk pastel background they created last week. I love how different all the art looks even though each student uses the same materials and has the same lesson. We are fortunate to have a creative minded group of students who know how to express their individual points of view. 

4th, 5th and 6th Grade Art

The watercolor still life paintings are completed and they are really well crafted, the compositions are strong and the students are pleased with their work. It is always a tricky balance at this age to present realistic techniques and higher expectations for the length of projects, these students have not disappointed me yet! They showed consistent interest in working on their art, accepted several prompts on how to improve their technique and were engaged throughout the process. The results are evident of their focus and work. I would love to have them up for display by conferences, but I am not sure I will get them mounted and hung by tomorrow.

 

7th and 8th Grade Art

We had a few students that were not able to complete the upside down drawing exercise, so I extended the lesson so they could finish the work. The other students worked on a series of blind contour drawings. This process also helps with observation, slowing down the act of drawing and adds confidence to the mark making of art. There is a sense of freedom when you know the drawing is not going to look "right" and the students enjoyed the humorous results of the exercise. I am truly enjoying teaching this group of artists this year, they have brought great energy to the projects we have approached this year.  While I would love to share all their contour studies with you, they made me promise that I would not display their work. Sorry, but I have to abide by their wishes on this one.

DIWALI CELEBRATION

The Ratner Montessori School Art Program

I love these solid, uninterrupted weeks of school. Before the breaks and the inevitable snow days hit us, I feel the need to be productive and keep the classes focused on several projects and new techniques.  Today we celebrate Diwali in school and I enjoy seeing the bright colors and learning more about this holiday. We will have a school wide art project later today focused on the traditional rangoli designs. It is always wonderful to see all the students creating and exploring together, thanks to Mrs. Patel for organizing this celebration. I will try to post some pictures of the event later today, check back in to the blog to view them. 

Our school creates a great wind shield for this tree to hold onto half the leaves 

Kindergarten Art

We began a study of Native American pictographs. I presented a lesson on the symbols, why they were used and some of the meanings behind the pictographs. The students followed the steps of several pictographs, carefully placing each line to create a clear symbol. By the conclusion of the lesson, they were able to decipher several pictographs without guidance and began to string together symbols to tell a story. We will create a small scale tipi model with the pictographs and symbols drawn and painted on the surface this week in class. The tipi's should be completed for you to take home at conferences to use in your Thanksgiving display.

1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade Art

We explored the wonderful and messy work of chalk pastels this week. I presented how to apply and blend both warm and cool colors with the chalk pastels and asked the students to imagine a creative sunset inspired background design. The pieces were to be a bright field of color and could be an abstraction or a realistic inspired colorful sky. They all enjoyed the large scale of the work ( 18x24 ) and really embraced the mess of chalk pastels. I feel this may be a good time to remind you to help your child remember not to wear their favorite clothes on Tuesday or Wednesday Art day! They are actually gaining good control of the materials, but messes happen. The next process in this project will involve black India ink overlay of tree silhouettes. 

4th, 5th and 6th Grade Art

We continued work on the watercolor still-life pieces this week in art. The students all able to create a balanced composition and lightly sketch their layouts on the watercolor paper. The shapes of each object were defined, small details were lightly sketched in and work began on laying out the first wash of color. Most students tend to work on details first, so this is a tricky process to learn for them. The light wash of color sets the base for the addition of value shading, details and highlights. Watercolor works best from light to dark application, so some level of patience is required to achieve the desired results. Work will continue next week on the painting and we will hopefully finish the work before Thanksgiving break. 

7th and 8th Grade Art

We had a focused class this week working on drawing and observational skills. While I love creating open ended projects with the middle school that allows them to explore their own voice and creativity, sometimes I feel the need to tighten up their creative education with set exercises to strengthen their skills. This drawing exercise is from the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain."  Students all have the same image, all except 1" of the image is hidden and they have to transfer the information slowly and carefully. The room is silent and the concentration needed to complete the exercise is high. I have personally participated in this exercise over 40 times since high school and still learn something every time! As is the norm, some students enjoy the exercise, some STRONGLY dislike the lesson. I will say that every student tried and I was impressed with the level of achievement. The original drawing the students work from is a portrait of Stravinsky by Pablo Picasso. They realize at the end of the exercise that they have been drawing the portrait upside down. It truly is a wonderful training tool for how to observe.

The original Picasso drawing