Art Program – January Update
January Art Program Update!
We just can’t get enough of the masters at May River Montessori! Works by Mary Cassatt, Paul Klee, Berthe Morisot, and Vincent Van Gogh have inspired many wonderful paintings by our young primary and elementary artists in the past couple of months. I have been blown away by the creativity and imagination I witness on a daily basis!
Instead of keeping colors clean and only using one at a time, which is customary in our Studio practice, we have been experimenting with “double loading” and short brush strokes. Double loading, used by many impressionists including Mary Cassatt and Vincent Van Gogh, uses 2 or 3 (versus 1) carefully chosen colors on the brush at once. In this application, white paint is essential.
The addition of white in acrylic and liquid watercolor paints is a phenomenal way to create pastel shades as well as enhance the coverage of any chosen color. Using white is like building in primer and the amount you use will dictate the color you produce. Our young artists loved this technique and blended some seriously dreamy colors in the process!
In our study of Berthe Morisot’s Vase with Flowers, we discovered that we LOVE how tempera sticks behave on top of tempera cake (that has dried)! When working the creamy/translucent/shimmering nature of tempera sticks over the almost powdery nature of tempera cakes, a beautiful union is formed. “WOW!” was heard throughout these classes as we were awed by the new shades of color created by combining these two forms of paint!
We have been taking two and often three days to complete works, cultivating patience and respect for the creative process. One of the best parts of my day is when I hear students express delight or satisfaction with their work and that they want MORE. I also love hearing when students do another version of a painting we’ve done in class and take pride in the result as well as the investment in their creative practice! Having a creative space at home is highly encouraged!
In our tribute to Paul Klee’s famous “Cat and Bird” painting, we used oil pastel resist with tempera cake and created a kitty gallery in the primary building that warmed the hearts of all our cat-loving students and staff! Speaking of oil pastel. Please know that if the artist desires to keep the work super clean, placing wax or parchment paper between our hands and the canvas helps avoid smudges as well as pastel mess.
In the Oak Room, we took a detour from Impressionism to pay tribute to the creative mecca of Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Straying from traditional Egyptian colors, we ventured into fluorescent and metallic oil pastels because a little bling is always fun, especially when you have to decorate a collar! Guided drawing was our process of choice and grids helped us achieve correct proportion. Egyptians used grids as well to create their figures on the pyramid walls. Grids can be incredibly helpful in demystifying the art of drawing.
In the Grove, we just completed our Drawing and Painting the Lowcountry elective. Sunsets, Palmettos, and oyster shells were our main focus; bleeding tissue, watercolors, oil pastels and Sharpies were our chief tools. It’s amazing to hear the hush of a room of focused artists working on fine black line detail. The works produced in these classes are simply amazing – so unique and representative of each budding artist!
In the Cottage, we created bleeding tissue prints as well as stamped shape collages with acrylics on recycled cardboard. It’s impressive to see how industrious and focused these youngest of our artists can be when in the creative groove! Give them a smock, tools and canvas and they go to town!
Friends in primary have been super excited about their OWL yarn paintings which have just begun. Stay tuned for our next post to see how they turned out!
Again, I would like to thank our parent community for all the cardboard donations AND yarn cutting in preparation for ongoing projects! I would also like to thank all my Studio friends who are always wanting to help prepare for and clean up after class. They save me multiple trips to and fro and I don’t know what I would do without all their beautiful and eager extra hands and hearts!
Happy creating!
Miss Sari
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