Wayne Thiebaud Ice Cream

The Third Graders have been learning about the artist, Wayne Thiebaud, most famous for his paintings of cakes, pies, ice creams and other treats.  He is sometimes affiliated with the pop art movement. Students looked at many of his paintings and made observations about the subject of his paintings, the colors he used and the textures of his paints.

They are currently working on a papier-mâché ice cream cone sculpture inspired by his paintings. First, the students built an armature out of newspaper, oak tag and masking tape. Next, they worked with paste and news paper to build on top of their armature, making the scoops of ice cream rounded and smooth. When they are finished constructing, they will work with paint to complete their sculpture.

When Wayne Thiebaud was asked about what he wants people to see when they look at his pictures in a CBS Sunday Morning interview, he said, "I'd like for them to laugh a little. If we don't have a sense of humor, we lack a sense of perspective." I think it is safe to say that the art room has been filled with laughter and fun as we have been making these sculptures. 

Kandinsky

Earlier this week the Google Doodle was in celebration of Wassily Kandinsky's 148th birthday.
So it seemed like the perfect time to share two projects that we have done this year inspired by his work.

First, way back in September the third graders learned about Kandinsky's life and art, noticing his use of lines and shapes. We also read The Noisy Paintbox which taught us that Kandinsky had a rare condition, synaesthesia, which means he could experience sounds as colors and colors as sounds.

For their project the third graders listened to music and drew lines and shapes inspired by those they saw in Kandinsky's work!

Currently the kindergarten has been learning about color mixing and honing their painting skills. For their project they tried their hand at creating their own version of Kandinsky's famous circle painting.