1st Grade Kandinsky Paintings

First graders learned about painter Wassily Kandinsky and made their own versions of his famous painting, "Squares With Concentric Circles."  We also talked about synesthesia (Kandinsky was a synesthete), thought about what sounds might have produced these colors, and how other senses might mix.  This lesson was a great opportunity to practice the basic color theory that they have been learning all fall, as well as correct watercolor use, careful brushwork, and color mixing.  They had a great time.  It was a fun lesson, with beautiful results!

6th Grade Distorted Self-Portraits

Sixth graders are working on self portraits in reflective materials that are not flat, and therefore distort their image.  This is a great exercise in careful observation, as there are many unexpected curves that arise.  This is also a great opportunity to continue the color mixing and fine brushwork that they practiced in the last project, tint color wheels.  Look out for these in the hallways soon!

8th Grade visit to Bob Burch's glass-blowing studio

Eighth graders took a field trip to master glassblower Bob Burch's studio, Brandywine Glassworks, in Putney.  They got an up-close view of this subtle art, asked fantastic questions, and got wonderful answers and demonstrations from Bob.  We are so grateful to him for opening his studio to us, and for his great words of wisdom!  Please note that he gives short introductory lessons making a paperweight for the very reasonable price of $35 - what a great gift idea for our young artists!  

5th Grade Snowflakes

Some folks finished early and had some time at the end of class, so a few 5th graders made some very intricate snowflakes for decorations at the Winter Concert.  Check out those details!

7th Grade Jim Dine Clothing Paintings

Seventh graders studied Pop artist Jim Dine's work, and created large clothing paintings inspired by his paintings of colorful, expressively rendered clothes.  Students brought in a meaningful piece of clothing to work from and were encouraged to tweak the colors.  They worked for several weeks on this and are almost finished.  They will be up in the halls for the Winter Concert, please check them out!

2nd Grade Self-Portraits

5th Grade Op-Art Paintings

Fifth graders looked at the work of Victor Vasarely, often called the father of Op-Art, as well as some other well know optical illusions as inspiration for their work.  They chose complementary colors to create high-contrast images, and practiced some fine-tuned detail painting in this project.  Keep an eye out for their finished work in the hallways!

Kindergarten Inca/Aztec Sun Mandalas

Kindergarteners looked at mandalas from several cultures, including Mayan and Incan calendars from Ecuador as well as rotationally symmetrical forms found in nature.  Using oil pastels on paper plates, each student started with a sun face in the center for Incan sun god, Inti.  Moving outward, they created colorful patterns in concentric circles with wonderful results!

4th Grade Paper Marionettes

Fourth graders created paper-sculpture animal marionettes with articulated limbs. They looked at animal photographs as well artist-made puppets for inspiration and came up with some humorous creatures, families, and movements for their characters:

1st Grade Audience Drawings

First graders created audience drawings based on the work of Red Grooms, whose 3-D paintings and large sculptures we saw on our field trip to BMAC.  We talked about depth of space, how heads looked from behind, and who might be part of an audience.  First graders created a scene, then folded the bottom of their drawings like an accordion to include the audience as part of the image: