Inside Burlington's Edmund's Elementary School Art Room, Burlington City Art's Summer programming, as well as formerly Richmond Elementary School's Art Room and Flynn Elementary's Project Explore Program.
Here is my latest letter to you. After your coming vacation, art lessons will be delivered differently, in a menu format, but for this week, I am pleased to bring you another post with video and photographs.
It is healthy to be aware of your thoughts and feelings. Artists of all types- poets, painters, musicians, writers, etc.- explore their feelings through art. All emotions, whether they feel positive or negative, are a normal part of human life. How are you feeling today? Let's work today to acknowledge how you are feeling.
Today the first artist we will meet is Takashi Murakami. You might even already recognize his work if not his name. He is a contemporary artist from Japan. He is 58 years old. He is very famous, and his artwork is shown in museums all over the world.
A Field of Flowers Seen from the Stairs to Heaven, 2018
He is best known for his paintings and prints of big flowers featuring bright, saturated colors. The colors make people feel good, and so his artwork has become very popular. There are even pillows and little stuffie toys of his flowers. How do these flowers make you feel?
The second artist is one many people now know, Vincent Van Gogh. He was a Dutch painter.Even though many people know him today, he was not famous in his lifetime. That often made him frustrated and sad. He made over 2,000 works of art in his lifetime. His artwork shows lots of different feelings, like this one below. What might it mean that the person is covering his face?
At Eterniy's Gate, 1890
People look at one another's faces to see how others are feeling. Faces tell us a lot. That is why when people communicate feelings online, they often use emojis. Did you know that Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita created the first emojis in the late 1990's? The earliest emojis did not include a lot of faces, like you see in use now. Let's look at a few emojis to get you inspired to create your own faces.
Making Faces: How Are You Feeling?
Here is what you need: Objects from around your house or things you find outdoors. The basics: Combine different objects to create faces that show a feeling. Try changing the features to change the feeling you are showing. Ask your grownup to take a photo of your favorite one. More ideas to try: Try shifting the angles. If you angle the eyebrows upward in the center versus downward, how does that change the face? Can you make the face that you create match the mood you are feeling today? Here are examples I made:
It's pretty neat how small changes like changing the angle of the plastic forks totally changes the expression:
These use things from inside my house
Using objects found outdoors:
It's easy to change the faces you made, isn't it? To make them show a different feeling? Changing our real feelings can be harder. It's natural to have big feelings when things are uncertain. You can give yourself time to feel negative experiences, and then do something nice for yourself to improve your mood and create positive feelings. Here are some to try. Mood boosters: •Read something funny, like Calvin and Hobbes cartoons •Listen to music that cheers you up to sing or dance to •Make a healthy snack that feels extra special •Play with a pet if you have one •Watch a movie that has always made you laugh •Draw a picture of your family; add silly details, like giving yourself a fancy moustache •Ask someone to tell you a joke, or tell one that you know to someone else •Call someone you love Stay well and healthy! Love, Mrs. Elliott And finally, a wondrous roundup of the work you have sent me in the last week!
Sometimes, when I have a long week or a long day or a hard conversation, I look for comfort when I get home. Many people have something at home that brings comfort. A particular stuffed animal, perhaps, or a treasured mug. Third graders might remember a recent conversation about special objects in our kitchens- that perfect cup or bowl that feels just right, or has a neat picture or perfect texture. There are lots of foods that bring people comfort as well, like ice cream or soup. What brought you comfort today?
As long as humans have been creating art, artists around the world have worked to bring emotional comfort to their own lives and those of others. Teapots get painted with flowers, wooden spoon handles get carved. Those details are not necessary, but they feel nice to our hearts. It is a pleasure to own something special, something beautiful, something to play with, something to treasure. Do you have a favorite toy or lovey which brings you comfort? A person, a special spot in your home, a plant, a pet, or a blanket which you adore? Today we will look at how artists around the world both bring comfort and show us what makes them happy in their homes.
Owning toys and dolls is a part of childhood that most of us share. Artists have been creating toys and dolls for children for a very long time. In Japan, kokeshi dolls have been produced for over 150 years. They are made for children to play with. These dolls are made from wood, have no arms of legs, and have simple painted faces and cylindrical bodies sealed with wax.
Northeastern Native Americans have made cornhusk dolls for likely more than one thousand years. When European settlers arrived, they adopted the practice of making cornhusk dolls into their toy making, which included making rag dolls out of bits of fabric. Husks are often dry and crack easily, so Native American artisans first soak the husks in water so that they are pliable to work with, yielding tough, sturdy dolls when dry. These dolls traditionally did not have faces.
Today, reflect on what brings you comfort in your home. Try to make a drawing, or, if you can, a painting with markers and water of what comforts you at home.
Here is a little video I made to show you this simple process:
Here is what you would need:
Pencil
Markers
Paper (Thicker is better when painting, so that your paper is less likely to wrinkle.)
Water
Brush
The basics:
Draw a picture of something, someone, or some place that you turn to for comfort. Color it with markers, then brush water over the marker lines to create paint.
More ideas to try:
You could add a background. If ice cream brings you comfort, where do you like to eat it? If you find comfort with a lovey, do you cuddle it in bed? If there is a special person who you go to for comfort, and do you have a routine with that person you could draw, like when they read you a bedtime story?
Here are some contemporary artists showing us the comforts of home.
The painting below is by March Avery. She was born in 1932. Her dad was an artist, too. His name was Milton Avery. She started painting at a young age and practiced a lot. Her artwork has been shown at many museums.
March Avery, Bedtime Story (1989)
Some people feel comfort when someone reads to them, especially at bedtime. One of my favorite stories to have read to me as a child was The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. What stories do you love?
Other people feel comforted by the objects in their home that make it feel cozy and welcoming. Some people, called interior decorators, even have a career where they decorate the homes of others to make it have a certain feeling. In this painting below, you might notice the soft, bright pillows, the game of chess, the to-go cup (perhaps filled with coffee, cocoa, or tea), the bouquet of flowers, the sharp new pencil, and the wall of art and posters.
Hilary Pecis, Harper’s Game (2019)
It was painted by the young artist Hilary Pecis. She lives in Los Angeles, California. She paints representational landscapes and interiors from what she sees around her. She was born in California in 1979. Her artwork has been seen in many art magazines, and she shows her paintings in art galleries, which are like tiny museums.
I look forward to seeing your artwork, and I miss you all so much I think that I will go hug my stuffie now.
Love,
Mrs. Elliott
Here are all the AMAZING artworks you have shared with me this week! Some of you have been veritable creative fountains! I LOVE to see what you have been doing. Thank you for sharing!
Anet's art
The McNeil family making art
Isaac's artwork
Graham's collage
Milo took a sculpture walk
Sculpture around UVM
Topiary sculpture at UVM
Leander's large-scale mandala
Ivan's artwork
Kevin and Christian's mandala
Gabriel's mandala
Adele's painting, "A Day In Spring"
Mariella's family painting
Holly's artwork
Graham's mandala
Jaime's mandala
Gabriel's second mandala
Rosalie's painting
Milo's mandala
Bernadette's snowperson
Bernadette's snow sculpture of Frida Kahlo
Bernadette's self-portrait
Jonah's mandala
Jonah's second mandala
Jonah's collage
Lily's artwork
Bernadette's mandala added objects in multiples of three
