Visual Art

CONVERSATIONS:

I studied textiles as an 'art major' many years ago, and now find myself teaching textiles to grades 1-6 on a weekly basis.  Using textiles, I creatively introduce children to colour, form, function and beauty in accordance to the Steiner schools curriculum.  Under this curriculum 'handwork', as the subject is called, is considered very important to assist children developmentally and creatively.  Whilst this subject is taught by a specialist teacher, class teachers are trained to teach painting, sculpture, leather-work, woodwork, metal work and many art based mediums.  Elise

Chinese Brush Painting: Orchid by K. Lawton 2012

I also had a very positive visual art background and I have loved drawing since I was a little girl.  I enjoy experimenting with different materials and types of paper.  This week's workshop made me realise that I use my left brain quite a lot during drawing and I have always been very particular and detailed with my artwork.  

I really love photography too because I am able to reproduce a moment in time and space instantly.  It provides a way for me to capture what I couldn't portray in a sketch or a painting.  

I saw a classroom once where the teacher had the children read for 10 minutes after lunch then draw for 10 minutes after that.  I thought it was a really good idea as it allowed children to practise drawing on a daily basis.  The children had to use the same piece of paper in their visual diaries for a week so they had to add a little more to the drawing each day.  Kirsten

That sounds like a good idea.  During my last Practical Experience the children had a daily drawing book.  They were either allocated reading or sketching time every day after lunch.  Elise

The children in my grade 3 class have very low self esteem when it comes to visual art and will throw away anything that they think is not good enough.  I am finding it very difficult to give them the confidence to create as many of them will hide under the desk or rip up their work.  I think they would benefit from drawing everyday to get past their fear.  In their allocated art class not a lot is accomplished as much time is spent managing behaviour ("I've finished", "Mine looks stupid!" "I can't do this!" "This is to hard!").  I cannot wait to see how you integrate visual art into the curriculum at your school.  I love the activities in the photos especially using sculpture to investigate capacity.  Kirsten.

At Steiner schools, all work produced by the child is considered art.  There are no worksheets or textbooks and children have a subject book (Main Lesson Book) which they produce using  high quality materials (crayons and later coloured pencils).  All topics are taught in an artistic and enriching way.  It will be interesting for you Kirsten, to come and see how this alternative curriculum integrates art as a pedagogy. Elise

I really enjoyed our workshop with Maureen and was surprised at what was created (by myself and by others).  I really enjoyed the process of making, presenting and responding.  Here is what I produced. Elise

Paint what you are feeling! An easy, open and clear activity applicable to any age group.

Left brain pencil portrait drawn upside down. I really think I entered into the expressionist style of this work.

Draw something in the room for five minutes then move to a new picture.  I initially experienced resistance to this activity but really love the result, thank you everyone.

RESOURCE TOOLKIT:

A fantastic website with comprehansive list of art ideas by grade level, by artist, portraiture ideas, using picture books ets is Deep Space Sparkle
http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/new-to-art/

Art and craft ideas based upon picture books
http://pinterest.com/kbus/children-s-book-related-crafts-and-activities/

Summary of main points in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
http://members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Drawing/index.html

Model of learning from The Whole Story by Brian Cambourne
http://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources/E00843/chapter5.pdf

This website has some great projects that involve visual art, I love the diorama - Kirsten
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/diorama.html

Here is another website with lesson plans, videos, and other resources - Kirsten
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/resources/artideas/index.htm

  

ENGAGEMENT IN THE MEDIA:

Here are some visual art ideas I have integrated across the curriculum during Practical Experiences.  Elise

PE 2. Integrating a maths lesson on capacity with sculpture

PE 2. Capacity Monster, integrating maths and sculpture

PE 2. Capacity Monster, integrating maths and sculpture

PE 2. Integrating poetry with art. 

PE 2. Each student illustrated a verse of Jabberwocky.

Mixed Media on a beach excursion

Here are some visual art ideas I observed during Practical Experiences.  Elise

PE 1. Shadow portraits in a Reggio Emilia kindergarten

PE 1. Self portraits in an Reggio Emilia kindergarten

PE 3. Working with patterns using Matisse as inspiration 

PE 3. Double dipping using Van Gogh as inspiration

Here are some examples of teaching textiles at a Steiner school.  Elise

Class 4 Textile project

Class 6 Textile project 

Class 3 Textile project

Class 1 Textile project

Here are some ideas from art classes I have taught in Hobart.  Elise

Beeswax sculpture

Weaving

Printing using potato, fruit and leaves

Zahra using a knitting fork

Making lanterns using coloured beeswax on glass

Wet felting

Felted scene

Paper snowflakes

Oran leaning to knit

Teaching at Kids Art Zone, Bruny Island 

Kids Art Zone, Bruny Island 

Here is an activity I saw on PE1 where a Prep/1 teacher took photos of the students, cut them in half and got the students to draw the other half.  A left brain activity I think!  You could tell the students who looked carefully at their picture. Kirsten

Students drew half of their faces as a maths activity.