In this year's final Learning to Look class, we talked about Abstract Art and how the elements of art were used by the artists in a different way.
We started by looking at Georgia O'keefe's Morning Glory with Black, and although we mentioned the curves, and lack of identifiable objects in the painting, the students quickly identified the "giant" flower in it.
Following that, we spoke about Jackson Pollack's style and got inspired by watching a video of him creating his "action" painting.
For the final project, we got the students ready by covering clothes and shoes with plastic as we went outside to a huge white canvas in the parking lot.
In groups of 5 at a time, the kids happily enjoyed the experience of painting without touching the canvas: using wooden sticks, turkey basters, and drippers they "splat" the paint as much as they could!!
They ended up creating a wonderful modern, abstract composition that we are sure you are going to enjoy.
Please take a moment to see the pictures of the fantastic process of your little artists!
 
 
 
 On Friday, March 2nd, we had our third Learning to Look session.  We discussed Joan Miro's The Hunter (Catalan Landscape), and Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory.  Then we created a Surrealist diorama, using a enlarged photograph of Greenacres School as a backdrop.  The children each chose one or more objects, put them together in an "unexpected" way, and positioned them in both usual and unusual places.  As they worked, they described what they had done:
Noah - The Hulk is trying to throw a fork like a game.
Abigail - I put Mr. Young as a dog.
Alexi - I made an alligator who has an airplane.  I'm hanging it from a string.
Andrea - The Hulk is upside down in the sky.
Brian - I'm gonna make a little star that flies.
Cindy - I'm putting Dr. Snoopy in a cupcake on the ground.
Danny - I'm putting a frog picture on a thing's face in a tree.
Ethan - Ms. Goodman's face in gonna be on the horse, and she's walking around as a horse, but she has her same head.
Hallie - A mermaid is holding a pony, and they're flying.
Halle - There is an eye on a sun on a basketball on the grass.
Mattie - Ms. Goodman's face has a cloud on top of it on the ground in the front.
Nico - The Hulk has a car between his legs with feathers on his head, and he's standing on a piece of a ball.
Nicole- I put Ms. Goodman on a plane hanging by a string. 
Ryan - A  stegosaurus, ice cream, and a dreidel guy all stuck together.
Sophia - An airplane is wearing sunglasses on the roof of the school.
Rebecca - A dog is on a chair talking to the Ms. Goodman horse.
From the Learning to Look team, Elana, Julie, Claudia and Pam
 
 
 
Dear Parents,
 
Today, we had our first Learning to Look session of the year.  We 
discussed Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, and Henri Rousseau's  The 
Sleeping Gypsy.  Following a discussion about the art, half of the 
children created a large mural, which was their version of Starry Night. 
The other half of the class created a story about The Sleeping Gypsy. 
Then the groups switched.
 
Please see the photo showing the two paintings in poster form.
 
Here is the story they created:
The Sleeping Gypsy
There once was a lion and a girl, and the lion was trying to find the 
lion's baby.  (Noah)
He found his baby in the sand.  (Abigail)
He tried to help her wake up.  (Nicole)
He asked the gypsy for water for his baby.  (Alexi)
She gave the water and the lion said "thank you"  (Cindy)
And the lion gave the baby water.  (Ethan)
The gypsy sold the lion her vase.  (Brian)
The lion put more water in the vase.  (Andrea)
Then the gypsy had a baby.  (Danny)
Afterwards, the gypsy was very sick.  (Mattie)
Then the lion had another baby.  (Hallie)
Then the gypsy had another baby and got more sick.  (Sophia)
The gypsy waited and waited and felt better.  (Halle)
The lion had six more babies.  (Ryan)
The lion got some fish from the water and fed its babies.  (Rebecca)
 
The Learning to Look team:
Claudia, Elana, Julie and Pam