Process photos of the 7th grade creating their masking tape painting​s.

| sarahr

Continuing our study of Modern Art, the 7th grade viewed the line paintings of the early Minimalist work of Frank Stella, The Op Art of Bridget Riley, Color Theory and Illusions. Artists then created their own paintings. Step one: Paint the canvas. Step two: Design and apply tape onto the dry surface. Step three: Carefully paint over the tape. Step four: The satisfying activity of peeling off the tape and discovering the artwork underneath!

  • Vega’s first coat of paint.
  • Now she’s adding tape to the dry surface.
  • Creative tape designs by Adi, Elsi, and Ruby.
  • Sam’s symmetrical tape design.
  • Tally’s chevron tape application requires precision.
  • Eden’s ready to paint!
  • Kaito demonstrates painting.
  • Eden has selected a rainbow palette.
  • Eli paints gold over a geometric tape application.
  • Molly and Jamarr taping and painting.
  • Vega’s finsished artwork!
  • Vega’s close up.
  • Jude
  • Henry
  • Ella

    Artie the art coding robot.

    | sarahr

    We have two Artie Drawing Robots in the art room thanks to the generosity of our board chair Eric Eberhard. Artie is available for loan if you’d like to try creating art coding at home. In response to the codes that are created, Artie – who comes equipped with markers – makes artwork! You need a computer to download the program, and according to students who have tested it out, it’s pretty easy. Here’s Silas McGee with Artie. I’m looking forward to seeing what they create together! I’ll post some drawings from Artie soon.

    What’s new this week?

    | sarahr

    The 8th grade is busy working on their altered books and their Art-English collaboration paintings (watch for photos later this week), the 6th grade have started a unit on watercolor (instructional video is on the September 22 blog post) and the 7th grade have started another unit on Modern Art. This time we’re exploring Op Art, Minimalism​, color theory and illusion. Here are some super fascinating​ videos from National Geographic’s Brain Games, check them out. You won’t believe your eyes!

    Dia de los Muertos Ofrenda

    Dia de los Muertos
    | sarahr

    It’s that time of year! Our hall display celebrating Dia de los Muertos is up!

    El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is not, as is commonly thought, a Mexican version of Halloween, though the two holidays do share some traditions, including costumes and parades. On the Day of the Dead, it’s believed that the border between the spirit world and the real world dissolve. During this brief period, the souls of the dead awaken and return to the living world to feast, drink, dance and play music with their loved ones. In turn, the living family members treat the deceased as honored guests in their celebrations, and leave the deceased’s favorite foods and other offerings at gravesites or on the ofrendas built in their homes. (www.history.com)

    Ofrendas are an essential part of the Day of the Dead celebrations. The word ofrenda means offering in Spanish. They are also called altares or altars, but they are not for worship. This year’s dates: October 31- November 2.

    For more information, check out this informative article from National Geographic! https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/top-ten-day-of-dead-mexico/#close