Georgia O'Keeffe's Flowers

For this lesson we looked at the work of Georgia O'Keeffe. We discussed how she created large paintings of flowers, as if she wanted the viewer to see their beauty through a magnifying lens. She said: "I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty." The students looked at pictures of her work and they were amazed with the beauty of colors and lines. 

She also said: "When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not." 

We used water colors in order to create our large-scale flowers. Students were encouraged to use a variety of brushes and colors. 

An Art History Lesson with the help of Vincent van Gogh's Cat

We devoted three sessions studying the work of famous artists.

The book Vincent van Gogh's Cat was used as an inspiration for this mini art history lesson.

This book was illustrated by the Second Grade Students of East Washington Academy in Muncie, Indiana.

The adventurous cat in the book is exploring the paintings of famous artists as he travels from one famous painting to another.

The students chose their favorite work from the book and did a mini research on the artist. 

The chosen works were: "Four Cut Sunflowers" 1887; Vincent van Gogh. "Waterlilies" 1908; Claude Monet.

"Exotic Landscape" 1908; Henri Rousseau. "Hermitage" 1918; Paul Klee. "Tree of Life" 1905-1909; Gustav Klimt. "Woman in Front of the Sun" 1950; Joan Miro. "Green Dancer" 1880; Edgar Degas. "Three Musicians" 1921; Pablo Picasso. "The starry Night" 1889; Vincent van Gogh.

We made copies of the chosen works, and every student had the opportunity to discuss the different elements found in the work. We looked for details, discussed colors, inspiration, and brushstroke. We looked for similarities and differences among the different artworks. We finally discussed what elements contributed to the "mood" of each artwork. 

Each student created a template for her/his cat.

We used black sharpies, markers, oil pastels and water colors.

The Starry Night Vincent van Gogh

Tree of Life Gustav Klimt

Waterlilies Claude Monet 

Exotic Landscape Henri Rousseau 

Green Dancer Edgar Degas

Three Musicians Pablo Picasso

Hermitage Paul Klee

Four Cut Flowers Vincent van Gogh 

Woman in Front of the Sun Joan Miro

Exploring Symmetry and Balance

We explored symmetry and balance in art by observing the patterns in butterflies.

After examining how the balance and symmetry was achieved, the students worked in creating their own symmetrical butterflies.

The project had four steps. Step one: We used pencils to draw our butterflies. Step two: We made an effort to draw the same images in both sides. Step three: We use black sharpies over our pencil lines. Step four: We used markers and water colors to complete our composition.