Fall Studio Workshop – Lesson Plan Now Available

Published December 9, 2011 Kate , Project Ideas , Resources , School Programs 1 Comment
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Studio Example of "Tumbling Tessellations"

Studio Example of "Tumbling Tessellations"

If you weren’t able to visit the gallery during our fall module, the lesson plan for our “Tumbling Tessellations” studio workshop is now available here on the blog and on the gallery’s main website.  We were amazed by the multicoloured patterns created by our student visitors – great work, everybody!

Barb Weber, who teaches grade 5 at St. Joseph, had this to say after her class completed their tour and studio workshop: “The tessellation activity fit very well with my visual arts unit and math (Geometry).  You covered a number of my expectations.  I felt the program was excellent.”

We’d love to hear your feedback about this lesson plan – post a comment to let us know how your students enjoyed it!

Tumbling Tessellations Lesson Plan

KW|AG’s winter shows open January 20, 2012.  For more information visit www.kwag.ca

Drawing Basics – Lesson Plan

Published November 15, 2011 Kate , Project Ideas , Resources , School Programs , Teacher's Kits 1 Comment

The lesson plan from last week’s Teacher Kit is now available online.  Visit our educator’s page on KW|AG’s website to download the pdf or view it here:

Drawing Basics – lesson plan

Teacher Kit #11 – Drawing Basics

Published November 9, 2011 Kate , Project Ideas , Resources , School Programs , Teacher's Kits Leave a Comment
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Carbon Paper Contour Drawings

Carbon Paper Contour Drawings

On Monday evening we were joined by an enthusiastic crowd of educators for our first Teacher Kit of the school year: Drawing Basics.

After a quick refresher on the essentials of contour drawing, the group dove right in to the sample lesson, “One, Two, Draw Your Shoe”.  We used carbon paper to make an automatic copy of our contour drawings, each choosing a different type of “paper” for the copy.  Some chose banking envelopes and paper bags, while others experimented with brightly coloured rice paper and recycled newspaper.

Kate gives a quick refresher on Contour Drawing

Kate gives a quick refresher on Contour Drawing

 

The real fun began as we added form, shadow, and colour to our carbon copy images.  The shoes totally came to life!

Charcoal, Chalk, and Pastel are added to the drawings

Charcoal, Chalk, and Pastel are added to the drawings

 

Thanks to everyone who attended and shared their ideas about how to use this lesson in their classrooms.  Links to the pdf version of the teacher kit package will be available at www.kwag.ca very soon!

My World In Action!

Published October 20, 2011 Project Ideas , Resources , School Programs , Tanya Leave a Comment
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Students hard at work on their self-portraits

Hello to all you art blog enthusiasts!

A few weeks ago we introduced you to our new primary art project “my world; self portraits”. This week we were finally able to put it into action. We had a grade 1 class come into the gallery for a tour and an art experience. We have been super eager to try this new activity out, and are pleased to say that it was awesome. The children were engaged and very excited to create their portrait.

A variety of open ended materials were laid out, in no particular order, for the children to use. The children jumped in right away and were not afraid to ask questions and to modify the materials so they would fit their specific needs. Everyone created something unique that they were proud of and were able to showcase.

Overall the children enjoyed making their self portraits and the activity was a success. We can’t wait to be able to do this one again!

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If you would like to create your own self portrait here are the steps to follow:

My World; Self Portraits

Materials:

  • 6” or 8” paper circles, coloured or not, whatever your prefer
  • Strips of paper at different lengths
  • Scraps of coloured paper, old wallpaper scraps, construction paper etc
  • Stickers; plain stickers are the best it allows the children to use their imaginations
  • Glue sticks or tape
  • Scissors
  • Markers/crayons/paint etc

Instructions:

  • To start, ask your child to assemble a body using the paper circles. They can use however many they would like to construct their body.
  • Create hair, a face, arms, legs etc for the body
  • After they have created their body, get them to write their first name in the belly, since its all about them and what they love!
  • When they have finished that, ask them to think about their favourite things, and draw, cut out etc those items and place them in the belly of their body
  • Try limiting how many pre-cut items they use, this is a great way to work on their fine motor skills by getting them to draw and cut out their own shapes. Not to mention its great for seeing where their imagination can take them
  • And that’s it! Now you have a great self portrait about your little one and what they love. Go ahead hang it on your fridge, show it off to everyone! They are going to love it!

Welcome, Tanya!

Published September 28, 2011 announcements , Art Lab , Family Sunday , Kate , School Programs , Tanya Leave a Comment
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Tanya shows off one of her mixed media collage exemplars

Tanya shows off one of her mixed media collage exemplars

The Public Programs Department is very happy to be joined by Tanya, a student in Conestoga College’s Early Childhood Education Program.  Tanya will be doing a two month placement with our school programs; you might even get to meet her during some of our public events such as Family Sundays and Art Lab!

Already hard at work, Tanya has started to develop some studio projects for our primary-aged visitors.  Her first idea involves self-portraits.  Students in Junior Kindergarden through Grade One will love this mixed media collage.  Check out the photos of Tanya hard at work on the exemplars!

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Extension Activities – The Illusion of Depth

Published September 21, 2011 Exhibitions , Kate , post-visit suggestions , Project Ideas , Resources , School Programs 1 Comment
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"Waterfall" by Julian Beever

"Waterfall" by Julian Beever - created with chalk on the sidewalk!

Check out this link to our Educator’s Circle for some inspirational ideas about creating the illusion of depth in your artwork.  In the “Art in the Classroom” section you’ll find information about Linear Perspective, Trompe L’oeil, and Anamorphosis.  Many of these techniques date back to the Renaissance!

Fall Studio Workshop: Tessellations!

Published September 12, 2011 Kate , Resources , School Programs Leave a Comment
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Development II by M.C. Escher, 1939

Development II by M.C. Escher, 1939

The school year has begun which means there are new and exciting projects being planned here at the gallery.  Our fall Studio Workshop is going to be amazing.  It’s a lot of fun AND it incorporates some Math!  (honestly, it’s fun!)  We’ll be creating tessellations, patterns that repeat into infinity.

I’ve tracked down some resources online to get you started on your own tessellated art:

www.tessellations.org is an amazing website that teaches you about how to create your own tessellations and also contains galleries of images created by other people.  The step by step instructions are very easy to follow.

www.mcescher.com is the official M.C. Escher website.  You’ll find biographic information, images, and videos of Escher talking about his work.

Summer Camp Draws to a Close

Published August 12, 2011 Kate , Summer Art Camp Leave a Comment
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Forgive the pun – I just can’t believe that Summer Camp is officially over!  Thanks to everyone for making this summer one of our best yet.  The projects were amazing and everyone learned a ton of new art techniques.  Have a look at some photos from our final Friday Art Show and then enjoy the rest of your summer vacation!

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Masks from Unusual Materials

Published July 28, 2011 Karoline , Kate , Project Ideas , Summer Art Camp Leave a Comment
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A Mask in Action

A Mask in Action

We’ve been making a lot of masks this summer – can you blame us?  They’re so much fun!  These particular masks were devised by the ingenious Karoline, another one of our amazing summer camp instructors.

These masks started out as kitchen strainers.  The kids added wire, beads, rubber bands and small pieces of hardware to create the faces.  In some cases extra embellishments like rafia hair and rose petal bows were also included.  Aren’t they awesome?

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Handmade Paper

Published July 26, 2011 Project Ideas , Robin , Summer Art Camp Leave a Comment
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Today’s project comes from our instructor, Robin, and it’s super cool!  This handmade paper can be planted because it’s full of grass seeds.

A Table Full of Handmade Paper

A Table Full of Handmade Paper

Robin and her intrepid group of young artists started by putting some colourful paper pulp into a blender.  They added some water and whizzed the concoction until it was blended.  Then it was poured onto a paper mold/screen and was pressed to try to get as much excess water out as possible.  Each piece was carefully “couched” onto a felt surface to help it dry and the grass seeds were added.  Here’s a closeup of one piece of paper:

Closeup of Handmade Paper with Grass Seeds

Closeup of Handmade Paper with Grass Seeds

Imagine what you might write or draw on a piece of paper like this!

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