Up Close with Georgia O' Keeffe

Spring is my favorite time of year. I love to see buds on the trees, green shoots of grass reaching for the sun, and beautiful flowers such as tulips and day Lillies beginning to bloom. Today, we are going to look closely at the art of Georgia O'Keeffe. Born in 1887, Georgia O'Keeffe was an American artist who painted nature in a way that showed how it made her feel. She is best known for her paintings of flowers, skulls, and desert landscapes.

Although Georgia had a passion for art, it wasn't easy for a woman to become an artist in the early 1900s. She was often looked down upon and not taken seriously. This didn't stop Georgia, however. After high school, she attended the Art Institute of Chicago, and then, the Art Students League in New York.

She was the first female painter to gain respect in New York's art world in the 1920s. Her unique and new way of painting nature, simplifying its shapes and forms meant that she was called a pioneer of abstract art. Abstract art uses simple shapes, lines, and color. If you wish to learn more about Georgia O'Keeffe, watch the Brain Pop biography video below about her life.

If you wish to look closer into Georgia O' Keeffe's life, here is a read aloud book called "My Name is Georgia" by author Jeanette Winter.

When creating your own unique O' Keeffe inspired flower, use some of the same ideas that she followed;

1. Find a real flower, if you do not have a real one, use an artificial flower, or even a picture of a flower from the internet.
2. Look carefully at each of the flower's parts.
3. Make the flower bigger than real life, try to have the petals touch the edges of your paper.
4. Take your time to really look closely at the flower just like Georgia O' Keeffe.
5. If you don't want to draw a flower, find another object that you love, look at it carefully and closely, and draw it bigger than life.

Georgia O' Keeffe Quotes

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say 

any other way – things I had no words for.

I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – 

and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.

Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven’t time – 

and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.

Resources:

https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-georgia-okeeffe

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/artists/georgiaokeeffe.php

https://jr.brainpop.com/socialstudies/biographies/georgiaokeeffe/

Butterfly Invasion

I don't know about you, but this cold weather has me dreaming about warmer days. We were spoiled not too long ago with warm temperatures hitting the 70's and wishful thoughts of flowers in bloom and leaves sprouting on trees, but then the true South Dakota reality of frigid temperatures returned with temperatures as low as the teens. Weeks like this make me wish for warmer days and these thoughts sometimes inspire activities in the art room.

Kindergarteners continued working with balance and symmetry and created beautiful butterflies to decorate and brighten our hallway. Students started by folding a large 12"x18" paper in half and using black tempera paint, drew one half of the butterfly's wing (number 3), folded their paper in half, rubbed the back, opened the paper again, and saw a completed butterfly with a symmetrical reflection on both halves.

After using black tempera to add shapes and lines to the wings (and then folding and rubbing to match the opposite side to create symmetry), students then used tempera paint cakes to add color to the wings continuing with the symmetry theme, mirroring their color choices. After papers dried, students had the choice of cutting out their butterflies or keeping the butterflies as is and painting a spring inspired background around the butterfly.

Kindergarteners (all four sections) also worked on a large collaborative mural, using tempera paint to create a spring scene. Students were given paint brushes and tempera paint and told to think spring! It turned out beautiful and can be seen just outside the kindergarten wing in our building. Because I do not purchase secondary colors for my classroom, when choosing orange, green or purple paint to use on the mural, students had to consider what primary colors were needed to mix.