Hundertwasser Dream Works in Progress!

Third and fourth grade students have been learning about the artist and architect Hundertwasser. He was a dreamer and a lover of nature. He was brimming with creative ideas, and his artwork is full of both life and color. 

Inspired by this out of the box thinker, the students have been creating their own architectural designs for their "dream homes." Students began by sketching with pencil. Afterwards, they traced their pencil lines with sharpie to make bold lines that stand out. Lastly, the children have been coloring using brightly color markers.

"Everyone should be able to build, and as long as this 

freedom to build does not exist, the present-day planned 

architecture cannot be considered art at all."

 

~Friedensreich Hundertwasser

(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/f/friedensreich_hundertwass.html)

Students have incorporated many of Hundertwasser's ideas into their artwork. They have included a strong connection with nature, bright colors, many curving lines, lollipop trees, hidden faces, awesome details, and a great deal of windows.

"You are a guest of nature--behave."

~Hundertwasser

"When we dream alone it is only a dream, but when many 

dream together it is the beginning of a new reality."

(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/f/friedensreich_hundertwass.html)

These awesome works will be on display for you to enjoy at the Art Show and Concert this May! 

The Kindness Wall

The first and second graders have just finished an enormous interactive sculpture: The Kindness Wall. We began the project by coming up with a working definition of 3D art. Most classes settled on something like "art that sticks out." 

Using various interesting 3D materials, each child created a sculpture with a special space (or two, or three) for a message of kindness to be hidden.

The students loved building and combining materials.

The following class, after priming them with white, we painted our sculptures a monochromatic yellow, to tie each individual piece of artwork together. We chose yellow as it is often associated with feelings of joy and happiness--and it's one of our RES school colors!

The Kindness Wall is on display outside the art room. The goal is that adults and children in our school community add to our wall by writing or drawing their kind words and thoughts on a slip of paper and tucking the paper into our sculpture. 

The focus on kindness and friendship gives the students the learning experience of the power of art: art has meaning, art makes a statement, and art impacts others!

Metal Embossing Inspired by the Aztec Sunstone

The first and second graders have recently completed a metal embossing piece. Using the Aztec Sunstone (also know as the Aztec Calendar Stone) as our inspiration, students created elaborately detailed copper embossing pieces. The Aztec Sunstone is a gigantic artifact carved into a very large rock. It has become a symbol for Mexico and even appears on their money. At circle, the students enjoyed looking at the wide range of symbols on the stone and measuring how VERY big it is!

Each child began this project by creating a paper plan of their embossing piece. We used a wide variety of Aztec and Mayan symbols, as well as discussed which symbols we recognize in our culture (i.e. the heart, the peace sign and even the smiley face).

The following class, students adhered their copper to the back of their plan. Then, working on top of a stack of newspapers for cushion, the children traced their plan using pens. As the students traced, the pen lines indented the copper to transfer their design.

Our last step in this process was to frame our work. The children created equally detailed frames to showcase their embossing pieces. 

These works will be on display at the Richmond Free Library during the month of April. Please stop by to admire the hard work of our first and second graders.