Kindergarten Rainbow Fish

Kindergarten learned about oil pastel resist and how to do a wet on wet watercolor painting.  We reviewed line and shape to draw the fish and ocean floor.

1st grade Mad Science Artists!

First graders learned the difference between a form and a shape.  They learned how to turn a shape into a form.  Geometric shapes become geometric forms. Circles become spheres, triangles become cones, pyramids or triangular prisms.  We used observation to draw various science beakers.  We talked about  transparent and translucent.  I added the color-mixing/wet-on-wet painting portion to add more science to the mix. Students drew lines for their liquid which we then filled in with secondary colors learning to mix the primary colors.  The next part of the project involved creating bubbles for our backgrounds using chalk pastel.  I found this project idea online, the kids did a great job.  This was more of a lesson on skill and technique (observational drawing, color mixing, and watercolor paints) rather than creativity

4th grade Totem Pole Collages

Students learned about the significance of totem poles and that they were and still are made by native tribes who lived in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. 

The big word for this project was stylize. We learned that some artists stylize their work by changing shapes, colors, etc. in order to give their work their own personal touch. Each student created one stylized animal in the style of a real totem pole. 

2nd Grade Sunflowers

2nd grade studied the artist Vincent van Gogh. We looked at his Sunflower paintings and students learned how to draw sunflowers from different angles.  They also learned how to use curvy lines to make an object have form such as the vase in their paintings.

Kindergarten Pumpkins and the curvy vine

Students learned how to make orange using red and yellow. They also learned how to draw a pumpkin and how to use curvy lines to create form.  Students cut out their pumpkins and glued them on to black paper. They added a vine and used curvy lines to draw it and the leaves. Some students added stars to their backgrounds.

1st grade Why is Blue Dog Blue?

Well the truth is sometimes 1st grade paints blue dog....

This is a square 1 Art project.  We read the book Why is Blue Dog Blue, by George Rodrigue.  Student learned how to draw a dog using basic shapes.  We talked about how color can represent different ideas and feeling.

3rd grade Pet Portraits

3rd graders are working on their Square 1 Art Project. The theme this year is PETS!  Student drew from images they found or brought in to class. We talked about drawing animals using basic shapes, proportion and the use of color.

Independent ESD research time in Tokyo

I have been trying to explore as much of Toyko as I can during my free time.  Below are some photos from various art galleries, museums and interesting scenes from just walking around the streets.

Ginza Graphic Gallery really cool projected videos. Lots of art playing with light, movement and shadow.

I am in front of the Mori Art Museum  in Robppongi Hills under Louise Bourgeois' Spider sculpture.
The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.
— Louise Bourgeois

Shibuya  crossing rumored to be the world's busiest, this intersection  in front of the Shibuya station is famously knows as 'The Scramble'. People come from all directions at once, sometimes over a 1,000 with every light change, yet manage to dodge each other with practiced nonchalant agility.

I must have walked by Hachiko Statue a few times as I was expecting it to be very large.

I searched all over Shibuya to find the Hachiko Statue erected at teh station plaza to celebrate the memory of  an Akita dog, who belonged to a professor who lived near Shibuya Station. The professor died in 1925 but the dog continued to show up and wait at the station for his master until his own death 10 years later.

Rarely does a neighborhood influence a fashion movement as distinctly, yet diversely, as does the Harajuku district of Tokyo. Often all mixed together, the elements of Harajuku style include manga-inspired baby-doll dresses and pigtails, goth makeup and platform shoes, and kimonos.

Having dinner in Ueno

Shiseido Gallery I saw an exhibition by Hong Kong-born artist Lee Kit, currently based in Taipei. Titled "The voice behind me"Lee’s keywords for this exhibition include concepts like “fear,” “solitude” and “breathing.” In the background, many of these reflect frustration with political and social inequalities, the stresses that accompany daily life, and inescapable solitude. Lee himself has felt such feelings during his sojourns in many different cities—Hong Kong, Taipei, London, Tokyo, among others—and while such feelings may often be construed as negatives, Lee remarks that “being pessimistic is optimistic.” This sort of flexible attitude is essential if one is to resist being beaten down by current conditions and to move forward with living.

I went to the Mori Art Museum which also includes the Tokyo City View an observatory on the 52nd floor and has some of  the best views in Tokyo.  The current exhibition at Mori Art Museum is a "Star Wars Vision", including art work of approximately 60 points of the world first public exhibition that artist whom Mr. George Lucas chose from all over the world produced, it is display with concept art and apparel, approximately 100 points including small tools that were really used by movie production of series 6 work. We introduce charm of Star Wars on theme called "vision".

Below are some random photos I took while exploring Tokyo today.  I really paid attention to the various  lines, shapes and patterns I discovered all around me. 

Kindergarten Symmetrical House Paintings

Kindergarten is studying Africa in the regular classroom.  During art we read the book My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me, by Maya Angelou.  It is  photographic book about a young girl from South Africa and the life and customs of the Ndebele people.

For this project student designed their house using a symmetrical design.  They used various  shapes and lines and color to complete their artwork.