Sheep and Sailboats

Two Georgetown artists had their art work selected for permanent display at the Hudsonville Public Schools Administrative Offices. These pieces were gifted to the Board of Education in honor of their service for our district schools.

Mason Weber, a first grader in Mrs. Smith’s class, gifted SHEEP IN A MEADOW, a piece he created when he was kindergartener in Mrs. Persch’s art class. Allison Pepper, a second grader in Mrs. Ray’s class, gifted her piece, MONET’s BOAT, to the Board of Education. Allison created this piece when she was in Mrs. Brouwer’s first grade art class.

It was an honor to celebrate these two great artists and our Board of Education!

art

January 10, 2016 by josettebrouwer

What Does Art Mean To You?

Georgetown 5th graders were challenged to think about what art really means to them. They brainstormed ideas together and read quotes from famous artists.

Then the painting began! They traced their hands on canvas panels and added paint in warm colors. They also explored making texture in the wet acrylic paint with sticks and printing with bottle caps.

Next came the cool colors for the background.

The final step was to collage their ideas onto their paintings. I typed all their brainstormed thoughts and artist quotes so they could cut, color and glue them to their paintings. They also drew directly on their canvas with crayons or markers.

I love the way each student really expressed their own ideas through their paintings!

I CAN: creatively use warm and cool color combinations; talk about art; develop my own ideas about my own art making.

See more of our Art Hands at our ARTSONIA on-line art gallery here.

December 29, 2015 by josettebrouwer

Letters From My Firsties

My first grade artists recently wrote me some fabulous letters!

Their amazing classroom teachers have been teaching them how to write a persuasive letter – and let me tell you, nobody writes a good persuasive letter like a first grader. Who can resist these heartfelt requests to paint more, have extra drawing time, and even to have brand new pointy sharpie markers for art projects? So yes, my little friends…in 2016 we will get out the paint, break open those new boxes of sharpies, and squeeze in extra drawing time. See you soon, Georgetown artists – and enjoy the rest of our holiday break!

December 23, 2015 by josettebrouwer

Fourth Grade Mandala Ornaments

Fourth grade artists learned about the art of drawing a mandala as part of their study of Asian art. They can tell you that the word ‘mandala’ in the ancient Sanskrit language means ‘circle’. A mandala is a spiritual symbol in Indian religions and represents the universe.

Georgetown’s artists created their own mandalas, enjoying the meditative process of working from the center of the circle to the outside edges, adding pattern and shapes to create a pleasing design.

We turned our mandala art into beautiful ornaments, adding printed pine needles and a watercolor background.

I Can: describe a mandala; create a mandala using line and shape; create a pleasing color combination using warm and cool colors.

See more of these beautiful mandalas at our ARTSONIA art gallery!

December 12, 2015 by josettebrouwer

Kindergarten Paul Klee Paintings

Kindergarten artists learned about the Swiss painter Paul Klee. They viewed his painting entitled “Castle and Sun” and discovered that he liked to use many shapes in his paintings. After identifying geometric shapes in the painting, the Kindergarteners created their own castles and suns using the same shapes.

Kindergarten artists learned they can print shapes using every day objects like cardboard and cups. After the shapes were printed and dried, they added color using watercolor paints.

Learning Goals –

I can learn about the artist Paul Klee.

I can print geometric shapes using everyday objects.

December 6, 2015 by josettebrouwer

Rizzi Birds

First grade artists have been learning about American pop artist James Rizzi. Rizzi was known for his colorful, childlike art style and crazy images – his art is a favorite with Georgetown’s first graders!

James Rizzi

We began by looking at Rizzi’s art and talking about all the activity happening in his paintings. First graders noticed the many symbols that Rizzi uses, and had fun looking for some his favorites – happy suns, hearts, birds, apples, and peace signs.

First graders painted a Rizzi-style bird and added their own symbols to finish their cool and colorful birds.

I can: Tell a friend what a SYMBOL is; draw a Rizzi bird; use mindful paint and gluing on my project.

November 30, 2015 by josettebrouwer

George Meets Jackson

Third grade artists have been creating artwork inspired by two artists – George Rodrigue and “Action Jackson” Pollock.

First they drew dogs in the style of well-known Louisiana “Blue Dog” artist, George Rodrigue.

Next they did some spatter paintings like abstract artist Jackson Pollock. Getting messy and printing with paint drippy string is an all time favorite for third grade – it never gets old!

We put everything together and painted a black swirly frame. Ooh-la-la, beautiful art is made when George meets Jackson!

I Can:

Identify the work of George Rodrigue and Jackson Pollock; Explain what abstract art is; Create art in the style of Rodrigue and Pollock

November 22, 2015 by josettebrouwer

Winter Starry Night

Second grade artists have been learning about the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh. They learned how Van Gogh created movement in his Starry Night painting by using short brushstrokes and lines to show the wind blowing and the stars glowing.

The Starry Night

Second graders used the same technique to show movement in their own winter starry night paintings.

They were excited to add a bit of glittery sparkle to their stars and moon!

After looking at Dutch architecture and examining Van Gogh’s village in his painting, they finished up their winter paintings with cut paper buildings, focusing on overlapping to create depth and interest in their villages.

I Can: understand and create the art principle of movement; use overlapping to create depth; carefully cut and glue (no glue monsters!)

Parents – wouldn’t these make beautiful Christmas cards? Find your child’s artwork on our ARTSONIA website and create beautiful holiday gifts using their original art pieces!

November 16, 2015 by josettebrouwer

Two More…

Almost forgot about these little beauties! First grade artists explored PATTERN as they created these sweet pattern owls.

Second graders reviewed primary and secondary colors and fine tuned their color mixing skills as they mixed green, purple, orange, and brown to create gorgeous ears of fall Indian corn.

See more of these projects at our on-line art gallery, ARTSONIA.

November 12, 2015 by josettebrouwer

Meet the Pumpkin Princess

Fifth grade artists created these pumpkins in the style of Japanese pop artist Yayoi Kusama. Known as the Pumpkin Princess, her large pumpkin sculptures and art pieces are filled with polka dots. Her pumpkins are often placed on a neon colored background with a pattern that she calls a “net”.

Kusama

Georgetown 5th grade artists created their Kusama-inspired pieces by printing a net background with cardboard pieces and carefully filling their pumpkins with a variety of dots. Their project is a fun twist on the usual Fall pumpkin artwork!

See more pumpkins at our Artsonia on-line gallery here!

Student “I Can” goals:

I can talk about the work of Japanese artist Kusama; I can create an art piece in the pop art style of Kusama; I can place carefully drawn dots to create movement and visual interest on my art piece.