2nd Grade- Visual Jazz

In honor of Black History Month, second graders are studying the African American collage artist, Romare Bearden. Bearden lived in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance and was greatly influenced by Jazz Music for his artwork.

In art class, we listened to music from the Harlem Renaissance while using paper, scissors, and glue to make our own collages. Didn't second grade do a brilliant job with their own music-inspired artwork!?

To learn more about Romare Bearden, check out this video:

To discover more of Romare Bearden's legacy, check out his official website:

http://www.beardenfoundation.org/index2.shtml

2nd Grade- Van Gogh Chalk Pastel

We read and discussed "The First Starry Night" written and illustrated by Joan Shaddox Isom. The book is a fictional account of the artist Vincent van Gogh's real life short stay in Arles, France.

Isom's illustrations for her book were inspired by Van Gogh, and so were ours. We used short lines and overlapping colors to create movement in our artwork.

Van Gogh often painted his emotions. He used bright yellows, oranges, and gold to express happiness (see "Sunflowers"), and many shades of blue were used to express a calmness or sadness (see "Starry Night").

Vincent van Gogh painted hundreds of paintings, including three versions of "Starry Night" and countless "Sunflowers", but he only sold one painting during his lifetime.

Oh, he also cut off a piece of his left ear in a fit of rage. Yikes!

2nd Grade- "Tar Beach" Dreams

We read "Tar Beach" written and illustrated by Faith Ringold, and we discussed how many great things begin with a dream (for example, MLK Jr.).

In Ringold's story, Cassie Louise Lightfoor's father was a hard worker, but he was not allowed to go inside the buildings he built because of his skin color. How ridiculous!

(Click on the book for a special surprise!)
Cassie dreamed of a better future for herself and her family. In her dream, when she flew over her father's constructions, they became hers. We each chose an architectural piece that represents something special to us and drew ourselves flying over it.

Architecture is something that is built by people. Schools, homes, theme parks, and bridges are all forms of architecture.

2nd Grade - Warm and Cool Pattern Hands

We’ve created paintings using one geometric shape and one organic shape- our hand.  Just like the lines coming from the shape, the warm and cool colors make a pattern too. 

Warm colors are the ones that make us think about fire- red, orange, and yellow.  Cool colors- green, blue and purple- remind us of Christmas trees, ice water, and grape popsicles.  Can you see how they repeat, repeat, repeat?

2nd Grade - Chalk Pastel Creatures

We read and discussed “Where the Wild Things Are ” written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.  

There are patterns throughout the book that repeat, repeat, repeat.  Our Wild Things have patterns too. 

Our Wild Things are not gory or mean- they just want to have a good time.  They smile and dance.  Some even eat pizza!

2nd Grade- "The Dot" Color Wheel

We read “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds and discussed how all great artwork starts with a mark.

We learned that all we need are the three primary colors to create all the other colors of the rainbow.

If you stand back and look at our color wheels from a distance, the little dots will blend together to create the secondary colors.

Here is a link to Peter Reynold's website: http://www.peterhreynolds.com/

Check out "The Dot" and his other great books.