Vincent van Gogh had always been one of my favorite artists. Then I read this book, and my appreciation for him grew even greater. I thought I already knew a lot about van Gogh, but "Learning from Henri Nouwen & Vincent van Gogh - A Portrait of the Compassionate Life" by Carol A. Berry taught me much more than I was expecting. Now van Gogh is more than just "one of my … [Read more...]
Make a Sunflower for Ukraine
Make a colorful sunflower for Ukraine to show your support! Kids in grades 2 and up enjoy making these expressive oil pastel sunflowers. You might even want to make one yourself! You can find a free download to guide you in my TPT store. The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine, and has been a symbol of peace for many years. The sunflower's bright yellow petals set … [Read more...]
7 Secrets to Success for Using Oil Pastels with Kids
Your K-8 students can create stunning works of art by following these secrets to success for using oil pastels. Kids love the clear, bright colors of oil pastels and their creamy consistency. They can cover a large area quickly, which makes them ideal for the shorter attention spans of early elementary students. Parents and teachers love that oil pastels are … [Read more...]
Musee d’Orsay vs. the Louvre
My visit to the Musee d'Orsay was a completely different experience from my time at the Louvre. At the d'Orsay, I saw lots more quiet contemplation of the art (Renoir, Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh and more).... and far fewer selfies! I was filled with awe as I explored the Van Gogh room, and completely taken aback when I came to the painting of Van Gogh's bedroom.... … [Read more...]
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Parents often tell me about the artwork their kids did with me that they have framed and hanging in their home. And this is the project that most often earns a permanent place on the wall! While there's nothing like adding new lessons to keep your curriculum fresh and exciting, we all have projects that we go back to year after year because they are so successful and are so … [Read more...]
Oil Pastel Still Life Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh
Students will be surprised to learn that Van Gogh was not popular as an artist during his own lifetime.... a great example that the opinions of popular culture do not always prevail! This project usually takes 2-3 fifty minute sessions to finish, and the results are frame-worthy! Vocabulary: • Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) - Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh is one of the best … [Read more...]
Cezanne-Inspired Still Life – a Step Further!
I was so happy with the results that my Kinders had with our Cezanne-inspired still life paintings, that I wanted to take it a step further with my 1st grade classes.... As I showed my 1st graders some of Cezanne's still life paintings, we noticed that you could often see a dark edge around many of his shapes. So, this time after we finished "hiding the white paper" we used … [Read more...]
Cezanne-Inspired Still Life for K and Beyond
Today my Kinders learned about Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne, and painted a still life inspired by him. This lesson was so successful on so many levels! First, we talked about how Cezanne's father didn't encourage him in his art (he wanted him to be a banker or a lawyer), but he had a friend named Emil Zola who encouraged him to keep painting. Emil was a writer so the … [Read more...]
Van Gogh Auction Project
Even Van Gogh himself would be proud of this copy of his "Café Terrace" painting, created by our 2nd graders to raise money at our annual school auction.Each year, our school holds a fundraiser auction to raise money for special programs. While many valuable items are donated to be auctioned off, the items that create the most excitement are usually our special "class … [Read more...]
Watercolor Fish with Pointillism
Last weekend's teacher workshop at Palace Art was a huge success! It's encouraging to know that so many teachers are eager to expand their art skills so they can share the benefits of Art with their students! For this workshop we focused on watercolor, so I thought I would share a few of the amazing paintings these teachers-turned-students produced. (Scroll down for the lesson … [Read more...]
