The Colors of Alma Thomas (Art with Ms. Diana)

February was full of excitement from Valentine’s Day and a Super Bowl win by the Eagles, so we slowed things down with the calming patterns of Alma Thomas. Alma is most famous for her colorful abstract art. She was also the first African American woman to receive a fine arts degree, so it’s only fitting to celebrate her during Black History Month. The kindergarteners worked on a piece based on her radial paintings, while the Lower Elementary students created their own Alma-inspired landscapes.

The kindergarten art project is based on Alma Thomas’ piece Pansies in Washington. Each student was given a square piece of paper with concentric circles drawn on one side. The center circle was painted a solid color of the student’s choice. Next, they stamped rectangle shapes on the circles radiating from the center. And that was it! Every student followed the same instructions and were given the same materials, but each piece is as unique as the child who made it!

The lower elementary students drew inspiration for their landscapes from Apollo 12 Splashdown. First, we learned all about analogous colors. Analogous colors shared similar hues and undertones, and are next to each other on the color wheel. Each student chose different sets of analogous colors to draw each part of the landscape. Then, they stamped the rectangle pattern with the matching color to complete their art work.