Kindergarten and Lower Elementary students wrapped up the school year learning about three artists: Yayoi Kusama, Eric Carle, and Kimmy Cantrell. The students’ artwork was beautifully displayed on the 3rd floor as an Art Show for May’s Grandparents & Special Friends Day.
A huge thank you to Art Teacher Ms. Diana Mousetis for working with the students and for her vision behind the Art Show.
Artist #1: Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama was born in Japan in 1929. When she was a child, Yayoi had a hallucination of being surrounded by many talking flowers that looked to her like polka dots. This inspired her to include polka dots and other repeating patterns in her work. Click here to learn more about Yayoi and her art.
After learning all about Yayoi Kusama’s work, the Kindergartners made flowers inspired by her exhibition Flowers that Bloom in the Cosmos. They started by painting the stem, petals, and eyes in whatever colors they wanted to use. Once the paint was dry, they added Yayoi’s favorite pattern, polka dots, with oil pastels. Once all the pieces were glued together, their polka dotted garden was complete.
Lower Elementary students drew inspiration from Yayoi’s series of mushroom paintings. They constructed their mushrooms using paper cups or water bottles, packaging paper and paper bowls. They covered everything in paper mache and painted their mushrooms in their favorite colors. They looked at all the different kinds of patterns that Yayoi created for her work, and the students used paint pens to recreate some of those patterns on their mushrooms. These bright, whimsical mushrooms are as unique as the child that made them!
Artist #2: Eric Carle
Eric Carle was born in New York on June 25, 1929. When he was still a young child, his family moved to Stuttgart, Germany. At an early age, Eric discovered a love for drawing and eventually went to the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. After graduating, he moved back to America in 1952 and became a graphic designer. Click here to read more about Eric and his art.
The Kindergartners made collaged flowers based on Eric’s book The Tiny Seed. They talked about the primary and secondary colors, and learned how to use their newly made color wheels to pick out the complementary colors that they wanted to use in their project. The first step was to paint many papers in all different colors, just like Eric would for his illustrations. Then, they added another layer of texture and color. Once the papers were dry, they cut out shapes for the petals, stems and leaves. They also learned about complementary colors, which are pairs of colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. They used oil pastels in the complementary color of their flowers to add even more detail. After their flowers were all glued together, they hung them in the hallway to start a beautiful Eric Carle inspired flower garden!
The Lower Elementary Elm Tree class started out by reviewing how to group analogous colors- these are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel that share similar undertones. They picked two groups of analogous colors to work with, and started painting their papers. Their project is based on all the different illustrations of insects that Eric made, so they designed their own bugs! They used stencils to trace antennae, legs, wings, etc. on their papers and collaged their bugs together. All of their insects were added to the kindergarteners flowers to complete our lively and colorful garden!
Artist #3: Kimmy Cantrell
Kimmy Cantrell was born in 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia. When he was in high school, Kimmy took a ceramics class and discovered his love for working with clay. His teacher encouraged him to pursue a career in ceramics, but he decided to study business at Georgia State University. After almost twenty years of working in business, Kimmy reconnected with clay. Click here to learn more about Kimmy and his art.
The Kindergartners’ project is based on Kimmy Cantrell’s ceramic fish. Instead of using clay, they collaged pieces of cardboard together, then painted it black. When the paint was dry, they used oil pastels to color in their fish and add patterns and texture. Coloring on top of the black paint really made the colors pop! Each fish was pieced together with wire so they could move with the breeze. The Kindergartners loved seeing their fish hanging and swinging in the hall!
The Lower Elementary students made their own versions of Kimmy Cantrell’s face collages. They learned about Kimmy’s abstract art- an art style that uses shapes, colors, and lines to represent an object or feeling rather than a realistic image. Just like the Kindergartners, they used cardboard to construct their faces, and also painted them black. The final step was adding the color with oil pastels, and their projects were complete!
