Art Room News

It has been an exciting time in the art room ! I hope everyone has the opportunity to view the art displayed in the hall. The art changes often- the artists at St.Cletus have been busy! The 8th grade has completed their Claes Oldenburg inspired Pop Art sculptures, and they are amazing! The projects are on display in the school office. Students created an armature representing a shoe. The shoes were designed to represent a person they admire. Utilizing cardboard, plaster and paint they constructed three dimensional sculptures. Currently 8th grade is studying Celtic Art, and creating a pen and ink Celtic Crosses  with a  center knot and an infinity border.

7th grade has been busy. They learned about the artists Sonia Delauncy and Wassily Kandinsky and created abstract art, circle paintings. We have begun their next project which is inspired by  Pennsylvania Dutch papercutting. Their designs are inspired by nature; many are symmetrical. So far the work is impressive.

6th grade painted still-lifes showing various textures and shapes in the style of Cezanne. They are working on a flower paper sculpture with deckle edges. They are manipulating the paper using basic paper sculpture techniques: curling,scoring,bending,folding to create complex curves. They are choosing either a warm or cool color palette.

5th grade was inspired by the  artist Henri Rousseau. They created paintings with background, middle ground, foreground with a focal point. They created perspective by using size, and focal point by color and location. 5th grade is currently creating Surrealistic sandwiches in the style of Magritte. The sandwiches are realistic with some surprising ingredients!

4th Grade started the year with radial symmetry. They created a balanced radial design using line and repetition within a square. Next, they drew and painted artworks inspired by the contemporary artist Michael Kagen. They are beginning their circle weaving project. They are preparing their looms! Weaving s always a favorite!

3rd grade started the year with the theme storytelling through art. They created paintings illustrating the Fairy Tale ” The Princess and the Pea” . Using watercolors, oil pastels, gel pens and glitter they created beautiful artworks that told a story and were filled with color and pattern. They are exploring the relationship between music and art inspired by the art of Piet Mondrian; specifically “Broadway Boogie Woogie” which is an abstract painting depicting Broadway in NYC painted to the rhythm of boogie woogie/jazz music. Students used geometric shapes and primary colors plus black and white. We are beginning a project inspired by Amate Bark Paintings. 3rd grade enjoyed a visit by Mr. Keeley where he shared his knowledge of Grant Wood. It was a wonderful presentation and we are all thankful!

2nd grade is off to a strong start! They began the year  with Sunflower paintings done with glue and chalk pastels. We studied the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh. They limited their color palette to 2 warm colors , and 1 cool, blending colors and incorporating the value scale and pattern. Next they studied Charles McGee’s patterned, black and white relief sculptures and created their own. They did an outstanding job, the artworks are beautiful. They just finished a color wheel umbrella where they explored primary and secondary colors, as well as color mixing.

1st grade worked hard creating paintings telling the story of “The Frog Prince”. They learned about  resist painting, the horizon line, and warm and cool colors. They are currently working on a watercolor painting inspired by “The Goldfish” by Henri Matisse. The will use primary and secondary colors, line and pattern. They will layer paint to create depth.

K-Pre-K are working on the Elements of Art: line,color,shape,value,form,texture,space. They are also practicing cutting , gluing and learning how to use various art media. They love art and can’t wait to bring their art home. Examples of the” Very Hungry Caterpillar” and shape animals are hung up in the hall.

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