Georgia

                       "I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."   Georgia O'Keeffe

American painter, Georgia O'Keeffe (1887 –1986) is world-renowned for, among other things, her  beautiful, enlarged paintings of flowers. O'Keeffe was certainly not the first artist to use flowers as a subject for artwork, but Georgia revealed flowers to the world in a way that perhaps it had never seen before. When you stand before one of Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings, you feel as though you are about to enter into it, that its petals are going to wrap themselves around you, that you may just be enveloped in its softness and scent. Georgia O'Keeffe revealed the gorgeous colors, textures and delicateness of the flowers she painted. The commanding size of her flower canvases made sure that people noticed these things, too.
Fifth grade artists at club have embarked on a two-week unit studying O'Keeffe's techniques and  unique perspective. Over the next few weeks, be on the lookout for some of their enlarged oil pastel flowers on display throughout the school and don't be afraid to stop for a moment or two and stare.

To view a short slide show of some of her flower paintings, click here.

Visit to the State Fair

My family and I attended the NC State Fair in October and had a wonderful time. My boys loved seeing all the animals and riding ponies. My favorite part? Seeing the amazing artwork from Club Blvd. artists, of course. Way to go artists! I am incredibly proud of you.

Arts Education

Just a quick post before I play catch-up over Thanksgiving break.  I've been thinking about the role of arts education a lot lately and wanted to share two things. First, a link to an amazing TED lecture by Ken Robinson about the utter importance of teaching creativity in schools. This is well worth the watch. Click here for the link.

Second: An excerpt from Elliott Eisner's book, The Arts and the Creation of Mind

Ten Lessons the Arts Teach

By Elliot Eisner

* The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships.  Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

* The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution

and that questions can have more than one answer.

* The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.  One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

* The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity.  Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.

* The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor number exhaust what we can know.  The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.

* The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects.  The arts traffic in subtleties.

* The arts teach students to think through and within a material.  All art forms employ some means through which images become real.

* The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said.  When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.

* The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source

and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

* The arts’ position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young

what adults believe is important.

SOURCE: Eisner, E. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind, Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows. (pp. 70-92). Yale University Press. Available from NAEA Publications.

Club Artists at the Fair!!

Come one! Come all! The North Carolina State Fair started today and Club Blvd. is represented by six amazing artists this year! Their artwork will be on display in the Kerr Scott building for the entirety of the fair, which runs from Oct. 13th to the 23rd. So, after you ride a pony, eat deep fried Twinkies and view the prize steers, remember to get in a healthy dose of art. I am incredibly proud of our Club Blvd. artists and am sure you'll agree that they've created some pretty inspiring artwork. And just think, they get to share it with the entire state! Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. I'm going this Saturday with my boys; I hope to see you there!

Happy Hundertwasser

First Graders have been studying the amazingly intricate and imaginative work of Viennese artist, Friedensreich Hundertwaasser.

Born in 1928, Hundertwasser was a character who lived and breathed his artistic style in everything he did. From designing and sewing his own clothes to creating brightly colored, boldly patterned buildings, Hundertwasser is inspiring for his dedication to living an artful life and for the joy he brought to the art making process. This may be one reason he is often known as, "Happy Hundertwasser."

First graders at Club connected with Hundertwasser through stories about his life, photographs of him, and of course, through his amazing artwork. Together, we enjoyed critically analyzing many examples of his artwork. First grade artists formulated many interesting thoughts and impressiosn based on their smart observations of his work. They were so inspired by his style and approach, that they were eager to use some of his techniques in their own mixed-media paintings.

Where Club's Wild Things Are

One of my all-time favorite projects for younger grades is a lesson built around Maurice Sendak's classic picture book, "Where the Wild Things Are."

This lesson is a perfect way to start the year as we focus on imagination and the idea that through our imaginations we are able to create interesting characters, fascinating stories and intriguing worlds. Just as Sendak's imaginative Max is able to conjure up a world so complex and fanciful that the line between reality and fiction is difficult to distinguish (Did it really happen? Was it a dream?), so artists are able to bring their ideas, thoughts or emotions to life by expressing them through their art. Club's very youngest artists flexed their significant imaginative muscles to create their own wild beasts. After drawing their initial sketches, these amazing artists developed their images by applying black permanent marker to enhance the lines and crayon and watercolor paint to create a beautiful wax resist. The results are stunning, and with all due respect to Mr. Sendak, might just give his Wild Things a run for their money. Enjoy a few examples here and see all of them displayed throughout the school. (Double click on the images to see them enlarged.)

Just the Beginning

It's a new school year, but also a new state, school district, school, and classroom for Mrs. Amago. I am thrilled and excited to be teaching at Club Boulevard! I can already tell that this is a very special place. The start of any school year holds a great deal of promise but this one feels even more significant as it is the beginning of my relationship with an amazing community of parents, teachers and artists. I am blown away by the creativity and imagination oozing from the students with whom I've already met. Next week, I see a whole batch of new homerooms and I am excited to meet more of Club's talented students. Thank you to all the lovely Manatees who have helped me feel right at home. Here's to a great year of art making at Club!