Relationship to Life Students in Kindergarten will continue their education in learning colors and shapes. Kindergarteners are expected to be able to recognize and identify colors and shapes. Students will first learn about Henri Matisse, and students should be able to make a connection to A Bird or Two by Bijou Le Tord, which students had previously read. Students in Kindergarten read The Patchwork Quilt, illustrated by Jeremy Pinkney. Students will be able to make connections between the story and facts learned about the quilts of Gee’s Bend. Announced by the appearance of circular images with lines, which seem to suggest a human or animal figure. During this stage the schema, or visual idea, is developed. The drawings show what the child perceives as most important about the subject. Children are not yet concerned with depicting an image realistically- their aims are still to figuratively represent an image. Creative process is recognized and understood. Details and color add purpose and meaning to images.
Space- objects are placed in a haphazard way throughout the picture, and the use of color is more emotional than logical. Usually space is ignored, and proportions or figures and composition vary. Letters and Numbers are gradually incorporated into works as the children learn about them in school and at home. The use of letters and numbers helps children portray, in greater detail, their ideas and often drawings start to have some sort of narrative. Colors begin to have reason behind why they are selected. More often than not, color is chosen based on preference, not because it is entirely realistic or true to the subject being drawn. However, color choice does make sense as details are incorporated.
Problem/Activity Statement Students are presented with the task of creating two cut paper collages, focusing on the combination of cut shapes of different colors. Students will focus on creating compositions by layering paper, juxtaposing organic and inorganic shapes, and grouping colors to create contrast. The first project, based on Matisse’s cut paper collages, will introduce students to the concept of organic and inorganic shapes and color grouping. Students will be instructed to create an inorganic-shaped background and make a foreground with organic, “wiggly” shapes. The second project will build upon these concepts by showing students quilts made by the residents of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Students will be able to make connections between the quilts and Matisse’s artwork, and students will make their own decisions about what colors and shapes to use, whether or not they want to create a border, and whether or not they wish to create an image that is abstract or narrative on their own quilt squares.
Goals Students should: Understand: The meanings of artistic works by explaining how the subject matter and/or form reflect the events, ideas, religions, and customs of people living at a particular time in history (MACF Standard 6) The art making processes necessary to design and create their object. (MACF Standard: 4) Characteristic features of the performing and visual arts of native populations and immigrant groups to America. (MACF Standard 8)
Know: The art making processes necessary to design and create their object. (MACF Standard: 4) Be able to identify primary and secondary colors, and how color can convey mood and emotion. Be able to identify shapes and forms and use them in personal artwork. (MACF Standard 2)
Be Able to: Demonstrate the ability to create 2D works that show knowledge of unique characteristics of particular media, materials and tools. (MACF Standard 1) Produce/construct an object that enables personal voices. (MACF Standard: 1)
Objectives Identify and use ideas of one’s self to communicate through art making. Use a variety of tools and techniques to apply the formal qualities of art. Analyze and apply thematic compositional approaches used in other cut-paper collages, and utilize newly learned knowledge of colors and shapes to create interesting images reflective of concepts learned. Demonstrate an understanding of ways artists plan and design quilts and collages.
Instructional Concepts Line can be used to invent forms. Color can be used for emphasis in a composition. Forms can be identified by the use of surrounding objects in the environment. Forms can be described in relation to parts of a whole. Balance can be achieved through the arrangement of line, shape, color, texture, space, or form within a composition. Unity can be achieved through repetition of line, shape, color, texture, space, or form in a composition. Introducing children to art develops their visual awareness and provides a springboard for personal image making. Narrative strategies help student artists develop their visual awareness and provide a springboard for personal image making.
Resources and Materials Materials: Exemplars: Construction paper “Housetop” Variation, 2006. Louisiana Bendolph. 100 lb White drawing paper “First”, 2005. Louisiana Bendolph. Scissors “Blocks, Strips, Strings, and Half Squares”, 2005. Glue Mary Lee Bendolph. “Mimosa”, 1949-1951. Matisse. “Light Blue Glass Window”, 1949. Matisse. “Jerusalem Celeste”, 1948. Matisse.
Motivation For the first lesson, the teacher will have prepared at least one example of their own work to show the class. The teacher will show students work by Matisse, and will explain that he “drew” with scissors. For the second lesson, the teacher will read The Patchwork Quilt to the class, followed by a book about the quilts produced in Gee’s Bend. The teacher will explain the history of quilt making in American and African culture, and describe the lifestyle conditions that influenced the artists before and after the “discovery” of their quilts.
Questions Topic Questions: Do you think quilting is an art form? Do you think it is possible to “draw” with scissors?
Association Questions: Do you have someone in your family that makes quilts? Do you think quilts inspired Matisse? Do you think the women that made quilts in Gee’s Bend were inspired by outside artwork?
Visualization Questions: Why do you think Matisse’s collages and these quilts look so similar? What personal experiences do you think influenced the imagery of these different artworks?
Transition questions: What Elements and Principles of Design are most important to remember when making a quilt? When making a collage?
Procedures Demonstration The teacher will first introduce the collage work of Henri Matisse. The teacher will discuss the use of different kinds of shapes in the foreground and the background, and the use of different color groups to make up an interesting composition. The teacher will explain to students that Matisse “drew” with scissors, and that his work was planned but organic in development. The teacher will first define any unknown vocabulary, and then show students how to assemble a background. On the second day, the teacher will show students how to cut organic shapes and place them in the foreground. The second lesson will be introduced with The Patchwork Quilt. Students will be engaged with the story, and the teacher will ask students questions about their own experiences with quilts. The teacher will then tell students about quilts made in Gee’s Bend, and compare these quilts to The Patchwork Quilt and the collages by Matisse. Students will be able to make connections to the preceding lesson, and use skills learned previously to aid in constructing their own quilt squares. The teacher will show students an example of their own work, and the teacher will discuss creating patterns with the shapes and colors used to make a Matisse collage.
Vocabulary: Collage- Artwork made using an assemblage of materials. Organic Shapes- Shapes that resemble things found in nature. Inorganic Shapes- Shapes that cannot be found in nature. Foreground- Space that is most superficial in a 2-D image. Background- Space that recedes in space in a 2-D image
Distribution For the first lesson, students will be given one 9” x 12” piece of 100 lb drawing paper. The students will be seated at tables that have either warm or cool colored paper, and students will use only this paper for this part of the project. On the second day, students will be seated at a table that has paper of the opposite color group from their backgrounds, for example, a student with a warm-colored background will have a cool-colored foreground. For the second lesson, students will be given one 9” x 9” square of 100 lb drawing paper. Students will have pre-cut pieces of construction paper on each table, and color choice is not restricted.
Work period Lesson 1 On the first day, students will be shown examples of Henri Matisse’s paper collages. The class will have a discussion about different shapes and colors seen in Matisse’s work, and the teacher will explain the difference of shapes in the foreground and in the background. The teacher will then show students how to cut inorganic shapes and assemble them to fill the whole page for the background. Students will work independently for the rest of the class to create a collaged background.
Lesson 2 On the second day, the teacher will show students more collages by Matisse to remind them of his style and technique. Students will be seated at tables that have a specific color group opposite to the color group in their backgrounds. Students will work to add organic shapes to the foreground of their pictures. Students should finish their collages during this class period.
Lesson 3 In the beginning of the third lesson, the teacher will start reading The Patchwork Quilt. The teacher will only read half of the book. After the first half of The Patchwork Quilt has been read, the teacher will start a discussion about the students’ personal experiences with quilting, and the teacher will introduce students to the quilts made in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, explaining the history behind the population and the tradition of quilting that came from Africa, slavery, and American culture. The teacher will then show students the teacher exemplar, and the teacher will explain how both inorganic and organic shapes were used to make patterns on the quilt square. The teacher will instruct students to try to come up with a quilt square that can have multiple shapes, colors, and have the option of adding a border. Students may create an abstract or narrative square.
Lesson 4 On the fourth day, the teacher will finish The Patchwork Quilt. The teacher will ask students to discuss the book, and compare it to what they remember about Gee’s Bend. The students will use this knowledge to add any finishing touches to their quilt squares. The students will be engaged with assembling the finished quilt squares into one large class quilt, and will have input on where they think their square fits in with the rest of the composition.
Clean-up At the end of each class, students must make sure their names are on their projects. Any projects with wet glue must be placed on the drying rack. Projects will be returned to students during the next meeting. Students will be instructed to help clean up scraps and glue or scissors that are around the classroom.
Closure The teacher will go over what should have been accomplished by the end of the class, and what will be expected of each student during their next meeting. The teacher will ask students about connections made and realizations had by students about their projects during the creative process. The teacher will review where materials and projects should be put away, and the class will be dismissed.