April Showers Bring May Flowers…

and for the Art Docents we have the …

Art Show

Kindergarten Foil Workshop

Spanish Art History

French Art History

The year is winding up and we have finished with all of our print presentations.

During April, May and June we have several important items to cover with the Art Docents.

The Art Show is one of our large components of the Art Docent program and we have been working hard to get it ready. 

Thanks to Frances and her awesome committee on all the hard work they have put in thus far. 

The following lessons/workshops are ready to be taught these last few months.​

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KINDERGARTEN FOIL WORKSHOP

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Teaching Objective: 

Students will learn about sculptures, 3 dimensional objects, and materials used in sculptures by creating their own foil sculpture animal.

Explanation of Concept:  

Sculpture has shape (height, width and depth), it is not flat, and is three dimensional. 

Sculpture is not just art.  It can be created to be part of a celebration, a dance, a show or part of a building.  

Sculpture can be functional.  

Sculpture can be made of any material. 

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SPANISH ART HISTORY – 7th Grade
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LOGO SUBMISSION UPDATE

We received over 25 submissions!  

Thank you to Sue W., Stephanie D., Cheryl H., Elizabeth G.,
Beth R. and Stefanie J.
for you help in working on the committee for screening the logo submissions 

and presenting their top 2 choices to our Executive Board. 

We are not revealing the choice in public yet since we have not notified the students
yet of our decisions since we will be waiting to complete the vote
​from all the Art Docents at our next meeting.

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Thank you Jr. Art Docents!

Prints Update Project – Part One

Over the Spring Break we asked if any of the Jr. Art Docents could join us at the
Art Docent office to help out with our “Prints Update Project”.
Lucky for us…we had an awesome team of 4 Los Gatos High School students who joined us
along with Theresa B., Judith F., Julie F., and Emilie R.

Together we divided into teams, and in 3 hours we measured, cataloged, 
​and rated over 150 prints.  This is the first step in making sure that our
amazing Print Collection is kept up to date and looking great for the classroom use.

We will be meeting again to work on “Part Two”
on May 23rd @ 9 am in the Art Docent office
if anyone is interested in join in on the fun, please email either Stefanie at artdocents@me.com or Julie F.

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It’s time to Spring into Action!

Happy Spring,  Julie Ferrario

President of Art Docents of Los Gatos

Art Connections

 – Before I headed off for President’s Week, our February recess, I posted on the Art Docent Facebook site….this quote

“Enjoy the week off school – and discover ART in your travels or free time!”

Little did I realize how much my connections with Art Docents connected me to Art in the world today.

I took a trip to Washington D.C. to visit my newly relocated son during this vacation. One of our docents told me about the new portraits that were just unveiled, just before I left.

I was so excited to see if I could find time to visit the National Portrait Gallery while I was there.  It was so much fun to take what we teach in Art Docents and realize we are learning and being connected to our own world…making history today.

In our 5th grade lesson called, “Grade 5 Lesson Four: American Art – Portraiture, we cover the

State Standard: 1.3 which is to have students use their knowledge of all the elements of art to describe similarities and differences in works of art and the environment.

“George Washington After 1796”

Artist: Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)
The Huntington Library, Pasadena, CA (approx. life-size)

We discuss both Color and Value with the students using these two famous American portraits.

Both portraits use color contrast to emphasize the subject matter, but how are these contrasts different? In the Stuart painting, the background is dark so that George Washington’s face in the portrait stands out.

In the Whistler portrait, the subject matter, Whistler’s mother, is dressed in dark colors with a lighter background, again emphasizing the portrait subject, but using a light background instead.

The background in each portrait creates a focal point, despite the very different use of color in these prints.

The white color in the Stuart print is predominately in the middle of the portrait; whereas, the lighter colors are spread throughout the portrait created by Whistler.  Note the use red in the rosy cheeks in both portraits

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“Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1”

Artist: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

The 5th grade students are presented with two prints to compare, but in this case, there will be two portraits to compare and contrast by two different American artists.

There will be differences in style, technique, and the medium used by the artists.

 Through discussion and questions, the students should evaluate how or whether each painting has achieved unity and harmony in its composition

and use their knowledge of the elements of art while describing similarities and differences in the works of art presented.

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Back to my ART CONNECTIONS…

Barack Obama,  born 1961

Forty-fourth president, 2009–2017

Artist: Kehinde Wiley (born 1977)
Oil on canvas, 2018

Barack chose to have his portrait done by Kehinde Wiley, the first ever African-American artist to produce an official presidential portrait for the National Portrait Gallery,

The piece features Obama seated in front of a fortress of leaves.

From this deep green background emerges three types of flowers, each representing a part of the former president’s history.

The white flowers are jasmine, representing Obama’s birthplace and childhood in Hawaii.

The pink and gold flowers are chrysanthemums, the official flower of Chicago, where Obama became a community organizer and, ultimately, a senator of Illinois.

and the

purple flowers are African blue lilies, a reminder of his father, Barack Obama, Sr., a Kenyan man.

Artist:  Amy Sherald (born 1973)
Oil on linen, 2018

Sherald’s piece  presents the former First Lady striking a regal pose in a flowing white gown, speckled with colorful geometric shapes. The dress has captured people’s attention because of what a gorgeous garment it is, but there’s also a little more behind it: It captures Michelle’s modernity and openness during her tenure as First Lady. The design is based on the American brand Milly’s spring 2017 collection, which creator Michelle Smith says was inspired by a “desire for equality, equality in human rights, racial equality, LGBTQ equality.”

Smith said that while some people have described the dress as couture, the fabric is actually an accessible stretch cotton poplin.

She chose a “geometric minimal print” for the gown to exude”Mrs. Obama’s strength and approachable, forward-thinking style.”

Of the dress’s silhouette she added, “The dress reveals her beautiful shoulder and arms, which I think is very groundbreaking in a portrait of the First Lady.”

At the portrait unveiling, Sherald said she was drawn to this particular dress because it reminded her of

quilts made by African American women in the South.

“Milly’s design also resembles the inspired quilt masterpieces made by the women of Gee’s

Bend,

a small remote black community in Alabama where they compose quilts in geometries that transform clothes and fabric remnants into masterpieces,” she said.

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ART CONNECTION….with children!

And back to working with students to teach Art and Art Appreciation….making things current and connecting with our daily lives….here is a fun story from just this week

…this is just what the artist  was hoping for when she contemplated painting Mrs. Obama.

 The Baltimore-based artist considers the former first lady to be someone “women can relate to—no matter what shape, size, race, or color. . . .

We see our best selves in her.” Here, she portrays Mrs. Obama as both confident and approachable, in a dress by Michelle Smith’s label Milly.

Connecting in Art!

Julie Ferrario

President of Art Docents of Los Gatos