Art at Hosmer

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Ghana: Adinkra Stamped Cloth

After our Kente cloth project, we learned about another type of cloth, Adinkra stamped cloth. Adinkra (ah-DEEN-krah) cloth is a hand-printed fabric made in Ghana. As with Kente, it was also developed by the Ashanti people.

https://www.hamillgallery.com/ASANTE/AsanteAdinkra/AsanteAdinkra01.html

Adinkra cloths were traditionally made for royalty to wear at religious ceremonies. Adinkra cloth is stamped and patterned with traditional Ashanti symbols. Each symbol has its own name and meaning based on values like family, tolerance, harmony, determination, etc.

People decorate cloth by using a black dye made of bark, called Adinkera aduru, and this is what gives the cloth its name. Using the dye, they draw lines on the cloth to divide it into squares. Next, they carve symbols into calabash gourds, press the gourds into the dye, and stamp the symbols onto the fabric.

Students designed their own Adinkra stamps, either looking at reference images for inspiration from existing Ashanti symbols or creating their own. They cut out their designs from foam and glued them into cardboard to create their stamp. We let these dry and the following class, used black paint to print with our stamps.

Students rolled out paint using a brayer on our bench hooks and then rolled the brayer on top of our Adinkra stamp. Then students picked up the stamp and pressed it down on their paper, re-applying paint in between each print. Students did a wonderful job making the prints fit their paper in rows.

After two classes of printmaking, students created a frame for their Adinkra prints. We used red, green or yellow paper to reflect the colors of the flag of Ghana. Students designed their frames to demonstrate pattern and repetition, like our prints, and glued their Adinkra prints in the center. Below are some examples of our finished Adinkra print artwork:

Amit, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Asher, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Ava, 2nd Grade (Hinds Thiemann)

Eren, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Kailynn, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Marlo, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Maya, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Nick, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Nirvaan, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Pravin, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Ryland, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Seif, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Seta, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Saturday, March 9, 2019

2019 Watertown Public Schools Art Show

Mark your calendars! Our annual Watertown Public Schools PK-12 Art Show is happening from March 27th - April 11th at the Watertown Mall (near Target). Letters for students whose artwork will be on display will go out the 3rd week of March.

We will be celebrating the hard work of all of our artists at a public reception for the exhibition on Monday, April 1 from 5-7 pm. There will be refreshments and a photo booth! Please join us!

Many thanks to the Watertown Mall for hosting our annual art show.

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Ghana: Kente Cloth Weaving

Our next visit on our Arts Around the World tour brought us to Ghana, which is located on the western coast of Africa. We learned that it is hot and humid in Ghana and the capital city is Accra.

We also learned about Kente cloth, a woven traditional fabric. Kente cloth began in the Ashanti Kingdom and was originally worn by royalty. It is woven by men and is known for its bold designs. Over time, it became more popular and now it is worn by many people, not just royalty.

When looking at examples of Kente cloth, students noticed the bright colors, geometric designs with rectangles and zig zags, and the patterns in the fabric. Students also connected it to learning about weaving in 1st grade. To begin making our own Kente cloth, students painted a piece of paper with colorful stripes and added patterns with lines and dots to create their loom. Students also painted two sheets of colored paper with a simple pattern of lines using black paint.

We revisited the process of weaving with construction paper before cutting the painted paper we made to weave with. Students recalled the over and under motion of each woven piece, and students used their painted paper to make their loom and the pieces to weave across.

It was wonderful to see just how many students remembered the technique of weaving from last year! Students also helped each other once they were finished. Below are some examples of our colorful Kente cloth inspired weaving!

Christopher, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Gabrielly, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Kiana, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Lucia, 2nd Grade (Hinds Thiemann)

Meri, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Nico, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Noah, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Thiago, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Zoie, 2nd Grade (Hinds Thiemann)

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Creative Color Mixing and Naming

Artists in 3rd grade recently explored color mixing in preparation for an upcoming project! We mixed 10 different colors and also came up with a unique name for each color.

First, students explored color mixing, trying to come up with 10 different colors for their palette. We discussed how you might try to create a color that you already have in mind, like a light green, or just see what happens if you mix a lot of white, a little blue, and some yellow. Since we had just painted a color wheel with primary, secondary and tertiary colors, students were familiar with which colors to mix together to get a wide range of colors. We also experimented with adding white and black to colors, noting how it made colors lighter or darker.

The following class, students thought of creative names for each of the colors they had made. Instead of simply naming colors "light pink" or "dark blue," students were challenged to come up with creative names like "cherry blossom pink" and "storm blue." We looked at examples of paint chips and noticed that many names were inspired by animals, nature, food, and the weather. We made a list of things we might be inspired by for color naming and then named all of our colors.

We shared our paint colors and corresponding names with partners and then with the whole class. A lot of students used alliteration, which is when you repeat the same letter at the beginning of your words, like "pig pink" and "grass green." Check out some of our creative color names below!

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Family Traditions Mixed Media Collage, Inspired by Carmen Lomas Garza

This winter, 1st grade artists finished their mixed media collage artworks that tell the story of a family memory or tradition. This project took us a few weeks! We began by looking at two paintings by the Mexican American artist, Carmen Lomas Garza. Students were asked to look at the artwork carefully and then think about what is happening and what supports their thinking.

Carmen Lomas Garza, Barbacoa Para Cumpleaños (1993)

Students noticed that there is a girl hitting a piñata, a cake on a table, and many people of different ages gathered together, so it might be a birthday party, a backyard BBQ or a family reunion. A few students noticed the papel picado or cut paper flags hanging between the trees as decoration and made connections to their Mexican heritage or what they already knew about Mexican holidays, such as Day of the Dead. Our observations helped us to "read" the painting and understand the story visually, without words. We noticed that the artist paints the story, using a lot of details to help us understand what is happening. Carmen Lomas Garza is a Mexican American artist who was born in Texas. She paints about her experiences as a Mexican American and her paintings feature her family.

Students thought about a time they have spent with their family and family traditions they have experienced. They tried to remember who was there, where it took place, and what people were doing. Then they made their own sketches and drawings of this memory. For many students, it was a family tradition or annual event such as Christmas, Hanukkah, or Thanksgiving. For others, they remembered their birthday or a sibling's birthday. Some students drew about a family summer vacation to the beach or a long roadtrip, while others drew about playing in the park, weekend picnics, and building snowmen.

The following week, students used their sketches and created a painted background for their artwork. Removing the details, students painted paper with solid colors for their background, whether it was yellow sand, blue sky or white snow. We let the painted paper dry and the next class, students began adding the people and details in their foreground using a variety of different materials.

Students cut and tore shapes from colored paper, tissue paper, fabric, felt, and yarn and put them together to created a mixed media collage of their family memory. Students thought carefully about how the colors, patterns and textures of the materials would help tell their visual story. They tried to make the setting clear, whether it was indoors or outdoors, daytime or nighttime.

Students worked very hard on these mixed media collages, and wrote a sentence on the back about their work, describing the memory or tradition. We participated in our first gallery walk, which is when we walk around the room to observe everyone's artwork. During a gallery walk we make sure not to touch the artwork, just like at a museum. We also did our first turn and talk, where we picked a partner and shared our artwork with them. Students took turns talking about their work and asking questions, considering what their work was about, what they were proudest of in their work, and what was the most challenging part of creating it. Below are some examples of our work, with a description written by the student.