Arts & Activities articles from April 2006

Arts & Activities archives from April 2006

Editor's note.
April 1, 2006... With the great lesson ideas inside this issue, Young Artist Lucy Manning's musicians--on our cover--could be playing "Grab a Brush and Paint the Town!" After all, painting is the theme this month and we have some fantastic projects to share....

Ever-broadening perspective.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... As a professor of art education for the past 18 years, I've used your magazine as a resource in my art-education classes. In my classes over the years, I've been a strong advocate for the inclusion of art forms from a wide range of cultures....

Chicago remains controversial.(dear editor)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... Perhaps the lesson idea presented in A Dinner Party of Their Own (Feb. 2006) would have been better presented with some sort of warning prompting teachers to be careful. I know that after I've turned students on to certain artists, they've gone...

Know better ... do better.(dear editor)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... After decades as an art teacher, I am still amazed at the number of art teachers that continue to demonstrate a lack of understanding about cultures other than "mainstream American." I refer to the use of spiritual artifacts and images,...

Working from Life: Wende Caporale.(Video recording review)
April 1, 2006... [VHS/CD/VISUAL] WORKING FROM LIFE: Wende Caporale. DVD/120 min./$79.95. Level. Adult. Famous Painter Films/Jack Richeson & Co., Inc., 557 Marcella St., Kimberly, WI 54136; (800) 233-2404; www.richesonart.com. This DVD features Wende...

Developing your Watercolours.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... [PRINT] DEVELOPING YOUR WATERCOLOURS (2004; $27.50), by David Bellamy. Trafalgar Square Publishing, Box 257, Howe Hill Rd., North Pomfret, VT 05053, www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com. This is a book that assumes the reader has had some...

Dropping in on Grant Wood.(Video recording review)
April 1, 2006... [VHS/CD/VISUAL] DROPPING IN ON GRANT WOOD. VHS or DVD/19 min./ $29.95. Level: Grades 4-12. Crystal Productions, Box 2159, Glenview, IL 60025, (800) 255-8629, www.crystalproductions.com. This lively production features a script by art...

Landscapes: A Guide to Drawing and Painting Nature.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... [PRINT] LANDSCAPES: A GUIDE TO DRAWING AND PAINTING NATURE (2004; $19.95), by Richard McDaniel. Watson-Guptill Publications, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, www.watsonguptill.com. This is a book that would be helpful (perhaps...

Mastering Color and the Plein Air Experience: The Complete Water Media Workshop.(Video recording review)
April 1, 2006... [VHS/CD/VISUAL] MASTERING COLOR AND THE PLEIN AIR EXPERIENCE: The Complete Water Media Workshop. VHS (Two)/165 min. ea./$79.95 ea. Level: Adult. Famous Painter Films/ Jack Richeson & Co., Inc., P.O. Box 158, Kimberly, WI 54136;...

Nasco Arts & Crafts.
April 1, 2006... The 2006 NASCO ARTS & CRAFTS catalog is now available. Over 900 new products have been added, featuring the latest in art-and-crafts teaching aids, supplies and equipment. Each product featured in the 524-page catalog is designed to make...

Jack Richeson & Co.(shop talk)
April 1, 2006... JACK RICHESON & CO.'s new melamine palettes with neoprene thumb insert are a breakthrough in comfort and ease of use. Available in rectangle and oval shapes, as well as right- and left-armed palettes, they feature an easy-to-clean white...

Blarney Hill Press.(shop talk)
April 1, 2006... Written and designed for the independent learner and individuals who want to improve their basic art skills, Exploring Art Media, from BLARNEY HILL PRESS, introduces the incredible variety of art media, materials, tools and techniques...

Sargent Art, Inc.(shop talk)
April 1, 2006... SARGENT ART, INC. has introduced a six-color set of colorful Tempera Cakes. This new set offers teachers and young artists an economical, colorful painting tool for expressing their creativity. Sargent Art Tempera Cakes are a long-lasting,...

Camlin North America.(shop talk)
April 1, 2006... CAMLIN NORTH AMERICA has released its new Camellia Aqua Pastels, an excellent medium for creating and teaching watercolors. Cleanup is faster and easier, and much more watercolor material is delivered than is with watercolor pans and pencils....

Elmer's[R].(shop talk)
April 1, 2006... With the introduction of the Squeeze 'n Brush[TM], ELMER'S[R] has reinvented the arts-and-crafts experience with a new, easy-to-use, no-mess approach to painting projects. This unique product features a paintbrush applicator tip with a...

Jonti-Craft Inc.(shop talk)
April 1, 2006... Children can paint on both sides of JONTI-CRAFT INC.'s 50" X 35" high clear-acrylic See-Thru Easel. Paint-cup holders are mounted on both sides of the easel's Birch frame. The legs are made of sturdy maple. Minimal assembly is required....

Scratch-Art Co. Inc.(shop talk)
April 1, 2006... Young artists create fascinating effects with every dab and stroke of finger painting with SCRATCH-ART CO., INC.'s Scratch Magic[R] Rainbow Finger Paint Kit. Kids apply washable black finger paint to brilliant multicolor paper. Wipe away areas...

Young artist.(Cover story)
April 1, 2006... I like art. I've been drawing and painting since preschool through local arts center and at art camp. I now take art as a resource class at school. Even though I like to draw giraffes, horses and dogs with crayons and markers best, my...

Collecting the impressionists: masterpieces from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.(LEARNING from EXHIBITIONS)
April 1, 2006... The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., opened its doors to the public in 1955. As its 50th-anniversary gift to the nation, the museum has mounted a superb exhibition including a dozen of its priceless...

Eeek! Insects jumping from the canvas.(learning painting)
April 1, 2006... Working on canvas creates a very special moment in a child's life. The atmosphere is electric. For a few hours, kids consider themselves "real" artists and art-history lessons seep consciously or unconsciously from brain to hand to brush. The...

Modernist in Mexico.(art ACROSS the CURRICULUM)(Marsden Hartley )
April 1, 2006... The landscape to your left is a physical and psychological response to the environment: emotional, spiritual and expressionistic. The colors are garishly hot, and the thick paint is applied with obvious brushstrokes. There is something...

Clip & save art notes.(Winslow Homer's painting)
April 1, 2006... ABOUT THIS PAINTING This mountain river enabled travelers to go downstream and in an extremely exciting and dangerous way. But this part of the river is a one-way waterway in that people would have had to carry their canoes (portage)...

Classroom use of the art print.
April 1, 2006... Winslow Homer (American; 1836-1910). Shooting the Rapids, 1902. Watercolor on paper; 13 15/16" x 21 13/16". Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York. THINGS TO LEARN * As students observe this painting, they should be able to see that...

The invisible power of wind.(TEACHING art with ART)
April 1, 2006... For many centuries in Europe, people were not interested in pictures of the outdoors so weather didn't play a very important part in art. Picture buyers began to want pictures of outdoor scenes about 500 years ago, so artists started to paint...

Friendly rivals.(high school art, graphic designs)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... How could the junior graphic-design class at Merivale High School make an effective contribution to a school event whose purpose was to raise the attention of World Peace to the school population? The solution was to create a series of...

Painted faces.
April 1, 2006... Teaching students to draw faces is one of my favorite lessons. Coincidentally, learning to draw faces is one of the students' favorite lessons too. Through the many years I've taught art, I've observed that nearly every young student has an...

Making the ordinary special.(Wayne Thiebaud, paintings, mundane made artful)
April 1, 2006... Repetition in our society might suggest monotony and boredom, yet there have been artists who have skillfully painted the mundane. George Tooker (b. 1920), for one, painted people seemingly similar in appearance, going in and out of cubicles,...

Psychedelic sunflowers.(Vincent van Gogh )
April 1, 2006... My elementary students always enjoy seeing the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). They are fascinated by the fact that, although van Gogh lived only a short time, he painted approximately 2,000 paintings. They particularly like his many...

Earth's careful gardeners: uncovering, connecting and creating meaning.
April 1, 2006... As art educators, we engage students in the process of uncovering, connecting, and creating meaning across disciplinary boundaries. The following pre-K through fifth-grade unit's objective was for students to discuss, plan, and create works of...

Gotcha covered! Functional mini-masterpieces.(light-switch plates)
April 1, 2006... Ever wonder why plain plastic outlet covers and light-switch plates cost only pennies, whereas the "designer plates" cost 20, 30 even 40 times more? The plain covers come in only two colors: white or beige. No one ever notices them; they are...

Refrigerator artisits.(CHILDREN'S art diary)
April 1, 2006... My daughter was preparing for her first one-person show. My assignment was to be her co-pilot as we drove through the industrial section of town, looking for what claimed to be the "world's largest refrigerator graveyard." To find it, we drove...