Arts & Activities articles from November 2002

Arts & Activities archives from November 2002

Editor's note.(content review in this issue)
November 1, 2002... From traditional ("Multipurpose Monoprints," page 22 and "Printmaking: It's Elementary!" page 42), to what might be considered a little offbeat ("Save That Gadget," page 38 and "Bloomin' Color Celery Prints," page 40), we have printmaking...

Color is wonderful. (arts update).(art contest)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Sakura's "Cray-pas Wonderful Colorful World" contest for 2003 is underway. Each entry must be the work of one student only; subject may be individually determined or a class project. The majority of the piece must be done in oil pastels;...

Lesson plans explore life and career of Thomas Eakins. (arts update).
November 1, 2002... Free lesson plans based on Thomas Eakins: Scenes from Modern Life, a documentary produced by WHYY/ Philadelphia about this American artist, are available at www.whyy.org. The lesson plans relate Eakins' work to the subjects of Art History,...

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art opens. (arts update).
November 1, 2002... On November 22, 2002, a museum created for all ages will open in Amherst, Mass. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art will encourage an appreciation of the visual arts and the development of analytical thinking in a museum environment...

Make imprint on the world. (arts update).(student art contest)
November 1, 2002... Speedball Art Products Co. invites teachers, grades 4-12, to participate in its 2003 "Imprint On the World" Block Printing Contest. To enter, create a block- or screen-printing lesson plan based on any theme related to "Imprint On the World,"...

Paris in the age of impressionism. (arts update).(art exhibition: High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia)
November 1, 2002... For the first time in nearly 20 years, the treasures of France's second largest museum are leaving Paris and heading to the United States for their continental debut at Atlanta's High Museum of Art. Over 100 works from the Musee d'Orsay in...

Monotypes and Monoprints.(Video Recording Review)
November 1, 2002... Video/25 min./$24.95. Level: High School and College. Crystal Productions, P.O. Box 2159, Glenview, IL 60025-6159, (800) 255-8629. Two artists, Jonde Northcutt and Nick Capaci, each give fascinating step-by-step demonstrations on how they...

Animals in Art: Art History.(Video Recording Review)
November 1, 2002... Video with guide/40 min./$49.95. Level: Grades 3-8. Wilton Art Programs, Reading & O'Reilly, Inc., P.O. Box 646, Botsford, CT 06404, (800) 458-4274. This video is conveniently divided into viewing segments, each with a variety of...

Treasures of the Holy Land: Ancient Art from the Israel Museum.(Video Recording Review)
November 1, 2002... Video/30 min./$19.95. Level: College. Public Media/Home Vision, 4423 W. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL 60640-5802, (800) 826-3456. This documentary video shows the viewer over 10,000 years of the Holy Land's history, as told through a rich...

Monotype: Mediums and Methods for Painterly Printmaking.(Book Review)
November 1, 2002... (2001; $19.95, paper), by Julia Ayers. Watson-Guptill Publications, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. Children are often seen putting print or ink or even mud on their hands and then proceeding to place their hands on another surface:...

Printmaking in the Sun: an Artist's Guide to Making Professional-Quality Prints Using the Solarplate Method.(Book Review)
November 1, 2002... (2001; $29.95, paper), by Dan Welden and Pauline Muir. Watson-Guptill Publications, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. This is a book that can be of interest to advanced printmaking students at the high-school level. Essentially, the book...

Staedtler, Inc. (shop talk).(art tools)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... STAEDTLER, INC. introduces its new Mastercarve line of lightweight, ergonomic carving tools for creating unique, personally designed rubber stamps. These tools work on Mastercarve Artist Carving Blocks and other vinyl and linoleum blocks. Each...

Speedball[R] Art Products. (shop talk).(art tools)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... SPEEDBALL[R] ART PRODUCTS offers Printmaster[R] Paper, block printing paper available in 9" x 12", 12" x 18" and 18" x 24" size sheets. Speedball carries a full line of unique products, including inks and supplies for screen and block printing....

Scratch-Art Co., Inc. (shop talk).(art tools)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... The Rubbing Stick[R], from SCRATCH-ART CO., INC., is an all-plastic tool to produce hand prints easily and quickly. Special plastic with high lubricity glides over the printing paper with minimum friction. Unique design fits the hand...

NASCO Arts & Crafts. (shop talk).(art tools)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... NASCO ARTS & CRAFTS announces the release of its 2002 catalog featuring the latest in arts and crafts teaching aids, supplies and equipment. Readers will find hundreds of exclusive products, including printmaking tools and accessories, designed...

Chroma Inc. (shop talk).(art tools)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... CHROMA INC. introduces a new direction in art: A>2 Art Students Acrylic, which looks, feels and handles like artists' professional paint, with the same high pigment loading and the same acrylic binder as Chroma's Atelier Artists' Acrylics....

Loew-Cornell, Inc. (shop talk).(art tools)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... LOEW-CORNELL, INC. announces a new set of tools that yield finished designs quickly and easily. After using one of their sponge shapes to paint-stamp, a template is used with markers, paint pens or other tools to detail the basic design. There...

Showstopping scratchboards. (Cover Story).(art projects)
November 1, 2002... As part of my curriculum each year, my advanced art students are offered the opportunity to create a scratchboard rendering of various subject matters. Usually in their previous art courses, they have had the experience of selecting a variety...

Multipurpose monoprints.(art projects)
November 1, 2002... Children all over the world have always drawn. From their first finger marks through sand or a blob of pudding on their high chair tray to drawing with charcoal on fine paper, the urge to draw and make marks has been a part of human nature....

High contrast.(art projects, education)
November 1, 2002... The traditional black line on white paper can be stunning with its sharp contrast. The white and black serve to create a dichotomy, playing off one another in startling ways. Those dark marks on paper are also comfortable, recognizable and...

Letting go. (art across the curriculum).(profile of artist Faith Ringgold)
November 1, 2002... They left it all behind: behind in Africa, then behind in the Southeastern United States. Some went north to Canada. Others went south to the Caribbean. The Underground Railroad carried them away to safety and freedom from slavery. They left,...

Classroom use.(discussion of painter Pablo Picasso's Weeping Woman)
November 1, 2002... THIS FACE This very abstract portrait is of a distraught, sobbing woman. She is holding a handkerchief to her tearful eyes, while at the same time gripping part of the handkerchief in her teeth. The woman is fashionably dressed in the...

Clip & save art notes.(discussion of Pablo Picasso's Weeping Woman)
November 1, 2002... Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Weeping Woman; 1937. Oil on canvas; 59 cm x 48 cm. Tate Gallery, London. ABOUT THIS PAINTING Pablo Picasso was one the most productive and creative artists of the 20th century. He was among the first to...

Gerald Leslie Brockhurst: etchings from the William P. Brumfield memorial collection. (Learning from Exhibitions).
November 1, 2002... For an artist who created more than 600 superbly painted portraits--including among them subjects such as Marlene Dietrich, The Duchess of Windsor and J. Paul Getty, Jr.--it may seem surprising that this artist is best known for his etchings....

Young artist: Alexis D'Ambrosio.(fifth grade student discusses art appreciation)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... I've been drawing since I could walk. I love horses and art. If I'm not drawing, I'm horseback riding or sleeping. I was lucky to win several art awards, like first place in the Sidewalk Art Show of Converse College and the District Art Award....

Save that gadget.(art projects)
November 1, 2002... The art teacher's motto is, "Don't throw that away!" In our art room, we save all sorts of "precious junk," from stacks of cardboard to tiny boxes, cans and egg cartons for paint. One of our most valuable collections is a box of tiny objects...

Bloomin' color celery prints.
November 1, 2002... My class was cutting up celery for a little get-together we were having when, for the first time, I really "looked" at the core of the stalk. It looked like a flower! I had the students keep all of the cores and I put them in a black plastic...

Printmaking: it's elementary!
November 1, 2002... Block printmaking is a great experience for students, and most elementary-age children love it. For many years I have introduced linoleum block carving at the fifth-grade level. However, younger children seem to have trouble carving into the...

Swarm.
November 1, 2002... This project, which I did with my eighth-grade students, is more than just a scratchboard activity, it also teaches a number of design principles. One principle is movement. The bugs are drawn going in the same direction; this controls our eye...

Create a logo. (on the Art Career Track).
November 1, 2002... If you're looking for a project that generates enthusiasm and excitement, give this a try. You will engage your students in authentic learning activities that integrate the use of technology into the curriculum. This project is a great way...

Hungry for art.
November 1, 2002... New Realist painter Wayne Thiebaud's paintings of food were the perfect common ground needed for our Art Exchange Day. During the exchange, my advanced art students from Valley Heights High School in Blue Rapids, Kan. spent the day in a joint...