Rosalie Gascoigne Inspired Collage

A talented and patient year 3 class are responsible for these great collages. They are inspired by Rosalie Gascoigne's Tiger Tiger. I first tried this lesson with a combined year 5 and 6 class last year. Both times the students and myself have been really happy with the results. There's quite a bit of work involved and there are some very thoughtful responses from these young artists. You can read more about the process involved and see the work of the 5/6 class on this previous post.

I like the variety of themes the students have chosen, from single and varied colours, to typography, people, transport, hairstyles and more. I commented to one young student that I really liked his collection of colours to which he replied "it's not a colour collection, they're all different dress fabrics..." I was even more impressed! Some might find it a little creepy, but I was also really impressed with the student who amassed a collage of different skin tones. As I mentioned the students were very patient, mostly I think students of all ages like fairly fast paced art lessons but this process is fiddly and laborious. Year 3 is definitely the youngest I'll repeat this lesson with : )

Abstract Mosaic Collage II

These eye-catching collages were created by a recent year 5 class. I first trialled this lesson last year with year 2. I've been really pleased with the results both times. As a relief teacher it's great to have ready-to-go lessons that work well across multiple age groups (and are even more engaging than colouring-in stencils!). You can see the original year 2 results and read more about the lesson process here.

I was really impressed with some of these colour combinations and especially with the student on the very top left who opted to use only blue and black while most used their full "allowance" of four colours!

If you're too stretched for time to visit my previous post and instructions, here's a short overview : ) Students choose between 1 and 4 colours, then free-cut and paste pieces of these coloured papers down, covering the white paper without the pieces touching each other.

Shiny Bright Flowers

This is first time I've worked with a year one class since beginning this blog. I don't think I used the word with the students, but this was an exercise in minimalism. With an abundance of negative space there's nothing to distract your gaze from these shiny bright flowers.

The children were asked to free-cut without pre-drawing beforehand. Each flower was made with two colours plus greenery. Most of the petals are more geometric than organic in shape but I think this gives the flowers their energetic appearance. Perhaps in a future lesson I'll ask for roughly triangular, rounded or even droopy triangles rather than these more regular ones. It would be interesting to see the effect this would have.

Fish Finger Prints

I usually subscribe to the mantra "less is more", but I'm still in two minds as to whether that applies with this lesson! Although for the kindergarten class who created these artworks, getting their fingers in the paint was reward enough. Maybe it would be more exciting if the children were able to add some seaweed or sand, or maybe these paintings should float home to adorn the fridge as they are — what do you think?

The blue water background was made with some slightly thinned regular classroom paint, painted on with brushes. I tried to encourage the children to notice and deliberately make water-like lines and patterns with their brush strokes. Next, each child was given four rectangles of paper, and they chose four colours before making separate "fish finger" monoprints.

The prints were made using the same technique described in my Finger Paint Printmaking post, except in this instance they drew fish instead of lines. Once dry, the children cut out their fish and stuck them onto their watery background. Most of the children were handier with the scissors than I expected, although a number of students found drawing the fish in the first place quite challenging. A day in kindergarten is always full of surprises though!

Gascoigne Inspired Collages

A little while back I made the trek down to Sydney and visited the newly renovated MCA. It was a great day out and I felt inspired to take some of what I was seeing back to the classroom. One of the pieces that really appealed to me was Rosalie Gascoigne's Tiger Tiger. It's an arresting collage of recycled yellow roadwork signs.

I regaled this 5/6 class with the tale of my big adventure to the city and the art gallery before showing them Tiger Tiger on the smartboard. Our main point of discussion was whether or not Rosalie deliberately ordered and orientated the squares and why. We also briefly discussed the fact that it's great to see art that uses recycled materials. And that was more than enough discussion; it was time to get hands-on!

I gave the students small squares of thick card that I had pre-cut. Their task was to flick through magazines tracing their square onto desired images, letters, colours etc. These squares were then cut out of the magazines until the students had enough to make their own matrix (these ones were 7 by 7 squares). They were encouraged to choose a theme or muse for their collage. We ended up with a variety including colours, people, pets, facial features, sport, food, fabric, furniture, footwear, typography and logos. 

The students then glued their squares together, many making deliberate choices about which square went where. The class really took to this process. It was time consuming though, which can be a good thing of course — it's nice for the students to experience something that isn't instantaneous once in a while! The initial lesson went for a full hour and it was a little over a full week before all the students had completed their collages using in-between and finishing time in class — after which some students immediately embarked upon a second one.

Hot & Cold

On the day I was with this year 2 class they were mid-way through a weather unit. It seemed a good opportunity to combine some art in their study by creating cool and warm magazine collages. I had only just previously spotted some blue/purple/green and red/yellow/orange collages at Riverside Elementary's blog.

As there wasn't time in the day for an entire art lesson this activity became (and worked very well as) a collaborative effort. Initially the collages were started by the fast finishers but then the whole class pitched in to help. The children scoured glossy magazines looking for any suitable colours, cutting them out and sorting them into their appropriate cool or warm group. Other students were busy arranging and pasting the cut-outs down. It was simple, it really underlined the two distinct colour groups to the children and was a great way to utilse some cooperative learning.

Autumn Leaves

I think the technical term is mixed media... real Autumn leaves and paint in this case.

It must have been nearly 10 years ago. I was doing a uni prac at Gunning Primary School in the Southern Highlands. It was a breath of fresh air to be out of Sydney where I was living at the time. I was with a great K-2 class and was lucky enough to have some art time with them. Autumn was in full swing so it seemed natural to get out and play in the deciduous leaves before collecting some and taking them back to class.

We tore the leaves up into small pieces and stuck them down in a single tree shape. The next day we added paint and then some oil pastels the day after. It was great fun and really effective. I've always been meaning to repeat the lesson but haven't had a chance till this more recent episode.

The Autumn scenes here are the result of a collaboration between a kindergarten class and their 5/6 "buddy" class who I was with earlier this term.

Time was tight so I brought the leaves in myself, also there weren't any deciduous trees on the school grounds. The first 40 minute lesson was spent gluing down the leaves. It was helpful having the older children here as this can be a bit fiddly and frustrating. During the second lesson the kindergarteners painted in the rest with some guidance from their buddy if necessary.

I think the kindergarten children were happy with their results, I know the 5/6 students certainly enjoyed it — in fact I'm pretty sure they were a little disappointed they didn't get their own ones... If I have the opportunity again next year I'll repeat this one for sure.