A great way to channel your inner artist is to speak and think like an artist. In order to do so convincingly, it’s important to be able to confidently navigate the language of art. The Elements of Art are the building blocks of that language. All art is made up of at least one Art Element. Some of the Elements we are all very familiar with, like line, color, and shape. Others are a bit more abstract, like value and space. Texture happens to be a favorite of mine and it makes my day when a student can accurately articulate the difference between a shape and a form using art vocabulary such as 2 and 3 dimension.

All classes have spent the past few weeks easing back into the routines of the studio. The Elements of Art have sharpened our vocabulary and elevated the level of our classroom critiques. Each grade level was responsible for representing one of the seven Art Elements in an abstract collage. Not only did grade levels specialize in one area, they were re-acquainted with proper gluing, cutting, collage and oil pastel techniques. The works of art created during this unit will be submitted for the Maury Note Card competition. We have retired the theme, “Sharing in Washington,” this year and renamed it, “The Language of Art.” I am happy that all students will be able to submit a work of art this year, should they so desire. The media from which we worked this year is more expressive and abstract. Winners will not be chosen based on their drawing skill levels but on their artistic flair. I hope that this year’s note cards liven up your letter writing and serve to educate the recipients of your snail mail!

3 year olds cutting geometric shapes with intensity (and almost the proper scissor hold, ha)!

Demonstrating the right way to keep our glue sticks in tip-top shape!

Intro to collage!

Ollie finds a gem! That Venus Flytrap’s “teeth” are an excellent example of LINE!

Stonehenge’s shadows create diagonal lines

Collage is serious work

Oil pastels set the tone for the background of our colorful collages

The members of the 4th grade green table each had their own unique styles when using pastels

Look at Lira’s lines!!