365 Days of Art – A Study in Patience

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….on day 17 I finally attempted the exercise that Carla Sonheim assigned last week

When I saw this assignment, called Target: Animals I was immediately reminded of Norval Morrisseau, an indigenous painter from Canada. When I was teaching I introduced this wonderful painter’s work to my students and we painted our own favourite animals in a similar style which we called X-ray paintings.

The assignment involves producing circles and painting target rings inside each with different colours of acrylic paint. This is where the patience comes in because each colour has to dry before you start the next. I was fine at the beginning but as the circles got smaller and I finished sooner I barely waited long enough before I added the next colour. I think it’s somewhat evident in some of my circles.

Where do I go from here? I’ve been debating with myself as to whether I follow the assignment exactly as taught or if I put my own spin on it. I think I will do the latter because the animals that I’ve seen produced look too much like Morrisseau’s work. They’re lovely but I need to try and be more original.

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Norval Morrisseau’s Images Enchant Children

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….it started as an art project with the kindergarteners

November was Aboriginal Month for our school board. I introduced my kindergarten class to Canadian First Nations artist Norval Morrisseau. He was sometimes referred to as the Picasso of the North. His art is characterized by the use of heavy black lines and bright vibrant colours.

I found a couple of images on the web that were reproducible and I drew a couple more free hand. I gave the children some bright acrylic paints and cotton swabs and taught them how to create dots with the Q-tips. Some of the children used the tool like a paint brush and didn’t really get the concept of creating dots but in the end they all cooked very nice.

I used the same sheets with my grade three students but it was suppose to be an extra project for the students who finished their other art project before the end of the class. In the end they all wanted to fill in one of the four images.

The first set were done by the kindergarten class.

This set was done by the grade 3s.

Grade Three’s X-ray Paintings

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. using Norval Morrisseau’s painting style

Norval Morrisseau was a First Nations artist from Canada. He is often referred to as the Picasso of the North and his style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colours. He developed his own techniques and artistic vocabulary which captured ancient legends and images that came to him in visions or dreams. The lines in his paintings represent energy and often connect one symbol or body part to another. The x-ray technique allows the observer to see the energy within the person or animal.

After discussing Morrisseau’s style the boys and girls were directed to draw something that was important to them. The beauty of this activity is that drawings should be simple, and don’t even need to look like the animals that they represent. The students learned how to apply bright watercolours to their paper after they outlined their line drawing with black markers. Once they finished painting they went over the black lines again.

I love each and every one of them. Here are the first 8 pictures that were completed today:

Hooray for the Weekend

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….my week at a glance

I can’t believe that 5 weeks of school have already passed. I’ve already been on a three day trip to the outdoor education centre with the grade 5s. We’ve had a community BBQ, curriculum night, our first school council meeting, and Terry Fox Run. Our cross country team has been out running for the last five weeks and on Monday 120 students are going to the first of three meets. The girls’ and boys’ slo pitch teams and flag football teams have been practising for at least three weeks and the primary and junior choirs have been singing up a storm getting ready for the Remembrance Day concert in November.

On Monday of this week I went with the grade 4 and 5 students to the McMichael Art Gallery where we toured the gallery for half the day and saw work from the Group of Seven, Norval Morrisseau, Inuit artists and Edward Burtinsky. In the second half of the day the students were engaged in a hands on watercolour painting session. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera but one of the mom’s took lots of pictures. Hopefully I can share a few in a future post.

On Tuesday we had our first Future Ace assembly where we honour students who have demonstrated outstanding character traits, such as kindness, respect or sportsmanship. It was also the launch of the school magazine drive which raises money through the sale of magazine subscriptions. After school I made a trip to Arts Junction but left with very little in the way of art supplies but I did buy my husband his birthday present on my way home.

On Wednesday I taught two double periods of art to two of my grade 3 classes. I’m starting to feel better about their Norval Morrisseau style paintings. Last week I lamented how some of them weren’t getting the concept. I made a sample for the children to model from and I’m pleased to announce that they’re starting to understand the concept of ‘x-ray paintings’. This lesson from Kinder Art helped put the lesson into a perspective that the students could understand.

Here are a few of the paintings that are starting to show some promise:

After school on Wednesday my husband and I celebrated his birthday. Thursday was uneventful and today we started the day with a special breakfast to celebrate World Teachers’ Day. The shirts for the cross country meet arrived today and B and I opened up the report card program on the computer for the teachers so that they could start preparing for the progress reports which are due in three weeks.

This weekend I hope to get the farmers’ market again. We’ve been invited to a surprise birthday party on Saturday and on Sunday the family is getting together to celebrate K’s birthday. Hooray for weekends!