Janie, grade 3

cut-paper collage
STUDIO artist: Valerie Hammond

Initially, the students had been drawing imaginary landscapes. In the classroom they were studying trees, and in science they were looking at the structures of trees. So, in the studio we began to look at the way trees were depicted by other artists. The Fauve artists used wild colors, yet the trees do look like trees. Then we looked at Matisse cut-outs to provide inspiration for cutting our own shapes. I described to them the ways the Shakers depicted trees that took up the whole page – “the horizontal stretch.” I really wanted the students to think about a tree and about using the space of the paper — how the image uses the page horizontally with the branches really spreading out. I provided an array of painted papers, metallic papers, and fadeless papers for them to use. We spent three days working on our trees. The students became really engaged in the development their work, spending more time and working longer. They also did a lot of artistic reflection from one work period to the next – revising, adding, and being really thoughtful about their choices.

(Click on the image to enlarge.)