How We Spent Our Summer Vacation - A is for Abstract

A starts Abstract, Art and August, so what better way to start the last month of summer than to learn about non-representational art?

After learning the difference between figural and abstract art, we created a little of both. When parents arrived they were challenged to tell what they saw in our abstract paintings. Of course, nobody saw the same thing.

Tuesday was Circle Day. We concentrated on that shape by making our own versions of Rachel Whiteread's 2012 Olympic poster design.

This was a great tie-in because the Olympics were ongoing at the time!

And you can't have Circle Day without a little Kandinsky!

Action Painting Day! You know we flung some paint...

...and got VERY messy...

...but the results were well worth it.


After painting our individual masterpieces, we each mixed our own color of chalk paint and did a collaborative action painting in the parking lot.

(Please try to ignore the tire marks. Nothing lasts forever, and alas, our art barely lasted an hour!)

Throughout the week we enjoyed A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet by Stephen T Johnson. It was especially fun finding the letters in each work.

Superman is totally proud of his Nevelson sculpture. He used his super patience with the gluing and painting.

Finally. Rectangle Day! We learned about Josef Albers and spent some time planning our compositions using our favorite colors...

...then we assembled the finished products.

We ended Rectangle Day, and camp, with a quick Rothko composition.

I suppose I should have emphasized smudging and smearing a little more, but for 5-year-olds I think they did really well. 

Clearly, what I did NOT do on my summer vacation was blog about camp. One more to go. Maybe by Halloween?

"...and here is the moon."

Why is the process more important that the product? This is why:

 

This was a Mark Rothko exercise. You know, big rectangles of color. In the beginning there were rectangles, I promise. The artist, age 4, penciled them in and started painting them. Then the process took over and next thing I knew, voila! As she painted the bit of yellow in the corner she said, "and here is the moon." She enjoyed herself immensely and she can tell you a bit about Rothko to boot!

A "Riddle"

This young artist had quite a plan for her Rothko abstract. When the parents arrived she asked each one if they could guess her "riddle". See if you can figure out her concept. (Hint: Look at the real Rothko on the upper right corner.)