WELCOME TO THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR!
Normally, our program brings art into your students' classroom with volunteer-led lessons once each month. This academic year, with our teachers focused on remote learning, the Audubon Art Docent Program will offer periodic online lessons that students can do outside of class time. Every couple of months this page will feature an art lesson adapted to be done with basic art supplies that many of us have at home, like pencil, crayon, watercolor paint, and paper. Lessons will be announced in the PTSA newsletter as they become available.
While the art docent program will sit on a back burner this year, please know that the program co-chairs, Audrey Guidi and Jen Jones are still available if you have any questions. Our contact information can be found toward the bottom of this page.
Neighborhood Art Walk ~ Welcome Autumn!
Every two months, you will find in this space an optional art enrichment project for your Audubon student to complete. The idea is for students to create art and share it in a street-facing window for public view, so that friends and neighbors can enjoy a neighborhood art walk to celebrate each season.
This month, we feature the 3rd-grade texture lesson from the LWSD art lesson library. This lesson takes its inspiration from Australian Aboriginal dot painting.
The lesson calls for construction paper printed with a template, tempera paint and cotton swabs, but you can adapt this lesson very easily to use whatever materials you have at home. Also, while this is typically taught as a 3rd-grade lesson, it is appropriate for any age.
Alternative to the printed template:
Since it is autumn, you can start the lesson by sending your child outside to look for a beautiful fallen leaf to trace instead of printing a template.
Alternative to tempera paint:
Any kind of child-safe poster paint (served on a paper plate if you don't have a paint palette) or colored markers will do the trick. If you use colored markers, you don't even need the cotton swabs.
Alternative to leaves:
As much as I enjoy studying leaves, I just love painting pumpkins at this time of year. There is something so satisfying about the plump shape of a ripe pumpkin.
I painted the pumpkin above with fine line markers, a paint brush and colored ink, but it is fun to dot out the colors instead. You only need 4 or 5 colors to create a festive effect.
I dotted out the pumpkin above using five colored markers on plain printer paper, and I'm happy with how cheerful it looks, like a confetti pumpkin.
Here is a simple pumpkin shape to use as an example, if your child would rather draw a pumpkin than a leaf. Maybe they would like to do both!
Vocabulary related to this lesson:
Pointillism - a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. (Source: Wikipedia)
Stippling - the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists. (Source: Wikipedia)
I look forward to seeing artwork in windows soon!
Cheers,
Audrey
Art Docent Orientation
Orientation for Audubon art docent volunteers normally takes place in the Audubon cafeteria in September. While there will be no orientation this year, feel free to read the 2019 Art Docent Orientation slides if you are curious about the topics normally covered during orientation. If you would like to teach your children about art at home, the Art Docent Handbook is also a great tool that contains helpful lesson-planning guidance and definitions of art terminology.
DISTRICT-WIDE DOCENT TRAINING & LWSD ART DOCENT PROGRAM
This year we are once again fortunate to have a lesson library hosted by the Lake Washington School District. Art Docent Co-chair Audrey Guidi was involved in the effort to make these new lessons available to all elementary school docents across the district. The lessons are organized by grade with several lessons per year, one lesson to teach each of the elements of art and a few additional themes: color, line, shape, texture, value, space, form, clay form, portraiture, and community art. These tested lessons and docent instructions have been created to save volunteers time and encourage broader participation in docent programs.
Over the past few years, curriculum specialist Karen Ollerenshaw has arranged 90-minute training sessions for art docents at the LWSD Resource Center in Redmond Town Center during which team lesson authors, Marnie and Audrey walk docent volunteers through selected lessons. Given the current situation with remote school, we'll be taking a break from in-person training this year. Nonetheless, all of the lessons remain online and available for public viewing:
Audubon ART LESSON LIBRARY
The Art Docent Lesson Library is still accessible if you would like to try some lessons at home with your student. There are several PowerPoint presentations donated by past Audubon art docents, inspired by on artists and art styles including Paul Klee, Winslow Homer, Gustav Klimt, John James Audubon, Joan Miró, Georgia O'Keefe, Georges Seurat, Aboriginal dot painting, Native American art, Zentangle and more. Docents should not edit the files in the Lesson Library, but you should be able to download files for use at home.
Contacts
Audrey Guidi Curriculum/Planning/Communications
Jen Jones Supplies/Budget/Resources
While we try to monitor email at art@audubonptsa.org, it is better to send email directly to Audrey or Jen if you need a quick response.
