Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Gumhead Update

This is an update to an earlier story I shared with you all in May.  Canadian artist Douglas Coupland recently created an enormous sculpture of his head that he asked the public to completely cover in chewing gum.  Coupland's sculpture has since been taken down, but from the pictures below you can see that it was a gross sticky mess of a success.

Photo source: the Globe and Mail

Photo source: the Vancouver Art Gallery

For more info and pictures click HERE.

Cardboard Taxidermy Art Lesson

I recently watched a show on home decor trends, including a segment on using cardboard animal heads to add pizazz to otherwise apparently bland rooms.  This reminded me of a lesson a fellow art teacher shared with me a few years ago.  After a bit of searching I found the lesson (posted below) along with a few examples her high school students created.

For more ideas on using cardboard in the art room, click HERE to check out my post on layered cardboard relief sculptures.

Van Gogh Inspired Flower Still Life Paintings

While learning about Vincent Van Gogh, my students created still life flower paintings.  For inspiration we looked at Van Gogh's artworks such as Still Life, Vase with Twelve Sunflowers.















We also discussed Van Gogh's use of impasto, thickly laying paint onto the surface, creating texture and making the brushstrokes visible.  For their canvases my students added impasto to their flowers by mixing modelling paste with acrylic paint.  


The paintings:

A few of the students had not finished their paintings when I took photos, but I thought I would still share these works in progress.

I love it when kids build on what they've learnt.  The students had just studied the art of Henri Matisse which is reflected in background pattern of this student's painting.

Today's Artistic Inspiration - Thrush Holmes

Just thought I'd share this article on Toronto artist Thrush Holmes. 

The floral still life below is just one example of how Holmes combines neon lighting with more traditional art mediums to create his 'brightly' coloured artworks. 

Thrush Homes, Early Life and Loves, 2013
oil, oil stick, spray paint, neon on panel.  Image Source: thrushholmes.com