Spring Forsythia Still-life

Spring is gradually coming to New England and we've been enjoying all of the flowers and trees that are starting to bloom. One of my favorite spring blossom is the forsythia--the bright yellow blooms just wake me up and get me ready for warmer days ahead!

Here's a quick project I did a couple years back with my home school kids that is easy and fun to do. Working from life, students create a mixed-media still life while learning printmaking and symmetry. This is a great opportunity to gather up some real forsythia in bloom, set it up in your classroom and then have the children work from life. I was a little late one year, so I brought in fake forsythia to display.

When using real forsythia, pass around blooms to let the children look at them close up and then look at the still life from further away. Display your forsythia in a pretty vase and show the students how the shape of a vase is symmetrical. I had my students fold a piece of construction paper in half and then cut the shape of the vase so it would be truly symmetrical (have some extra construction paper on hand just in case). Brown marker and sponge-painted X's make for an easy finish to this project. Low mess, low stress, and lots of beautiful color!

This project is from "Kids' Art Works," by Sandi Henry. This book is FULL of great art ideas for children and is a must for any art teacher. The directions are clearly written in the book and easy to follow and the results are great! All of the children enjoyed creating beautiful spring pictures full of bright yellow blossoms! Welcome Spring!

Springtime Still life

Whew! It's been a busy couple of weeks for me! I've been applying for a teaching job for next year and finishing up my current art class with the home school cooperative. In just a couple of days the co-op will have its Grand Finale and the children from my art class will showcase their artwork! I can't wait! I am so proud of them!


I thought that I'd put a project on here from last year's art class that is perfect for celebrating Spring and Mother's Day: Spring Still life pictures featuring forsythia blossoms. This project can be done by a variety of ages, although little ones might need some grown-up help. This project is from the book, "Kids Art Works," by Sandi Henry--an awesome book. Enjoy!

Just one example of a beautiful forsythia still life!

Background Info:
When I teach this class, I start by having a beautiful arrangement of forsythia blossoms in a vase available in the classroom for the children to look at and touch. I have the children notice how a forsythia blossom is constructed and how it looks up close and far way.

I also like to have a couple of postcards or pictures of still lifes from art history for us to look at and discuss what makes a still life--a type of painting that has as its subject inanimate objects such as fruit, flowers, dishes or food.

Materials Needed:

• 1 9x12" sheet of construction paper either white or light blue for background
• Scissors
• Pencil and eraser
• Glue stick
• Markers, brown for stems and other colors to decorate vase
• Small piece of construction paper for vase (maybe 4x6")
• Yellow tempura paint
• Paper Plate for palette
• Kitchen sponge cut to about 1" long by 1/4" wide

Directions:

1. Cut the vase out of the smaller piece of the construction paper (you can do this by folding the paper and cutting through 2 layers of the paper--good introduction to symmetry). Glue the vase to the along the bottom edge of the larger piece of construction paper so that you have lots of space above the vase for your blossoms.

2. Using the brown marker, draw some stems from your vase into the space above.

3. Place some yellow tempura paint on the tray. Dip your sponge piece into the paint and stamp it gently onto the paper along the stems, creating the forsythia blossoms.

4. If you'd like, use the markers to decorate the vase with designs such as lines, dots, etc.

Voila! A spring still life to brighten up a rainy spring day!