This week at Art in Action we reflected on Remembrance Day, sometimes called Armistice Day, to remember those who died in military service, and honour those who served in wartime.  Remembrance Day is observed across Canada each year on 11 November — the anniversary of the Armistice Agreement of 1918 that ended the First World War.  Inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae,  the poppy became a symbol of Remembrance Day.  The poppy flower only grows in the absence of other flowers and in the ground that has been churned.  On May 3, 1915, Canadian Dr. John McCrae observed the poppies growing between the crosses on the soldiers’ graves and wrote “In Flanders Fields.”  Poppies are now an international symbol of remembrance around the world.

Art in Action students also looked at the Pop Art Movement of Andy Warhol, and Brazilian-born, Internationally-recognized artist Romero Britto. Born in Recife, Brazil, Britto lived an extremely modest childhood while growing up among a big family of eight brothers and sisters. Britto was inspired by Pablo Picasso and combines the elements of cubism, pop art, and graffiti art by painting in vibrant, bold, and colourful patterns. His goal is to reflect a joyful, playful and optimistic view of the world. We also looked at how pop art is meant for everyone and derived its name from “popular culture.” Taking the iconic Poppy as our focus and creating vibrant, bold, colourful and playful patterns in the style of Romero Britto we created this week’s Pop Art Poppies.

Have a look at our process…

Students began by breaking up the negative space around the poppy into geometric shapes that were then completely coloured in with oil pastels… This was quite the art workout! Then they painted in the poppy a bright red.

Next, students let their creativity flow by adding black acrylic paint over top of the pastels to scratch out unique lines and patterns.

Beautiful pieces everyone!

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae

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We headed to Germany today to be inspired by German-born American painter Wolf Kahn.  Wolf Kahn was born on October 4th 1927 in Germany and began drawing at the age of four.   At the age of twelve, in 1940 he moved to New York City. He attended the High School of Music and Art and studied under the abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann at the Hans Hofmann School.  He became Hofmann’s studio assistant before he began his own art career. His wife Emily Mason is also a painter, and they have two daughters, Cecily and Melany.  Cecily Kahn is also an artist and is married to the painter David Kapp.

Wolf Kahn is known for his work in pastels and oil paint. He has travelled extensively, painting the landscapes of Egypt, Greece, Hawaii, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and New Mexico.  He lived in New York City during the winter and during the summer and autumn, he lived on a hillside farm in Vermont. Wolf Kahn died on March 15, 2020, at the age of 92, in New York, NY.

Students worked in reverse to create this dynamic barn by scraping the entire background first with acrylic paints and adding in the storm clouds above the barn afterward. Students experimented using a pallet knife (some for the first time!) with great success!

Tremendous work everyone! Take a look at a few of these examples…

SO beautiful!

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Students learned about Dia de los Muertos today or Mexico’s traditional Day of the Dead celebrations. Students learned about decorating sugar skulls with icing and creating their own designs using oil resist techniques.

The Day of the Dead is about remembering the spirits of loved ones. Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life because it is believed that the deceased would be insulted by mourning or crying.   

On Dia de los Muertos, the dead are awakened to share celebrations with their loved ones who find their way back home by the church bells in their hometowns or by following trails of yellow marigolds, or cempasúchiles.  The smell of the flower attracts the souls of the departed, drawing them back to the living.  Another tradition is Pan de muerto,  a type of sweet roll baked during the weeks leading up to the holiday.

The most familiar symbol of Dia de los Muertos may be the calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which appear everywhere during the holiday: in candied sweets, as parade masks and as dolls. Calacas and calaveras are almost always portrayed as enjoying life, often in fancy clothes and entertaining situations. The skulls are not intended to be scary, but rather symbolic: The skull represents the death of the body or the passing away of the person, and the decorative designs represent the beauty of their life.

Great work everyone, and for those celebrating Dia de los Muertos today… “Feliz Día de los Muertos!”

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Grade one students at St. Cecilia painted up a storm by creating a powerful thunderstorm roadscape with a bolt of lightning. We were inspired by Walter de Maria who created The Lightning Field in 1977. Walter De Maria made viewer-interactive pieces that were inspired by the Dada art movement and explored three-dimensional land art movements with the concept of minimalism on a grand scale.  The Lightning Field located in a remote desert in New Mexico opens each year from May through October and is meant to be walked in as well as viewed.   

Each student created their own painting to capture a moment in a flash of time when lightning strikes.   Using watercolours and oil pastel resists techniques students learned about vanishing points and one-point perspective. 

 Walter De Maria’s Lightning Field was commissioned by the Dia Art Foundation, which is to this day responsible for maintaining the installation, which can still be found at its original location in an obscure desert close to Quemado in Catron County, New Mexico.  Open each year from May through October, this work includes 400 polished stainless steel poles measuring approximately 20 feet and 7 ½ inches in height that are spaced 220 feet apart. A sculpture to be walked in as well as viewed, The Lighting Field is intended to be experienced over an extended period of time…with the hopes of viewing this spectacular sight!

Take a look at all the Grade One’s spectacular sights! Amazing work St. Cecilia … I can’t wait to visit again soon.

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We have been very busy working in schools across Toronto. This fall we spent time at Humbercrest, Lambton Kingsway, St. Pius X, St. Cecilia, John English, Oriole Park, Kingsway College, Fern, Blessed Sacrament and Rosethorn.

Students created many projects, including a dragon fly that was inspired by our Travel Back in Time session. They learned that dragon flies have been around for 300 million years and that there are fossil records showing they were once the size of crows!

We honoured Canadian veterans with our Remembrance Day project and students learned about Jacqueline Hurley a British artist who specializes in art with poppies and a remembrance theme.

We spent an amazing week at Oriole Park Junior Public School doing art workshops in each class. Here is an example of a Koi project we created:

We had a lot of fun using liquid watercolours and oil pastels to create the beautiful fish. The students did an outstanding job!

Mrs. Fritzlar is leading a class through a project inspired by the Lascaux Caves that were discovered in France in 1940 but the beautiful cave paintings date back over 17000 years ago. The history of the caves and the beautiful images that are contained within are absolutely fascinating. To learn more…

The holidays are now filling our classrooms and this week we are inspired by the iconic American artist, Norman Rockwell. Students learn about his lengthy and prolific career, he created more than 4000 paintings and illustrations that truly captured the time he lived through. We created our own holiday tree in a forest:

Art in Action is available to do art workshops and extra curricular programs at your school, contact us at artinactiontoronto@gmail.com to learn more.

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Students began by drawing their vases and then used oil pastels, chalk pastels and acrylic paint to create their pieces. They also learned an interesting technique to create the pattern on their vases.

They did such an amazing job!

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Send us a picture… We’d love to see what you created!

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We were recently invited to the Rosethorn Before and After Care Program to create a project for Father’s Day. Students were inspired by the great Canadian artist, Ted Harrison and used liquid watercolours and many techniques for their hockey players.

Thank you for the invitation Yosi! The students did an amazing job and I am sure the Dad’s felt all the love.

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This week we are creating a beautiful Forsythia project in our art classes. It is filled with bright and beautiful colours.

Students began with a sketch of the vase and then used chalk pastels to create their backgrounds.

Next they applied their bright and beautiful blossoms using a stippling technique and 4 different colours of acrylic paint.

They turned out amazing! The students filled the classroom with such brilliant colours and textures.

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Art in Action has been very busy teaching in-class sessions at Lambton Kingsway Junior Middle School. We have had the pleasure of teaching students in grades 1, 2 and 5.

We begin our in-class sessions with a presentation of the artist that is inspiring the artwork. This week it was an American painter and photographer, Charles Sheeler. He was born in 1883 in Philadelphia. He is credited as one of the founders of American Modernism and developed a way of painting called Precisionism, that is realistic like a photograph. Students also learned what a still life means in art, a picture, drawing or painting of objects that are still and do not move. Popular still life subjects include flowers, bowls or arrangements of fruit and other inanimate objects.

During the art class we used many materials and techniques. Students learned how to use a chalk pastel for the background and smudge it into the watercolour paper for the background of the painting. They then used a variety of acrylic paints and different sized paint brushes to create the tulips, stems and leaves. We finished off the painting by working on the vase and adding a few highlights to the flowers.

They did such an amazing job!

Interested in having Art in Action do a workshop in your school? Send us an email at artinactiontoronto@gmail.com.

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