Painting Like Frida

I follow a lot of different teacher groups on Facebook. There are a lot of articles posted about how we are not teaching our students how to be creative; we are not allowing them to have experiences in the arts. And I know that may be the case in some classrooms, but not in mine. Even if I have to stretch my application of the objectives-for example, we will write about something we paint, I incorporate the arts daily. I truly believe that many kids have an innate creativity, but they can be taught to apply that-I consider it an important goal for my students in the 9 months I have them.

We are learning about the different artists and their works. I read the story:

We learned about Frida Kahlo's impact on the art world-incorporating not only her Mexican heritage but also she questioned facts of feminism and beauty. After looking at many of her different self-portraits, I challenged my students to make one of their own. I was so impressed by their creativity and willingness to take risks with what they were painting. I introduced vocabulary like: palette, primary colors, brushstrokes, canvas. My favorite part was overhearing their discoveries. They kept asking me-what color do you get if you mix.....? and my answer was--try it and see. "He made violet on his canvas!" and "I made the darkest color anyone has ever made." Love hearing them sharing in the discovery that is creating art! :)

This is my resident artist. I need a few that she can autograph so I can prove I knew her before she was famous.

This is one of my more challenging students. I LOVE his use of color and pattern here.