Week 22

ECA students learned about the work of  Agnes Martin, an American/Canadian abstract expressionist.  The students created drawings influenced by her work.

Drawing by Addie

ECB experimented with paint by placing a couple of paint drops (two colors) on a piece of paper and then fold the paper in two. When they open it they see a beautiful art creation made by the two colors.

Painting by Elizabeth

ECC has spent a lot of time working on Chinese lanterns. They have been talking about the Chinese New Year and the importance of the lanterns in New Years celebrations. We made lanterns using construction paper that the children decorated with crayons. After decorating, students cut slits in the paper and, with some help from a guide or older friend, stapled the sides to create a lantern. We enjoyed hanging the lanterns in our classroom as we look forward to the "new year"!

LE made recycled paper from the paper shredded in the office.  They enjoyed seeing the process of soaking the paper and putting it in the blender to create the pulp.  They each had a turn of dipping a screen in the water of pulp, flattening the pulp with a board, and soaking up the water with a sponge.  Some students chose to embed flower petals from Abintra’s greenhouse into the pulp.  

ME has been studying aerial views, looking at a wonderful book called Earth from Above. They created drawings, done in watercolor pencils, that are designed to be connected.  They call them Rivers and Roads. They took their inspiration from organic shapes made by the interaction of earth, water and weather as well as the patterns made by humans. 

"Rivers and Roads" by Aidan

UE studied visual metaphors through the photographs of Diane Arbus and Dorothea Lange.  The students developed a personal metaphor and created a photograph to illustrate it. 

"Honesty" by Maggie

UE ME, UE, and MS visited the Frist to see the exhibition, Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age: Highlights from the Detroit Institute of Arts.  This exhibit presents the greatest Dutch masterpieces by painters such as Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan Steen, Gerard Ter Borch, and the incomparable Rembrandt van Rijn.

Gerard Ter Borch (Dutch, 1617-1681). Lady at Her Toilette,

Abintra was pleased to welcome The S.O.U.L Singers - Singers Of United Lands, who performed for us on campus.  S.O.U.L Singers is a vocal quartet- of which all four members are from a different continental region of the world!  They perform songs, which are native to their home countries while offering interactive multicultural workshops, presentations, and performances for audiences of ALL ages.