Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. hen I came up with this idea, I wondered if the concept would be too dif ficult for third-graders to grasp. Abstraction can be hard for older students to understand, and it usually involves simplifying or rearranging natural objects to meet the needs of the artist, whether it be for organization or expression. But, in reality, that is what young artists do when they draw from life. They do not have enough experience—and sometimes the patience—to see the details and complexity of objects. I introduced the concept by showing some of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings. I chose her more recognizable flower paintings, as well as those inspired by the bones she found in the New Mexico desert. Rather than begin by showing the most realistic paintings—the ones that are easily identifiable—I began with the ones where O’Keeffe zoomed in on the objects and put them right in our faces. Of course, the first question I heard was “What is it?” Not wanting to get into a guessing game with them, I pointed out that sometimes a painting “just is.” We can appreciate what we do see: colors, shapes, lines, values, textures and spaces (the art elements). One of my favorite O’Keef fe paintings used to illustrate this point is Red Canna. The subject matter is not immediately recognizable because the petals of the flower consume the whole canvas. The petals are shaded from dark to light. The yel- W Emma Tiffany LEARNING OBJECTIVES Elementary students will . • • • • • • • identifytheartelements. learnhowrealisticobjectscanbe presentedinanabstractway. viewpaintingsbyAmerican artistGeorgiaO’Keeffe. learntheconceptofpositiveshape andnegativespace. begintoidentifyanalogous, complementaryandmonochromatic colorschemes. learnhowtoblendtemperapaints. learnhowtomaketintsandshadesofcolors. MATERIALS • • • • • 42 9"x12"newsprint Crayons 12"x18"whitepaper Drawingpencilsanderasers Temperapaintsandbrushes april 2010 > > x www.ar tsandactivities.com