THE ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF ART

Back to the Basics:

The Elements and Principles of Art
Index

Note: The majority of the lessons are written for elementary-level classes, although most of them
are adaptable for a wide variety of age levels. Lessons written specifically for middle-level students
are designated ML. Secondary lessons either say so in the title or are designated S. The symbol w/
S indicates a secondary level variation is included with the lesson.

The Elements and Principles of Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Art Elements Book . . . .
3
Art Principles Book . . .
4
Whats my Line? . . . . .
5
Lines Can Show Movement (w/ S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Great Line Hunt
12
Lines Can Show Feelings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Interesting Lines Make Interesting Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Art and HistoryA Line In Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
ArtThe Amazing Maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Visual Art and MusicWhat Does Music Look Like? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Exploring Shape, Drive Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Shapes Can Be Expressive (w/S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Social Studies, Shapes in Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Geometry, Making 2 & 3-D Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Color, Because I Like Red! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Fauves and Color (S) .
32
Watercolor Mixing Colors (ML) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
GeologyLand Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Frottage, Textured Watercolors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
MusicNationalistic Composer, Ferde Grof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Seeing and Creating Value in Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Value Can Be Expressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Symbols in Language and Life (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Genetics/Higher Order Thinking Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Ethics of Gene Manipulation (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
TextureSee it, Feel It, Taste It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Textured Names . . . . .
52
Textured Clay Relief Sculpture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Exploring Ways the Art Elements Can Create Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
ii

Pressed Flower Compositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Science/ArtDrawing the Parts of a Flower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Positive and Negative SpaceBreaking up Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
MathFinding the Area of Irregular Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
TessellationsUsing Math in Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Architecture . . . . . . . . .
61
KaleidocyclesMore Math Meets Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Kaleidocycle Patterns
64
Information on Tessellations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Human ProportionLearning to Draw Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Playing With ProportionDeliberate Distortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Proportion in Animal Sculpture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
Role Playing Pet/Owner Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
ScienceSpecific Dog Beeds Have Specific Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
MathGraphing the results of a poll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Treatment and use of dogs in various cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Finding a Balance in Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Using Balance in Sculpture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Creative MovementBalanced Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
DramaFrozen Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Balance can be TrickyAsymmetrical Balance (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Variation and Repetition, Found Object Relief Sculpture (E) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Variation and Repetition, Found-Object Sculpture (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Variety Creates Interest (w/S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Exploring Ways to Create Variety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Keeping the Viewers Eyes in the Picture Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Impressionism and Post-Impressionism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Creating a Personal Symbol or Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
HistoryThe Public Works of Art Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
ScienceIdentifying Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Poems and Paintings that Celebrate Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Making a Rhythm Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Rhythmic Collages . . .
98
Rhythm Patterns in Music/Dance/Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
DramaOne at a Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
A Rhythm and Sound Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Make Your Own Rhythm Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
EmphasisThe One thing I Want You to See . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Identifying Emphasis in Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
How Many Ways Can You Create Emphasis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Social StudiesTransportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
DramaInterest through Emphasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
UnityNatural Found Object Assemblage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
UnityMobiles . . . .
114
Remember When: Unity in Art & Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Secondary Unity ExtensionRework for Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Identifying, Understanding, and Creating Unity in Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Art HistoryInstrumentalist Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Language Can Promote Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Drama/Healthy Lifestyles: Families Can Have Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Secondary Elements and Principles Sketchbook Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

122
124
124
126

Artist BiographiesList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Phillip Henry Barkdull, Designed Landscape: Symphony in Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Wulf Barsch, Toward Thebes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Ken Baxter, Mechams Boots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Allen Craig Bishop, La Semilla Brota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Silvia Davis, Guest . .
Harrison Groutage, Along the Bear River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John Hafen, The Mountain Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

145
147
150
152
154

Frank Huff, Drive-Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Raymond Jonas, Abstract Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Brian Kershisnik, Fallen Icarus in the Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Jacqui Biggs Larsen, Cottage Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Robert Leroy Marshall, Snow Canyon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Georgi Melikhov, Victory Day in Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Bonnie Philips, Whole Wheat on Tuna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Gary Lee Price, Irises
Lee Greene Richards, Grandma Eldredges Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frank Riggs, Tohatchi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.D. Shaw, Twice Told Tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

170
173
175
178

Dennis Smith, Barn Swallow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Gary Ernest Smith, Great American Farmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Minerva Teichert, Hereford Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Dahrl Thomson, Island of Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Richard Van Wagoner, Donar Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Michael Workman, In DarknessNevertheless Illuminated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

iii

Back to the Basics

THE ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF ART
The elements of art are the basic visual symbols
artists use to communicate. These elements are
line, shape, color, value, texture, and space. *

the illusion that something would feel rough,

smooth, or soft if touched.
Spacethe emptiness or area between, around,
above, below, or within objects. Shapes and
form are defined by these spaces. Positive
space is the area within an object and negative
space is the area around the objects. Space is
also the illusion created on a two-dimensional
picture plane that objects and the picture plane
have three dimensions.

LineA mark drawn with a pointed, moving tool or the path of a dot through space.
Although lines can vary in appearance (they can
have different lengths, widths, textures, directions and degree of curve), they are considered
one-dimensional and are measured by length. A
line is used by an artist to control the viewers
eye movement and to create shapes. There are
five kinds of lines: vertical, horizontal, diagonal,
curved, and zigzag.

The Principles of Art are guides that govern or

descriptions of how artists organize the elements
of art. These principles are proportion, balance,
variety, rhythm, emphasis, and unity.

Shapea two-dimensional area clearly designated in some way, generally by one or more
of the other five visual elements. Although a
form has depth, a shape has only width and
height. Shapes are either geometric or free
form(organic).

Proportionprinciple of art concerned with the

size relationships of one part to another or to the
whole.

Colorwhat the eye sees when light is reflected

off an object. The sensation of color is aroused
in the brain by the eyes response to different
wavelengths of light. Color has three properties:
hue, value, and intensity.

Balanceprinciple of design concerned with

equalizing visual forces, or elements in a work
of art. If a work of art has visual balance,
the viewer feels that the elements have been
arranged in a satisfying way. Visual imbalance
makes the viewer feel that the elements need to
be rearranged. The two types are called formal
or symmetrical and informal or asymmetrical.
A principle of art concerned with arranging the
elements so no one part overpowers, or seems
heavier than any other part.

Valuethe lightness or darkness of an object.

Value depends on how much light a surface
reflects. Value is also one of the three properties
of color.
Texturehow things feel or look as if they
might feel, if touched. Texture is perceived by
touch and by sight. Objects can have innumerable versions of rough or smooth textures and
matte or shiny surfaces. Visual texture produces

Varietyprinciple of design concerned with

difference or contrast. Combining one or more
elements of art to create interest by adding slight
changes.
1

Rhythmthe principle of art that indicates

movement by repetition of elements. Visual
rhythm is perceived through the eyes and is created by positive spaces separated by negative
spaces. There are five types of rhythm: random,
regular, alternating, flowing and progressive.
The repetition of an element to make a work
seem active or to suggest vibration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mittler, Gene, Rosalind Ragans, Jean Morman
Unsworth, and Faye Scannell.
Understanding Art. Woodland Hills:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 1992.
Mittler, Gene, and Rosalind Ragans.
Introducing Art. Woodland Hills:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 1999.

Emphasisprinciple of design that makes one

part of the work dominant over the other parts.
The element noticed first is called dominant; the
elements noticed later are called subordinate.
Making an element or an object stand out.

Ragans, Rosalind. ARTTALK Mission Hills:

Glencoe, 1995.

Unitythe quality of wholeness or oneness that

is achieved through the effective use of the elements and principles of art. Unity is created by
simplicity, repetition, proximity and continuation. The arrangement of elements and principles of art with media to create a feeling of
completeness or wholeness.
*Some textbooks and teachers use slightly
different lists of elements and/or principles.
However, the ideas are basically the same.

Art Elements Book

Objective: Students will be able to define the

art elements in their own words and draw
appropriate examples of those elements.
Students will be able to talk about how artists
have used the art elements in specific artworks.
State Visual Arts Core: MakingStudents
will play with art materials and begin to order
them by basic art elements and principles.
PerceivingStudents will view artworks and
talk about basic art elements and principles

Line
Color
Shape
Value
Texture
Space

In addition to the definition, give the students

specific criteria for the drawing that accompanies each art element. Tailor those criteria to
your class. For example:
LineMake 5 different kinds of lines
ColorMake a simple color wheel using watercolors of the three primary colorsred, yellow,
and blue, and then mix those colors to create the
secondary colors of orange, green, and purple.
ShapeMake 2 geometric shapes and 2 organic
shapes
ValueMake a value scale that shows 5 values
TextureCreate 5 textures using dots, lines,
crosshatching, etc.
SpaceShow 3 indicators of space: overlapping,
height in the picture plane, and relative size

Materials:
construction paper
drawing paper
pencils
colored media such as colored pencils, water
colors, pastels, markers, or crayons
reproductions of artworks from this packet
Students will create a simple book by stapling
two sheets of drawing paper inside a
construction paper cover so the book has four
half-sheet pages.

Have students make a cover design that

incorporates at least three of the art elements
they have learned. Students should keep the
books in their desks so they can be used for reference throughout the year.

On separate days, introduce each element by

providing a definition at the students age level.
Then show the class artworks from this packet,
other packets, or from the poster set and have
them identify the way the element is used in the
artworks.

Assessment:
The Art Element Books can be assessed using
the criteria you established for the drawings.
For the definitions use the following:
The definition of each element is: wrong, close,
correct

On one page in the book, the student should

write a definition of the art element in her own
words, and then draw something to illustrate
the element. Use the following list of art elements or your own:

Art Elements Exploration Book or

Portfolio

EmphasisMake a drawing of simple shapes

and emphasize two with color and one with
texture

Follow the directions for the Art Elements Book

above but use 4 sheets of drawing paper. Use
the first half-sheet inside the cover for a list of
the art elements. On the next page, put a
definition and example, as explained above.
However, on the facing page, have students
explore the art element in as many fun ways
as they can think of. For example, how many
different ways can they think of to make lines?
Look at the individual lessons in the packet for
ideas.

UnityMake a line drawing of three objects that

shows unity through the use of at least two art
elements
As with the art elements, you may prefer to
have students experiment with the art principles
on separate sheets of paper that they keep in
portfolios.

If you prefer, instead of giving students 8-1/2

x 11 sheets of drawing paper, give them large
sheets of paper and put the paper in some sort
of portfolio instead of making a book.
Art Principles Book
You can make an Art Principles Book following
the same format as the Elements Book, or you
can include the principles with the elements by
making a larger book. The art principles are
more difficult concepts to grasp. The criteria
below are just suggestions. Adapt them as
necessary.
ProportionMake an egg-shaped drawing of a
head with lines showing where the eyes, nose,
and mouth go (see proportion lesson)
Balancedraw an example of symmetrical,
asymmetrical, and radial balance
VarietyDraw three shapes that are all
different. Find a way to make each shape be
more different by using color, line, texture, etc.
Rhythmdraw three repeating but different
elements to create a rhythm

Whats My Line?
Minerva Teichert, Hereford Roundup
Objective: Students will understand line as an
element of art and create a work of art using line
as a dominant point of interest.
Core Standards: Expressing & Perceiving
Interpret ideas, moods or symbols in important artworks. How do they use art elements
and principles?
Apply art elements and principles in an art
work to convey an idea or feeling.
Select some student art based on a
common theme, visual element, or
principle they share and display them
in a portion of the school that has been
turned into an art museum.
Materials:
From the poster set :
Dennis Smiths Keeper of the Gate
Trevor Southeys New Bloom
From the packet :
Minerva Teicherts Hereford Roundup
Two pieces of paper for each student
pencils, pastels or colored pencils, (soft
lead pencils if available)
Discussion: Have each student touch one of
their pieces of paper with the point of their pencil. Ask: What do we call the mark the pencil
made? Put the pencil on the paper again and
move it an inch or two from that point. Ask:
What do we call the mark it made? If you were
going to tell someone the definition of a line,
what would you say?
A line can be described as a moving point,
or a thin continuous mark, as that made by a
pen, pencil, or brush applied to a surface. (The
American Heritage Dictionary of the English
LanguageHoughton Mifflin, New College
Edition)

Have the students draw two separate boxes on

their paper without the pencil leaving the paper,
and set it aside for future use. The boxes should
at least two inches square or larger.
Show the Trevor Southey poster, New Bloom. Tell
the students the name of the artwork and the
artist. Ask: How has the artist used line in this
picture? ( to make shapes, to show details, to
create shadows, etc.)

Show the Dennis Smith poster, Keeper of the Gate.

Tell the students the name of the artist and the
painting. Ask: Do you see lines in this picture?
How are the lines in this work of art different?
( because they are made by a brush/ use of color
makes them different/ lines are created where
different colors come together, etc.)
Show Minerva Teicherts, Hereford Roundup and
read information from her biography. Ask:
What do you notice about how she has used
line?
After this discussion, if the students havent
already done it, compare the use of line in the
three works of art. Ask: Has the artist used lines
5 as technique to create the work of art? Or which

Production: Now that the students have practiced these two ways to use line, they are ready
to create an original work of art using the line
style of Minerva Teichert.

artist(s) has used line as a technique? Have they

used line to create a feeling or mood? What
moods or feelings do you perceive? Is the way
they used lines part of their artistic style? How
is it?

Have them draw an original picture with their

pencil on the second piece of paper using light
sketchy lines until the objects, shapes, etc. are
the way they want them. Encourage them to
avoid erasing. (Review Minerva Teicherts style
if necessary.) Then they are to go over the correct lines with the soft lead pencils or darken
them with the regular pencils to make them a
dominant element in the drawing. They will
then color their art with the colored pencils,
using either the coloring style of Teichert or
Smith, which ever they like the best.

Whats My Line?
Activity: On the piece of paper with the two
boxes, have the students draw the same picture in both boxes. Then in one of the pictures
have them copy Trevor Southeys style of using
lines for detail and shadows. Tell them to be
sure to only use the tip of the pencil and create
the shadows by drawing a series of lines close
together and crossing lines (cross hatching) in
the places they want to be very dark. There
should be some dark and some light areas in the
picture.

Assessment:
StudentsHave students discuss the activity.
Ask: How has your understanding of line as
an element in art changed? What did you like
about this activity? Of the three artists we have
studied, whose style do you like the best? What
do you like about that artists style?

In the second box have them use the pastels or

colored pencils and copy Dennis Smiths style of
coloring with lines and mixing colors together.

Ask: What do you think about the

picture you did? How is it different
from the way you usually draw?
Have you been able to make the
lines an important element in your
drawing? ( if your students can
handle it, have them critique each
others art.)
TeacherYou can create a rubric to
assess the work such as the one on
the next page.
Conclusion: Have some students
make a poster about this project,
explaining the element of line and
the art they produced and exhibit
it in the lunchroom, media center,
school lobby, or other prominent
area of the school.

Dennis Smith, Keeper of the Gate, Detail

Whats My Line?

Name

The lines in the

artwork are . . .

barely visible or
erased in places

a contributing factor to
the overall design

The color in the

artwork is . . .

sloppy, shows no or
little effort to use one
of the artists styles

carefully done with

1 or 2 of the qualities
of the artist chosen

The overall

a dominant feature of
the overall design
skillfully done and
captures several of the
qualities of the artists
work

Elementary Visual Art

Lines Can Show Movement
(With Secondary Version)

Minerva Teichert, Hereford Roundup

the painting. If the students dont notice, point

out to them that most of the objects have a line
around them and some areas have several lines
such as the horse with the rider in the blue shirt.
If your class has done gesture drawings, review
briefly. If not, teach the class how to do gesture
drawings (drawings that capture the gesture or
body position of the person or animal you are
drawing. Gesture drawings are done quickly
and roughly but can be the basis for a completed
drawing.)

Objectives: Students will identify ways artists

have used line to show movement. Students will
demonstrate their ability to us line to capture
movement by making gesture drawings, contour drawings, and a print based on one of their
drawings.
Core Standards: -MakingStudents will play
with art materials and will begin to order
them by basic art elements and principles.
PerceivingStudents will view artworks and
talk about basic art elements and principles.
Materials:
transparency of Hereford Roundup by Minerva
Teichert
Postcards of Minerva Teichert drawings
(some included here, or download images
from http://www.lib.byu.edu/online.html
(Search for Minerva Teichert in the Museum
of Art Collection)
sketch paper
good paper
pencils, charcoal pencils or charcoal

Detail from Hereford Roundup

Use a picture from a magazine or newspaper that shows a child or person caught in
the middle of an action. Place a sheet of tracing
paper or a transparency over the picture and
draw in the lines for the main parts of the skeletonthese lines set up the body position. Then
quickly sketch in the main shapes of the body
parts. You can use a scribbling motion, back
and forth, or just very simplified shapes. See
examples on the following page.
Have several of the children pose as if they
were in the middle of an action and have the
students make gesture drawings. Start with a
2-minute drawing, then a 1-minute, then several
30-second drawings. Have the children take

For printmaking
styrofoam plates, meat trays, or blocks
pencils
sketch paper
pencils
other items for making lines in the styrofoam
such as forks, cuticle sticks, small sticks of
wood with uneven ends, curved handle ends
of spoons, odds and ends
Show the class the transparency of Hereford
Roundup by Minerva Teichert. Tell the students
a little about her (see biography). Ask a student
to come up and with a pointer, show some of
the lines that create the feeling of movement in
8

turns modeling and do several sets of drawings.

As the teacher, you most likely will need to
help some students avoid the careful outlining
they want to do. Have the students hold up the
drawing they feel best captures the body position of the model.

gesture drawing of girls in photo

contours of the person. After the students have

tried this once, show them some examples of
gesture drawings and then more finished drawings by Mahonri Young such as Apple Picking
Sketches and Apple Picking in Branchville.(At the
end of the lesson or at byu.edu) Have them
make one more gesture drawing with contour
lines added. (For this part you may need to get
students from another class to be models so all
your students can draw.)
Next class period, have students go over
their contour drawings so they have a dark line
drawing. They should include lines indicating
the floor and maybe one or two other features of
the room so the figure is not just standing in the
air. Then they should place their drawing face
down on a piece of styrofoam and rub the lines
to transfer the graphite from the drawing to the
foam. The students can use a pencil or other
tool to push into the foam on the lines. When
their drawing has been created in the foam, they

photo with major angles indicated

Assessment: Identify those who need additional

work, so you can provide help during the rest of
the lesson.
Now show the class some of Minerva
Teicherts drawings such as Desert Horses and
Preparing for the Trek West.(on next page) In
these drawings Teichert has gone beyond the
gesture and has created what is called contour
line drawings. Contour lines show the edges
and major muscle masses of people or things.
Have the students again make a light gesture
drawing and then use lines to emphasize the
9

Minerva Teichert, Desert Horses

Springville Museum of Art

Minerva Teichert, Preparing for the Trek West

Brigham Young University, Museum of Art
10

can print the drawing. Because the lines are

what is incised, the color will be the parts without lines. You may want to have the students
try using a light ink on dark paper. Students
should create an edition of three prints, trying to
get three prints that look as much alike as possible.
For younger students. Give each student a
piece of foam and let them experiment with
making lines in the foam using different tools.
Then have them sketch a design using some of
their favorite lines and make that design on a
new piece of foam. Have students print their
designs using water-based ink. If the piece of
foam is small, they can make interesting patterns by turning the foam different directions.

For older students, arrange a trip to a farm,

ranch, dance or gymnastics class. Have students
make many gesture drawings. Back in the
classroom, students will choose one drawing
and fill it out. They can keep the drawing or
transfer it to lino and make a block print.
Extension: Using the sketches they made, students will create a 3D sculpture in wire.

Variation: Using line to show feelings or ideas.

After completing a line lesson, add the idea that
the kind of lines we use can convey ideas or
feelings.
Have students experiment with lines on a piece
of paper. They should make thick lines, thin
lines, lines that go from thick to thin, wide lines,
delicate lines, lines that are interrupted, etc.
Then have them transfer a drawing to lino or
styrofoam, choose how they want the finished
print to look, and using some of the ways of
making lines that they discovered, carve the lino
block. Students should print an edition of at
least 5 prints.
Additional images
From BYUs online collection of Mahonri
Youngs work:
Against the Ropes, Ambush (sketch) and Ambush
(watercolor), Apple Picking Sketches and Apple
Picking at Branchville; At the Gym; Barnyard w/
colt and geese; Bear Sketches and Bear at the Bronx
Zoo; Boxer Getting Up.

11

Mahonri Young
Apple picking
sketches
BYU MOA

Mahonri Young,
Apple picking at
Branchville
BYU MOA

12

Elementary Visual ArtThe Great Line Hunt

Gary Smith, The Great American Cowboy
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the innumerable variety of lines
available to the visual artist by inventing, drawing, and naming as many different kinds of lines
as time and space permits.
Core Standards: MakingStudents will play
with art materials and will begin to order them
by basic art elements and principles.
Materials:
newsprint
pencils
Process: First play the "Great Line Hunt" game.
This game asks the students to identify lines
found in the classroom. The lines can be scribed
lines found on the walls and bulletin boards,
in the furniture and objects in the classroom
and hidden in the architecture of the room and
building. The lines do not have to be drawn
lines; they can be suggested lines created by the
edges of objects and the overlapping of shapes.
Demonstrate some of these sources for line and
encourage students to look for the less obvious
lines: there are plenty of lines to find. The objective is to help students begin to see line as a
basic construction tool for the visible world.
Divide the class into groups and have
them take turns finding new and unusual kinds
of lines. Each line needs to be named: straight,
curved, wavy, jagged, dotted, vertical, diagonal, horizontal, lost and found, and invisible
suggested lines are among the many available
names. Dont be too particular about the
geometrically accurate name. Give a point for
each line found and named. Try to give each
student a chance to name a line, but keep the
score by group. This game usually results in a
multi-way tie for first place.

After students have played this game

for a while, pass out newsprint. A half sheet
will probably be sufficient. Students will then
be instructed to invent from their imagination
as many horizontal lines as possible and draw
them each running from side edge to side edge
of the paper. Each line should be named. If students are too young to write the names, then an
oral naming is enough.
For more advanced students, add a page
of diagonal lines and a page of vertical lines to
this part of the activity. Some students will jam
the page with many tightly fitting lines and
others will space them so they can fill the page
faster. Either way is fine. The goal is to see who
can invent the most lines.
Remind students that this is an art
project, so care should be taken to allow each
line to be seen clearly and the page should be
organized with some artistic consideration. A
scribble line is only one kind, even though there
are many variations. At the end of the process,
determine who has invented the most lines by
showing them to the class.
Students should then be encouraged to
draw the lines they did not invent but are now
aware of. The paper should be stored in the
students art portfolios as a reminder of how big
the idea of line is and for future reference.
For older students, a matrix of grades and
numbers of lines can be constructed as a motivational device (the more lines the higher the
grade) although the only real reward for knowing a lot of lines and being able to use them is
that ones artwork will increase in depth and
variation as mastery of the visual element LINE
is achieved. The process is the reward.
For evaluation and exhibition, students
should be encouraged to share their favorite
line with the class. In addition, an exhibition
of the infinite variety of lines available to the
13

artist should be mounted either by hanging the

GREAT LINE HUNT pages or by constructing a
large butcher-paper mural with each students
favorite line and its name and the name of the
artist clearly inscribed.

Materials:
pencil
newsprint
drawing paper (sulfite white, not photocopy
paper)
black felt-tipped pen (fine point)
colored pencil (if desired).
Background: Point out how various artists have
used lines in a compelling and enigmatic way
to show, discuss, and communicate feelings.
Use Gary Smiths, The Great American Farmer
and Minerva Teicherts Hereford Roundup to
show how line quality is an important element
for the artist. Another artist to use is Vassily
Kandinsky, (see lots of examples at: artfinale.
com )whose abstract expressionistic use of line is
obvious and attention getting.

Gary Smith,
The Great American Cowboy

ArtLines Can Show Feelings

Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the enigmatic and communicative
power of visual elements in art by using LINE
to describe specific feelings.
Core Standards: MakingStudents will play
with art materials and will begin to order
them by basic art elements and principles.
PerceivingStudents will view artworks and
talk about basic art elements and principles.

If you use Jackson Pollack, make sure you point

out that too many feelings all in the same place
are the same as no feelings. Just as too many
lines all at once are the same as no lines because
one cannot process all of that at the same time.
[Here is a short and simple exercise to demonstrate: Have each member of the class repeat
their name, address, and phone number three
times in a normal talking voice. Offer a reward
to anyone who could hear their neighbors
phone number and can repeat it. You are safe
to offer anything because no one can do it.
Everyone talking at the same time is the same as
no one talking.]
Process: Students will first be led in a group
discussion about the nature of feelings. Younger
students cannot distinguish between physical
feelings such as cold and hunger and emotional
feelings such as love and happiness. Be careful
not to make too rigid a distinction as there is
a gray area between these ideas. After a short
discussion, children should be invited to BRAIN
STORM, with the teacher listing as many feelings on the board as seems appropriate to
stimulate some thinking on the subject. Primary
grade students will want to tell specific stories
about some of the feelings. Let them, within
reason.
14

When a sufficient pool of feelings has been written on the board, have a student come to the
board and interpret one of the feelings with a
drawn line that seems appropriate to that student. There are no correct or incorrect lines.
This is a purely subjective task to be invented
by the students. Some encouragement can be
used to get students to think for a moment so
they can determine how they feel the right kind
of line might look. Remember, artists have the
right to change their mind. Let several students
engage in this process in front of the class while
the teacher models and facilitates the mental
process of using an element in the visual language (line) to communicate a sense about a
specific feeling.
At this point, it is appropriate for students to
apply this idea on their own. Give each student a piece of newsprint which they fold into
quarters, thus indicating four spaces on each
side of the paper for thumbnail sketches. Have
students trace on the folded lines in the paper to
outline the thinking space that is to be used.
Students should first label the bottom of one
space with the name of the feeling they have
chosen. Reassure the students that they can
experiment with many feelings and use more
paper if needed. Children of all ages may get
anxious about choosing the right one.
Help students spell the word correctly without
setting up an anxiety-ridden atmosphere. The
feelings are already written on the board, so
they can copy the words. If a child has a new
idea for a feeling, have her tell the teacher and
write it on the board. If any students persist in
wanting to choose their feelings privately, or
even secretly, let them.
When each student has chosen a feeling, stop
and take a breath, and remind the students
about the three direction names they have
already learned for lines: diagonal, vertical, and
horizontal. Demonstrate how a horizontal line
does not necessarily have to be straight but can
wander around the space, gaining an emotional
quality as it goes, but ending on the other side

of the space, and thus, creating a horizontal

movement.
Students should
now choose one of
the three movement
directions and draw
a line from corner to
corner, or top to bottom, or side to side,
which looks to them
like the feeling they
are trying to discuss.
Students should
continue doing this
exercise until everyone has at least four
ideas on paper. If an
individual only has a
single idea to choose
from, no matter how
poignant, it is not
Detail of Ars Moriendi
only that persons
Peter Myer
best idea but it is
also his worst idea.
Students must have at least two ideas to chose
the better and at least three ideas to choose
the best. Many students will be unable to continue to the next line until they have shown it
to the adult and other students for verification.
Encourage students not to cross the line over
on itself, thereby making a lot of small shapes,
because later they will be using color to distinguish the two shapes created by the continuous
line through the thinking space. Try not to
make a big deal about this point, but acknowledge the effort and encourage the students to
move on.
Young students may want to fill the space with
irrational scribbles. The scribble is a great and
powerful visual tool. All children instinctively
understand this. It is also plagued with many
limitations and built-in problems. If a student
chooses a scribble line, she should do so after
careful consideration and after drawing some
alternatives.
15

When all the students have sufficiently engaged

in this inventive process, have each student
choose the line that satisfies him most and proceed to the next step. Students will first draw
a border line around the edge of a piece of
good drawing paper using the Parallel Ruler
Border technique. Having students learn to
use a ruler to draw a ruler wide border around
the edge of their paper is an excellent manual
exercise and teaches the use of ruler as straight
edge. The border visually frames the art work
for exhibition. The paper does not have to be
a full 8 x 10; a half sheet is just right for this
project. The top and bottom border are effective
spaces for students to carefully write the name
of the feeling and their name, as artist. After the
line is drawn (make sure all the feeling lines go
border to border) a black felt-tipped pen can be
used to go over the border, the feeling line, and
the name of the feeling and the artists name.
A wonderful addition to this lesson and a way
to introduce the visual element of color is to
have students look at the line and the feeling it
represents and choose a color that is appropriate
to that feeling. With the use of colored pencil,
they should color in one of the two shapes that
the feeling line has liberated within the borders
of the page. Students should be encouraged to
mix the colored pencils to get just the right color
that expresses the feeling they have in mind.
This is a good opportunity to discuss color theory (if you mix too many colors together you get
no color at all) and to demonstrate how to carefully color in an area with a pencil without making it be more about texture (scribbling) than it
is about color.
Using lines to suggest texture is another lesson.
(See Gary Price, Activities, this packet, for information on Texture)
After the project is completed, have students
process their work by showing and telling.
Opening up the class for discussion is an important way to begin teaching art criticism in a nonthreatening way, so the students can learn about
their own art and the visual inventions made by

other artists. When the class members have finished discussing their work, set up an exhibition
in the room or in the hall, or any other appropriate place. The name of your exhibition could be
titled Lines Can Show Feelings.
ArtInteresting Lines Make Interesting
Shapes
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of line as an element in the making
of shape by first inventing and drawing three
lines (diagonal, horizontal, and vertical) through
a bordered space on a piece of paper, then by
identifying an interesting and compelling shape
created by the lines they have drawn.
Materials: pencil, drawing paper, colored pencil
(or watercolor) and black felt-tipped pen.
Process: After drawing a ruled border line
around the edge of the paper the width of the
ruler, students will draw three lines through the
space made by the borderone diagonal, one
horizontal and one vertical. Remember that a
corner-to-corner diagonal does not have to be
straight but can wander around in an interesting way to create a diagonal movement without making the line obviously diagonal. The
same is true with horizontal and vertical lines.
The goal is to draw interesting, compelling,
and enigmatic lines. If students have a vision
before they startknow what the end product
is they will be more likely to make lines that
either capture or liberate an interesting shape.
Remember, it is not up to teacher what kind of
shape the students make or choose.
After the lines are drawn and the students are
satisfied that these are the interesting lines they
want, have the students look carefully over the
paper of lines and find the shape they think is
the most interesting. Using colored pencils or
watercolor (not crayon), the students should
carefully color or paint in the shape. Remind
students of color lessons about mixing color to
create just the right color, tint, or shade that they
desire. Dont let Mr. Crayola Brand limit their
16

choice of color just because there are only 12

colored pencils or only 8 colors in the watercolor
set. An artist can always invent more colors.
Obviously, some color theory and mixing techniques must proceed this part of the project.
(See Robert Marshall, Activities, page 5, of this
packet for Background Information on Color.)
Black felt-tipped pens can be used to outline the
shape. The other lines and border lines can be
outlined if desired.
For older and more advanced students, this
project can be extended to include the idea of
TANGENT and ADJACENT shapes. After the
first and most interesting shape is identified and
colored, students can be encouraged to continue
coloring all of the tangent shapes the same color.
Tangent shapes are all of the shapes connected
to the original interesting shape by a corner.
They touch, but do not intersect the lines of the
shape. Adjacent shapes are the shapes which
share a line or side but not the corner of crossing lines. These adjacent shapes can be colored
or painted in another color, possibly with a
complementary color of the color of the original
shape, creating a kind of tortured and messedup checkerboard design and pattern.

work suggested by the Visual Arts State Core.

Other pivotal artists and art work can and
should be included.
Materials: a space in the classroom or hall,
whatever chosen medium for the time line and
dates (black cut-out lettering works well), examples of time lines.
Process: Most older students will already have
an idea of what a time line is and how it works.
Start with younger students by discussing what
1998, means. The figure means 1,998 years from
what? It is usually easier to start in the middle
of the Time Line to explain how it works. Find
some dates that are somewhat in the consciousness of the students: their birthdays, the teachers birthday, their parents and grandparents
birthdays, when the school was built, when the
town they live in was first settled,
pioneers in Utah, statehood, dates of wars,
the Declaration of Independence (4th of July),
Columbus and the Pilgrims arrivals, etc.

For evaluation and exhibition, have students

invent a name for their interesting shape and
label the paper with its name. Share these
shapes with the class or small groups in the
class, encouraging the other students to suggest
alternative names and maybe even finding their
own favorite shape in another students project.
After this evaluation process, mount an exhibition of this work publicly. It could be titled,
Interesting Lines Make Interesting Shapes.
Art and HistoryA Line In Time
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of chronological sequence in history
(art history) by constructing a TIME LINE illustrating the major episodes of history and the
aesthetic product of the various periods. This
will be a group project produced over a period
of time and will include all the artists and art

Peteeneet Academy, Payson, Utah

If one starts with the complete time line, then
focusing on one part of it (a century or a millennium) is easy to understand. Go from general
to specific. Find a place to build the Time Line
on the wall or ceiling, but somewhere that wont
17

be disturbed but is accessible to the whole class.

Take your time and slowly construct a skeleton
on which to build the Time Line. This can be
either direct pasting of cut-out letters or can be
made on a long piece of butcher paper roll cut
down to size.
Once students seem comfortable and competent
with the concept of the Time Line, it is time to
start filling in various events. The Time Line
does not have to be exclusively about art history.
Each event on the line should be illustrated by
the students at whatever competency level they
have achieved. If the focus is on political history (as most general academic history curriculum
is), there are plenty of illustrations available.
The visual record of history is art, as artifact or
artists rendering of events or photographs. The
point is that students should be invested in the
event on the Time Line by doing the illustration
of that event on their own. This makes even old
and boring events somehow personal.
The Time Line can be all inclusive or centered
on a limited amount of time. It can attempt to
cover all cultures or be specific. Be careful, this
is an ongoing project that can take over your
room and halls quickly and easily. Obviously
the finished product could be very large,
never-ending linea story.
One way to use this project in other academic
areas is to focus on an issue or a field of study
and make the time line specific to that. Soon it
will become obvious to the students that there
are many historical lines which intertwine, run
parallel, and get lost and found again. Each
culture has its own time sequence. Each academic discipline has its own historical sequence.
Geology, Science, Math, Social Studies, Music,
Sports, Architecture, Fashion, Transportation,
Warfare, Philosophy, and Religion. All of the
steps along the line can be illustrated by students. If it seems appropriate to use commercial
illustrations, go for it, but remember the goal of
the student-generated Time Line is to give the
students a chance to buy into, to own, and to
participate in some aspect of the historical event.

Some teachers leave the Time Line up as a permanent installation from year to year. Many
students will discover they are able to visualize
the sequence of events in time much more easily
than they are able to learn by rote memorization.
Leave the Time Line up in the room even during
tests because it is more important to know how
to find the information than just to know the
information. In a sense, the Time Line is a kind
of computer.
The exhibition of this project is integral to the
process. The Time Line does no good if it cant
be seen.
ArtThe Amazing Maze
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of parallel and overlapping lines to
suggest space and depth by creating a maze of
parallel line pathways which overlap to at least
three levels of depth.
Materials: drawing paper, pencil, colored pencil
or watercolor, felt-tipped pen.
Process: Students should first be exposed to the
concept of The Maze. There are many children and adult puzzle books available to show
this idea. Other sources for examples can come
from many art forms, including Illuminated
Manuscripts from early Irish Christian texts,
Arabic floral pattern motifs in illustrations
and ceramic tile and architectural relief work,
Tibetan mandalas, Native American sand painting and weaving, Baroque ceiling designs,
Roman, Greek, and Etruscan Architectural decoration, and Pottery decorations from many cultures. For the more current and European uses
of these design motifs, see floral patterns of the
Art Nouveau movement and the work of graphic designers like M. C. Escher.
After students have seen a number of examples
of how these parallel overlapping line designs
work, have them sketch on some newsprint
some ideas of how these overlapping parallel
18

pathways might look. Have students imagine

overlapping freeway interchanges or a transparent human circulatory system or maybe even the
way vines and garden plants overlap and intertwine. Photographs of these phenomenon are
available.
Art
Nouveau
Tile

When thumbnail sketching has given each student some ideas, give the students some good
drawing paper and a hard lead drawing pencil
(these are not expensive and last a long time)
like 6H or 4H. They should first draw a border
using the ruled border technique previously
described. With the hard lead pencil, lines
can be lightly drawn and redrawn without the
need to erase, until the final line is determined.
Erasers should be used to clean up unwanted
searching lines but not until the right lines
are found. If students are allowed to erase
every mistake, the paper will lose its texture and
become torn, wrinkled, and smudged, and the
pencil will change the quality of the line as it
snags the newly textured paper.
Use art gum erasers or kneaded erasers, not the
pink smudge maker unfortunately attached to
the end of most school pencils. The smudge
makers dont really remove the line; they just
confuse it, and mess up the paper, and unfortunately, play into the insecurity of most students.
Encourage students to take their time and search
for the right design, being careful to braid the
parallel line pathways in and out to create the

illusion of overlapping and depth. Young students will need a demonstration of what to do
with overlapping pathways by erasing one set of
intersecting path lines so one seems to be on top
of and hiding the other.
When the maze design is completed with the
hard lead pencil, the pattern can be drawn over
with a permanent felt-tipped pen. There can be
any number of pathways coming from the border, including only one which splits and divides.
Notice that the border intersections can either
be filled in or left open, so the border margin
becomes part of the maze or is isolated from
the rest of the design. At this point, positive
and negative space should be recognized. (See
Allen Bishop, Activities, this packet, for ideas
about Space) If students have already learned
to distinguish the background space from the
objects drawn, then have them color or paint in
the background shapes, and immediately, the
parallel line pathways will stand out in contrast.
For more advanced students, some light shading
or color shading can be introduced at overlapping intersections to create the illusion of slight
shadow.
An option for this lesson or an adjunct to it is
a group project on a large parent sheet or even
on a huge sheet of white butcher paper. (Parent
sheets are used by presses for printing and are
3 or 4 feet square.) While butcher paper is not a
great drawing surface, its size more than compensates. You may be able to get a roll end of
book paper that has a better drawing surface
and is large enough. Brown wrapping paper
can also be used; it has a nice warm background
and texture available for drawing. It should be
noted that calling this exercise a Maze does not
necessarily imply the product has to be a solvable puzzle. This is an art project and the products function is to be looked at and admired,
not necessarily used for something else.
The maze projects should be titled and a class
discussion be generated to see why each student
chose his or her title. The work can be labeled
with the students name and age and exhibited
in a public place.
19

So far, all of these projects dealing with line are

to be used to discuss, investigate, and experience the incredible nature of the LINE. They are
not attempting to make the line be something
else. It is important that young students understand that the marvelously compelling invented
line can stand on its own. It does not have to
look like a frog, or a landscape, or a farmer digging a hole for it to have value any more than
a beautifully executed high C rendered by an
Italian operatic diva needs to be translated to
be appreciated or that doo wop lyrics in rock
and roll need any other meaning than the sound
they make.
What in the world do the first several phrases
in Beethovens Fifth Symphony mean? You
know, the Da Da Da, Dum. It is only what it
is, and that is certainly more than enough!

together will decide on which pieces to use.

This is a great opportunity to expose students to
some interesting musical idioms and to give the
students an opportunity to practice focused listening techniques.
Choose at least four different styles of music.
Instrumental, or music which emphasizes the
instrumental nature of the music, may be the
best choice. If you use lyrical vocal music, the
students probably will focus on the words and
voice at the expense of the whole musical experience. We tend to hear only the familiar and
filter out the rest.
Some suggestions of music are Light Jazz,
Classical, International flavor like African Ju
Ju music or Jamaican Reggae or Latin Salsa, or
Contemporary Electronic Techno music, but any
will work. I have successfully used Beethovens

Visual Art and MusicWHAT DOES MUSIC

LOOK LIKE?
Hear with your eyes and see with your ears.
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of LINE as a visually expressive element by reproducing visually the sound of a
specific piece of
music using line in all its many qualities to suggest the rhythm, tempo, melody, harmony, counterpoint, lyrics, and mood.
Materials: pencil, newsprint, drawing paper,
butcher paper, colored felt-tipped pens, colored
pencils, or watercolor.
Process: This is an exercise in integration and
interpretation of two art forms, Music and
Visual Art. Students should first be exposed to
the music as a visual phenomenon. A variety
of music should be chosen. Use student input
on the selections so the students are invested in
the process rather than a victim of the teachers
musical tastes. It is fine to let the students bring
their own music, but the class and the teacher

Mrs. B. F. Larsen, Bursts

BYU MOA
20

Moonlight Sonata, Stephane Grapellis

Djangology, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, and Bob Marley
and the Wailers Three Little Birds. Use the
music you know and enjoy so you can model
deep and astute listening.
Dancing, swaying, and clapping along with the
music is a good way to engage in more than
just passive indulgence. The goal is to get the
students inside the music as a compositionally
constructed idea. Many of the students have
had little experience in focused, concentrated
listening, and their attention span is limited. If
the teacher introduces a variety of musical experiences over a period of time, even the youngest
students will become accustomed to the joy of
careful listening.
Listening is to hearing what looking is to seeing or touching is to feeling. Listen until you
can see. Seeing means understanding. See
what I mean?
After you have chosen at least four pieces of
music (try to find relatively short pieces or
play short clips of longer pieces), they should
be played to the class as a brief overview. The
teacher should model how to listen and see
what the music looks like. Model for the students how to deconstruct the music into its
separate elements by focusing on the different
instruments or on the different compositional
parts such as rhythm, tempo, melody, and harmony. Try to avoid seeing pictures.
That is another project. With this activity, the
focus should be on interpreting the music in
pure visual elements, especially LINE. Model
for the students how a crash of symbols of a
drum roll might look if it were rendered only
in line. Point out the rhythm of the piece and
show ways to draw it. There are no right or
wrong ways to do this. After modeling this process on the board with several different types
of music, invite some students to try it at the
board. It is usually good to show the students
some of your own finished examples or the
work of previous students.

When the class seems comfortable with the idea

and understands the expectation, pass out sheets
of newsprint, and have students fold the paper
in half lengthwise. They should draw a line
on the fold, creating two long and narrow rectangles of space on each side of the paper. This
will give each student four spaces in which to
draw (two on each side of the paper). Students
should label the spaces by composer and title.
Play the first piece through, giving students
time to interpret the work with pencil on paper.
Encourage them to listen carefully and work
methodically. The teacher may want to play the
piece through once, just listening with the students, before playing it and drawing.
Younger students may want to fill the space
with nonsensical scribble. Let them go on the
first musical selection but point out that since
each piece of music is very different, the next
one cant possibly look the same. Encourage
students to be imaginative and aggressive.
Have students move to the next space and
repeat the process with the next musical selection. After going through all four pieces, ask
if anyone needs to hear any of it again. The
students may have discovered some ways to
translate music into line which they understand
and enjoy by the time they have done it several
times. Let them repeat or start over on another
piece of paper. Each student should have four
labeled sketches of what they think the music
looks like.
Each student should then choose the drawing
and the music he or she likes the best. This will
give you four groups of students, one group per
musical selection. Pass out the drawing paper.
It can be regular size or cut in half lengthwise.
The more linear format suits the sequential
progress of the music, but not all students will
see it that way. Be flexible. Play each piece
again while the students who have chosen that
selection draw it lightly on the drawing paper.
The final work does not have to be the same as
the sketch, but it can be. Encourage embellishments and additions as new sounds are per21

ceived. The students may want to add shape

and texture at this point.
If you dont listen, you cant hear; if you cant
hear, you cant understand; if you cant understand, you cant see the music; and if you cant
see the music in your mind, you wont be able
to draw it.
After all the students have finished their drawings, pass out colored felt-tipped pens. Here is a
great opportunity to discuss some color theory.
(For information on color theory, see Robert
Marshall, Activities, page 5, this packet) Have
students go over their drawing with colored
pens. Crayons are not fine enough to be very
expressive, but watercolor and colored pencils
work well.
After the lines are penned in, have students
notice the negative spaces left between the lines;
and while the music or part of each piece is
being played, they should determine what colors or textures should go into the spaces. Try
to limit the colors to a kind of color scheme.
Remember, all the colors mixed together is no
color.

groups and four murals. Each mural will have

several artists with several different visions of
the music. This requires cooperation and compromise. You may have to develop some group
problem-solving strategies to accomplish this.
Try to keep everyone involved and include some
visual input from each student. The finished
product does not have to be large, but the longer
the butcher paper, the easier it is to have many
students working at the same time.
When the mural is completed with composer
and title and even date and country of origin
labeled across the bottom, have students compare the murals and discuss what they think
was successful and unsuccessful in each project.
When processing evaluation of student work,
have students find both strengths and weaknesses in the work to avoid politicizing and
group bashing.
Now the works must be exhibited. Students
also may want to post something about the
composer and the musicians involved. Make
sure each student in the group is credited with
authorship.

Some students may want to invent an arbitrary

symbol system that can be applied to any musical selection. If a student seems to be blocked
by this project, and some are, ask them if the
sound is high or low and what kind of line is
high or low. Is the sound soft or jagged and
what line does it look like? Does the rhythm
repeat itself and what line captures that repetition? Most hesitant students can overcome
their reluctance by answering specific visual
questions. It is the WHOLE complexity of
the thing that throws them, but the specific is
understandable. Some students will want to
invent a repeatable visual language. It gives
them a sense of security.
To continue this project to the next level, have
students work together as groups to create a
large butcher paper mural of the specific music
each group has chosen. This will give you four
22

Exploring Shape
Frank Huff, Drive-Inn
GRADES 1-5. This lesson is adaptable to grades
included here as the teacher deletes or adds to
areas of interest, and considers cognitive abilities. It is assumed that cooperative learning
structures are in place in the class.
Teachers will lead the students in a brief
introduction and discussion of the work.
Information on the back of the poster can be
used according to the age of the students, and
interests which have been explored in prior art
exchanges. The teacher can explain the concept
of blocking in, model the search methods necessary to find the artists five ws (who, what,
where, when, and why), and other skills necessary to understand elements of this lesson.

VOCABULARY: basic shapes, drive-inns tangrams, blocking in, creative

OBJECTIVES:

SKILLS:

ART HISTORY (AH): While working in cooperative groups, students will have the ability
to identify the circles, squares, and triangles in
laminated copies of contemporary Utah artist
works (hey, we all have a great set of posters
readily available!), and identify the artists who,
what, when, where, and why in a group project.

Cognitive learning skills will be practiced as

students formulate answers, search out infor
mation, and contrast and compare opinions.
Workplace skills used are communication and
listening, and cooperative elements of the
group projects.
Creative skills will be needed to manipulate
the tangram pieces to create an object to use
for the final project.

CRITICISM (C): Students will be able to answer

the questions: What do I see?; What is this artwork about?; and How do I know?

MATERIALS:
Utah artists posters
cut out shapes
AESTHETICS (A): Students will discuss in pairs
masking tape
the question: What makes a painting of a sign
tangram puzzle pieces
more or less art like than the actual sign?
paper
medium of choice
PRODUCTION (P): By manipulating tangram
scissors
puzzles, students will create various objects.
glue
They will apply ideas gleaned from creating
worksheets
with the tangram to create a final artwork.
23

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
History: What time and place where drive-in
theaters most popular? Are there drive-in
theaters in your town. What is one the theaters
story?
Language Arts: What would be a great title for
a movie advertised on the sign in the painting?
What would the movie be about?
ADAPTATIONS AND EXTENSIONS:

C: Students will write the answers to these questions in their art response journal, or as a graded
writing assignment. Younger students could
draw pictures to show their answers.
Assessment: Student journal entries will be
graded as other entries, assignments as needed.
A: Students will be placed in pair and share
duos and will discuss the question What makes
a painting of a sign more or less art like than
the actual sign? They will then pair with
another duo and compare answers.

Special needs population: The cooperative

group assignment lends itself to peer tutoring.
Students working together to solve problems
can help one another.
Access students: Students will interview parents
or other adults to better understand the concept
of drive in theaters and design a theater based
on their findings.
THEME MOTIVATION: A set of building
blocks will be set up in the front of the room.
One or two volunteers will come up and build
an object as suggested by fellow students. The
teacher will explain that shapes, as in the shape
of the blocks, when put together correctly can
create anything (blocking in).
INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT:
AH: Groups of four students will be given four
different colors of paper and scissors. They
will each pick a shape and find that shape in
the painting. They will then tape the shape they
have cut out over the shape on the painting.
The group will then find out the five ws about
the group and write their answer on the reporting page. The talker in the group will look at
the reporting page and explain where the artist
used basic shapes and tell the five ws about the
artist.
Assessment: Each students participation in the
group project will be readily visible as the poster
is held up and as the handwriting is checked on
the reporting page. (Attached). A score can be
given for participation.

Tangram pattern (enlarge on stiff paper)

Assessment: The writer will write a group
answer with all four names signed on the page
for participation points.
P: Students will as a class, create certain objects
using tangram puzzle pieces. They will then
create their own NOUN - person, place or thing,
using the pieces. This structure, which they
have blocked in using the shapes, will be the
basis of a drawing, or the final artwork, depending on age level.
Assessment: Scoring rubric. (on next page)
24

NAMES:
SHAPE:
WRITER:_________________________ ____
TALKER:_________________________ ____
TIME KEEPER:_____________________ ____
HELPER:_________________________ ____
ART REPORT PAGE
Find the basic shapes in the painting. Place a cut out shape on each one.
Answer:
1. How did this artist use basic shapes to block in his/her painting?

2. Why did the artist create this painting?

3. Where is the painting?

4. Who is this artist?
5. What does the painting mean?
6. When was the painting completed?

Whats my score?

Whats my score?

Neat____
Complete____
Follow instructions
Creative
total:

Neat____
Complete____
Follow instructions____
Creative_____
total:

Whats my score?
Neat____
Complete____
Follow instructions
Creative
total:

Whats my score?
Neat____
Complete____
Follow instructions____
Creative_____
total:
25

Shapes can be Expressive

Frank Riggs, Tohatchi

Objective: Students will demonstrate their
understanding that shapes can express ideas
and feelings by discussing artists works and by
creating a shape-based work that is expressive.
Core Standards: ExpressingStudents will
explore and create meaning in art.
Interpret how art elements and principles
express ideas, moods, or symbols in
important artworks.
Convey an idea or feeling in an artwork by
applying art elements and principles.
Materials:
slide or overhead of Riggs Tohatchi
paper
pencils or colored media
colored paper
Show the slide or overhead of Frank Riggs
sculpture, Tohatchi, and have the
students discuss what shapes they see. Have
them tell what they like about the way the
shapes are combined. Let them express how
they feel about the sculpture and why they think
they have those feelings.
Lesson: Ask the students to choose an emotion
such as happiness, sadness, anger, love, fright,
bravery, etc. Then have them cut out shapes
from colored paper or make a drawing using
only shapes to express that feeling. The criteria
is to use three or more shapes (they may repeat
the same shape, or they may use a combination
of different shapes), each shape should express
the emotion they are trying to portray, and the
shapes should be connected or overlapping, not

scattered around on the page. Explain that the

arrangement of the group of shapes is as important as each individual shape. Encourage the
students to try several different arrangements
before picking their favorite.

Conclusion: Give the class an opportunity to

critique each others work by trying to see if
they can discover the feeling (or a related feeling) the artist was trying to express. Explain
that it takes practice and skill to learn to express
emotions through shapes.
26

Miro
www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/pix/bar/miro
sions your artwork makes.

Social Studies
Objective: students will recognize the use and
value of shapes in many facets of our society.
Have students name as many shapes as they
can. Draw them on the board. Show Frank
Riggs sculpture Tohatchi, and discuss what
kinds of shapes he has combined to create his
sculpture.
Explain that artists use shapes to create beauty.
Read the artists biography, and have students
make comments about events in his life or the
landscape or buildings where he lived that may
relate to the shapes in the sculpture.
Jesus Moroles, Spirit Columns
rockportartcenter.org/sculpture2.html

Draw some shapes on the board that are connected with famous or common buildings such

Optional: Show Frank Riggs sculpture,

Tohatchi, and discuss what kinds of decisions
the artist had to make to create this piece of art.
Write the ideas on the board. Then have the students use those ideas to create their own drawing or to create their own sculpture.
You can make small shapes from card stock or
use materials you can find such as cardboard,
cardboard tubes, cans, boxes, or styrofoam.

Secondary Variation

Follow the above lesson idea but include other

abstract sculptors such as Joan Miro and Jesus
Moroles. Have students create sculptures using
whatever media and tools you have access to.
Web sites:
Moroles
hawthornegallery.com/html/jm_body.htmlrockportartcenter.org/sculpture2.html

Joan Miro, Bird II

www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/pix/bar/miro/Bird2.html

27

as the Washington Monument, the Pentagon,

the St. Louis arch, the state capital, or whatever
other building shapes your students will recognize. Ask students if they can name any of the
buildings that go with these shapes. Discuss
why these shapes may have been chosen for
these buildings. Ask the students to identify
other familiar shapes they see in architecture.
Explain the significance of shapes in the construction of buildings. For example, why do
many homes have pitched (triangle) roofs, why
are some domes, some flat, etc.
Ask your students to think of some advertisements they have seen that use shapes or symbols, such as Nike, Volkswagen, the CBS eye,
Toyota, Pepsi, the McDonalds' arches, etc. Have
some of the students draw symbols on the board
and see if the class can identify the companies or
organizations these symbols represent. Discuss
the reasons why companies use shapes as part
of their identity. Also discuss why these shapes
may have been chosen to represent the organization and what meanings may be connected to
the shapes.

Draw on the board the universal No or Not

Permitted symbol (the circle with a diagonal
line across it) and the man and woman restroom
symbols. Ask students to identify these shapes.
Give the students a chance to discuss what other
ways shapes are used in our society.

Allen Bishop, Ordering Chaos

used by permission of the artist

Activity: Have each student draw and cut out

a shape that has meaning for him or her. Then
have the students cut out two other copies of
their shapes to share with classmates, so each
student has three shapes. Have them create
a symbol using their own shape and the two
others they received. After they complete this
activity, refer to Frank Riggs sculpture, Tohatchi,
and discuss what they think of the sculpture,
or have them make comments about what they
think interested the artist about this specific
design. (See also the lesson on Allen Bishops La
Semilla Brota, this packet or his other artwork at
www.ylemart.com.)
Optional: Let students choose one of the symbols created as an official classroom symbol.
Another possibility is to have each student, or
each small group of students, write to a corporation to find out how its corporate symbol was
developed.

28

Geometry/Art
Objective: Students will demonstrate their
understanding of geometric shapes by constructing two- and three-dimensional shapes.
There are various ways to approach this activity,
depending on the students age.
For young students: Have them make shapes
out of cardboard or cardstock as part of lessons
on specific geometric shapes. (For example, triangles, circles, rectangles, squares, etc.) Either
as part of the same lesson, or after having
made several different kind of shapes, show
the students the slide of Tohatchi. Have the students identify the shapes used in the sculpture.
Talk about the artists interest in shapes. (See
Biography)

After cutting the shapes out, students should

carefully measure the size of the original shape
and make a rectangle 4x the total length or
circumference of the shape plus 1/2, for overlap. If they have chosen to make a triangle, they
should make four equilateral triangles, two with
borders on all sides, one with borders on two
sides, and one with a border on one side. Have
the students fold the borders up, so they become
tabs. The students should glue the edge of the
rectangle to the tabs or glue the four triangles
together, making a three-dimensional shape.
Once students have mastered the technique,
they can make simple sculptures by combining
shapes.
For advanced students: Show the students the
slide of the sculpture Tohatchi. Have the students figure out what measurements they would
need to determine the volume of the sculpture.
Then have the students measure some complex
shapes around the school and determine, or estimate, their volume.
(The slide also can be used as an example of
how specific shapesand geometrycan be
used in the real world.)

Then have each student choose one of the

shapes the class has learned. This time, have the
students cut out two of one shape, adding borders around the edges, as below. Adding borders is good practice in using rulers; however, if
the students cannot add the borders themselves,
have some preprinted shapes for them to cut
out.

To complete the activity, plan ahead, and have

the students save shapes they have made during geometry lessons. Using the shapes for
reference and ideas, the students should plan
a sculpture similar to Frank Riggs (made up of
simple, geometric shapes), considering proportion and shape relationships in their design.
Give the students graph paper and have them
create a two-dimensional pattern for their sculpture. Each student should also make a sketch
of the finished sculpture on a separate piece of
paper.
Have students exchange patterns but not sketches, and see if they can figure out the shape the
pattern will make when put together. Students
can check the accuracy both of the patterns and
of the drawings they make of other students
29

sculptures.
The activity can end there, or the students can
make their sculptures out of cardboard or stiff
paper. Have the students create a simple display of their sculptures, individually, or as a
class. Students may want to include the size,
color, and appropriate environment for their
sculptures.
You may wish to continue the activity by having
small groups choose a complex geometric shape,
draw a pattern, and execute the shape in some
medium. In addition to cardboard or other flat
materials, the students may want to use a com-

student-made geometric shapes

30

ColorBecause I Like Red!

Phillip Barkdull, Designed Landscape,
Symphony in Color
In teaching children, we sometimes forget that
some curriculum areas, like art, provide the
perfect setting for encouraging imaginative
responses. If, that is, we dont tell children
what they should do. Color choice is a perfect
example.
Objectives: Students will learn that color choice
is a decision an artist makes. They will be able
to identify realistic color as opposed to less-realistic color. They will demonstrate their understanding of color choice by creating an artwork
that demonstrates either realistic or arbitrary
color choice.
Core Standards: MakingStudents will play
with art materials and will begin to order
them by basic art elements and principles.
PerceivingStudents will view artworks and
talk about basic art elements and principles.
The Art Criticism and Aesthetics sections can
be completed as small groups, giving more students a chance to participate.

think Designed Landscape is more realistic. Thats

okay, they just need to be learning to find the
reasons why they respond a specific way. For
example, one student said Designed Landscape
looks more real because it looks just like a real
sunset.)
Ask students why someone would want to paint
with really bright colors. Many answers are reasonable.
Art History: Ask the students if they can
think of a way they might find out why Philip
Barkdull used bright colors. Hopefully, a student will suggest you could see what the artist
has said or find information about him. Give
the students some of the information from the
biography. Show them the poster of Moonrise in
the Canyon by Birger Sandzen and explain that
Barkdull took classes from Sandzen and was
influenced by him. You may also want to show
the class the poster of Capitol from North Salt
Lake, by Louise Farnsworth. She also was influenced by Sandzen.

Art Criticism: Show the class the transparencies

of Snow Canyon by Robert Marshall and Designed
Landscape by Philip Barkdull. Ask students
what they can see that is the same or almost the
same in each painting. Then ask students what
is different about the two works. If a student
does not mention that the one has colors that
look real and the other doesnt, ask which one is
more realistic (looks like what they would see if
they were there).

Production: Students will make a painting using

a colored medium. If possible, take students
outside and have them make several small
sketches of a scene they want to paint.(even very
young students can do this) Back inside, they
should choose their favorite sketch and create a
painting using either bright colors that they like
or realistic colors. If going outside (or looking
through windows) is not possible, students can
create a sketch from memory or imagination, or
the students can set up and paint still lifes.

Aesthetics: Then ask the students why the Snow

Canyon piece looks more realistic. (You may
have students who have some reasons why they

Have the students organize a display of their

work with a simple explanation of their color
choice.
31

Color LessonPhillip Barkdull, Designed Landscape

Lesson area

Poor

Adequate

Class discussion Student did not participate Student made obvious or

simple comments

Excellent
Student made a
perceptive comment(s)

Aesthetics

Student did not participate Student did not offer a

good reason for
judgement

Student supported judgment with information

from the artwork

Production

Student has no completed

sketch

Student has at least one

completed sketch

Student completed
more than one sketch

Student did not complete

the color drawing

Color choice not

consistent

Color choice clearly

consistent

Student did not write

a statement

Statement is not an
explanation

Statement is a clear
explanation

Art History
Assess the overall learning of the class by asking students to put their thumbs up
if they understand why Sandzen chose bright colors for his painting. Review if necessary.

Older elementary students may enjoy learning

a little bit about the Fauvists, who influenced
Philip Barkdulls painting style.
The Fauvists were a loose group of artists
who chose to paint in a bright, simplified, and
expressive way. The artists were influenced
by Pointillism (Georges Seurat, A Sunday on
La Grand Jatte ) and Post-Impressionism (Paul
Cezanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire; van Gogh)
Paul Gauguins choice of color and his style also
were strong influences. This group of artists
broke with both traditional and, what was at
the time, accepted art styles. They were dubbed
fauves wild beasts because of the intense colors and rather primitive style they used. Instead
of using color to create a realistic perception of
color in viewers eyes, they used color as pattern
and structure.

For a very enjoyable explanation of the fauves,

go to the National Gallery of Art at
http://www.nga.gov/feature/artnation/fauve/
index.htm
Other Sources for fauvist artworks and information:
http://arthistory1.school.dk/frame_Fauvism1.
htm
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/
matisse_henri.html
artcyclopedia.com Look under Style, Fauvists
Assessment: You can assess students knowledge
of the fauvists by having them identify three
traits of the fauvists: bright, simplified, expressive, non-traditional, etc. Give one point for
each correct answer.
32

Assessment:
The teacher can assess student learning using a
rubric such as the one on the following page.

Fauves and ColorSecondary

ples of intensity of color. They should write

a short description. As a class, the students
should discuss the examples they found, including whether that kind of color appeals to them,
as artists.

Show the class the transparencies of Snow

Canyon by Robert Marshall and Designed
Landscape by Philip Barkdull and ask them to
compare and contrast the two works. Then ask
the students if they know what art movement
influenced Phillip Barkdull. Have students visit
the National Gallery site or do research in art
history texts on the Fauvists.
Discuss Matisses use of color complements and
the primary colors of light in Open Window.
To maximize the intensity of his colorsand
achieve the light he was looking forMatisse
organized his picture with pairs of complements. Orange masts rise from blue hulls. Potted
plants on the balcony sprout red blossoms amid
green foliage. Reflections oppose pink and turquoise, and in the walls these colors are reversed
and deepened. Isolated by bare areas of canvas,
these combinations generate a sort of visual
vibration.
Because in composing Open Window Matisse
largely used red, blue, and greensin different
formshe enhanced the effect of light. These
are the additive primariesthe wavelengths of
orange-red, blue-violet, and green that combine
to make white light. (National Gallery)
Matisse also said "don't copy nature too literally."
Have students create an artwork in which the
goal is not to copy nature but to create a design
using color and simplified shapes. They should
try using either complementary colors or red,
blue, and green.
Another thing Matisse said is to Search for
intensity of color, subject matter being unimportant. Have students, as a homework assignment, look around them and find some exam-

Aesthetics
Aesthetics is the philosophical field that deals
with questions such as What is art?, What
is beauty?, or What is the function of art?.
One related issue is how much control an artist
should have over his art. During the past, most
art was commissioned, usually by the church or
wealthy patrons. Currently, a lot of art is made
by the artist as the artist sees fit and then it is
offered for sale. However, artists still take commissions for artworks and sometimes disagreements arise between the artist and the person or
group that commissioned the artwork. The following is an imaginary scenario.
You have a business with a very expensive,
brand new office building. You want a paint33

ing to put on the wall in the foyer, so you

commission a painting from Phillip Barkdull.
A couple months later, he brings in the paintingDesigned Landscape. You hang the picture
on the wall and realize the colors clash with the
color of the walls and the carpet. Can you ask
the artist to change the colors in the painting
so they dont clash with the decoration in your
office building? Why or why not? What should
you do?
Older students can use the same scenario with
the following additions:
You paid a very generous amount for the commission. Does that affect whether you can ask
the artist to change the painting?
Tell the students the scenario and let them
debate the answers. There are no right or wrong
answers to aesthetics questions, but students
should provide reasons for their answers. Help
them to have fun with the debate. If your class
works successfully in small groups, dividing
them into groups will encourage more participation.
Assessment:
Have students self-assess their participation as
follows:
I didnt say much
I made comments and I could support at least
two of them
I made frequent comments and offered strong
support for most of them
Or, you can have students self-assess their progress in overcoming a weakness they have identified such as a tendency to take over the discussion or to sit and just listen.

34

WatercolorMixing Colors
Robert Marshall, Snow Canyon
Objective: The students will explore the
media of watercolor and be able to mix
various color combinations using glazes and
washes. (See Background Information on
color)
Core Standards: Making, Perceiving
Watercolor is an excellent media for blending
or mixing colors. There are several ways to
mix colors using watercolors. This lesson
will describe two ways: washes and glazes.
Wash: A wash is an area of color that is usually
applied in a quick manner. There are three main
types of washes.
1. Flat: an area of color that does not vary in
hue (color) or value (lightness or darkness)
Dampen your paper before you start so no hard
lines form. Mix up more paint than you think
you need and, with your drawing board slightly
tilted, fill your brush with color and apply the
first strip across the top of the paper. Reload the
brush and, working in the opposite direction,

repeat the process. Continue until you have covered the entire area.
2. Graded: an area of color that does not vary in
hue (color) but will vary in value. It can either
go lighter or darker or be a combination of both
(e.g., pink to red and back to pink)
Mix up a puddle of paint on your palette.
Dampen your paper with clean water. Tilt your
drawing board, then load your brush with
color and stroke it along the top of the paper.
Rinse out your brush and add a brush full of
clean water to your paint mixture. Stroke this
slightly lighter color on the paper. Again rinse
your brush, add a brush full of clean water to
the paint mixture on your palette, then stroke
the progressively lighter color on your paper.
Repeat this procedure until you get to the end of
your page, where the color should be lightest.
3. Variegated: an area of color that varies in hue
(color) and may vary in value, depending on the
colors chosen (e.g., red, red-orange, and orange)
Mix the colors of paint you will use. Dampen
the paper with clean water.Tilt your drawing
board, then load your brush with the first color
and stroke it along the top of the paper. Rinse
out your brush and fill the brush with the next
35

3. The glaze should be

put on quickly so as not
to blend with the bottom
layer of color.
Have students experiment
with glazes to create color
combinations.
Using glazes and washes,
have the students use the
primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) to make
secondary colors (orange,
green, and purple).
Advanced students can
create tertiary colors by
combining a primary and a
secondary color. Students
can create an entire color
Lee Anne Miller, Storm Spirits on Horizon #6
wheel by completing a varSMA High School Poster Set
iegated wash going from
one color to its adjacent
color (e.g., red, red-orange,
color. Again rinse your brush, and go back to the
orange,
yellow-orange,
yellow, yellow- green,
first color or on to a third color and lay it on the
green, blue-green, blue, blue- violet, violet, and
paper. Repeat this procedure until you get to the
end of your page, or, do two strokes of one color red-violet).
before changing to another color.

(Directions from Poochie Myers prosperity.com/

myers/artlessons/lesson3.htm)
Have the students experiment with watercolors
to create the three types of washes. Note: variegated washes are more successful (less muddy)
if the hues chosen are analogous (color families
that are neighbors on a color wheel).
Glazes: A glaze is a transparent wash of color
placed over an existing area of color. There are
three main rules in applying glazes.
1. The area of color underneath has to be dry.
2. The color for the top layer or glaze has to be
transparent. Note: most student-grade watercolors are generally transparent.

Visual Arts - making, perceiving, contextualizing

Objective: The student will create a textured art
work using the frottage technique.
Background information on texture:
Texture is the surface quality of an art work
and it is usually classified as actual or implied.
Actual texture is texture evident on the surface of the art work (e.g., rough, bumpy, shiny,
impasto). [See Gary Price Activities, this packet.]
Implied texture is the texture displayed within
the art work (e.g., objects appear rough, smooth,
dull). Art works can contain both actual and
implied texture (e.g., the artworks surface is flat
and dull but the objects portrayed within the
work are shiny and bumpy).
36

Artists use various techniques to create texture

within their art works. One such technique,
frottage, was developed by the artist Max Ernst.
A frottage is created by placing the surface of an
art work onto a rough texture and then rubbing
a drawing or painting medium over the surface
of the work to transfer the textures underneath
to the art work.
Artists are able to achieve a variety of fascinating lines, shapes, and textures with the frottage
technique. Many of these frottage rubbings
were then transformed into surreal images. For
example, a rubbing of a rough piece of bark may
appear to look like a mountain range. The artist can then add other lines, colors, or shapes to
enhance the mountain range image. Many
surrealist artists used frottage as a starting point
for their surrealist works.
Note: See Background Information on Max
Ernst for information on Surrealism
Have the students create a frottage by placing
a thin sheet of paper over various textures and
then rub a piece of charcoal or crayon to transfer the textures unto the paper. Using the same
sheet of paper with the texture rubbings, have
the students use their imagination and draw
their fantasy dreams, creating real and unreal
images. Have each student tell the class about
their dream-drawings and have them decide
which dream-drawings match the narrative
description.

Background Information on Max Ernst (18911976) Born in Cologne, Germany, Max was the
son of a school teacher. The destruction created by World War I had a tremendous effect on
Europe; and many artists, like Ernst, rebelled
against those who had led the younger generation into the war. In 1920 he went to Paris
where he joined the Dada art movement, whose
intent was to shock the public with images
which defied all reason and eventually paved
the way for Surrealism. Surrealist artists also
wanted to escape reality, and so they relied on
their imagination and subconscious to create
works with dream-like qualities. Ernsts use of
frottage was one way to develop these strange
associations, and he relied heavily on the subconscious nature of the process.
Physical Science - Geology
Objective: The student will be able to identify
major land forms associated with geology.
Have the students view the image Snow Canyon
by Robert L. Marshall. Have the students identify the land forms depicted within the artwork.
Have the students identify other land forms (see
list below). Students can use other artworks to
identify land forms or students can do a brief
illustration of the land form.
Lynn Fausset, Angels Arch
Land forms:
beach
island
lake
gorge
levee
bluff
gully
arch
fault
volcano
plain
cliff
37

cave
headland
river
bay
waterfall
glacier
horn
dune
mountain
delta
ocean
valley

lagoon
desert
stream
flood plain
rapids
marsh
mesa
canyon
plateau
geyser
sea
butte

4. Music
Objective: The students will become familiar
with the works of the nationalistic composer,
Ferde Grof
Often, composers use the theme of nature or
landscape for the basis of their compositions.
One such composer, Ferde Grof, is noted for his
love of his country expressed through his musical compositions dealing with the United States
and it numerous landscapes. After giving some
of the background information on Grof play
some of his compositions, and see if the students
can identify the geographic region, the weather
conditions or the scenes depicted by his music.
Ask the students to identify a musical selection
that could portray the scene depicted in Snow
Canyon by Robert L. Marshall. Encourage the
students to locate and listen to other composers
who deal with nature as their theme (e.g., contemporary Utah composer Kurt Bestor).

Ferde Grof Stamp, US Postal Service

Issue: September 12, 1997
http://www.centerforjazzarts.org/usps_exhibition3.
html

that he ran away from home at the age of fourteen because he did not want to have a musical
career. For a while he supported himself with
makeshift jobsas a pressman in a bookbindery,
as a truck driver, as an usher in a movie theater,
and as an elevator operator. He also worked in
an iron foundry for a while and then as a milkman.
He returned to a musical life when he teamed
up with one Professor Albert Jerome, an
itinerant cornet player who, allegedly, left him
stranded in the mining town of Winthrop in a
gulch in Northern California . . . taking all the
money and leaving me with an unpaid board
bill.
To pay his rent, Grof went to work playing
piano in a local hostelry for the sum of two dollars a night. After three years his family welcomed him back and encouraged him to pursue
his musical studies. He had already begun
violin and piano lessons at age five and, by the
time he attained maturity, was an accomplished
enough violist to be hired by the Los Angelos
Symphony Orchestra. In 1919 he was hired as
an arranger for a band, and in 1924 he embarked
on his own career as a serious composer.
His music eventually gained the recognition not
only of the public but also of the worlds finest conductors. By 1937 he had made his debut
as a conductor himself, in Carnegie Hall, conducting an entire program of his own works.
Many of his compositions deal with themes of
the American scene and include works entitled
the Grand Canyon Suite, Mississippi Suite, Henry
Hudson Suite, Hollywood Suite, and so forth.

Background information on Ferde Grof

Grof was born in New York on March 27,
1892. His family was so extensively musical
38

Background Information on Color

There are two theories associated with color.
The light theory: colors are produced with rays
of light and consists of primary hues of redorange, green, and blue-violet, and when the
primaries overlap, the secondaries of yellow,
magenta, and cyan are formed. Note: white is
formed when all three primaries overlap.

Generally, warm colors have a red base and cool

colors have a blue base, but this formula is not
reliable because some colors such as red violet
have red and blue in them. Warm colors appear
to advance and cool colors to recede.
Hue (the color family or name of the
color) Color families that usually are
given a position on the visual spectrum (usually
a 12-position color wheel)

Light Color Wheel

Green
Primary

Cyan
Secondary

Blue
Primary

Yellow
Secondary

Red
Primary

Magenta
Secondary

The pigment theory: colors are produced with

solid particles, such as paint pigments, and consist of primary hues of red, yellow, and blue.
Secondary colors (green, orange, and violet) are
formed from primary colors, and tertiary hues
(red-orange, yellow orange, yellow-green, bluegreen, blue-violet, and red-violet) are created
from a secondary and adjacent primary color.

Value (degree of lightness or darkness) Light

values are classified as high and dark as low and
may be given a numbered scale (e.g., black=0,
gray=5, white=10). A tint is the hue plus white,
tone is the hue plus gray (or plus its complement), and a shade is the hue plus black.

Intensity (degree of brightness or darknessalso

called chroma or saturation) Bright hues are
classified as high and dull hues as low and may
be given a numbered scale (e.g., dull=0 and
bright=10). The intensity can be lowered by
There are three qualities of color: hue, value, and adding gray or the complement of the hue. Also,
intensity. Another quality of color is temperahues will appear brighter when placed next to
39their complements. Note: bright doesnt equate
ture (warmth or coolness of the hue)
The ability to distinguish colors is evoked by
light stimulating the cones of the retina of the
eye.

to light and dull doesnt equate to dark (e.g.,

navy blue is dark and bright, wedgewood blue is
dull and light).
Color schemes (a grouping or arrangement of
hues for a particular overall effect)
Monochromaticsame hue, varying values. (e.g.
black, scarlet, red, pink, white)
Complementaryhues opposite each other on
the color wheel.(e.g. red/green)
Triadthree hues equal distance to each other.
(e.g. orange, violet, green)
Analogoushues adjacent to each other. (e.g.
red, red-orange)
Neutralevery hue has these characteristics.
(black, white, grays)

40

Seeing and Creating Value in Three Dimensions

Dahrl Thomson, Island of Hope
Objectives:
1. Students will observe how light reveals form
on three-dimensional objects.
2. Students will create a three-dimensional work
of art that has various values.
3. Students will be able to identify several
works of sculpture that demonstrate the use
of value.
4. Students will learn ways to judge abstract
and nonrepresentational art.
5. Students will compare and contrast two
abstract sculptures.

identify the different valuesthe darkest, lightest, and medium values. Have students shine
the light on their faces from different angles.
(Shining the light up from underneath the chin
makes scary faces). Fifth, teach the students the
definition of value: Value is the art element that
describes the darkness or lightness of an object.
Value depends on how much light a surface
reflects. (Art Talks, second edition, teachers edition, Glencoe).
Homework assignment: Find a landscape or
architectural feature you can see from near your

State Core Standards:

MakingStudents will play with art materials
and begin to order them by basic art elements
and principles.
PerceivingStudents will view artworks and
talk about basic art elements and principles.
Introductory Activity: Seeing value on threedimensional objects
Materials:
a tennis ball
a white sheet
various other three-dimensional objects
a bright light
First, ask the students why the moon looks like
it is different shapes at different times of the
month. Second, darken the classroom. Have students demonstrate the principle they discussed
about the moon by shining a bright light (representing the sun) on a white tennis ball (representing the moon) from different angles, so that
the sizes of the lit and shadowed areas change.
Third, try the same thing with various other 3-D
objects. (White objects work best). Fourth, hang
a white sheet on the wall so it creates folds.
Again, shine the light from different angles and
have students notice how the appearance changes in different light conditions. Also, help them

3-Day Moon
Photo by John French
Planetarium Production Coordinator
Abrams Planetarium
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, USA
pa.msu.edu/people/frenchj/moon/index1.html
41

artwork is based on a real object, but is

simplified). (Nonrepresentational: the
artwork is not based on a real object).
Ask which category this sculpture fits
into. Can they see a form that reminds
them of a real object? Ask students to
give their ideas on possible meanings of
the title Island of Hope.

Gary Smith, Point of the Mountain

home, such as mountains, rocky cliffs, or tall
buildings. Observe it at different times of day,
especially early morning and late afternoon,
just before sunset. Write in your journal what
you noticed about the time of day and light
conditions when you could see the form of the
mountains (or whatever you chose) most clearly.
Report your findings to the class.

Show an image of Constantin Brancusis

Bird in Space (http://www.guggenheimrg/site/artist_work_md_22_5.html) next
to Thomsons Island of Hope. Brancusi
is one of the sculptors Thomson lists
among those whose work has influenced
her. Have students compare and contrast
the two sculptures. (This could be part of
the discussion, or a writing assignment).
Ask them to tell which sculpture they
like best and explain their reasons.
Aesthetics: Refer to Dahrl Thomsons artist
statement and help students discover why she
prefers abstract to realistic art. How can we
judge abstract works of art? (Possibilities include

Art History: Show students several examples of

sculptures that show value. Some good possibilities include relief sculptures on Greek temple
friezes, Stonehenge, the Sphinx, Nancy Holts
Sun Tunnels. If possible, find different pictures
of the same sculpture showing it in different
lighting circumstances, and discuss the differences with the students.
Art Criticism: View and discuss the image
of Dahrl Thomsons sculpture, Island of Hope
(included in this packet) with the students. Pay
particular attention to the way value has been
created. What other elements of art do the students notice in this sculpture? (Are the lines
mainly straight or curving? Does the texture
look rough or smooth?)
Make sure the students understand the difference between artworks that are realistic,
abstract, and nonrepresentational. (Abstract: the

Dahrl Thomson, Island of Hope

42

looking at how the elements and principles of

art are used to create interest or beauty of form,
the level of skill and craftsmanship in the art
technique used, the feeling or idea expressed).
Encourage students to discuss their own preferences. Ask them whether, even if they still prefer
art that is realistic, looking at and discussing
these abstract sculptures helped them to appreciate and enjoy abstract art more than before?
Art Production Activity: Creating value in a
3-D work of art
Materials:
1 pound of water-based clay for each student
various kitchen utensils
objects from nature, such as shells, pine cones,
sticks
man-made objects such as spiral notebook
wire, etc.
1. Form clay into a slab, either by rolling it with
a rolling pin between two 1/4 sticks, or just
patting it to about 1/4 thickness. (One
pound of clay makes a slab about 5x 4x
1/4).
2. Create an interesting abstract or nonrepresen
tational design by pressing different objects
into the clay. Be sure to think about any other
elements of art you have learned about, such
as texture and line.
3. Create at least three different values on your
slab by pressing some objects lightly and oth
ers deeper into the slab. (The great thing
about clay is that you can erase by smoothing and redo till you have the design you
want).
4. Make a hole in the back of your clay so you
can hang it when it is finished. (Or fired slabs

Alternative: If you do not have access to a

kiln, you could do this on a smaller scale with
Sculpey, or use Crayola water-hardening clay, or
even salt dough.
Assessment for Production Activity:
Slab is fairly uniform thickness, about 1/4
____/5 points
The design is interesting and is abstract or nonrepresentational
____/10 points
At least three different values are evident in the
relief sculpture
____/9
Total ____/24 points
Bonus points: Student writes a statement
explaining how she used at least one other
element of art in her relief sculpture. (5 extra
points)
Extensions: Students could press about an inch
of clay into the bottom of a small cardboard box
or something like a plastic Cool Whip container.
Press objects into the clay to make a design, as
in the above activity. Then pour plaster (about
1-1 1/2 inches) on top of the clay and allow to
harden. Remove the box or container and peel
away the clay to see the reverse of the clay
design. (Indentations in the clay will become
projections in the plaster).
This lesson can either be followed or preceded
by lessons in creating value in two-dimensional
artwork, where value is used to create the
illusion of form.

can be epoxied to pieces of wood for hanging

and exhibition).
Allow clay slabs to dry thoroughly, then fire in a
kiln.
43

Value Can Be Expressive

Michael Workman, In DarknessNevertheless
Illuminated
Objective: the students will demonstrate their
understanding of value and use value to create a
mood, a feeling, or to express an idea in an artwork.
Core Standards: MakingStudents will
play with art materials and will begin to order
them by basic art elements and principles.
PerceivingStudents will view artworks and
talk about basic art elements and principles.
ExpressingStudents will explore and
create meaning in art.
Show the class the slide of In Darkness
Nevertheless Illuminated , and ask: Describe the
values used in this painting. What does the
value have to do with the feeling or meaning of the painting? Use other ideas from the
Background Information on Value, which follows this lesson. Be sure to discuss what clues
indicate this painting is not just a nice painting
of cows. Show the class some examples of other
artworks that use value effectively, such as the
SMA Elementary posters Youthful Games by Gary
Smith and Road to the River by Maynard Dixon;
UMFA Elementary posters A Young Scholar in
his Study, School of Gerard Dou, I Have Special
Reservations by Elizabeth Catlett and Game of
Marbles by Christian Schussle. In addition, past
Educator Evening packets have slides , postcards, or transparencies you can use.
After discussing how value can be used to create mood and express ideas, have the students
choose a person, place, or object to depict that
has some meaning connected to it for the individual student. The students should decide how
they can most effectively use value to portray
the chosen subject. Then the students should
each choose a method or media that will create
the appropriate values. Possibilities are pencilspreferably a range of hardnesses (Drawing

Elizabeth Catlett, I Have Special Reservations

Utah Museum of Fine Arts
pencils last a long time and arent very expensive)pen, marker, pastel, or charcoal on white
or light gray paper, or white chalk on gray or
black paper. However, unless the students are
experienced, limit the choices to black, white,
and grays. You may want the students to use
drawing techniques your class has learned such
as crosshatching, shading, contour drawing, etc.
Allow the students to be expressive at whatever level of draftsmanship they possess. Even
young students can produce interesting works
and can explore the use of value in conveying
meaning.
Variation: If value is an element of art your class
has not worked with, you may need to do one
or more introductory activities before doing the
previous activity. Possibilities include the following:
1. Have the students make a value scale
such as the one included in the Background
Information. The scale can have from five to ten
44

sections. If possible, have drawing pencils in

at least three hardnesses. If you dont own any,
you may be able to borrow these from an art
teacher or to share them and their expense, with
another teacher or two.
2. Have the students explore different media
and techniques for producing value. Give each
student a large piece of paper and several media
such as different kinds of charcoal, pencils, conte
crayons, pastels, chalk, etc. Garbage bags make
good, cheap throw-away clothes protectors, just
tear or cut holes for heads and arms.

to the expressive quality of the piece, and makes

a supported judgement about the successfulness
of the artwork.
For young students, who dont yet write well,
use a spoken critique, which can be as short as
three sentences. This lesson works well in small
groups in which students share their critiques
with other and respond to those critiques.

3. Present terminology used for value (see

Background Information), writing each term on
the board and showing the students examples.
After the students are familiar with the terms,
show the students more artwork and let the students identify the use of value in the artworks
using their new vocabulary.

Critiquing the Use of Value

Objective: The students will demonstrate an
understanding of value by critiquing the use of
value in an artwork.
Core Standard: ExpressingStudents will
explore and create meaning in art.
Show the class the slide of In Darkness
Nevertheless Illuminated , and ask the following
questions:
Describe the values used in this painting. What
does the value have to do with the feeling or
meaning of the painting? Use other ideas from
the Background Information on Value, which
follows this lesson.

White Man's Touch

From the 2003 All-State High School Show

Have art magazines, posters, or other reproductions available for the students to choose from.
Each student should write a critique of the chosen work that describes the artists use of value,
tells how the use of value does or does not add
45

Background Information on Value

Value is how light or dark something is. Values range from a high of pure white to a low of pure
black. The scale below shows a ten-step value scale; however, the average human can discern about
40 variations in value.

Although it is simplest to look at value as a range from white, through grays, to black, color also has
value. For example, blue-violet is a low, dark value while a clear yellow has a light, high value.
Artists use value contrast, which is the relationship between the lights and darks in an artwork, to
create specific effects or moods. An artwork with low-value contrast will have values similar to each
other while an artwork with high-value contrast will have values that cluster at the two opposite
ends of the scalemostly blacks and whites or very dark and very light colors.
If the value contrast is low, the artwork will appear delicate and subtle, whether the range is lights
(high key) or whether the range is of darks (low key). An artwork that has mostly darks is likely to
convey feelings of mystery, melancholy, fearfulness, or to produce shadowy or night-time effects. In
opposition, lighter values are likely to produce a sense of calmness, softness, lightheartedness, or to
produce a delicate or warm daylight ambiance.
An artwork with high contrast has excitement, tension, and drama. High contrast also can be used
to highlight a contrast of ideas, such as in Michael Workmans piece In DarknessNevertheless
Illuminated. Other important uses of value contrast are to establish focal points or to emphasize
figures, objects, or ideas being expressed. To demonstrate the
use of value contrast in paintings, make some black and white
copies of color prints. Without the distraction and added
subtlety of the colors, the value contrasts in the works will be
clearly evident. If your school copier allows you to darken
and lighten the copies, make three copies of the same work,
one with accurate values, one that is lightened, and one that is
darkened. These changed copies will demonstrate the power
of value contrast to the students.
Value contrasts also allow artists to suggest space, sometimes
just a feeling that a figure is three dimensional (using shading
and shadows) and sometimes to create the sense of looking
deep within a landscape (objects look paler and bluer or grayer the further away they are).
Trevor Southey, Johnnys Apron, detail
46

Symbols in Language and Life

Objectives: The students will understand the
use of symbols and will:
1. Identify symbols in a passage of literature,
giving possible meanings, or
2. Use a symbol in a short piece of writing, or
3. Choose a personal symbol and discuss in
small groups, or
4. Choose a personal symbol and draw that
symbol, or
5 Write and illustrate a story using a typical
metaphor or other literary device.
Unless your class is very comfortable discussing symbolism, start the activity by making a
list on the board. The list should have a column
on the left of common symbols like black or
darkness, light or white, and a list of meanings
on the right. Start the list of symbols and ask
the students to supply the meanings for each.
Then ask the students for examples, encouraging them to explore whatever range of subtlety

they are capable of. Although many symbols

have fairly universal meanings, they also can
have personal meanings, so there are no wrong
answers.
The next step is to discuss why and how symbols are used, using some short examples from
appropriate writings. At the end of the discussion, the students should realize that symbols
enrich the meaning of written and visual art by
providing layers of meaning and by tying into
our personal experiences.
Next, show the class the slide of In Darkness
Nevertheless Illuminated , and discuss how the
artist has used the cows as symbols for our
physical life (see Biographical Information).
You may want to include some other artworks
that use symbols, such as the following: From
the SMA Elementary State Core Art Posters,
The Rhinoceros, James Christensen; Entertaining
Favorite Ladies II, Jeanne Leighton-Lundberg
Clarke; Channel Three, Edith Roberson; Keeper
of the Gate, Dennis Smith; New Bloom, Trevor
Southey; The Factory Worker, Mahonri Young;
and from the SMA Middle School State Core Art
Posters, Cottage Industry, Jacqui Biggs Larsen,
and Dreaming of Zion, Lee Greene Richards.
You will find helpful information about the
meanings of these works on the back. In addition, many of the past Educator Evening packets
contain slides of art works appropriate for this
activity. The biographies of the artists (also in
the packets) usually includes some information
about the work.
After your discussion, assign students whichever of the following activities best suits your
curriculum.

James Christensen, The Rhinoceros

1. Assign students to read a poem, a short passage from a longer work, or a short story. Have
the students pick out the symbols used by the
author. The students should write down the
list of symbols, what meanings they have in
the story or poem, and what the symbols mean
personally. Older students can write an essay
47

that explains the use of symbolism in the work,

using specific words, phrases, and ideas to support their interpretation.
2. Assign students to pick a symbol and use it
in a descriptive paragraph, a poem, or a nonsense verse.
3. Have students pick a symbol for themselves.
Divide the class into small groups and have the
students share their symbols and their reasons
for choosing them with each other. This is generally a very positive experience for the students
and can make the class more unified and can
reduce conflict. If you have a student who does
not want to share his or her symbol, allow the
student to write about the symbol.

Fly!
Another delightful example is the book Tuesday,
by David Wiesner, published by Clarion and
currently available in book stores. The book
has very few words; it mostly tells the story in
pictures. The story is about one Tuesday night
when frogs take wing and fly around the town.
Before dawn, the frogs are back to normal,
but the book ends with a page that says Next
Tuesday. . . and shows some pigs flying.
After showing the students a couple of exam-

4. Have students pick a symbol for themselves

and then draw that symbol. They should write
a sentence or two on the back about why that
symbol represents them.
5. Art/ Language Arts, for young students:
Show the class the slide of In Darkness
Nevertheless Illuminated, and briefly discuss
(on their level) Workmans use of cows and light
values to communicate with the viewer. Help
them to understand that he has used visual
devices to make his artwork more meaningful.
Then talk about the kinds of expressions we use
in everyday conversation that are metaphors,
hyperbole, similes or other verbal techniques
that enrich our language. Give the students an
example or two and then ask for their ideas.
Some possibilities are, If pigs could fly, Im
so mad I could strangle her! good as gold,
etc.

Mark Robinson, House Cat

When you have a number of examples listed on

the board, show the students some ways people
have used these phrases, often in humorous
ways. For example: A book cover available at
the Scholastic Book Fair this year (1998) has a
print of black and white cows scattered against
a background of blue sky and white clouds. At
the top, the book cover says . . . When Cows

ples, have them each choose a phrase or idea to

illustrate. They can do a story, like Tuesday, or
just one illustration, like the book cover. Have
the students share their stories or illustrations
with each other and display them where the rest
of the school can see and enjoy them. After all,
communication is the point of the assignment.
Have the students plan the display, using what
48

they have learned about design to make the display accessible and visually attractive and/or
meaningful.

Genetics/Higher Order Thinking Skills

Objective: The students will understand that
genetics can be manipulated through scientific methods to produce desirable traits. This
artwork also can be used to gain the students
attention for a variety of other science lessons.
Show the class the slide of In Darkness
Nevertheless Illuminated, and introduce the topic
of genetics. Ask the students what they think
cows have to do with genetics. If the students
do not yet understand what genes are, you will
need to introduce them to genes before continuing or before beginning the activity.
If your class has learned about cells and will
understand the term, call up to the front of the
class several children who have different color
eyes, skin, hair, and who vary in height. Tell the
students that genes are part of each cell in their
bodies, and one of the things genes do is carry
the codes that determine things like eye color.
(If the students are not familiar with cells, just
tell them the genes carry codes that determine
many things, such as how we look.) Have the
students notice how different the children are
from each other. Have the rest of the class compare themselves with the other students around
them. Ask if the students know where their
genes come from. (Half from each parent) Make
the discussion of genetic traits as complex or as
simple as fits your class and curriculum.
Students may enjoy comparing their own hair,
skin, or eye color with their parents and siblings.
If you have children who do not live with their
biological parents, be sensitive to their needs.
You may want to broaden the assignment to
include using a friends family instead of their
own. Other possible variations are to make
educated guesses about what their parents look
like, or if that is too sensitive a topic, they can

predict what they will pass on as parents.

When you show the slide, ask if any of the students families have a cow(s). If the students
do not know anything about the dairy or beef
industry, tell them the dairy industry successfully uses genetic manipulation to produce herds
of healthier cows that give higher quantities of
milk. They do this by choosing to breed cows
that have the best traits and by more sophisticated processes such as embryo transfer. Ask the
children to make a list of the best traits for dairy
cows. They also can consider what the beef
industry wants cows to be like. You can choose
to include other animals or plants the students
can discuss.
Pick topics of local interest such as fruits grown

Bosside Rota Remi, as shown on

dartreklorlee.com/features.htm
locally or flowering plants. You may be able to
find wild and hybridized flowers of the same
variety to show the class the results of manipulation of plant offspring. Go into as much detail
as fits your curriculum. Check the internet for
helpful background information, including illustrations.
You may have a local dairy farmer who will
come talk to your class or allow you to visit his
49

or her farm or ranch, or a local greenhouse. If

you are going to involve plants in your discussion, you can use additional artworks such as
Mostly Flowers, by Lou Jene Carter, a Middle
School poster.
Extension: For older students, you may wish
to include more information. The following are
some sources:
1. McClellan, Jeffrey. Of Udders and Milkers
and Students in Rubber Boots BYU Today,
Winter 97, page 42. For free copies of the
article or the magazine volume, contact Jeffrey
McClellan, Associate Editor, at 378-8762, or the
offices of BYU Today.
2. Internetuse Genetics to search
3. State Science Core
4. Biology textbooks

thing inherently wrong with that much manipulation?

4. Many members of the scientific community
assume the possibility of human cloningeither
incomplete humans, who would be created for
organ donation, or of complete humanswill be
achieved in the near future. What are the ethical
and legal concerns?
This activity can be a class discussion or small
group discussions and can involve the students
researching a topic and writing and/or presenting a short report. You may need to model or
help establish some ground rules for the discussion since some students may have strong feelings about their positions. Have the students
help establish the rules, and write them on the
board as a reminder.

Variation: Biology/Social Science

Older students may be interested in discussing
the complex ethical implications of gene manipulation. Most people see nothing wrong with
careful breeding for desirable traits in animals,
food crops, or other plants. However, science
and technology have created capabilities that
go far beyond selective breeding. The article in
BYU Today has specific information on how the
dairy industry uses embryo transfer to produce
superior cows. Other possible areas of interest
for discussion include the following:
1. The cloning of some animals is likely to
become feasible in the near future. What are the
biological concerns and what are the ethical concerns?
2. Animals are being produced with specific
human genes to make their organs more easily accepted by human recipients or to produce
medicines for human use. Is this any different
from breeding animals for products like meat,
leather, fur, etc.? If so, why and how?
3. The manipulation and/or selection of human
sperm or ova to avoid producing children with
fatal or severe genetically carried diseases or
conditions will soon be a possibility. Would the
process be acceptable medicine or is there some50

TextureSee it, Feel It, Taste It!

Ken Baxter, Mechams Boots
Texture is one of the basic elements of art. Its
the element artists use to create life, variety,
mystery, and definition to shapes. We can see
it, feel it, and taste it. Real textures are the kind
you can touch or feel. Suggested or implied textures are the kind that are simulated to look like
the real thing. Past experiences with our sight
and touch prepare us to imagine how something
we see might feel. Textures are crested by using
the elements of line and value and the principles
of repetition or rhythm and pattern.
Using the work of art Mechams Boots, by Ken
Baxter, ask the following discussion questions to
help the students examine the artwork closely
and think about it.
What are the elements and principles used to
construct the painting? How old do you think
the suitcase, boots, and trunk are? How can you
tell? What story might this picture be telling?
Who do you think Mecham is? Notice that the
objects have no background. Why do you think
the artist didnt include a background? What do
you think the artists intent was in painting this
work of art?
Aesthetic Questions: What is the general aesthetic stance of the artwork? How well does
the artwork meet the criteria for that aesthetic
stance?
More specifically, why would an artist choose to
make a painting of old shoes? Are they a valuable subject for a painting? Why or why not?
Does the artwork meet your personal criteria for
a good artwork? Why or why not?

Lesson objective: Students will demonstrate

their ability to create visual texture and value by
drawing a still life of old objects that includes an
old pair of shoes.
State Core: Foundations I
Standard I, Objective 2
Standard II, Objective 1
Materials:
transparency of Mechams Boots by Ken
Baxter
old shoes
other old items for the still life such as a suit
case, tablecloth, wooden box
several objects with obvious textures such as
burlap, worn wood, rough bark, a brick, a
rock, something with scales (Sax art supply
company has three different sets of texture
rubbing plates that are very good, but natural
items are great too.)
drawing paper
51

 pencil or crayons for rubbing

eraser
glue sticks
Production: Various Approaches to Texture
1. Have students make texture rubbings from
real objects or texture rubbing plates, if you have
them. Then students should try to replicate the
rubbings in pencil or charcoal to simulate the
textures.
Set up a still life of the old items and have students use what they learned about creating
implied texture and incorporate five different
textures and five values in the drawing. Remind
students that smooth can be a texture.

4. Have students draw an abstract or very simplified still-life type arrangement of shapes,
using only line. Next, they will fill in the shapes
with textures, repeating some to create rhythm
and unity.
5. Have students find 510 pages of textures
from magazines. They will write a poem or
a description of their own or someone elses
favorite or special pair of shoes. Next, students
will make a collage of the textures that relates
in some way to the shoes. They can write their
poem or description around the shoe collage.

2. Instead of the still-life drawing, have students

draw a table shape on their paper, and then cut
out shapes from the texture rubbings and glue
them on the paper in a still-life arrangement.
Remind students to use what they know about
creating a sense of spaceoverlapping shapes,
placement in the picture plane, etc.
3. Have students clip at least 5 pictures of textured items from magazines. They should look
for items that are rough, smooth, shiny, bumpy,
grainy, that have scales, leaves, or grain. Out of
each picture they will cut a 1-1/2 square and
glue the squares to a piece of drawing paper.
Next to the squares they should draw squares
of the same size and render the textures in those
squares.

52

Assessment:
The teacher can assess students learning using a rubric based on criteria such as the following:

NEEDS WORK

GOOD JOB

EXCEPTIONAL JOB

Very few of the directions

were followed

Part of the directions were

followed

All of the directions were followed

Value rendering is not related

to actual look of the still life

Value rendering is reasonable

Value rendering is accurate

Rubbings are sloppy, difficult

to discern and/or there are
less than 3
The replicated rubbings are
barely identifiable or incomplete
Only 2 values are identifiable
in the drawing or the drawing is too incomplete to tell
Only 2 textures are identifiable in the drawing or the
drawing is too incomplete to
tell
Student has made no or little
attempt to repeat textures

Rubbings are slightly blurred

or there are 3-4

Rubbings are clear, precise,

and there are at least 5

The rubbings are identifiable

in the drawing, but not skillful
3-4 distinct values are identifiable in the drawing

The rubbings are replicated

skillfully in the drawing

3-4 distinct textures are identifiable in the drawing or

some are sloppy

5 distinct textures are identifiable in the drawing

The drawing has some repetition of textures, but not

enough repetition to avoid
competition
Overall artwork has some
repetition but too much variety to create strong unity

The drawing exhibits a deliberate and visually interesting

rhythm

Overall artwork is disorganized rather than unified

53

5 distinct values are identifiable in the drawing

Overall artwork has enough

similarities and repetition to
be unified

Copy the textures in the boxes

Name

54

55

Textured Clay Relief Sculpture

Gary Lee Price, Irises
Objective: The students will demonstrate their
understanding of texture by exploring texture
in clay and then creating a relief sculpture that
incorporates texture.
Have some items with varying textures available. (See HELPS at the end of the activity)
Blindfold some or all of the students or have
them shut their eyes and feel the different
objects, paying attention to the texture of each
object. They should find as many words as possible to describe the different textures; list these
words on the board.
When the students have had a chance to touch
the various objects, show them the slide of
Irises and discuss texture, using ideas from
QUESTIONS FOR LOOKING. Tell or ask
them what kind of texture the objects and the
sculpture have. (Actual texture, as opposed to
implied texture, such as in the watercolor Snow
Canyon, by Robert Marshall, this packet. Since
the students are looking at a slide of the sculpture and not the actual sculpture, they may not
immediately grasp the fact that the texture visible in the slide is actual texture they could feel
if they touched the sculpture.)
Give the students some clay and various tools
and objects and have them experiment with
creating a variety of textures. Some of the items
you brought for them to feel can be pressed into
the clay to make interesting textures and different tools and their fingers can also create a
wide variety of textures. Encourage students to
experiment with a broad range of textures. You
can use oil-based clay for this part of the activity

since it can be used and reused, or you can give

the students pottery clay or self hardening clay,
which cant be reused once it starts to dry out.
When the students have had a chance to experiment with texture, assign the students to make a
relief sculpture that has texture. You may want
to bring in or use some plants or other fairly
simple but interesting objects like sea shells,
toys, or found objects and to have pictures
of animals available. After the children have
decided on the subject of their relief sculpture,
they should look at their texture experiments
and decide how they can best use texture in
their sculpture. You may want to review the list
of reasons for using texture in sculpture. Have
the students make at least three sketches of possible designs and then choose their favorite to
use.
56

For this part of the assignment, use pottery clay

or self-hardening clay. If you use pottery clay,
purchase at least two kinds, one that has grog
(ground up hardened clay)it will have a gritty
feel and the finished piece will have a sandy
lookand one that has a very smooth texture,
such as porcelain. The students then have builtin texture as well as the texture they will add. If
your students have not worked much with clay,
give them a short demonstration on ways to create relief sculptures. (If you have not worked
much with clay, experiment with the suggested
methods before demonstrating for the students.)
The following list contains ways to create relief
designs in clay.
1. Scratch or cut into the clay. Different tools
will produce very different results. For example, a not-very sharp pencil makes a gentle line;
a knife or needle tool, a thin sharp line; the end
of a pen, a soft, wide line; the handle of a utensil
an even wider, soft line; fork tines make parallel
sharp lines; the broken end of stick makes a line
with uneven depths and edges. Loop sculpture
tools can be used to scoop out gentle depressions or to make sharp-edged troughs. Tell the
students to scratch or cut no deeper than halfway into the clay, or the relief may crack apart.
2. Stamp or press into the clay. Small parts to
kitchen items often make good stamps, so do
the ends of pens or markers, and many objects
with naturally occurring textures such as tree
bark or leaves, can be pressed into the clay.
Rope, twine, or yarn can be laid in a design on
the clay and pressed into the clay by gently rolling a smooth tube of heavy cardboard over the
design. Lace, ribbon, and bits of material can
be pressed in the same way. Carefully pick the
end of the material up and pull it gently away
from the clay. If the class is using pottery clay,
the material can be left in place: it will burn out
when the piece is fired.
3. Add clay shapes, coils, balls, etc. To add
shapes, first scratch the surface of the clay where
the shape will be applied, and moisten the
scratched area with water. If possible, do the

Clay Texture Examples

same with the piece to be appliqued. Press the

applique firmly onto the back piece.
A flat shape can be pressed on with something
flat like a small piece of wood, which wont
distort the shape. Appliques can also have the
edges blended to the background with the back
of a small spoon or other tool. Shapes can be
attached by stamping the edges of the shape
or the center, using a tool, a finger, or a stamp.
The important part is that the shape be securely
attached, preferably by scratching and slipping
(moistening) both the background area and the
shape that is being attached. Discourage the
students from making skinny, raised shapes;
even with care, they are likely to break off during the drying or firing process.
To make the relief sculptures, cut the clay into
1 slabs using a purchased cutting wire or one
57

made from strong, thin wire fastened around

two short pieces of dowel or pencil for handles.
Have the students pat or roll the clay into a
1/2 thick slab. If they are using rolling pins or
heavy cardboard tubes as rollers, the students
can roll the clay out between two 1/2 thick
boards to produce an even slab.

Once the shape of the sculpture has been completed, the students should decide whether to
smooth the outside edge with a moistened finger or small sponge or to leave whatever cracks
or cutting marks exist. Now the students are
ready to create the relief using the techniques
shown to them.

The students may want to use a needle tool or

kitchen knife to make an exact shape, or they
may want to leave the clay in the shape it naturally takes. (If they want to leave the edge as is,
they will need to reserve some clay for creating
the relief.) To make an exact shape, the students
can use rulers or small pieces of flat wood for
straight edges and can use a compass or a tracing of a round object for partial or complete
circles, or can make a paper pattern of a more
complex shape.

After the students have created their textured

reliefs, move the clay slabs on the cardboard,
or slide the material onto cardboard or wooden
drawing boards, bending the clay as little as
possible. If you have used self-hardening clay,
follow the directions for hardening that come
with the clay.

Gary Price, Wasp

used by permission

Students making round shapes can be given a

cube of clay instead of a thick slab. They pat
the cube into a ball, then a flattened ball, and
then continue to flatten or roll until the slab is
1/2 thick. Have a piece of sturdy cardboard or
heavy cloth for each student to work on.

If you have used pottery clay, place the sculptures where they can dry slowly, undisturbed.
For the first day or so, cover the pieces with
lightweight plastic, then lift the plastic slightly,
and then take it off. Make sure the sculptures
are completely dry before firing them, or they
may break or explode during the firing. You
can tell if the clay is drying at an appropriate
rate by checking the pieces in the morning and
the afternoon. It is easy to look at the clay and
see which parts are dry and dull and which are
still moist. As clay drys, it shrinks; so you do
not want the edges of the clay to dry long before
the center of the piece because that will cause
shrinkage cracks around the outside.
After the sculptures have been fired, have the
students glaze the pieces in a solid color, so the
texture of the relief is emphasized, have the students paint the pieces or stain them with commercial stains or with dyes made for leather or
with liquid shoe polish and then spray them
with a ceramic sealer. Have both glossy and flat
sealers available so the students can pick the one
that best matches the textures of their artwork.
Glazed pieces will need a second firing. If you
have never glazed clay before, get some instruction.

58

HELPS
Suggestions of textured items
rocks of various kinds,
including one that has been
smoothed by tumbling in a
stream or a rock tumbler
bark from different trees
fabrics
sanded, finished wood
sticks
leaves
plastic bowl
glass
window screen
smooth leather, suede
hemp string, pearl cotton
heavy rag paper
slick paper from ads
hair or fur
fired clay
wet clay
cornstarch mixed with water
oil
seeds
fruits and vegetables
yarns
bottle caps
and so onuse your imagination!
Supplies
Self-hardening clay probably can be purchased
most cheaply from a crafts and art supplies catalog through your school or district office. Art
teachers will have catalogs if you dont.
Pottery clay can be purchased from stores such
as Interstate Ceramics in Orem. You can look
under Ceramics in your local phone book, or
check with a local high school or college teacherthey may be able to point you to a good
source or may have extra studio clay made
from scraps, which you can purchase for a reasonable price. Just make sure you know what
conethe clay fires to. (The cone indicates the
temperature the clay matures at. It will appear
as a symbol followed by a number, like 5.
The numbers [and temperatures] go up from

110 and down from 01 014.) If you dont

know what temperature the clay should be fired
to, you may end up with extremely porous and
brittle sculpturesunderfiredor you may end
up with distorted or even melted sculptures
overfired.
You can expect to pay about $5.25 for a
25-lb bag of ready-to-use clay, although many
stores give discounts for purchases of 50 lbs or
more. One 25-lb bag of clay will be enough for
12, 1 x 6 slabs, which will make sculptures
about 10 x 10, with leftover clay for adding
the relief.
Glazes and sealants can be purchased at any
local crafts store or may be ordered.
Prices of glazes vary widely because the cost of
the colorants varies widely.
Small boards may be available at local cabinetry shopsin their scrap barrelsusually free.
Skinny pieces of fine-grained woods like maple
and birch can be made into modeling tools using
a belt sander. A parent may be willing to make
these for you. For ideas on useful shapes, look
at the wooden tools sold in craft stores or talk
to someone who is experienced in working with
clay. Tongue depressors and popsicle sticks are
useful as is and the ends can be sanded straight
by hand. Buy round wooden tooth picks or
bamboo skewersthey make fairly good cutting
tools and are very cheap.
Cellulose sponges are good for cleanup, and
they can be cut into 2 x 1 pieces that, when
moistened, are useful for smoothing edges and
blending joined parts.
Pieces of sturdy cardboard can be cut from cardboard boxes. Furniture and appliance stores
generally have the biggest boxes; and if asked,
store owners may save boxes for you.
Material stores or clothing manufacturing plants
throw away heavy cardboard tubes all the time.
Use a band saw or hand saw to cut to size.
59

Use some parents or the students to collect items

with texture; ask for donations of materials,
share supplies with another teacher.
Yard sales and thrift stores may have items useful as stamps as well as rolling pins, spoons,
forks, and knives, and may be a source for
heavy cloth at low prices.
An art teacher at your school or in your district
may be willing to loan tools, give advice, provide firing, recommend a place that will fire the
pieces, or to provide advanced students as helpers.
Ceramics students from a local college may also
be willing to help, as may parents or local potters or sculptors.
ArtPressed Flowers
Objective: The students will demonstrate their
understanding of composition and texture by
creating a pressed flower arrangement.

a rain because the flowers will mold when

pressed.
5. Cut about 3 to 4 of stem with the flower,
and if there are no leaves on the stem, cut a
few leaves. As you cut, put the stems in water
to keep the flowers fresh.
6. Gather small flowers; one large flower will
dominate the arrangement. Thick flowers
(daisies and dandelions) will not press well.
7. Be sure to include some interesting grasses
and leaves and small bits of moss.
8. Choose flowers and other plant materials that
have similar and/or contrasting textures.
9. Press the flowers on the same day they are
picked, if possible, and if not, be sure to keep
them in water.
Have newspaper that is at least one-week old
(so the ink will not transfer to the petals) or
unprinted newspaper to press the flowers in.
Start with a board on the bottom and then layer
the flowers between double sheets of newspaper. Place another board on top, with bricks
or heavy books, and leave them alone for six
weeks.

The following ideas were gleaned from the book

Art From Many Hands by Jo Miles Schuman,
Davis Publications, Inc. 1981
Plan ahead because students will need to gather
and press flowers six weeks before the actual art
project. The students need to be aware of several things before you assign them to bring in
flowers. Please go over these points with your
students.
1. Some flowers are protected; the State
Division of Natural Resources will send you
a list.
2. Always ask permission if the flower is
growing on private property.
3. When you pick (or better yet, cut ), always
leave some flowers for others to enjoy and be
as careful as you can with the plant so it will
bloom again.
4. The best time to gather flowers is the late
morning or late afternoon. Do not pick after

Show the students examples of works of art and

actual flower arrangements and discuss composition and what makes an effective design,
including ideas about using texture effectively
(you could perhaps have a floral arranger come
in).
60

The flowers are fragile when dry, so have your

students handle them carefully. They will
place the flowers on a piece of mat board that
has been cut to fit a piece of cellophane, glass,
or plexiglass. Have the students arrange their
flowers. The leaves and moss can be used to
cover the bare stems of the flowers. Students
should consider the texture as well as the color
and shapes of the materials. When the students
get a composition they like, they carefully use
a toothpick and dab glue on the flowers, one at
a time. Then they place the glass or plexiglass
over the arrangement and bind the glass to the
mat board with 3/4 tape. White is best as it
doesnt over power the light hues and delicacy
of the flower petals.
Or, for a much less expensive finish, have the
students place cellophane over the flowers and
attach the backing to a purchased or studentmade mat. Another possibility is to fold a piece
of cardstock, or other sturdy paper, in half, glue
the flowers to the front of the cardstock, cover
the flowers with cellophane, and then glue a
cardstock frame shape to the front of the card,
over the flower arrangement.
Creative Movement
Objective: The students will explore qualities of
movement inspired by the artwork Irises.
After viewing the slide of Irises (or better, viewing it at the museum) go into the gym and have
students choose a space on the floor. Have students explore various ways of moving through
their space that the piece inspires (time: slow;
space: curvy force: light; flow: free).
Discuss with the students what kind of music
would help them move that way. Play some
(have some prepared) and have students move
again. Also discuss the shapes the piece inspires.
Have each student keep exploring ideasways
to move suggested by the piece. Begin giving
them just 8 counts of music over and over again.
Tell them to create in those 8 counts a dance

of Irises. Make sure they start and end with a

shape that fits. Let them rehearse 5 or 6 times.
Have half the group perform while half watches
and then let the other half perform.

sojourner.nclack.k12.or.us/studentShowcase.html
Science/ArtDrawing the Parts of a Flower
Objective: The students will learn the parts of a
flower and be able to label them on a drawing
and point them out on a real flower.
After going over the parts of a flower with
the students and having them be able to label
the parts, discuss whether they really know
that flower; if they really appreciate it and can
understand their connection to it. Read pages
51-53 and 119-122 from The Island by Gary
Paulsen and parts about Vincent van Gogh in
the first chapters from If You Want To Write, by
Brenda Ueland.
Discuss these with your students and then go to
a field or a city garden or to visit the Sundance
farm in Midway, and have the students bring
sketchbooks. There are great ideas to help the
students in books like Nature Drawing: A Tool
For Learning by Clare Walker Leslie and A Trail
Through Leaves by Hannah Hinchman. Have
the students walk around until they find a flower that speaks to them and have them observe it
61

Space
Allen Craig Bishop, La Semilla Brota
Art
Materials:
photocopies on heavy paper of the contour of
La Semilla Brota for each student (on next page)
scissors
tape
paint, markers, colored pencils, or crayons
blank paper to make map
Objectives: 1. The students will use their own
aesthetic sense to create a map of a multipieced artwork. 2. Students will learn what is
meant by positive and negative space and by
break up of space. 3. Students will create their
own multi-pieced artwork with a corresponding
title and map.
1. Make photocopies of the contour drawing
of La Semilla Brota . Explain that this is similar
to the map Mr. Bishop sends to galleries and
museums so they can hang his work correctly.
Pass one to each student and have them cut out
the shapes that correspond to the actual pieces
that make up the entire work known as La
Semilla Brota. Tell the students they will be creating a new map with these shapes and therefore, they will be part of the creation of a new
artwork, one that probably will be very different
from La Semilla Brota.
Have the students color each of their cut-out
parts uniquely. (Use La Semilla Brota as an
example if the students have trouble thinking
of what to do.) After each piece is colored, have
the students arrange each piece shape so that
it touches another piece shape. These colored

Allen Bishop, La Semilla Brota, rearranged

shape pieces should be arranged by the student
to create a final shape which is different from
Allen Bishops La Semilla Brota.
Have the students make a map for their original artworks. Have the students exchange their
pieces along with the map. Have the students
hang their classmates artwork by following
their map. Have a gallery show in your classroom (or wherever you decided to hang the
pieces) and discuss the variety of pieces created
using only one set of basic shapes.
2. SPACE can have several meanings in an
artwork. Space is an element of art and is an
important part in the creation of the artworks
composition. First of all, space can mean
62

63

the creation of the illusion of

three-dimensional space on a
two-dimensional surface. That
basically just means the artist
uses certain techniques (like perspective, overlapping, vertical
placement, size differences, and
atmosphere) to create a sense
of depth on a flat picture. (see
examples of these techniques in
Brian Kershisnik's painting, Flight
Practice with Instruction)
Secondly, space can mean the
break-up of space within a format. This means that an artist
will divide (or break-up) the
space inside the borders of his/
her format with shapes or lines
to create an interesting composition. Lastly, space can be used
to describe the positive and negative spaces
within an artwork. Sometimes described as
figure/ground relationships instead of positive/
negative space, the positive space is usually the
object or figure in the artwork; and the negative
space, or ground, is the space in-between and
outside of the object or figure. For example, in

J.T. Harwood's painting Boy and Cat, the boy,

bench, and cat are the positive spaces (or figures) and the air or space around the boy and
bench is the negative space (or ground). Most
people are not aware of the negative spaces in
artworks, but they are an extremely important
part of the composition in any artwork.
Allen Bishops La Semilla Brota primarily deals
with the second and third descriptions of space
stated above (the break up of space and positive/negative space relationships).
Exercise to learn break up of space in a format:
First, create an interesting format for the artwork on a piece of paper. A format is the edges
of the artwork. In most paintings the format is
rectangular, but in La Semilla Brota, the format
is irregular. You can have the students create a
geometric format by using a ruler or compass
to define the edges of their artwork or they can
create a more organic format by tracing parts of
leaves, shells, hands, etc. Once students have a
format, they can begin to design their composition.
Second, your students will now learn to break
up the space they have enclosed within their
64

format. Again, the students can break up the

space with any kind of shapesgeometric or
organic. A simple way to break up the space is
to draw varied lines from one side of the format
to the other. The space within the format will
be broken up by these shapes and lines. Last,
have students color the shapes they have just
created to make an interesting design.

the students measure their own artwork made

during the art activity explained previously.

3. Extension: Students can further break up the

space by cutting out some of the shapes they
have created from their artwork and rearranging
them to create a new artwork. If the shape(s)
the students cut out touch the edge of the format, they will have altered the format with negative space(s), as Allen Bishop did in La Semilla
Brota. Have students document their favorite
compositions by creating maps or plans of
the artworks. Allen Bishop arranged his composition like a sprouting seed. Students should
experiment to see what their pieces can form
(you may want to have a game to see how many
arrangements your students can come up with)
and then give them titles. Remind the students
to write the titles down next to their maps,
so they dont forget them. Have class members
exchange artworks and pieces and then use their
favorite arrangement from the maps, and hang
the pieces on the wall along with the title. You
can have the students rearrange their artworks
every day for a week in a library, hall, classroom, or office. Have fun!

Objective: The students each will demonstrate

their understanding of positive and negative
spaces by creating an original tessellation.

You may want to expand the lesson by having

students measure other odd-shaped items in
your classroom or outdoors.

Tessellationsusing math in art

Show the class the slide of La Semilla Brota, if

you havent already completed one of the art
activities. Briefly discuss positive and negative
space. Then show the students a tessellating
puzzle or some artwork containing tessellations.
Assign one of the suggested activities, using
information from the next page, Information on
Tessellations.

MathFinding Area
Objective: students will learn how to find the
approximate circumference and area of irregular
shapes.

Student tessellation from Ms. Woodburn's Sixth

Grade Class, Buchanan Elementary. Pierre, SD
gw011.k12.sd.us/student.htm

Review the principles of geometry that allow

calculation of circumference and of area. Now
show the students the slide of La Semilla Brota
and tell the students they will apply the same
principles to find the circumference and area of
irregular shapes.
You may want to demonstrate how to measure
these shapes using Bishops piece. Then have

65

Possible activities:
1. Have the students explore several shapes to
see which ones tessellate and which dont. For
example, hexagons tessellate but octagons dont.
When theyve found a shape they like which
tessellates, have them fill a page and color the
shapes to make an interesting, attractive pattern.
2. The students should choose a basic shape that
tessellates and modify the shape to make a person, object, animal, or complex design that tessellates. See the internet for some student-generated examples.

show the students how space is organized in a

building format and then how blueprints are created to use as a map for the builders.

3. Get directions for kaleidocycles and have

each student make one. Davis Publications has
an excellent packet with directions and examples
for $13.95
4. After designing a tessellating shape, the students will cut 12-15 of the shapes from heavy
paper or cardboard and use them as a puzzle.
Let students exchange puzzles with other students and have fun putting the various puzzles
together.
5. For advanced students: After the students
have created a tessellating figure based on a
geometric shape such as a hexagon, have the
students create another tessellating figure based
on the same geometric shape. The students will
then create transitions from the first design to
the second design, making a very complex piece
of art. See M. C. Eschers art for examples.
6. Have the students see how many examples
of tessellating designs they can find in a week.
They can make a list or make simple sketches of
the designs.

Science
Show La Semilla Brota as an interest catcher for a
lesson on botany and seed germination.

Social Studies/Architecture
Have an architect visit your classroom and share
his or her experiences in the profession with
your students. Tell the architect you want her to 66

KaleidocyclesMore Math and Art

Objective: The students will make a patterned
kaleidocycle.
One very fun manipulation of space is to make
a patterned kaleidocycle and then see what the
different designs look like. using triangles to
form a moveable ring.
Show the students some examples of M. C.
Esher's work so they can see how he manipulates visual space to achieve interesting effects
and designs.
Then give each student a copy of the kaleidocycle pattern. (Print these on sturdy paper.) The
students should color or draw in a design, filling
all the triangles and leaving the parts that say
"G" bare. (If the students color on the parts to be
glued, they rarely glue as easily because the surface is now slick.) Possible patterns or designs
are to create a landscape in the four seasons, one
season on each section, a pattern which evolves
for each section, or a pattern that has a variation
for each section.
When the design is finished, students should
crease the paper carefully on the lines. To put
the kaleidocycle together, put glue along the
tabs on the long side. Put the kaleidocycle
together around a broom handle or some other
cylindrical object the right size. This gives you
something to push against so the glue will
stick. Then start at the end which has the tabs,
and crease the kaleidocycle so the tabs line up
against each other. Next, crease at each line that
is horizontal across the tube of the kaleidocycle,
alternating directions so you have a shape like
that below.

Now form the creased tube into a circle. Put

glue on one of the flaps and glue it in place by
holding two sides and touching one finger to the
middle. Be careful not to use so much glue that
it glues the tube ends together. You want only to
glue the tabs to the corresponding section, otherwise, the kaleidocycle will not work well. Then
turn the kaleidocycle until the unglued flap is
up. To turn the kaleidocycle, press gently up or
down on the center section and it will rotate.
Now carefully glue the other flap, using a toothpick to place a small amount of glue on the flap
and holding as before. This is the trickiest part
and sometimes two people can do it better than
one. You will want to practice a couple of times
so you can do it well.
When the kaleidocycle is finished, if you look
straight down at it, it will look like the drawing
below.

Turn it by gently pressing the center and rotating so what has been the top row goes through
and the next row comes up. For a moving illustration:
ccins.camosun.bc.ca/~jbritton/kaleidocycle.gif
To make more durable kaleidocycles, copy the

67

pattern on to cardstock. Before folding, students

will need to score the lines. You will need rulers with one metal edge and either dull exacto
knives or some other not-too-sharp knife such
as a letter opener. Show students how to lightly
score the lines before folding them. If you make
the kaleidocycles out of cardstock, you will need
to use a strong glue such as white glue, tacky
glue, or a glue gun. If you have adults such as
aides who can help, the glue gun is best.
For larger kaleidocycles, enlarge the pattern
onto 11 x 18" paper.
You can also make kaleidocycles that have only
three pairs, and therefore, make a wider kaleidocycle from an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper.
Enlarge this one or draw one that is 11 long.

Information on Tessellations
A tessellation is a repeating pattern that fits
together without gaps. The most common
examples are tile floors or counters and brick
walls. Artists sometimes use tessellating
designs. The students may be familiar with the
art of M. C. Escher, which has been reproduced
on ties, t-shirts, posters etc., even if they dont
know his name.
Escher himself became interested in tessellations after a visit to the middle east, where he
saw many intricate tile floors. After he returned
from his trip, he began experimenting with tessellating designs. You may want to show the
students some examples of his and other artists
work that uses tessellating designs as part or all
of the artwork.
In addition to books about M. C. Escher, you
may find other books with helpful information about tessellations such as Introduction to
Tessellations by Dale Seymour and Jill Britton,
Dale Seymour Publications, Palo Alto, Ca., or M.
C. Escher Kaleidocycles, Pomegranate Artbooks,
Inc., available through art catalogs. Also, search
the internet using Tessellations and M. C.
Escher as key words.
Students may enjoy playing with and/or making their own tessellating puzzle. The puzzle
can be part of or instead of the outlined activity.
Puzzles are available at many educational toy
stores. The DaMert Company of Berkeley, CA
makes several versions of a puzzle called Busy
Beetles. The 64-beetle size sells for about $12.
There are an infinite number of ways to create
tessellations, but the easiest is to start with a
grid of some kind, such as the following examples, which were created using the graphic program in WordPerfect and then reduced in size to
use as illustrations. Another way to start a tessellation is to use a grid of dots.

For a geometry lesson, you can choose a shape

or shapes the students are learning about, such
as scalene triangles, and have the students
experiment to discover how scalene triangles fit
together to make a tessellating design, as shown
below.

These simple designs can become interesting

when other shapes are drawn within each shape.
69

To make more complex shapes, simply take

one shape which can tessellate and modify the
shape, making each modification of the shape
have an opposite or compensating modification.

paper and color them with any appropriate

medium. Added details make the designs more
interesting. If you have the computer capability
and want your students to gain experience with
computer graphics programs, have students
scan in their designs and copy and paste to
make a full-page tessellation, as shown below.
This was scanned into Photoshop and inserted
into Quark but it could also be inserted in Word
or a WordPerfect file.

Have the students sketch out their tessellating

design or object. As shown below, fish can create a tessellating shape that fits the space of a
rectangle made from two scalene triangles.

Students can make the final tessellating design

by cutting out shapes from different colors of
construction paper and gluing them to paper
backing, or they can draw the shapes on white

Even black and white printers can be used to

produce interesting variations of the tessellation. You could tie this activity into a lesson
on the art element VALUE. (See Activities for
Michael Workmans In DarknessNevertheless
Illuminated, this packet, for background information on VALUE and more ideas for teaching
VALUE.)
If you have a color printer, advanced students
can explore all kinds of ways to vary their tessellations. Even exploring color possibilities on
a color monitorwithout printing the designs
can help students see, and therefore understand,
the differing effects color can produce. (See
Activities, Robert Marshall, Snow Canyon, this
packet for information about COLOR and ways
to teach the effective use of this art element.)

70

Human Proportion
Georgi Melikhov, Victory Day in Berlin
Proportion is the power that brings out the smile
on the face of things.
-Le Corbusier
Proportion refers to, portion or part in relation
to the whole. The relation between things or
magnitudes, as to size, quantity, numbers, etc.
The relationship between parts or things, especially harmonious, proper, or desirable relationship, balance or symmetry. Artists design proportions within a work to best express content.
In art or science or math, proportion refers to
how parts relate to each other and to the whole.
Human proportions affect architecture and furniture design. Much of what we perceive as
desirable or beautiful is based on the proportions of the human body. After all, everyones
favorite subject is themselves, and if we can
see our self in a work of art or a building or the
landscape, we will usually like it. The comparative relationship of the parts of a composition
to each other and to the whole is a major part of
what artists do to create.* The historic attempts
of philosophers and artists to discover or establish mathematical rules of proportion that would
lead to aesthetic compositions are older than the
ancient Greeks.
Similarities in proportions within groups of
people have permitted fashion designers to
standardize clothing. Modern mass-produced
plywood or plastic furnishings are also designed
to suit average proportions. The Classical Greek
sculptor Polykleitos created noble athletic figures in which the height of the body was pre-

Georgi Melikhov, Victory Day in Berlin

cisely eight times the length of the head. This
rule was not intended so much to reflect reality
as to perfect it. Much of the Classical Greek
Parthenon was constructed according to the
principle of the Golden Section, which states
that a small part must relate to a larger part as
the larger part relates to the whole.

Scale and Ratio

Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of proportion in visual art by drawing
a portrait of a human head (self-portrait) which
reflects the generic proportions of the human
face.
Materials: Pencil and good drawing paper and
a face or two to look at.
To introduce the topic, show the students an
assortment of artwork featuring reasonably
71

realistic people such as Victory Day in Berlin,

Georgi Melikhov; Little Mother, J. T. Harwood;
A Compromise of Freedom and Control: Self-portrait, Connie Borup; Aetatis L Self-Portrait, Bruce
Smith; Jane Dallin-the Artist's Mother, Cyrus
Dallin.(sma.nebo.edu)
Process: Demonstrate to the students how to
draw a full frontal view of the human face.
Begin with the common face shape of the egg
or ovoid. With very young students this is not
a particularly easy shape to draw. The proportions, relationship of the big end and the little
end of the egg shape is subtle and the transition
lines between top and bottom need to possess a
fluid quality to integrate the two disparate ends.
There will be an insistence on drawing faces as
circles. Point out that the face is not separate

This photograph clearly shows the egg shape

of the head
from the whole head but is part of it. To draw a
face the artist/student must first draw the shape
of the whole head to have a place to put the
face. Point out that a circle shape does not allow
the face/head to have a chin and how strange
we would look without chins.
The great problem with young students is that
they perceive the face to start at the hair line or

under the bangs rather than at the top of the

head. Thus the round smiley face we are all so
familiar with. Point out that no one is completely chinless, thus the egg shape...no one has
an ear to ear U shape for a mouth and lips
require more than one line and that no one has
two little black dots for eyes. The smiley face
is a symbol of a face, not a likeness, just as the
five pointed pentangle is a symbol for a star
but actually looks nothing like the astronomical
body called star.
While the child schema of the two eye dot
smiley face is delightful and cute, if students
are not taught to draw with some proportional
reality they will soon stop drawing all together.
They will not be able to withstand the critical
onslaught of their peers. Very few people who
continue to enjoy making art into adulthood
persist in the child schema. Perhaps with the
exception of the Swiss artist Paul Klee. As adult
viewers of art, we are not very entertained by
other adults who produce the naive and unsophisticated art of children. In fact, even Paul
Klee never thought that he had achieved the
child- like nature. Perhaps that is because he
was not a child.
We only approach this subject here to get past
our adult need to allow children to keep on
being children. It is strange that we dont
persist in this mind set in literacy and math.
Starting in Kindergarten or earlier we want children to learn adult ideas of alphabet and word
writing and numeral counting, and we become
alarmed when a child refuses to learn to do it
our way. However, in art we are loath to let
children lose their naive and immature approach
to visual communication. This undermines both
the empowerment of the next generation and
the valuing of art as a legitimate form of communication in our society. It is easy to observe
both of these issues at work in our own culture.
Now back to this project! After demonstrating the egg head, have students fold a piece
of drawing paper into quarters, revealing four
thinking spaces. Draw the lines on the folds
72

This is an example of child schema drawing by

Kaycee in the first grade
(The other drawings are by Kaycee in the
second grade)
to create the spaces. Lead students in drawing
the loose searching for the shape approach,
to finding the shape they want. If a student
draws dark lines, she has no chance to adjust
the lines. Start light and work toward darker
and more and more accuracy. No need to erase
the light, searching construction lines. Erasing
mistakes and errors is a literacy issue not an art
issue. Learn to draw light and go darker rather
than draw dark and ruin the paper by trying to
erase, which isnt really possible anyway. Even
if the line is gone, the texture of the paper has
been changed and accepts the graphite differently. Use the whole arm, and not just the fingers or the hand. Look for smooth, consistent
curves in the egg shape. We are not looking for
an ellipsoidal oval but rather the ovoid form
where one end is larger and one end smaller in
its curvilinear diameter. OK, enough all ready!
This redundant information is included only to
help readers see that other disciplines use these
art ideas and define them more specifically.
Personally, I really like to teach children words
and ideas, no matter how obscure or apparently
trivial, which their parents dont know.
Practice the ovoid (egg head) form at least four
times and turn the paper over and practice four
more times on the other side. Have students
look at different people around their work station and practice drawing (searching for) the
specific ovule shape of their head. The hair may

This is an example of Kaycees face mapping

done after practicing the egg shape and eight
mapping practices. It takes some time.
camouflage the top curve of the head. If you
happen to be lucky enough to be bald, have
students draw the shape of your head or bring
some other chrome dome in as a model.
After the students have demonstrated some
proficiency in rendering the egg head demonstrate on the board the basic human facial proportions. See illustration.
Depending on the text or the artist these generic
proportions will slightly vary. Depending on
the individual being drawn the facial proportions will also vary.
Articulate the proportions as well as showing
them. Eyes are about half way between the top
of the head (not top of face) and the bottom of
the chin. The bottom of the nose is about half
way between the eyes and the bottom of the
chin. The bottom lip is about half way between
the bottom of the nose and the bottom of the
chin. The space between the eyes is about the
same size as the width of the eye. The width of
the nose is about the same as the space between
the eyes. (most people with wide noses also
have wide apart large eyes). The width of the
mouth is about the width between the pupils of
the eyes while looking straight ahead.
73

This is an example of Kaycees generic girl face.

dont want to send the message that the process

of learning is less important than the product
learned. Practice should take place on the same
or similar paper that the finished project is to
be on. On one side of the paper have students
draw four generic face maps. Do not try to
draw eyes or nose or mouth. Just make little
scribbles or lines which approximate the size
and placement of the facial feature. We perceive a drawing of an eye to be an eye primarily
because of where it is located and its proportional relationship to the rest of the drawing. Have
students do this four times. If they seem to start
being bored have them study their classmates
face and render their proportional schema.

The proportions are easy to remember even if

only loosely accurate. As students grow in skill
and perception the proportional schema will
refine itself. Here we are only introducing the
idea of human facial proportions.
Have students make four more thinking spaces
on another piece of drawing paper. Avoid
using cheap, untenable paper like newsprint
for drawing. Also be careful about make a distinction between sketching and drawing. We

This is an example of using

RembrandtsChiaroscuro to create depth

This is an example of a face mapping

portrait of a boy at Kaycees table.

Turn the paper over. In one of the thinking

spaces have students do a self-portrait based on
the generic schema. A self-portrait is a picture
of the only person that you can never actually
look at. Therefore, to make it look like the artist,
specific characteristics such as freckles, length
and value and texture of hair, hair decorations
like ribbons and berets, hair style like braids,
moussed spikes, crew cut and pony tails and
size and color of eyes and so forth can be used
to get the portrait to be specific. After they finish the first self-portrait, have students draw
portraits of specific classmates sitting close
enough to get a full facial frontity view of
74

their neighbor. After two quick renderings of

friends, have them draw in the fourth thinking
space a portrait of their teacher. Most students
revel in the drawing of their teacher. As they
get older they want to satirize the teacher. This
is not a bad thing. It is not possible to draw
a funny, satirical, cartoon of a person without
knowing how to draw it proportionally correct
in the first place.
To end this project have students render a large
self-portrait on a good sheet of drawing paper
using all of the proportional techniques they
have learned. These finished projects should be
suitable for exhibition. In my second grade class
this project can be done in one or two 50- minute sessions. Most of the students will be finished with all of the schemes and all of the practice drawings in less than a class period. The
second class period is always devoted to the finished rendering. Since some students work faster than others, have the quick ones(not necessarily better) do a Rembrandt-like textural shading
in the background to bring the face forward in
the picture plane. This is called chiaroscuro, an
Italian word for light and dark and a technique
for manipulating value to create the illusion of
depth and to increase the dramatic atmosphere
of the work, but thats another lesson.
Evaluation and Exhibition: One of the effective

This is Kaycees
self-portrait.

ways for students to learn about criticism and

evaluation is to have them evaluate each others
work in non-threatening, kindly ways. Since the
facial proportions or arbitrary let the students
determine if each other have come close enough
to fulfill the demands of human facial proportions.
Related Projects: This self-portrait project
works well with color blending lessons. To
color the human face with any hope of realism,
students must be able to perceive the color the
they are looking for. Have students look at the
skin on their arm and try to mix colored pencils
to achieve this same color. (find a lesson on color
mixing).
To pursue the idea of anatomical proportions,
have students look at the rest of the human
body relationships. A schema for body proportions exists and can easily be learned and
incorporated into a lesson on human gestural
qualities. If the whole human body seems too
complex, try doing a lesson on the proportion of
the human hand. Obviously, each persons hand
is different, but there is generic proportional
schema which is what we recognize as a hand.
After a general schema is explained and demonstrated, the best way to master the process is
to observe the phenomena in nature by looking
at your own hand and drawing what you see.
The proportions of the human face and hand are
probably hard wired into our brain before birth
as a survival strategy rather than a learned perception based on observation. This should make
these lessons pretty easy and most students very
accommodating because deep inside they suspect the truth of these ideas.
Vocabulary: Proportion, Harmony, Self-Portrait,
Chiaroscuro, Schema,

This work was done at the end of the section on

face proportions. No instruction was given in
how to draw eye, nose, mouth or hair.

Bibliography: Understanding Art, by Lois

Fichner-Rathus. Serious Drawing: A Basic
Manual , by Casey FitzSimons. Constructive
Anatomy, by George B. Bridgman.
Figure Drawing: The Structure, Anatomy, and
Expressive Design of Human Form, 4th ed., by
Nathan Goldstein.

Playing With Proportion

Objective: Students will examine artworks in
which the human form is depicted in non-typical proportions. Students will create an artwork
that uses distorted proportion and will analyze
their response to the assignment.
Once students have a reasonably clear idea of
what typical human proportions are, they can
decide whether to use those proportions or to
deliberately distort proportion. Show the class
some examples of artworks that use distorted
proportion such as the following:
Ava, Cass C. Barney
Self in Studio, Lee Udall Bennion
Fantasies of the Sea, James C. Christensen
all at sma.nebo.edu
Jeanne Hebuterne With Necklace and others,
Amedeo Modigliani at allposters.com
Quatre figures sur un Socle, Alberto Giacometti
at www.mamrio.com.br/slideshow_1.html
Have students discuss how the distortion affects
the meaning or affect of the works. Ask: How
would the works be different if they were proportioned normally?
Have students choose a way to distort the
human figure and make at least three sketches.
They should discuss the effectiveness of the
drawings with another student in the class or
with a small group. They should discuss whether the composition works as a whole, so that the
distortion is an integral part of the work rather
than something superimposed on it. After the
discussion, they can choose one of the sketches
or rework an idea and then complete an artwork
using the medium and approach of their choice.
Assessment: Students should keep the artwork
as part of their portfolio. In addition to assessing skills the class or student is working on, the

Cass C. Barney, Ava

used by permission
student should write a short response to the
work, answering the question of whether creating an artwork with deliberately distorted proportion is an approach they want to continue to
explore or whether the experience has solidified
their disinterest in that kind of artwork.
Variation: Young children can do the same lesson, just use language they will understand, and
assess according to criteria you establish beforehand such as whether they made 3 sketches, the
distortion in their artwork is consistent, the artwork fills the page, etc.

Proportion in
Animal Sculpture
Silvia Liz Davis, Guest
Objective: Students will apply their knowledge
of proportion in creating a three-dimensional
figure
Show the slide of Guest as well as other slides of
sculptures of other animals.
If possible, bring in several animal sculptures
or live animals for the students to observe and
touch. Have students measure parts of the
sculptures, animals, or photographs of animals
to determine typical proportions of different
animals and different breeds of dog. See the
Science activity for Guest.
The measuring step and the whole idea of proportion is likely to be easier if you have done an
activity with typical human proportions. If you
havent, you may want to start with one. Use
calipers, if possible, and have several children of
different heights come to the front of the room.

(Calipers can be made out of cardboard, the two

arms joined with a brass fastenerthe kind with
two flat prongs that can be poked through paper

and the prongs folded flat, so the paper is held

together but can rotate.)
Measure from the top of the head to the chin.
Then measure other parts using the head size
as the measurement. If your students are very
young, they may not quite fit the standard,
which is 7 heads tall, 4 heads from hip to heel,
2 heads wide at the shoulders, and 1-1/2 heads
across the hips. However, the students will
come close, and different students are still likely
to be similar in proportion.
Have the students choose an animal to sculpt
out of soap, clay, wood, or found objects. The
sculpture may be a representation of the mythical dog the students wrote about, the breed
of dog they chose to investigate in the science
project, their own pet, or another animal. (Have
good photographs of various animals.)
77

is as you read or relate several myths to them.

For example, the myth of the phoenix, the myth
of Persephone, or a creation myth involving
the dog, such as "Ulgen the Creator," a Russian
creation story, found in a collection edited by
Virginia Hamilton entitled "In the Beginning,"
etc.
Discuss and list the components of a myth.
Discuss and list the components of a good
story. What is the proportion of the beginning
and end to the middle of a story? How much
description versus dialogue balances a story and
makes it interesting? How much detail about
character and setting versus the bare essentials?
Illustrations versus text only?
Dan Hildreth, Snow Shoe Hare
First, students will sketch their chosen animal,
measuring its proportions and trying to reproduce them. They should make sketches from
several angles since the sculpture will be threedimensional. Then the students should sculpt
the dogs (animals), using the measured proportions as best they can.
Display the dogs and the stories; invite another
class or parents to listen to the stories written by
the students and to see their artwork.
Variation: have students use photocopies of animals and measure the proportions, writing them
down on the paper. Then have students sketch
the animal freehand, trying to reproduce the
proportions correctly.

Language ArtsMyth

Have each student develop a myth (perhaps

about how the dog was created or what part the
dog played in the creation) and share it with the
class.
Students also can work with a partner or in a
small group to develop the myth.

DramaRole Play
Objective: Students will participate in role play
to develop an understanding of the relationship
between pets and their owners.
Students will show their understanding of proportion by creating objects with their bodies in
groups.
Use the following poems or other similar poems
you may have or prefer. Look for poems containing character and action.
MY DOG
by Marchette Chute

Objective: Students will show they understand

what a myth is by creating a myth about a
dog(s) and sharing it with the class.
Show the slide of Guest and ask for student reactions. Create a background for the piece: Where
did it come from? Whose dog was it? Does it
possess any magical or mystical qualities?, etc.
Ask the class to listen to discover what a myth

His nose is short and scrubby;

His ears hang rather low;
And he always brings the stick back
No matter how far you throw,

78

He gets spanked rather often

For things he shouldn't do,

Like lying-on-beds, and barking,

And eating up shoes when they're new
He always wants to be going
Where he isn't supposed to go.
He tracks up the house when it's snowing
Oh, puppy, I love you so.
Tom's Little Dog by Walter de la Mare
Tom told his dog called Tim to beg, And up at
once he sat,
His two clear amber eyes fixed fast, His haunches on his mat.

c) work in partners: one partner is the dog,

one the owner; then switch roles.
Divide the class into groups of eight or nine students each; have each group cooperate to form
a dog using their bodies (one person is one leg,
a foot, the head, the body, the tail) Can the dog
walk, wag its tail, eat, etc.?
Create a puppet show based on the creation
story or one of the poems (or students might
write their own poems about their pets to act
out). Or, create reader's theatre scripts based
on the creation stories written by the students
in the language arts area. Have the students
practice and perform for the rest of the classS-

Tom poised a lump of sugar on

His nose; then, "Trust!" says he;
Stiff as a guardsman sat his Tim;
Never a hair stirred he.
"Paid for!" says Tom; and in a trice
Up jerked that moist black nose;
A snap of teeth, a crunch, a munch,
And down the sugar goes!
(The poems are taken from "The Arbuthnot
Anthology of Children's Literature,- compiled by May Hill Arbuthnot and others, Scott,
Foresman and Company, 1976, page 35.
Discuss how each of the dog owners must have
felt about their pets. Then have the students,
working individually, show how they would
feed, pet, bathe, walk, play, etc., with their dog.
As a class prepare and recite the poems together
as a choral reading. Use solo, small group,
high, low, and medium voices with appropriate
expression to give dramatic impact to the reading. Vary the tempo and timing of the reading
appropriately as well.
Act out the poem(s):
As the teacher/leader reads the poem slowly
students may:
a) role play the dog
b) role play the owner

ScienceDogs
Objective: Students will identify the general
characteristics of the dog family. Students will
identify and explain the unique characteristics
(physical and temperamental) of a particular
breed of dog and share this information in an
illustrated report.
Show the class the slide of Guest and discuss the
general characteristics of
domestic dogs:
appearance
habits
uses in society
traditional ways of characterizing dogs
79

List as many breeds of dogs as the class can

think of. If possible, display some pictures of
these different breeds as well as others that may
not have been mentioned. Good information is
available on the internet; one good site is:
www.dogbreedinfo.com/abc.htm#W
Display a drawing and have students name as
many parts of a dog they can. Add as much
information as seems appropriate. Then compare the proportions of size (height/length) to
weight for several different breeds of dogs. Ask
students to examine how the different proportions are related to appearance. For example, do
dogs with broad faces generally weigh more for
their height than dogs with narrow faces? You
also may want to relate size, build, coat, etc., to
specific roles dogs have been bred to fill. For
example, Portuquese water dog, bred to herd
fish, and help fishermen. (see photo, previous
page)

MathGraphing
Objective: Students will create and explain a
graph based on an in-class poll. Students will
demonstrate their understanding of ratios by
interpreting their graph.
Explain how graphs are created and discuss
what kinds of information they best communicate.
Take a class poll (structure this as you see fit):
-how many students own dogs?
-how many students own pets?
-what breeds of dogs do students own'?
After tabulating the results, have the students
create graphs based on the information from the
poll. For more advanced students, have them
design and administer individual or group polls,
create a graph with effective labeling and display the graphs.
Have students calculate the ratio of students
with dogs as opposed to those without. Then
they can calculate the ratio of the most popular
breed to the least.

Social Studies
Objective: Students will investigate the use
and treatment of dogs (or other animals) in a
particular culture and share the results of this
research.
sled dogs
www.mountainlake.com/Sleddog4.htm
Each student (or in partners) will choose a breed
of dog and research its unique physical and
temperamental features. They will present their
findings in an illustrated report. If your classroom has access to the internet, this assignment
can be used as practice in researching techniques
for the web.

Each student (or team of students), with the

guidance of the teacher, should select a world
culture to investigate. The students should use
the following questions to guide their research:
-how are dogs used in this culture?
-how are they cared for?
-how are (or have they been) they depicted in
the art of the culture?
-do they contribute to the economy of the
culture?
-does one breed predominate?
80

Finding a Balance in Art

Raymond Jonas, Abstract Configuration
Objectives: Student will be able to identify why
people need balance, and explain why balance is
important in a work of art. Student will also be
able to explain how visual weight is created in
the students own work of art., describe different
types of balance, and create artwork that shows
balance.
State Core Standards: MakingStudents will
play with art materials and will begin to order
them by basic art elements and principles.
ExpressingStudents will explore and
create meaning in art.
Definitions and background for teacher:
balancePrinciple of design that deals with
arranging visual elements of art equally. It creates a sense of structural stability resulting from
looking at images in terms of gravity and mass
and judging them against common sense
ideas of physical structure. It generally refers to
the relationship between the left and the right
sides rather than between the top and the bottom. It usually results in weighing dissimilar
elements and is responsive to hue (color), value
( light and dark), intensity (bright and dull colors), and shape as well as placement. If a work
of art has visual balance, the viewer feels that
the elements have been arranged in a satisfying
way. Visual imbalance makes the viewer feel
that the elements need to be rearranged.
central axisImaginary central line that divides
a composition in half. The central axis is used to
measure visual weight in a work of art.

Wayne Kimball, Homo Barbatus Cum Tanto Dolore

CapitisBearded Man with Headache this Big

Ray Jonas, Abstract Configuration

81

There are different kinds of balance:

Formal balanceWay of organizing parts of a
design so that equal or similar elements are
placed on opposite sides of a central axis.
(Kimball) Formal balance suggests stability.
Symmetry is a type of formal balance.
Informal balanceWay of organizing parts of a
design so that unlike objects have equal visual
weight or eye attraction. Asymmetry is another
term for informal balance. (Jonas)
Radial balanceThis is a type of balance in
which forces or elements branch out from a central point, the axis, in a circular pattern.
symmetryType of formal balance in which
two halves or sides of a design are identical.
(Smith)

Balance is a principle of life. Every animal must

balance breathing in and breathing out. The
earth stays in orbit because the pull of the sun
is balanced by the earths spin. We need balance
to function every day. Standing up in a moving train or school bus is a problem in balance.
Because of your ability to balance, you can walk
on two limbs instead of four.
List and explain examples of balance. Balance
of power is a good example for fifth graders,
who are studying U. S. government.
A work of art must contain balance. Visual balance makes viewers feel the elements have been
arranged just right. Visual imbalance creates a
feeling of uneasiness. It makes viewers think
that something isnt quite right. You feel that
you need to rearrange something the same way
that you feel a need to straighten a picture thats
hanging crookedly on the wall.
Identify examples of formal balance. (Some
wedding invitations show formal balance).
Remember that formal balance is when equal
or very similar elements are placed on opposite
sides of a central axis (most artwork isnt formally balancedthe Kimball piece is close, but
not exact).

Tony Smith, Coleus

Introduction activities:
Try walking on a balance beam or a board in
the classroom. Try it holding a glass of water,
or hop with one foot up. Leg muscles shift in
weight to overcome the effects of gravity. You
balance the force of gravity with muscle force.
Examine a balance scale. Try placing objects
on one side and see how many objects it will
take to match the weight of an object on the
other side.

Symmetry is a special type of formal balance

where the two halves are exactly the same.
Locate objects in science that are symmetrical
(many flowers, insects, people, furniture, traditional architecture). Symmetry is stiff and
formal. Artists use formal balance to express
dignity, endurance, and stability. Because it is
so predictable, it can be very dull. Artists often
use approximate symmetry (small differences)
to make the image more interesting than perfect
symmetry.
Make a list of things you use that show formal
balance. Create an invitation that uses formal
balance. Find out which life forms are symmetrical.
Examine how radial balance is a complicated
form of symmetry. You may want to look at a
82

kaleidoscope to see a form of radial balance.

Also, examine flowers and plants that follow
radial patterns of growth. An orange is a good
example of radial symmetry. List at least five
objects that show radial balance.
Examine the sculpture by Raymond Jonas and
other artworks, including paintings, from the
Springville Museum. How do they show informal balance? Or do they? Informal balance
gives the viewer the same comfortable feeling as
does formal balance, but in a more subtle way.
It involves the balance of unlike objects. This
is possible because unlike objects can have the
same visual weight. Informal balance creates a
casual effect and seems less planned than formal balance. However, what appears to be an
accidental arrangement of elements can be quite
complicated. A large shape appears to be heavier than a small shape. Several small shapes can
balance a large one. Also, a small but complex
object can balance a large simple object.
Explain how Jonas uses different-sized objects
to balance one another. Is there a part that looks
like it might not balance? Do you think that an
artist can purposefully create something that
looks like it might tip over? Why would the
artist want to do that? Explain how the complicated shapes on Jonas piece help balance the
tipping large structure on the other side.
Examine works of art other than sculptures.
Observe how color shows balance. A high-intensity (bright) color has more visual weight than
a low intensity (dull) color. The viewers eye
is drawn to the area of bright color. An small
area of bright color is able to balance a larger
area of dull or neutral color. Also, warm colors
carry more visual weight than cool colors. Value
contrast gives visual weight, also. Black against
white has more weight than gray against white.
Using Balance in Sculpture
Study the mobiles of Alexander Calder and
create a mobile that shows balance. You may

http://www.flensted-mobiles.com/
want to use objects from nature, wire, and
string.
Collect natural materials such as bones, pine
cones, stones and use wire or a glue gun to
attach them to each other. Try to create a design
that uses informal balance.
Make a sculpture from units of manufactured
materials using cotton balls, cotton swabs, foam
cups, foam balls, tooth picks, straws, etc. Does
your sculpture exhibit balance? How?
Make units such as cubes, triangles or pyramids from paper. Group and glue these units
together. Be sure to show visual balance. Try
using color.
Use wood scraps and assemble them with
glue. You may want to try painting them with
acrylic paints. Be sure that your sculpture shows
balance.
Fragment and reassemble an object by sawing
it in slices, then gluing it slightly off yet still
creating balance.
83

Dance
With five students, create a shape that is balanced. If one student sticks out a leg, the student on the other side should stick out a leg.
Create several other shapes that are balanced.
Then move around the floor using different
dance movements i.e skip or hop. At a given
signal (rapid beats from a drum) create your
first balanced shape. Move around again. Then
freeze in the second balanced shape. Continue
until all the balanced shapes you have created
are used in your composition.
Using a group, try to create a shape with your
bodies that looks like Ray Jonas sculpture.
Writing
A diamante is a poem that is visually
balanced, so it looks like a diamond. Create a
diamante using the following formula:
1 word: subject (noun)
2 words: adjectives
3 words: participles (-ing or -ed endings)
4 words: noun or related subject
3 words: participles (-ing or -ed)
2 words: adjectives
1 word: noun, opposite of subject
Examples:

Child
Young, energetic
Playing, laughing, tumbling
Growth, change, knowledge, development
Working, achieving, succeeding
Older, wiser
Adult

Drama
Objective: Students will create frozen pictures
to represent balanced art.
Students will work cooperatively to improvise
a story based on their frozen picture. Show students the slide of Abstract Configuration and perhaps a few other examples of balance in a piece
of art.
Discuss what balance is and how it is shown in
each of the work(s). How are the components
put together in a way that is pleasing and balanced?
Divide the class into groups of eight or nine and
invite them to recreate one of the sculptures they
have seen, making a frozen picture. Have each
group show their frozen picture to the class.
Positively evaluate their efforts.
Then ask each group to improvise a story based
on how the components of the sculpture were
brought together. The focus of the story might
be creating balance. Have each group share
their improvisation with the rest of the class.
Next, have each group create a balanced piece
of art of their own design. Ask them to assign a
meaning to each shape in their creation and how
it adds to the beauty and balance of the whole.
Each group will share their creation and receive
feedback from the teacher and class members.

Country
Beautiful, peaceful
Calming, resting, flowering
Shade, trees, dust, smog
Rushing, hurrying, working
Busy, ugly
City
84

Gary Price, Cartwheeling Kids

Balance Can Be Tricky

Wulf Barsch, Toward Thebes

Balance in art can be trickytoo much or too
careful balance may make a composition feel
static and uninteresting; too little, and the artwork will make viewers uncomfortable.
Start by reviewing the kinds of balance with
students: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and
radial. (You may want to show them examples
of each: SymmetricalBonnie Phillips, Whole
Wheat on Tuna, this packet; RadialAnthony
Smith, Coleus I, sma.nebo.edu Op & Pop
packet; AsymmetricalRay Jonas, Abstract
Configuration, this packet.
Then show them the transparency of Toward
Thebes, by Wulf Barsch. Ask the students to look
closely at the different ways Barsch has created
a sense of balance in the painting. Encourage
students to think through their answers and to
notice what the effects of the different kinds of
balance are. (For example, the feeling of a solid
base that is created by the straight bands of
color and two equidistant objects in the bottom
section.)
If possible, show the class other artworks by
Barsch. You can find several others online, or if
you can get one, two different catalogs from past
shows have many images of his works
At sma.nebo.edu in Collection, Artist Name,
Barsch
Amduat and Toward Thebes
in the 2003 Spring Salon Catalog
Alpha Draconius
At byu.edu, libraries, Harold B. Lee Library,
Online Collections, Museum of Art
Seven Palms and Cumorah

Divide the students in groups and have them

identify ways Barsch has used simple landscape
and architectural elements to create his paintings of imaginary, religious, and/ or symbolic
places. Each student group should write an
aesthetic stance they believe appropriate for
Barschs work. Then the groups should share
their stances and compile a class version. This
aesthetic stance should be written out and displayed as part of the exhibit of artworks.
Have postcards, pictures from calendars, or
magazine pictures of landscapes and buildings for the students to look at. National
Geographic, Smithsonian, Architectural Digest,
85

and House Beautiful are good possibilities. But

you may also have or be able to find books with
good pictures. Students should choose two
pictures: one landscape and one of a building
or city scene. Each student should choose just
a few elements from each picture to include in
his or her imaginary landscape. These items
may have symbolic meaning for the student or
they may just be visually pleasing. Students
should make at least three planning sketches,
each a little different from each other. The items
should be much simplified, and balance of the
visual elements should be a primary concern.

an image of pyramids,

Take an image of sand dunes,

and an image of palm trees:

Combine elements of the three

images, and you have an artwork :
Wulf Barsch, Amduat

86

When the students have chosen a composition, then should lightly sketch the design on
a large sheet of good paper and then use a colored medium such as colored pencil, pastel, or
paint to complete the artwork. Students should
choose a title for their artwork and make a label
for the artwork. Students can self-assess their
work using a checklist like the one following.
The teacher can use the same checklist. The
artwork should be exhibited in an area of the
school set aside for that purpose.
Assessment checklist*
_____ Used two images as sources, one a landscape, one a cityscape or a building
_____ Chose 23 elements per image source
_____ Elements are observable, but not copied
_____ Overall artwork shows good balance: the
image doesnt lean to one side or the other, but is
interesting

* adapt as needed. For example, you may want

to add specific criteria relating to the use of other
principles of art, or you may need to define more
criteria, such as what constitutes "finished."
Variation: Art and Other Subjects. Barsch uses
Egyptian plant and architectural forms as well
as Greek and Hebrew letters. Have students
choose a country, civilization, culture or area of
the world that interests them in some way. Or
you can use a culture or country you are studying in Social Studies. Assign the students to find
information and images relating to that country or civilization. Students will complete the
assignment as above, using visual images found
in their research.
Other artists to use:
Hal Douglas Himes, Tabernacle (below)sma.
nebo.edu and byu.edu, Museum of Art online
collection
Rakar Westwww.rakarwest.com/paintings.
html

_____ Artwork is carefully done

_____ Artwork is finished

87

Variation and Repetition:

Found Object Relief
Sculpture
Background Information on Variety
The creative process builds on knowledge. The
more you know, the more resources you have
available to you. In both visual and preforming
(dance, music and drama) arts, we commonly
have themes and variations. Thus, variation and
repetition of a theme.
Unity is oneness or wholeness. A work of art
achieves unity when its parts seem necessary
to the composition. Artists frequently stir the
viewers interest by creating variety within
unity.
Variety is diversity; but without unity, it is confusion. Unity results in part from uniformity
of visual characteristics (visual elements of line,
shape, color, value and texture), while variety is
provided by dissimilar properties. The balance
between the boredom of too much uniformity
and the chaos of uncontrolled variety creates
continuity, vitality, and interest in both art and
life.

Visual unity (oneness) occurs through the interrelationship of all parts of an artwork so that
they fit together in a recognizable order. This
order may be simple or highly complex. ONE
PERSONS CHAOS IS ANOTHER PERSONS
ORDER. A composition can be related and unified by repeating and echoing certain shapes,
masses, colors, and lines as in Dennis Smiths
Barn Swallow.
Sometimes a work of art may appear to the inexperienced eye to have little unity. Look again
at Dennis Smiths found object sculpture. The
apparent disorganization adds to its sense of
fantasy, yet the repetition of somewhat similar
shapes, values of light and dark, textures and
lines produce a unified composition that holds
together. The differences between the elements
themselves provide interesting variety within
the basic unity.

Variation and Repetition, Found-Object

Relief Sculpture
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the visual principle of variety and
repetition as an important component of composition by gathering, organizing and exhibiting a
found object relief sculpture wall hanging installation.

Dennis Smith, Barn Swallow

Materials:
some kind of a picture frame, either found as
a frame or built from found objects.
enough found objects to have plenty to
choose from.
glue, string, tape, pins or any other material
88

with which to hang the objects on their back

drop
Process: The first requirement for an interesting art project is to have an interesting idea.
We want this project to be a group, cooperative experience but obviously this could be
done individually or in small groups but in this
instance we will use a whole class of students
and principles of cooperation to complete the
project.
The first step is to brainstorm the possible
themes and ideas. The second step is to build
consensus about this specific project. Third is to
divide up labor and responsibilities. The fourth
step is implementation or the construction of the
project . Fifth step is evaluation (what did we
learn?). Sixth step is exhibition.

playground). Remember that a theme can be a

visual theme like circles, shapes, textures, and
colors or it can be a physical property theme like
metal or plastic or wood or it can be a conceptual idea like summer or school or dreams or
toys. What we want the students to bring are
accessible objects which fit into a predetermined
category and can visually discuss the principle
of variety.
As each student brings in his or her found object
,some criteria needs to be used to determine
if it fits within the thematic parameters of the
project. Depending on the age of the students,
the found object assignment should be more
or less specific. I had a group of second grade
students who wanted to do metal. The variety

If we are going to use this project to learn about

variety, repetition, and unity ,then we need to
make sure that the idea (theme and material)
the students decide on is going to work with the
educational learning outcome.
Using Dennis Smiths found object sculpture
to stimulate discussion, have students decide
what would be a good theme and what material would be appropriate to express that theme.
Here are some examples from classes of first and
second grade art students:
Theme: Lines; Material: Strings and Ropes
and Twine and Wire.
Theme: Pins and Needles; Material: metal,
pins, needles, screws and nails. (pin, by itself
is a huge idea).
Theme: Nature; Material: Leaves. (or sticks
or rocks or roots or weeds or grass and so
forth).
Theme: Recycling; Material: Trash from the
playground.
Theme: Art; Materials: Art Supplies.
Theme: Metal; Materials: anything made of
metal.
Keep the theme accessible to the age group and
the material easy to find (dont overlook the
89

Pine cone Man, Each pine cone was

brought by a different student after they
had decided what they wanted to make.
second grade.

was unmanageably great. I had everything from

straight pins to hub caps to old plow blades
and one dad brought in an old truck transmission. We used them all, but for a free-standing
GESTURAL FIGURE . I changed the assignment
for the variety project for everyone to bring in
metal screws and nails. No two were identical,
and the objects were manageable enough to fit
into the metal frame and be composed into a
recognizable design.
When the student brings an object (they wont
all come at the same time) the group needs to
decide if they put one object at a time up or
collect them all and then organize them. The
difference is very visible in the final product.
The one student at a time approach has a
very lively spontaneous look while the chance
to come up with an over-all composition has a
more structured and sophisticated look. Both are
delightful and worthy of serious exhibition.
One important construction consideration
is how to stick the objects within the frame
together and to the background. Much depends
on the background. If the walls in your classroom dont want to be nailed, pinned to or

This is a conceptual project. The variety was

not in what the things looked like but in how
they were used to make art. This a view of
the construction. First grade.

This is a view of the finished project. It is about

three feet wide. It started with a hooked rug
hoop as a picture frame. Over 30 students participated. The theme was art supplies. The title
is MEDIUM
see detail, next page
glued upon, put a backdrop such as foamboard,
card- stock, plywood, carpet or such behind
the frame. Is it OK to have some of the objects
slightly out side the frame? Well of course...the
aesthetic police wont come and haul you away
if you creatively violate the sanctity of the border that you created. It is always OK to twist
the limits that you have invented. It is called
Reevaluation.
Evaluation and Exhibition: Since the objectives of this lesson are very specific, any critical
review or grading can be done as yes or no. For
classes of young Elementary students the quantitative grading system works well. Did they do
it or not? As students mature a qualitative system needs to take over to see exactly what and
how well the students know, master and use the
concept in their personal approach to works of
art. In this lesson it is obvious if a student or
group of students understand the ideas of variety by looking at the found objects they bring
to the project. Some discussion with the work
group may be appropriate and several days of
bringing things in may be required to get the
90

idea of variety and repetition in place.

A fun exhibition idea for students is to create
this project in the hall and get other students to
guess what the theme and material ideas are.
Related Projects: Besides the relief sculpture
work, this project can be done as a fully three
dimensional work. Found objects and the principle of variety can be used to build human
and animal forms as well as abstract design
motifs. A variation on this idea is the Andy
Goldsworthy process of found object sculpture that is preserved as a photograph. This is
a great way to incorporate the concept of three
dimensional variety into a two dimensional
idea. It is also a great way to exhibit the idea
and a good chance to teach some basic studio
photography techniques. Another extension of
this project (a very good one in fact) is to use the
finished wall hanging as the subject of a still life
rendering. The familiarity of bringing and

organizing the objects and composition of the

objects makes the drawing and coloring and
painting of them as a still life more accessible.
Remember: if you can see it, you can draw it
Bibliography:
Recycled, Re-Seen, by Laura Temple Sullivan,
Museum of New Mexico.
Hello, Fruit Face, The Paintings of Giuseppe
Arcimobldo, Prestel Adventures in Art.
Look-Alikes, by Joan Steiner, Little Brown and
Co.
Wood, by Andy Goldsworthy, Harry N. Abrams,
Inc.
Andy Goldsworthy at Google images

This is a detail view. Notice the variation and

repetition of the size and shape of the objects.

91

Variation and Repetition, Found-Object Sculpture

Secondary Level
Using much the same information and artists as the previous elementary lesson, you can teach a
secondary level lesson on found-object sculpture. The two photographs below show two views of a
sculpture made by a student at South Sevier High School using wooden pallets he found behind the
school and arranging them using rocks for balance. The repetition is obvious; variation is provided
by position, broken slats, and the value changes the light creates as it shines and on and through the
slats.

92

Variety Creates Interest

Lee Greene Richards, Grandma Eldredges
House, Salt Lake City
Objective: The students will explore how the
elements of art can create interest in an artwork
by providing variety. They will be able to define
the principle of variety and identify ways artists
have created variety in differing artworks.

Next, have the students sit down and ask them

to discuss the artworks. Ask them how they
enjoyed their tour of the class art gallery. Ask
the students what they like and dislike about
each artwork. When the students run out of
things to say (which should happen quickly) or
when the students identify the problem with the
so-called art as being that theyre all alike, and
boring, introduce the principle of variety.

State Core: PerceivingStudents will view

artworks and talk about basic art elements and
principles.
Materials:
white or neutral construction paper with an
outline of three circlesenough for each
student
three circles that match the outlines and are
the same colorthree per student
construction paper in various colors
scissors
glue
drawing paper
various media
slides, transparencies, or reproductions of art
works of differing styles.

Show the class the slide of Grandma Eldredges

House, Salt Lake City and ask the students to
identify ways the artist has used the elements of
art to create variety, which creates interest. After
the discussion, pass out the colored construction
paper and have students introduce color and
shape. This part of the activity should go fairly
quickly, but make sure the students feel free to
explore. Have the students get in small groups
and discuss how introducing variety in shape
and color has increased the interest of the artworks.

Pass out the construction paper, one full sheet

with outlined circles and three circles for each
student. Tell the students you are going to create artworks for a class gallery. They are to glue
the circles in the outlines, carefully matching the
edges. Ignore any protests or comments the
students make. When they are done gluing,
have the students pin the papers to a board or
tape them to a wall. Now have all the students
walk in front of the papers as if they were in an
art gallery. When each student has had a turn to Then give the students a chance to choose the
see the papers, ask if any of them want another
media they want and explore other elements
look at the papers.
93

that can create variety. When the experiments

are done, display the artworks and again, discuss variety. Ask the students which works they
find interesting and why.

Then show the class the various artworks,

having the students identify the elements of art
and how the individual artists those elements to
create variety.

If you have not completed the introductory

activity on variety, show the class the slide of
Grandma Eldredges House, Salt Lake City and ask
the students to identify ways the artist has used
the elements of art to create variety. Show some
other artworks and discuss how variety creates
interest. You will need to include the idea that
too much variety can become chaos. The standard is use variety for interest and re4petition
for unity. When you can tell the students understand the principle of variety, proceed to the
production phase of the activity.

Assessment: You can evaluate students learning

by showing them several artworks and having
the students make a list of the ways each artist
has created variety. Give a point for each appropriate answer. For young students, have the
list be generated by the class with the teacher
writing the list on the board. Try to give each
student a chance to answer and expect specific
answers so that students cannot just copy other
answers.

good-quality paper
pencils
black markers
colored pencils, paint, pastels, or crayons

Variation for Advanced Students: shorten the

activity to whatever length and content is applicable. Then have students choose an artwork
and write individual critiques of the artwork
chosen. Students must specify how the artist
has created variety and how the variety contributes to the overall effect of the artwork.
Art History Extension: After completing an
activity that teaches students about variety, have
students examine art from a specific period or
movement. Students should look for similarities
and differences in the use of the elements and
principles of art.

ArtExploring Ways to Create Variety

Objective: The students will expand their ability
to use the art principle of variety and will demonstrate that ability in an artwork.
Materials:
slides, transparencies, or reproductions of art
works
plants, flowers, fruit, vegetables for still lifes
inexpensive paper

Trevor Southey, . . . of eggs in a basket

BYU, MOA
94

Provide students with an assortment of items

such as simple plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables to draw. Students will create simple
still-life arrangements to draw and paint. They
should draw their chosen arrangement lightly
in pencil, using a variety of lines.(see The Great
Line Hunt) After they are satisfied with their
drawing, they can use black marker to go over
the lines of their drawing.
Next, have students use the same still-life
arrangement and use color to provide variety.
They can do quick drawings or paintings that
each focus on using one element to create variety: in addition to line and color, include texture,
value, shape, and space.
When the students have completed their individual drawings for each element, have the students choose which elements they want to use to
produce a carefully finished artwork. They will
use the same still-life arrangement and include
at least three of the elements to create variety.
Give the students good-quality drawing paper
and colored pencils, markers, and paints. (If all
you have is crayons, use them, but show your
students how to blend colors to get more depth
and variety of color.)
Variation: Use the activity outlined above, but
have students divide into six groups. Each
group is assigned one art element: line, shape,
color, texture, value, and space. One member
of each art element group is put together into
a group, so each group is now made up of six
students, each assigned a separate art element.
Each group creates its own still life. Then each
member of the group draws or paints the still
life using his or her element to create variety.
When the artworks are done, have each group
display their artworks and discuss the differences the varying focuses have created. Each group
should be given an area in the school to display
their work. The displays should include a brief
explanation of variety in art and of the activity.
Variation: Start the activity as suggested, but
after students have completed the line drawing,

have them add color to the drawing, and then

add value, texture, and shape (the line drawing
probably included shape naturally, if not, add
it). Finally, the students can add the art element
of space by indicating a surface for the still life
and by suggesting a wall behind it. Display the
finished works and discuss the ways variety has
been created.
Keeping the Viewers Eyes in the Picture Plane
Objectives: The students will create an artwork
of a scene from their own experience, carefully
planning the visual path of the composition to
retain the viewer in the picture.
Materials:
a variety of artworks (see activity for recommendations)
paper
good-quality paper
pencils
paints, pastels, colored pencils, or crayons
Discuss with the students the importance of the
visual path to a good composition. Show the
slide Grandma Eldredges House, Salt Lake City.
What do you see first in the painting? Then
where does your eye go? Discuss the techniques the artist has used to keep the viewer in
the painting (The path leading in, the tree on
the left inclined toward the house, the foliage
at the bottom of the tree pointing inward, the
flowers pointing up to the house, the shutters
open, leading one into the house, the circular
arrangement of the flower garden that sweeps
the eye around in the picture, the darker tree at
the top right that again sweeps the viewer into
the picture.)
Other good examples of visual paths can be
represented by showing the following from
the Elementary Art Core Poster Set: Calvin
Fletchers Wash Day in Brigham City, Dennis
V. Smiths Keeper of the Gate, Mabel P. Frazers
Sunrise, North Rim Grand Canyon, and Gary E.
Smiths Youthful Games. These artworks also
provide a good opportunity to discuss the ways
95

Objective: The students will demonstrate their

understanding of Impressionism and PostImpressionism by creating an art work of feeling
in one of these particular styles.

an artist can lead your eye back into a painting

when the visual path reaches the edge or aims
out of the format.
Discuss how the use of color affects the visual
path by grabbing the viewers attention or gently leading the eye around, up, down, or over.
Expressive lines in the painting also contribute
to the visual path. (Notice the definitive contour
line on the right side of the tree trunk, and the
curved contour line defining the flowers in the
flower pots.)

Lee Greene Richards studied in Paris during

the influential years of Impressionism and PostImpressionism. Discuss these art styles using
examples from Van Gogh and Monet, or, use
Utah artists such as John Hafen, J. T. Harwood,
and ???. Note the ways the artists have produced light, color, and reflected light. Direct
the students attention to the light and color
in Grandma Eldredges House by Richards.
Have students identify the ways he has used
sunlight and the effects of sunlight on objects
in the painting. Where has he used pure color
effectively? Where do the colors seem to blend
together in the eye of the viewer to produce special effects?

The students will choose a scene from their

own experience. They may select from their
own photography, draw from life, or recall from
their memory. Their composition should be
arranged so the visual path retains the viewer.
As they work, remind students to consider the
techniques used by Lee Greene Richards and
other artists to skillfully guide the eye. Students
should deliberately employ some of the same
methods and should use color and line to
enhance and strengthen the visual path.

The Impressionists melted solid forms and

blurred edges. Where has Richards used this
technique ? What is the result?
The Post-Impressionists wanted to express feelings, intuitions, and ideas. What emotions,
feelings, and moods
are expressed in the
painting by Richards?
Discuss ways he is
successful in painting
these feelings. Discuss
how his own personal
relationships, kinships,
etc. probably influenced his expression.

ArtImpressionism and Post-Impressionism

John Hafen, Harvest Time Near Sugarhouse 1897

96

Impress on the students how our various

experiences, emotions, and attachments can affect our
painting. Have the
students create a painting from their own
emotional experience
(does not have to be

a landscape) using light and color in either the

Impressionistic or Post-Impressionistic style.

creative signature, monogram, or symbol. They

should make a careful rendering of their chosen
design and use the design in their next artwork.

ArtCreating a Personal Symbol or Signature

Possible References libraries can order (the following are listed on this Internet address):
http://www.art-amer.com/sigs.html
Latin American Artists Signatures and
Monograms
Colonial Era to 1996 by Castagno
Artists Monograms and Indiscernible
Signatures by Castagno
American Artists Signatures and Monograms
1800 to 1989 by Castagno
European Artists Signatures and Monograms
1800 to 1990 by Castagno
Artists as Illustrators by Castagno
Old Masters Signatures and Monograms 1400born 1800
Dictionary of Signatures and Monograms of
American Artists by Falk

Objective: The students will create a signature,

symbol, or unique expression of themselves to
put in their art work.
Through the centuries, artists have found
unique ways to express their identity in their art
work. Some used a unique signature or monogram on their painting, used by such artists as
Durer (see illustration). Other artists signed
their pieces with a symbol, such as the turtle
(see illustration) used by Lee Green Richards,
although he did not use it in all his paintings.
Discuss with the students other original ways
artists have put themselves into their work
(Michelangelo representing himself as the Saint
Bartholomews flayed skin in the fresco of the
Sistine Chapel; Velaquez asserting his own
importance by painting himself into his famous
Las Meninas).
Have students explore ways to represent themselves in their artwork through the use of a

HistoryThe Public Works of Art Project

Objective: Students will write an essay describing President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal
Program and its effects on artists of the day.
Americans were severely affected by
the stock marked crash in 1929. In
1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelts
New Deal program offered some
respite and opportunity for jobs
for artists as well as for individuals in other occupations. A number
of relief programs were created such
as the Federal Emergency Relief
Administration (FERA) and the Civil
Works Administration (CWA). The
Public Works of Art Project (PWAP)
was implemented in Utah under the
direction of the Womens Division of
the CWA.

Alfred Castagne sketching construction workers as part

of the PWAP National Archives
97

The art assignments benefitted the

public because public buildings were
enhanced with drawings, paintings,

murals, and sculptures. The artists not only benefitted by having

jobs but also by receiving social
endorsement from the public.
During this time, Lee Greene
Richards was given the assignment
by the PWAP to design and execute
murals for the Utah State Capitol
Rotunda (see slide and biography
in the Evening for Educators packet PIONEER IMAGES OF UTAH,
Murals in the Utah State Capitol
Rotunda, Oct. 29, 1997.)
Have the students research and
write an essay (length to be decided) about the opportunities the
New Deal and organizations such
as the PWAP provided artists of
the day. Judy Farnsworth Lund,
an artist and later an arts benefactor, was director of the PWAP
Ranch Kimball, Entrance to Zion's 1934
and was involved in the museum
project which resulted in the buildRosenbaum created a mural proposal for Box
ing of the Springville Museum of
Elder High School, Everett Thorpe designed
Art. Later, E. J. Bird was director and then Lynn
a mural for the Logan Cache LDS Tabernacle,
Fausett was until the project ended in 1943.
and J. T. Harwood and E. J. Bird produced paintings for the state buildings and for Utah schools.
As part of the PWAP, ten Utah artists were
given assignments to help the government
In addition, the CWAP sponsored an exhibition
ascertain what artistic material [existed] in
of artworks at the University of Utah in October
Utah. The artists and their projects were Edwin
of 1934. The exhibit included works done as
Evansremovable murals for the Veterans
part of the Public Works of Art Project as well
Hospital; J. T. Harwoodtwo gallery pictures
as artworks by other living Utah artists. Artists
of early Utah life; Millard F. Mallinsculpwho exhibited their works include Lee Greene
ture and sketches of early Indian life; Florence
Richards, Gordon Cope, Henry Rasmusen, J. T.
Warepictorial maps of early Salt Lake Valley;
Harwood, E. J. Bird, Florence Ware, Minerva
Caroline ParrySculpture and sketches of
Teichert, Cyrus Dallin, Ranch Kimball, Carlos
early Indian life; Henri Mosertriptych
Anderson, Frank W. Kent, Cornelius and Rose
depicting Utah life of today; Ranch Kimball
Howard Salisbury, Joseph A. F. Everett, A. B.
sketches of activities of various governmenWright, LeConte Stewart, Mahonri Young and
tal branches; Gordon Copesculpture and
sketches of early Indian life; Carlos Anderson Waldo Midgley.
sketches of places historically important.
Biographies of many of the artists who worked
with the PWAP are available in past Evening for
As the project continued, other artists and
Educator packets or on the Springville Museum
assignments were given. Irene Fletcher paintweb site.
ed a mural for the Logan Library, Howell
98

References:
Ostler, Barbara. Lee Greene Richards booklet, Utah
Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah.
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William
C. Seifrit. 1991. Utah Art . Layton: Gibbs Smith
Writers Program of the Works Projects
Administration. 1941.Utah: A Guide to the
State: New York City: Hastings House, 153-187.

Lee Greene Richard, Sunflowers

Greene Richards, and participate in a project collecting leaves and flowers for a poster or display
(or drawing some).
Though there may be some differing opinions
on the identity of some of the flowers or trees in
the painting, an enjoyable activity and art crossover project is attempting to identify them and
researching the same.
Henry Culmer
Brush Creek Gorge, Ashley Utah 1886

ScienceIdentifying Flowers

Each student, or group of students, can be

assigned certain flowers or leaves. Collecting the
actual flower, leaf, or bark of the tree would be
ideal, but drawing these as separate assignments
is another possibility. The items collected or
drawn should be organized into an interesting
and educational display.

Objective: Students will identify as closely as

possible the flowers and trees in the painting
Grandma Eldredges House, Salt Lake City, by Lee
99

Poems and Paintings that Celebrate

Nature
Objective: The students will gain a greater
appreciation of literature and its connections
to the visual arts by reading poems celebrating
nature and comparing the poems to artworks.
Show the class the slide of Grandma Eldredges
House and the slide or poster of Richards painting Dreaming of Zion. Discuss the idealized,
rather romantic view Richards has of life and
nature. (Although his viewpoint is romantic, he
didnt paint in the style of the Romantic painters. You may need to help the students make the
distinction.)
Have students read aloud poems such as
I Stood Tip-Toe Upon A Little Hill, by John
Keats; Clouds by Percy Bysshe Shelley; Pied
Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins; and Fern
Hill by Dylan Thomas, which celebrate nature.
Many other poems would be suitable: one
good collection is Poetry for the Earth, edited by
Sara Dunn and Alan Schofield, published by
Ballentine Books, 1991. This collection of poems
includes poems from poets around the world,
ranging from the early Greeks through contemporary men and women.

Have students compare the visual images the

poems give them with the images in the artworks. Students may also want to comment
on how the feelings and ideas expressed in the
poetry and artwork match or are different from
their own feelings about nature.
Variation: Show the class the transparencies of
the artworks and then have them find a poem
they believe reflects a similar orientation. The
students can read the poems theyve chosen
aloud in small groups.

Marilee Campbell, The Dark Side of the Garden 1993

Elbert Eastmond, Pageant of Clouds 1930

100

Making a Rhythm Print

Bonnie Phillips, Whole Wheat on Tuna
Objective: Students will be able to identify the
repetition and variation of art elements in artworks and how that creates a sense of rhythm.
Students will create a group print that exhibits
rhythm.
State Core: MakingStudents will play with
art materials and will begin to order them by
basic art elements and principles. Perceiving
Students will view artworks and talk about
basic art elements and principles.
Materials:
transparency of Whole Wheat on Tuna
paper for sketching designs and making trial
prints
pencils
paint or water-based ink
squares of blue styrofoam (get scraps from
building sites)
sturdy paper for printingfor 1 squares, use
8-1/2 x 11 paper and for 2 squares use
11 x 14 paper
brayers or some setup for transferring the
paint or ink to the printing surface. A thin
slice of pillow foam in a jar lid makes a good
stamp pad, but you can also just use small
styrofoam plates.
Rhythm in art is created by the variation and
repetition of elements within a work. To introduce the idea, clap or tap out a simple pattern
of sounds for your students. Ask them to repeat
the pattern back to you. Do this a couple more
times, getting a little more complicated if the
students can match the patterns you produce.
Ask whether any of the students know what

Bonnie Phillips, Whole Wheat on Tuna

the pattern of sounds is called. If no one knows
what rhythm is, explain, and write the word on
the board.
Next, show the transparency of Bonnie Phillips
artwork, Whole Wheat on Tuna. Ask the students
what creates rhythm in the artwork. They will
probably be able to identify the repeating shapes
and colors as creating a sense of rhythm. The
rhythm in Phillips work is particularly easy
to identify. Once the class has the idea, show
reproductions, slides, or transparencies of other
artworks and have the students identify what
elements create a sense of rhythm in those artworks. Two good artworks are Cottage Industry

101

by Jacqui Larsen and Barn Swallow, by Dennis

Smith, from this packet. If the students have
trouble picking out the elements that create
rhythm in the other artworks, ask questions
such as What shapes do you see in more than
one place?
Once students have a firm grasp of the concept
of rhythm, move on to the production portion of
the lesson. Explain that Phillips made her artwork by painting on material. They are going to
make a similar artwork by printing on paper.
Give each student a piece of scratch paper,
and have the students fold it into 4 thinking
spaces. In each space the students should make
a simple line design. Each design must show
at least one change from the previous design.
Then divide the students into groups. The
groups can approach the assignment two ways:
1. Each student can choose his or her favorite
design and then the group can work out a
way to make them fit together a serendipi
tous approach.
2. The group can choose the designs that work
together best so the overall design is more
planned.

Assess using a rubric similar to the one on the

next page.

Both approaches can result in great products.

Give each student a piece of blue styrofoam that
is the same size, 1 x 1 or 2 x 2. ( Using their
pencils to make the lines, the students should
create their chosen design in the block. Then
they should make a trial print on scratch paper
in the color of their choice to see if they need to
add anything to the design and to see whether
the color is what they want. Have them make
another print next to the first one, practicing
lining the two up. When color and position
decisions have been agreed upon by the group,
each student should print a section of the group
rhythmic print. Remind the students that they
may want to rotate their block so that the design
changes direction.
Exhibit the prints with a brief explanation of the
principle of art, rhythm, which they embody.

Middle-level Students: Follow the same lesson

plan, but once the students have made one print,
allow them to make a second print. The second
print should involve two-color printing. The
students can make one block be a solid color so
when the second block, the one with the design,
is printed on top, the lines in the design will be
the first blocks color rather than the color of the
A

102

paper. If the print is made with opaque paint

the block would look like A instead of B.
Or, if they use transparent colors, the students
can make the second block have a pattern too.
They should print with the lighter color first.
That would look something like this: A + B = C.
(computer simulations dont do the process justice, but the examples should give you an idea
of what will happen.

2A

2B

103

2C

Rhythmic Collages

Jacqui Biggs Larsen, Cottage Industry

Discussion Questions:
What kind of media is used in this artwork?
What other artworks are you familiar with that
use more than one medium? Why do you think
the artist has used so many different kinds of
media? How would the artwork be different if
it were an oil or acrylic painting? Identify the
ways the artist has created visual rhythm in this
piece. How does this visual rhythm relate to
the meaning of the work?
What do you think the items in the artwork
stand for? Do viewers have to only have the
same meaning as the artist did when she made
the artwork? Why or why not? (Read or summarize at their level, some of the information
about this artwork to the students.) Does knowing the artists ideas about the meaning of this
artwork change your ideas or broaden them?
Do you feel any different about the artwork?

How can viewers judge the quality of artworks

like Larsens? One of the jurors for the 1998
Spring Salon is a nineteenth-century specialist from the famous Christies auction house in
New York. Does knowing that he and the Utah
juror awarded this artwork first place affect your
judgement of the piece? (Institutionalist aesthetic theoryart is good if an institution, someone
from the artworld, says the artwork is good.)
What other aesthetic theories can be used to
examine this artwork? How does the criteria
used for judging artworks change with changes
in the aesthetic theory? What criteria would
you use, and why? How does the artwork meet
or fall short of your chosen criteria? (Be specific)
Definitions:
Collage: an artwork made by gluing various
materials such as fabric, photographs, paper, etc.
on a surface.
Montage: an artwork made by combining a
wide variety of materials.
Assemblage: an artwork made from odds
and ends of junk or found objects.

104

Postmodernism: A group of artistic

approaches based on a philosophical movement that attempts to deconstruct or take
apart models and understand the biases
and context for the ways we have understood things in the past. Postmodernism is
a reaction against the scientific positivism
that is based on a belief that a given set of
truths exist and are only awaiting discovery. Instead, postmodernists seek to understand the world by exploring what affects
our comprehension and interpretation of
events and their meaning in our lives. It

is a reevaluation and restructuring of how we

view ourselves, our actions, and the world
around us in relation to current and personal
context.
Feminist: art which protests the stereotypical
depiction of women and their roles. Feminist
art usually is instrumentalist; it is intended to
instigate political change. In addition, feminist
art is non-hierarchical in that it asserts that traditional feminine crafts such as quilting or needlework are as worthy as are painting or other
fine arts.

Visual ArtA Rhythmic Collage

Objective: The students will demonstrate
an understanding of the principle of rhythm
through creating a collage that has interesting
rhythm.
Core Standards: MakingStudents will play
with art materials and will begin to order
them by basic art elements and principles.
PerceivingStudents will view artworks and
talk about basic art elements and principles.
ExpressingStudents will explore and
create meaning in art.
Show the class the slide or transparency of
Cottage Industry. First, ask students to define
rhythm. Then ask them to find ways the artist
has used rhythm in the work. (For example: the
quilt squares, the three doll dresses, lines out
from the blue dress, ruffles of dresses, repetition
of figures along bottom, paper dolls, oranges,
tickets, numbers, rulers for producing copies.)
Unless your class is very young, they also can
discuss how rhythm has contributed to the
meaning of the piece. (See BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION and DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS for ideas)
Then talk to the class about collage and show
them some examples (see Image Sources). After
demonstrating techniques for collage, assign
students to make their own collage, concentrat-

John Pavlicek, Coda I

BYU online Collections
ing on creating an interesting rhythm in the
artwork. (This same assignment can be used for
any of the principles of art or as a culminating
activity for a unit on the principles of art. To
change the emphasis, just use additional artworks during the discussion that demonstrate
the principle(s) chosen. [The artworks in this
packet have been chosen with specific principles
in mind.] Then have the assignment be directed
at the principle(s).)
Materials for collage:
a wide variety of materials such as
newspapers, magazines, old maps, music,
photocopies of photographs, photocopies of
animals, trees, plants, insects, etc. A good
source for drawings and photographs to copy
are old encyclopedias, family photos, old
newspapers or magazines. The papers work
best if they are fairly neutral, so you may
105

want to limit magazine pages to black and

white. In addition, the papers are more likely
to be interesting if they are old and show
wear or use. However, some students may
decide new items fit their ideas or feelings
better. Paint, varnish or stains may be
brushed on after the papers are attached to
the backing
acrylic painting medium to glue papers on
(can be bought from art supply storesI used
the 40% off coupon that Roberts Crafts always
has available
inexpensive brushes for applying medium
(3 for $1 at the dollar store)
sturdy paper for the backing of the collage
scissors
cheap paper for planning collage

Artists and Image Sources:

Kurt Schwitters
kurtschwitters.org/kurt-schwitters-001.html
Cecil Touchon
touchon.com
Hannah Hoch yellowbellywebdesign.com/
hoch/gallery.html
Romare Bearden
beardenfoundation.org/artofbearden/collage/
collage.html
Claudine Hellmuth www.collageartist.com/
portfolio.htm
Exhibition of 27 collage artists collagemuseum.
com/ksu-02/

suits the design. Remind the students to create

a sense of rhythm in their artwork. If you are
having the students focus on other principles
as well, put a list on the board and have students run through the list before attaching any
pieces to the good paper. (Even if some activities have a specific focus, students should try to
use everything they know about the elements
and principles of design that apply to any given
activity.)
When students have checked their designs, they
can begin gluing. They should start with the
undermost layers, and brush an even coating
of medium across the backing, place the chosen
item on the backing, smooth it carefully, and
then brush a coating of medium over the item.
(Students can make notes, and they can take the
items off the planning paper one by one and
place them face down on their desks, so they

If you have not made collages yourself, make a

couple so you are familiar with the techniques.
Making a couple samples will help you understand the complexity of design possible and the
unique characteristics of collage as well as giving you examples to show the class.
Give each student a piece of cheap paper and let
them choose several items from the variety of
media available. Students should plan out their
collage by placing the individual pieces on the
cheap paper, arranging and rearranging them
until they have a composition they like. The
items can be trimmed to whatever size or shape
106

Andrew Lassetter, Bob Dylan

Award of Merit
All-State High School Show, 2003

will be in reverse order.) After the items have

been glued to the backing, place waxed paper
and a heavy book or stack of magazines over
the collages and allow them to dry overnight.
Weighting the collages prevents severe buckling.
Have students critique their own artworks.
Then display the artworks and have the class
discuss the many ways the artworks show
rhythm. Students should create an exhibit of
the collages somewhere the whole school can
see the works. Include a poster telling viewers
about collage. The poster can explain what collage is and can incorporate comments from the
students about their experience making collages.
Extension: For advanced students or for
students who have created collages previously, show Cottage Industry and discuss,
using QUESTIONS FOR LOOKING and the
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION. Then have
students create a multi-media artwork. You may
choose to supply the makings or have students
gather their own. The students can be asked to
bring interesting items, some of which they plan
on sharing, to increase the variety of materials
available.
If possible, provide access to a few tools such
as a drill, a band or jig saw, pliers, hammers,
etc. These tools can increase the complexity and
quality of student work. If you are not comfortable with the tools, you may have a parent or
another teacher who can come help. Anything
that is not too heavy can be attached to the
work. Some possible additions to the items suggested for collage are the following:
fabrics of all kinds and textures
string, yarn, rope, thread, wire
small plastic animals, cars, other toys
thin sheets of wood
nuts, bolts, nails
wheels, handles, machinery or appliance parts
dishes or other kitchen items
dolls, doll clothes, army men, robot-type toys
boxes, containers, packaging, cardboard tubes
dried plants, plastic or silk plants and flowers

small stones, branches, natural objects

frames, art objects
anything else you or the students can think of
Students should be given plenty of time to
experiment with the items they choose and
with the organization of the work. Encourage
students to explore a wide range of possibilities
and to be creative in attachment of materials.
Multi-media works often are intricate and complex in meaning as well as in physical design.
However, multi-media works can also be
abstract in nature. Display the finished works
where other students can see the artworks.
Include artist statements with the artworks and
have some kind of open house to invite the parents to. Students should be prepared to discuss
their individual works with viewers at the open
house.

Rhythm Patterns in Music/Dance/Art

Objectives: The students will demonstrate their
understanding of rhythm by replicating and creating rhythm patterns through clapping, dancing, and through identifying and creating rhythmic patterns in art
If possible, have the Gershwin song I Got
Rhythm playing while the students come into
class. Cut colored construction paper into strips,
using a separate color for each size strip. One
color should be whole sheets, which equal a
whole note. One color should be cut in half for
half notes, one color in fourths for fourth notes,
etc. Teach the children how to count and clap
each colored piece of paper. For example, if
blue is a whole sheet of paper, for blue, the students clap once as they say one, then move
one hand away from the other in rhythm as they

107

count off two, three, four. It is easiest to

start with four-beat measures, but 3/4 time also
works well.
When the children can reliably clap the correct
rhythm for each of the note values, as designated by the different colors and sizes of paper,
show the children with the paper strips how different arrangements of strips add up to the same
four beats as the whole notethe whole sheet
of paper. Now put two colors (note values) in
a simple pattern and have the children clap the
rhythm with you. (Use a short space to indicate
the end of a measure.) When the children master a pattern, increase the difficulty of the next
rhythm pattern.
Now that the children understand how the
rhythm patterns work, you can have several of
the children create their own patterns, arranging the pattern first in colored paper and then
clapping the rhythm with the class. If the group
is getting very good and still enjoying the activity, try clapping a rhythm and then having the
students replicate the pattern in paper, or let
students take turns being the one to clap the
pattern and the one to copy the pattern with the
colored paper strips.
Teach the children terms as you go along
whole note, half note, quarter note, etc. Besides
learning about music, the students will be learning simple fractions. Teach the students whatever musical terminology you are comfortable
with or get a teacher with more music experience to help you, and as always, suit the difficulty to your class level.

dren, they may need suggestions from you to

get started, but let the students do as much as
theyre willing to.) Have individual students
pick a movement to match each note value. The
movement should match the length of the note.
For instance, the whole note movement must
have some action that is sustained through the
four beats such as slowly curling upward from
a squat to stand on tiptoe with arms stretched
overhead.
When the movements have been chosen, have
one or two students create a rhythm pattern
using the colored paper strips. (As with the
clapping, start with simple patterns and work
up to longer and more complicated patterns at a
speed appropriate to the students skills.) First
have the class clap the rhythm pattern, and then
have them use the chosen movements to dance
the rhythm pattern.
At any point after the children have begun to
repeat patterns accurately, you can introduce
rhythm instruments. If you have professionally produced rhythm instruments available,
use them. If not, make your own. (See page **,
Larsen Activities for ideas.) The students can
accompany the movement patterns. Encourage
students to explore dynamics, especially if you
have an assortment of rhythm instruments,
which vary widely in the amount and kind of
sound they produce.

The activity can end at this point (it may have

taken several lesson times to reach this level of
competency), or you can continue the activity by
allowing each child or small groups of children
When the children can clap the rhythms success- to make up movement patterns using their own
fully, add motion to the patterns. (If you have
movements for the different note values and
never done movement activities with the chiltheir own choice of pattern. Give the students a
108

limit such as four measures of four (16 counts),

and stipulate that the movements chosen for
each note value must be used consistently for
that note value. Have the students take turns
sharing their patterns. After each student does
his or her pattern once, have the class try to clap
the rhythm as the student repeats the pattern, or
if you can, beat out the rhythm on a hand drum
or with rhythm instruments or improvise on
whatever surfaces are available.

tion to Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, or

Color Field art, which often use pattern, proportion, and color in ways the students can relate to
their experiences with rhythm. The dance activity for Danquart Weggelands painting Pioneer
Home, (Oct. 1997 pkt) also can be incorporated
in the preceding rhythm activity or be used as a

The next activity can be used after or in conjunction with the music activities that follow.
To use the knowledge the students have gained
from the preceding activity to help them understand art, have the students look at the colored
paper as visual rhythms. Make several arrangements with the different colors and sizes including one that is four whole-note pieces, one
which has two whole-note and four half-note
pieces, and one which has an interesting variety
of colors and shapes. Ask the children which
arrangement is more interesting and why. Tell
the students that artists use rhythm just like
musicians and dancers do.
Show the class slides or reproductions of artworks and ask the students to pick out the different ways artists have created rhythm in their
works. For very young students, you may want
to concentrate on only a couple ways rhythm is
created visually, such as color, repetition, and
size. Some good examples from this and other
Educator Evening packets are Cottage Industry
by Jacqui Biggs Larsen and Whole Wheat on
Tuna by Bonnie Phillips, (this packet) Immigrant
Train by George Ottinger, Richards Camp by J.
T. Harwood, Handcart Pioneers First View of the
Salt Lake Valley by C. C. A. Christensen, (Oct. 29,
1997 pkt) The Dark Side of the Garden by Marilee
Campbell, (A Feminine Perspective, May
1995 pkt), Cadmium Crest by Roman Andrus,
(Journey of the Imagination, Oct. 1994 pkt), and
many others.[all our now available at sma,nebo.
edu]
The activity also works as an excellent introduc-

Roman Andrus, Cadmium Crest

related or follow-up activity.
To carry on the activity to include a section on
art production, give the students construction
paper in different colors. The simplest way is
to already have the paper cut into pieces that
match the note values used in the earlier part
of the activity. Have each student arrange the
pieces into an interesting visual design. You
may want to try clapping some of the artworks
to see if the sound has as interesting a rhythm as
the visual arrangement does.
Another possibility is to allow the students to
cut whatever shapes and sizes of paper they
want to use. Just remind them to use the clapping and movement experiences to help them
create an interesting rhythmical piece.
Extension: For older students, the clapping section can become complex quickly and can be
109

followed with a more complex version of the

movement activity. Students may be able to discuss how movements that fit the different note
values tend to vary in character with the length
of note. This observation can then be translated
into a more sophisticated discussion of rhythm
in art. These students also should be able to
identify other and more subtle ways artists create visual rhythm as well as making more complex artworks themselves. You can choose to
include the use of rhythm instruments after the
first clapping section.
DramaOne at a Time
A Rhythm and Sound Machine
Objective: Students will use rhythm and sound
to create a machine.
Students will cooperate and to be more aware
of surroundings by playing the game "One at a
Time." Show the transparency of Cottage Industry
and ask the students to name all the ways
rhythm is created in the artwork. Explain that
in drama, rhythm is created by repetition and by
the tempo of sound, movement, and shapes
Demonstrate the game "Machines." Explain
that you will be the first part of the machine by
rhythmically repeating a sound and a movement with some part of your body. (You may
stand, sit, lie down, etc., but you must be able
to continue to repeat the movement and sound
for about a minute.) Invite five or six students
to add on to the machine you have started, one
at a time, each person will repeat his or her
own sound and movement, so it fits in with the
whole machine. Other parts may be added on
in any direction. Within a few seconds, you
should have a machine" with six or seven moving parts that each make a sound.
Divide the class into groups of six to eight and
have each group take turns extemporaneously
developing a machineas you modeled for
them. Have the students evaluate the performances, discussing how timing and rhythm

played an important part in the success of this

exercise.
Using ideas from the painting, brainstorm and
list different household chores. Invite each
group to invent a machine that will do one of
those household chores. For example: ironing, sewing, mending, dishes, laundry, quilting,
cooking, sweeping, dusting, folding clothes, etc.
Next, brainstorm different household environments: mansion, cottage, beach house, apartment, condo, townhouse, basement, etc. Discuss
how these same chores might need to be done
differently in each environment. What chores
might need to be done more often, not at all, or
the same in each of the environments?
Divide the class into groups of five or six. Play
"One At a Time." Assign each group member a
number. The group decides which home environment they will be working in: cottage, mansion, etc., and if the weather is hot, cold, just
right, very humid, rainy, snowy, etc. The leader
will call out a number; the student who has
been assigned that number begins to do a chore.
After a few seconds, the leader will call another
number assigned to one of the students in the
group. The first student will freeze and the next
student will begin doing the chore he has decided to do.
Continue in this manner until each group member has had a chance to begin. Then randomly
call out group members' numbers for a minute.
Once students understand the game, stop calling
the numbers. Only one person may move at a
time. Coach from the side, reminding students
to limit movement to one person at any given
time and to keep attention focused on remembering what environment they are performing
the chores in.
Have the students evaluate the performances
using the following questions to establish criteria:
Did the group stay focused?
110

 Was there a rhythm to their playing?

Does the repetition involved in many house
hold chores create a rhythm?
How did rhythm make you feel?
Were we able to see clearly what it was the
group was doing?
Could we imagine what the environment was
like from their playing?
Make Your Own Rhythm Instruments
Some rhythm instruments will need to be made
by an adult or by experienced students. Other
instruments can be made as a class project.
Maracas can be made from pop bottles containing different small itemsthe different items
will make different sounds. Experiment until
you like the sound and then use plastic tape to
tape the lids on.
Wood blocks can be made from blocks of
hardwood you get free from cabinetry shops;
different-sized blocks and different kinds of
wood will make different sounds.
Cut dowels to 10-12, sand them lightly, and
oil them to make nice rhythm sticks.
Cut rectangular sticks into 12 pieces, and if
possible, cut, or have someone else cut, notches
into the edges of all or half the sticks, so that
when one stick is run down the notched one,
it makes a noise. If you know someone with a
lathe who is willing to help, the sticks can have
turned ridges instead of notches.
Make tamborines from disposable plastic
plates and smal jingle bells. Use a hole punch
to make 68 holes in the rim of the plate, then
wire the bells loosely enough that they jingle.
If you can purchase used or new bongos, cut
them apart and have two drums for every set.
Make drums out of large cans tipped upside
down or remove the bottom and cover one end
with stretched thin leather.
Put sandpaper around blocks of wood.
Attach inexpensive cabinet knobs to one side, so
theyre easy to hold.
ShakersPut seeds inside plastic Easter eggs
and glue or tape the two pieces together.

Attach large seed pods to a simple handle, so

they dangle like bananas; they make a sound
like wind.
Make a thunder maker by purchasing a sheet
of 10 galvanized metal, covering or bending
over the raw, sharp edges on the cut sides. **
Make drumsticks from different-sized dowels that have been rounded on one end. These
drumsticks can be used to play anything that
makes an interesting sound. In addition to
wood blocks, drums, or metal sheets, students
can strike chairs, the floor, or other surfaces.
Make brushes for drums, metal sheets, etc. by
attaching lengths of frayed painting hanger wire
to a dowel or other handle. Experiment with
other brush fibers.
Cut a coconut in half with a band saw or a
hacksaw. Sand the cut surfaces lightly.
Sew metal sleigh bells to elastic loops that will
fit wrists or ankles. Use several sizes that sound
good together.
Attach large sleigh bells loosely to some kind
of wooden handle. The bells should be free
enough to ring clearly.
Cut metal tubing to lengths, drill two small
holes near the top and thread strong cord
through and tie in a loop. Use dowels or metal
rods to strike the tubes. If you know someone
with perfect pitch or with a trained ear, have
them help you determine the lengths of the
tubes. You can create a pentatonic scale, common in native music, or you can create major or
minor chords using 3-5 tubes.

111

EmphasisThe One
Thing I Want
You to See
John Hafen, The Mountain Stream
1st 3rd grade
Objective: Students will create a work of art that
demonstrates they understand the principle of
Center of Interest.
State Core Requirements: PerceivingCreate
an art work with a dominant object, idea, or
element or focal point by manipulating its size,
painting it in a complementary color, repeating
it, or making it contrast with other objects in
the work. ExpressingSelect some student art
based on a common theme, visual element, or
principle they share and display them in a portion of the school that has been turned into an
art museum.

Have students point out things like the following: the boy is the largest thing in the
picture, you can see his whole face, he looks
like he is looking at you, he is lighter than the
background, he is in the middle, etc.. Discuss
the other objects in the picture and why they
couldnt be considered the main objects.

Materials:
transparency of John Hafens Mountain Stream
The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch
or any simple story that has one main character,
print of J. T. Harwoods Boy with a Bun from
the poster set
2 sheets of paper for each student
black construction paper
pencils, markers, colored pencils, scissors,
glue
Discussion: Read The Paper Bag Princess, and
discuss with the students the structure and content of the story including the title and pictures,
which make the princess the main character and
center of interest in the story.
Ask: Why isnt the dragon or the prince the
main character?
Show: the Boy with a Bun poster.
Ask: What is the main thing in this picture?
Why?

Tell: When a picture has one thing that is the

most important, that thing is called the Center of
Interest.
Show: Transparency of John Hafens painting,
The Mountain Stream
Ask: What do you think the artist named this
picture?
112

Accept all responses until a student has guessed

the right name or comes close, then tell the class
the title.
Ask: Why is this a good name for the picture?
Is the stream the Center of Interest? How
did Mr. Hafen make the stream the Center of
Interest? Have students bring out things like it
is in the middle, the trees on both sides direct
your eye to the stream, the bright blue sky in the
background attracts your eye to the stream, the
stream is moving toward the viewer, etc..
Tell: Boy with the Bun, and The Mountain Stream
are done by different artists.
Read: Some of the biographical information in
the packet or on the back of the poster about
John Hafen and J. T. Harwood and their importance as Utah artists.
Ask: What are some things you like about John
Hafens art? J.T. Harwoods? Are there some
things you dont like? Why?
Discuss: Can you tell these pictures were painted a long time ago? How?

Next have them put their object on the other

paper, without gluing it down, and decide what
kind of background they want to draw. Be sure
they experiment with the direction of the paper
to see which way it will look the best as the
Center of Interest.
When they have decided where they want to
place their object on the paper have them trace
around it with a pencil and set it aside. Now
they are going to draw a background to go
with their object, and color it with colored pencils. Let them know the background can fill the
whole paper even where their Center of Interest
object is going to go and be like a new drawing. Remind them of the principles discussed
that will help make their Center of Interest
object stand out such as contrasting color and
repeating objects. The colored pencils will automatically be less intense that the marker colors.
(Encourage the students to color their background picture neatly, and not to leave too much
blank paper.)

Both these artists painted many artworks, but

what principles of art did they both use? Did
they use some of the smae ways to create a
Center of Interest in their paintings?
Review and write on the board some of the
ways to make a picture have a Center of
Interest.
* object is a larger size
* object or area has brighter colors and/or
contrasting colors
* object or area is placed in the middle
* focus has the same thing on both sides or
is surrounded by repetitious objects
Project: On one of their sheets of paper, have
students draw an object of their choice and color
it with markers. (Encourage them to color it in
completely with nice solid coloring.) Have them
outline it with a black marker. Explain they will
be cutting this object out so they dont need to
draw any background. Have them cut out the
finished object.

James T. Harwood, Boy with a Bun

113

After the background paper is finished, they can

glue on the Center of Interest object.
Assessment: Have some of the class members
show their work and use one of the following
evaluation methods:
1. Let the other students guess which Center of
Interest methods were used, and discuss how
successful the picture is.
2. Have the student tell which techniques he/she
used and tell whether or not the assignment was
successfully accomplished and why.
Conclusion: Glue finished pictures on black
construction paper and display them in an area
designated for the display of artwork. Have
some students write an explanation of Center
of Interest, and then put it on a poster to exhibit
with their art.
Extensions: Have students write a short story
with one main character.

114

EMPHASIS IN ART
Richard J. Van Wagoner, Donor Bank
Discussion Questions:
What is this painting of? Why do you think the
artist painted a bunch of wrecked cars? How do
you feel about the painting? Does knowing the
title, Donor Bank, affect how you feel about the
painting? In what ways? Is this painting making a comment about our society? What do you
think the artist intends to say?
Is this painting primarily about beauty, truth, or
form? What clues does the artist give?
Where is the center of interest in this work?
What elements of art have been used to create
the center of interest?

Making an element or an object stand out. A

center of interest is an area that dominates an
artwork and draws viewers eyes to it. This
interest may be created by using a color that is
bright, intense, or different from other areas, by
converging lines, by an area of calm in a busy
artwork.

Identifying Emphasis in Art

Objective: The students will demonstrate their
understanding of emphasis and how it is created
by the use of various elements of art by identifying emphasis in various artworks and discussing the ways artists have created that emphasis.
They also will be able to discuss the effects of
using emphasis/center of interest in an artwork.
Materials: a large variety of
slides, posters, postcards, or
other reproductions of artworks. These artworks should
exhibit a variety of ways the
artists have created a center of
interest or have used emphasis. Some possible examples
are Donor Bank, Richard Van
Wagoner, The Mountain Stream,
John Hafen, both this packet;
Mostly Flowers, Lou Jene
Carter, SMA MS Posters

This activity focuses on

developing an understanding
ACTIVITIES
of the ways elements of art are used to create
emphasis and the numerous ways this emphasis
Emphasisprinciple of design that makes one
can be created. To discuss these two ideas, stupart of the work dominant over other parts. The dents need to know what the elements of art are
element noticed first is called dominant; the
and be able to use that vocabulary in a discuselements noticed later are called subordinate.
sion. If your students have not yet learned the
115

necessary vocabulary, you will need to do one or

more of the activities from the Elements section
of this packet. The Elements of Art Book is a
good place to start.

with, give them another sheet of paper and let

them make a careful rendering of the design.
Display the finished designs so the students
have a visual record of everyones ideas.

If you think it will be helpful, have the students

briefly review the elements of art and write a list
on the board. Now show the students several
artworks, one at a time, and have the students
identify and then discuss the ways the artists
have created a center of interest and/or used
emphasis in the works. Ask students to be very
specific in their discussion of the use of the elements of art. When you are sure the students
understand, you can divide the class in groups
and have them discuss several more artworks.
If your students are old enough to read well,
have them work as a class to write a list on the
board of ways the elements of art are used to
create emphasis. Let them write it in language
they use. Keep a copy of the list for the next
activity.

The display can serve as the inspiration for or

springboard to another art activity in which the
students create more complex designs with a
center of interest, or students can create a more
refined version of their original design, or students can use the ideas to help them design and
execute an interesting still-life drawing or painting or an artwork of any other subject matter
theyre interested in.

This activity leads naturally to an art activity

giving the students opportunities to experiment
with ways they can create centers of interest or
emphasis.

How Many Ways Can You Create

Emphasis?
Objectives: 1. The students will explore ways to
create emphasis or a center of interest. 2. The
students will create an artwork that has emphasis or an area that is the center of interest.
Materials: good quality paper, various media
After completing the previous activity, pass out
paper and lay out the media. Students should
explore various ways to create emphasis and
center of interest, using the list the class made
previously to give them ideas. Encourage students to explore at least six different ways of
achieving emphasis. Then have the students use
their favorite design and try several variations
on it. When they have a design theyre pleased

Assessment/ReviewFor a Fun Review and

Self-Assessment activity, divide the students
into small groups and give them reproductions
of a variety of artworks. First, challenge them
to find an artwork that does not have a center
of interest. Then challenge them to find an artwork that does not have emphasis. If they think
theyve found one, they should share it with
the class and see if the class agrees or disagrees.
The nature of the group work should help point
out to students any weaknesses in their understanding of emphasis and center of interest and,
hopefully, give them the understanding theyre
lacking.
Variation for Advanced Students: use the earlier exercise as a review. Then have the students
evaluate their past or in-process work in terms
of emphasis and center of interest. They can
write a short critique of a piece, indicating what
is successful and what needs to be improved.
After critiquing the work, they can finish the
artwork if its in-process or they can begin a new
work, improving upon their use of emphasis.
Extension: After completing the previous activity, show students reproductions of sculptures
in various media and styles. Show them sculptures by Henry Moore, Giacometti, Louise
Nevelson, Calder, Ray Jonas, Cyrus Dallin,
Avard Fairbanks, ** and have the students examine and discuss the use of emphasis in these
116

works and compare it with paintings, drawings,

or prints.

Richard Van Wagoner, Overpass

weberstudies online

Social StudiesTransportation
Objective: The students will increase their
understanding of transportation in the
Twentieth Century by researching, discussing,
and building model freeways.
If pertinent, several days before the activity,
assign students to find newspaper articles, editorials, cartoons, or comments or information
from radio and television about the construction
on I 15. If focusing on I-15 construction does
not fit your situation, pick a local area that is
under construction, needs improvement, or that
will likely be expanded in the near future. (If
you are not using I 15, adapt the discussion and
construction to the chosen situation.) To start
the activity, show the class the slide of Donor
Bank. Using the Discussion Questions and
Biographical Information, discuss the authors
feelings about cars. If possible, have reproductions of other artworks of his (you can find two
about transportation at weberstudies.weber.
edu/archive/archive%20D%20Vol.%2018.2
now/Vol.%2018.3/VanWagonerArt.htm) . Then
have students briefly share the information they
have gathered about I 15 construction.

You may want the discussion to include why

the construction is needed, how it is affecting
businesses along the freeway, how the construction is being completed, what peoples reactions
to the increased difficulty of commuting are,
how better planning might have eliminated the
need for such a large construction project, what
administrators and politicians can learn from the
situation, how industry and businesses linked
to the construction are benefitting, or what the
benefits and or drawbacks of the finished freeway system will be. Pick whatever areas most
pertain to your class study.
After your discussion is finished, assign students an activity that goes along with your curriculum. The list below gives a few possibilities:
1. Have the students build a freeway interchange. Divide the class into groups and have
them choose a slip of paper from a jar. Each
slip of paper should contain a drawing of three
or more roads that intersect. The students must
plan a way to create an interchange. After planning, the group must submit the plan to a group
of students designated to oversee the project, for
approval. Then the students can build the interchange. The building process can involve only
the completed interchange or can go through
several stages, mimicking the process involved
in working on existing roads. If so, students
should consider ways to make the roads as
2. Have students build a section of freeway.
Pass out slips of paper with assignments on
them to each student. You will need engineers,
city planners, construction companies, etc. The
students must work together to design, plan
financing for, to construct the freeway section.
DramaInterest through Emphasis
Objective: Students will create an object using
their bodies and use it in an improvisation to
show they understand how to create a center of
interest or climax.
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Show the slide of Donor Bank or La Semilla Brota.

Discuss the center of interest or emphasis in
each of these paintings.
Explain that in drama the same principle
applies. Center of interest or focus is taken by
movement; strong, bright color or light, or placement on the stage.
Brainstorm with the students to list the various
components of a car.
Working individually have each student move
as part of the car would move; or the leader will
ask the students to simultaneously move as the
part the leader names: door, wheel, windshield
wiper, steering wheel, trunk, hood, motor, etc.
Divide the class into groups of eight or nine
and have them create a car with their bodies.
Each car should have a driver, so students can
demonstrate how their car runs." Which part
of each car is the center of interest? Why? (This

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UnityNatural Found Object Assemblage

Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the visual art concept of Unity by
inventing, designing and creating a natural
found object assemblage which which decorates
some part of the school grounds.
State Core: MakingStudents will play with art
materials and begin to order them by basic art
elements and principles. PerceivingStudents
will view artworks and talk about basic art elements and principles.
Materials: Natural found objects like sticks or
leaves or rocks. An outdoor play ground. Some
hanging or sticking devises like tape or pins,
depending on the project.
Process: Study the concept of visual unity by
looking at art work which demonstrates this
principle. In the packet is A. D. Shaws, Twice
Told Stories, a good example of how visual
elements can bring Unity to a two-dimensional
work. The three dimensional version of most
lessons are powerful visual examples for very
young art students. What we want to do here
is have students decorate some element of their
playground
with natural objects using the ideas of unity to
bring a kind of wholeness to the project.

how they will be organized and how they will

be applied. Decorating a tree is a good way to
go.
This is a year round project and can be continued into cold weather. A wonderful side effect
at our school is the respect and attention that
is generated in other students and some of the
core classes are starting to do this as Science or
Environmental Awareness or Recycling projects.
Remember that this lesson is written to help students learn about Unity but that other emphasis
can be focused on.
The last step is to have students photograph
their work. I use my upper grade photo class to
document the lower grade assemblages.
Evaluation and Exhibition: Like all installations,

Students should look at some of the work of

photographer/sculptor Andy Goldsworthy and
some of the gardens and outdoor sculptures of
Isamu Noguchi (there are many others including
Christo). Goldsworthys publications are easily found in most of the local book stores. Some
web sources are listed at the end of the lesson.
After some brainstorming and deciding on
group size and composition of the works details
have students select a site on the play ground
to organize. This project can be done solo or in
small groups or as a large group. Small groups
tend to allow more students to get involved.
Choose what materials are going to be used,

The Leaf Spiral by Josh and Chandler.

Photo by Jensen.
The Leaf Spiral by Tim.
Around and round and around it flows.
Around the ground it gently goes.
Inside the middle it grows and grows.
Where it end the leaf only knows.
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way to process the work. Have students write

(Haiku is a good one) about someone elses
project as well as their own. Students should
photograph the work and display the photos
with their writing in the formal exhibition site
designated by your school. If your school does
not have such a site, be proactive and get one.
Your students deserve a place to exhibit their
art work that has more sophistication than their
parents refrigerator door.
For grading purposes, the involvement in this
process is also part of the expected learning outcome.

Josh and Chandler working.

Photo by Jensen.

Detail photo by Jensen

this work is site specific and is naturally on
display. This kind of natural phenomena artwork is an excellent venue for writing as a

Related Projects: The same idea can be done

indoors or by using something besides natural
objects. A very entertaining project that each
class does each year is to collect the trash on the
playground. This seems like something that
artists should be doing, keep the school yard
looking good. We take the bags of garbage and
build The Garbage Man with it. First we
organize the trash by color, texture, medium,
and size. We also throw away wet, stinky, and
useless garbage. Then we cut out a human figure from cardboard and glue the trash onto the
cardboard template. These are annual sculptures and each class looks forward to the class
chance to make the most interesting garbage
man of the year. The students are so compelled
by this project that they will actually cheat by
bringing trash from home or crawling into the
dumpster or begging trash from other teachers trash cans. When the enthusiasm is high,
both the learning and the teaching seem to drive
themselves.
Another project is to bring in found objects
which are so unified in their visual aspects
and content that we can build a Totem Pole
around some cardboard concrete molds (those
cardboard tubes used to pour concrete pillars).
These are more like obelisks or monoliths but
the students like to call them totems. They can
be made with anything.
Web resources
Andy Goldsworthy
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http://cgee.hamline.edu/see/goldsworthy/see_an_andy.html
http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artists/AndyGoldsworthy
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues97/feb97/golds.html
Isamu Noguchi
http://www.noguchi.org/gardplay.html
Bibliography: A Collaboration with Nature, by Andy Goldsworthy; Wood, by Andy Goldsworthy;
Hand to Earth: Andy Goldsworthy Sculpture, by Andy Goldsworthy. (there are more). Isamu
Noguchi: Modern Master, by Bruce Altshuler. Isamu Noguchi: Space and Texture , by Ana
Maria Torres. Boundaries , by Maya Ying Lin. Earthworks and Beyond:Contemporary Art in the
Landscape, by John Beardsley.

Here are some examples of other projects that focused on unity.

Detail of mobile
This is a finished zoomorphic mobile. The
sense of unity is derived from using the
same medium (aluminum foil), the same
thematic content (animals), and the same
display device (string). Although the photo
does not do the artwork justice, the piece
does hold together well and all the visual
elements seem to be part of a greater whole.

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This is an unfinished, first-grade found-object

sculpture. The attempt at unity is provided by
the homogenous use of medium (small pieces of
sticks) to create a unified visual impact. Unity
of texture, value, color, line, and shape are a
product of the medium.

This photo shows a detail of the project. Young

students have difficulty comprehending the
idea of visual principles. An effective way to
introduce the idea of unity is to have students
use a medium that is the same or similar so the
artwork automatically exhibits similarity of the
visual elements of line, shape, value, color, and
texture. When they can see a completed, unified
artwork, students can more easily understand
how unity as a visual idea works. After the
students reach this level of understanding, they
can try more abstract approaches in which they
create the actual line or shape or texture project
with pen, pencil, or paint.

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Remember When: Unity in Art & Life

Arch D. Shaw, Twice Told Tales
Objectives
AH- Art History, A- Aesthetics, C- Criticism, PProduction
Students will be able to:
-Examine a new artist, A.D. Shaw, and his style
of painting.-AH
-analyze how the elements of art can create the
principle of art, unity.-P
-define the formalist theory and use it to critique
the painting Twice Told Tales-A/C
-Discover the use of art elements to create unity
among artworks from various art movements in
history.-AH
-create an artwork which expresses a tale from
their own lives, which uses various mediums
and still obtains unity within the piece.-P
-Express ideas of beauty with respect to unity
and discuss differences of opinions.-A
State Core Links
Based on a Foundations 1 (7-12)
Standard 1
Explore a variety of art media, techniques,
and processes.
Create works of art that show the use of the
art elements and principles.
Standard 2
Objective 1
Describe artworks according to use of art
elements and principles.
Interpret works of art.
Objective 2
Learn how to use aesthetic approaches to
compare and discuss works of art.
Evaluate works of art based on how they
were created, effective use of the art
elements and principles, fulfillment of
functions, and expressive qualities.
Standard 3
Objective 1
Create works of art that show subject matter,
themes, or individually conceived content.
Express subject matter, themes, or content

through applications of art media and

by applying the art elements and principles.
Standard 4
Evaluate the impact of art on life outside of
school.

Materials:
A.D Shaws biographical information
transparency of A.D Shaws painting Twice
Told Tales
Various postcard reproductions from different
art movements (can be taken for this or other
evening for educator packets or any art
reproductions in the classroom, just used for
comparing art elements and principles)
Overhead copy of four reproductions
including Twice Told Tales (these should be put
together as one big artwork), or tracing paper,
or acetate.
Paper
Various mediums such as watercolor, crayon,
oil pastels, pencil, colored pencil,
newspaper/magazine, tempera paint, etc.
Activity
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Definitions
Plein-air: This type of painting is painted outdoors, usually more immediate and impressionistic than studio-painted pieces.
Genre painting: This type of painting shows normal people doing typical day-to-day activities.
Unity: This is the quality of wholeness or oneness that is achieved through the effective use

Howard Kearns, Desert Barbershop

of the elements and principles of art. Unity is
created by simplicity, repetition, proximity and
continuation.
Formalist Theory (Modernist) : This is the idea
of art being done for arts sake. The work of art
is a self-sufficient autonomous whole-analyzed
as a self-sufficient entity constituted by its harmonious parts. One is concerned primarily with
the visual elements and principle of art. The
judgment is based solely upon criteria intrinsic
to the works own mode of being-a perfect cooperation among all parts of a work. You do not
have to know the intentions of the artist or even
much about the historical context out of which
it developed- what is important is on the canvas and not what it represents(Dr. Donna Kay
Beattie, Major Aesthetic Philosophies).
Introduce the artist Arch D. Shaw and discuss
the different subjects he uses in his paintings.

Discuss the meaning of plein-air painting and

genre painting. A.D Shaw was a graphic artist/illustrator for a number of years; ask the
students if they think this background may have
influenced his work as a fine artist. For example, illustrators often have to illustrate people
and everyday life; perhaps this influenced his
interest in genre painting.
Review with the students past elements and
principles they have learned. Introduce the new
principle of Unity to the students. Ask the students what they think unity is and how they see
it in their own lives; family, government, school,
friends, homework, nature, etc. Talk about the
idea of achieving oneness among many different
things. For example, how does a sports team
achieve unity or oneness? Next, ask students
how the elements of art can be used in a painting to create unity. You can have a group of
students stand in the front of the room posed as
if in a painting. Then have the rest of the class
discuss what creates unity among them, is it the
shapes they are creating with their bodies, color
of skin, clothing, hair, or is it the personality
and attitude of the individuals that they have in
common; it could be things that are not seen but
just known.

Art Criticism/Aesthetics
Display A.D. Shaws painting Twice Told Tales,
and have the students discuss what they think is
happening in the painting and what they think
of the painting strictly based on the subject matter. Then introduce the Formalist theory to the
students. After they understand that the most
important thing to Formalism is the art elements
and principles, have the student critique Twice
Told Tales using this theory. The basic criticism
model should be used: Description, Analysis,
Interpretation, and Judgment. Make sure all
answers are based on the elements of art. For
example, when interpreting the artwork, the
shape of different lines will create a mood.
Have the students decide what they think the
artist was trying to communicate by the lines,
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shapes, and colors he chose. For example, horizontal lines are usually peaceful, vertical lines
very sturdy and strong, diagonal lines seem
unstable. Use the final judgment to decide
whether the artist successfully used the elements
of art to create unity in the artwork.

Art History
Hand out a set of four postcards to each table;
they can be the same postcards to each group or
different postcards. One of the postcards should
be Twice Told Tales and the other postcards
should all be from different art movements in
history: Impressionism, Realism, Minimalism,
Expressionism, Ancient, etc. The class has
already discussed how unity is created in Twice
Told Tales, now have students decide if the same
elements are used to create unity in the other
works of art. After they have discussed have the
students put the postcards together with four
corners touching so it creates one large picture.

a thousand times. Why is it important or why

does it feel nice to reminisce? Have students
create a remember when. work of art. The art
should illustrate an event that has been retold
among friends countless times; it could be an
event that brought more unity to the group of
friends. Have students illustrate the event using
three different mediums- pencil, paint, newspaper/magazine, color pencil, crayon, watercolor/tempera paint, and oil pastels are some
choices. The students must use the elements of
art in an effective way to unify all the mediums
and the subject matter of their work of art. The
students artwork can be critique using the formalist approach as review.
Assessment
-The activity where the students stand in front
of the room and decide which elements they
have that create unity can be used as an informal assessment of their understanding of unity

As a class, decide what could be done with the

elements of art to create unity among this new
work of art. Have a copy on an overhead so the
pictures can be drawn on or have a piece of tracing paper or acetate for the students to put over
their works and alter them.

Production
Discuss A.D Shaws Twice Told Tales with respect
to the title. What do the students think this
title means? Ask how many students have ever
lived in a small town or in the same town their
whole lives. Does a small town have unity, and
what do people do to create unity among them?
Discuss how this genre scene shows men taking
a break from their everyday chores and begin to
tell tales or reminisce with these other men they
have probably known their whole lives. What
kind of tale could they be telling? Ask students
if they have ever gotten together with a friend
they have always known and spent hours just
recounting stories they must have already told

Mimi and Sport

from the 2003 All-State High School Exhibit

in design.
-The Art History activity can also be used as an
informal assessment.
-Formal Assessment- After the students have
finished their Remember When works of
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art have them switch with their neighbors and

on a separate sheet of paper have them use the
Formalist Theory to outline a critique of their
neighbors work, have the judgment of the work
be based of the successfulness of unity created
in the work. Grade this critique on a 1-3 rubric
based on understanding of Formalist theory, and
the ability to recognize the creation of unity, and
following all the steps for critiquing (describing,
analyzing, interpreting, judging).
-Artworks can be added to portfolios and graded on an analytic rubric rating scale of 1-5.
-The artworks and critiques can also be combined into one rubric as well.

Sources
Additional reading:
-past evening for educator packets
-Barret, Terry. Criticizing Art. Mountain View,
California. Mayfield Publishing Company.
1994.
-Townsend, Dabney. An Introduction to
Aesthetics. Massachusetts.
Blackwell Publishers. 1997.
-Day, Michael & Hurwitz, Al. Children and
Their Art: Methods for the Elementary School.
Texas. Harcourt Brace College Publishers. 1958.
-Beattie, Donna Kay. Assessment in Art
Education. Massachusetts. Davis
Publications, Inc. 1997.
Variations
This lesson is based on a secondary skill level
more specifically middle school grades. Various
areas can be simplified for elementary level.
Students will still be able to understand the
same art elements and principles. Instead of
having students learn the formalist theory to critique the work and the students use a simplified
method. This method could be a Look Again
activity where for each area of the criticism
model you are simply asking the students to
look a bit further into the artwork. The teacher
can still gear the students more towards the
design aspects of the work if desired. For production students can create an artwork based on

a story they have told over and over again, but

instead of using various mediums have them try
and create unity using only one medium. They
can create unity simply by applying the same
color in different areas of the picture or by repetition of a type of line.
Extension
To further explore the area of Aesthetics an
activity dealing with the area of what is beauty
would be appropriate. Draw a line on an overhead or the white board, the line should represent a continuum. One end of the line should
be represented as Beauty or something someone
sees as pleasing to look at, the other end of the
continuum should represent the opposite, something not so pleasing to look at. Have postcards
of various reproductions on hand. Have the students take turns placing the reproductions along
the continuum in order of most pleasing to least
pleasing. After this has been done have the
students then go back and number the works
in order of which they feel are the most unified
reproductions. Continue with a discussion of
whether the students believe that unity plays
a large part in whether a work of art is seen as
pleasing to look at or beautiful. Is there anytime
a painting may be more effective as a more ununified piece of art? For example if the painting
is a social statement of some sort dealing with
segregation or something related to that type of
idea?
Secondary Extension: Have students choose
a work they have already completed that they
do feel is unified enough. They should write a
short critique saying why the work is not unified and how they could improve the sense of
unity. Then they can rework the artwork or
make a similar one depending on the medium
and whether it allows changes.

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Identifying, Understanding,
and Creating Unity in Art

Brian T. Kershisnik Fallen Icarus in the Park

Discussion Questions
What is the title of this piece? Briefly tell the
story of Icarus. Why has the artist shown Icarus
lying in a present-day park? What does Icarus
stand for? Who are the people in the back of the
painting? Who are the man and woman in the
front? Why arent any of them paying to Icarus?
What real-life events does this painting remind
you of? How does the artist feel about Icarus
fall? How does he feel about the people who are
ignoring Icarus? What clues indicate how the
artist feels? How do you feel about the people
who dont notice Icarus? Why?
What aesthetic theory or theories does this
painting best fit? (Realistic, Expressive,
Pleasure, Formalist, Feminist, Institutionalist,
Instrumentalist) Why?
Describe the kinds of lines you see in this work.

Describe the colors and values. What other elements of art has the artist used? How has the
artist balanced his work? Is the work unified?
How and by what means? Is it important for
an artwork to be unified? Why or why not?
How do you feel after looking at this painting?
Would you like to see other paintings by this
artist? What would most interest you about his
other paintings? Where would you hang this
painting? Why? Does it matter where the painting is? How would the painting be different if
it were hanging in your home? Do you believe
this painting is good art? Why or why not?
ACTIVITIES
Objective: The students will be able to identify
how the elements of art are used to create unity
in artworks and will be able to make supported
judgements about the effectiveness of that unity.
Materials:
slides or reproductions of a variety of artworks
including Fallen Icarus in the Park and Twice Told
Tales.
Background Information: To discuss unity, the
students need to be comfortable with the terminology and meaning of the elements of art, so if
you have not yet taught them that terminology,
you will need to do so before proceeding with
the activity. (See the packet from September
30, 1998, or the pages on The Elements and
Principles of Art in this packet.)
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Show the class the slide of Fallen Icarus in the

Park and have the students quickly identify
or comment on the use of each of the art elements in the work as a review. (Line, shape,
color, value, texture, and space) If this is your
first introduction of the principles of art, you
will need to give an overview of what the principles are. (See The Elements and Principles of
Art) Then ask the students what unity means.
If your class is young, start by explaining unity
in terms of concrete items. For example, if you
have manipulative objects you use for math, you
can arrange them in several different arrangements, asking the students what unifies the
group each time. First show them a group that
is all the same color, then a group that is all the
same size, then one that has different colors and
sizes but share the same shape, or whatever
possible combinations you can make. If you do
not have items that can be used for this part of
the activity, you will need to find some that will
convey the idea appropriately.
After the students have the idea, move to more
abstract ways unity can be demonstrated. Then
have the students look again at Fallen Icarus in
the Park and identify ways the artist has used
the elements of art to produce unity. Some possible answers are the lines are fuzzy, not distinct,
the colors are subtle, there is a dark underpainting showing through the surface of the paint,
the detail is greater in the foreground and fades
toward the back, the brushwork is consistent,
the mood is consistent throughout the painting and fits the idea of the piece, the placement of the figures and trees makes your eyes
move through the piece, but keeps you within
the painting. Dont worry too much about the
answers being right, the most important element
of this activity is to stimulate the children to
think about unity and about how artists create
unity.
After the students have discussed specific ways
Brian Kershisnik has created unity in his painting, show the class slides or reproductions of
other artworks and let them do the same with
those artworks. Ask them what happens if an

artwork does not have unity. Does it always

have to have unity? When might an artist not
want to have unity in his artwork?
Students also can critique their own works in
terms of unity.
To include criticism, assign the students to write
a critique of an artwork that focuses on how and
how well an artist has achieved unity. Another
possibility is that if the students have worked
with other principles of art, they can critique
an artwork, examining all the principles of art.
If your students dont yet write well, or if you
want to shorten the activity, use a spoken critique.
Another possible project is to divide the students into small groups and have them write
a short critique of an artwork as a group. The
artworks should be some you have a reproduction of that can be displayed. Have the groups
write their critiques so they can be read easily,
and then have students display their critiques
with the artworks in the school halls or library,
where other classes can read the critiques. If
you teach an elementary grade, the students
may be able to use computer time to make polished looking and easily read critiques.
Exploring Ways the Art Elements
Can Create Unity
Objective: the students will experiment with
the elements of art to gain an understanding of
the principle of unity. The students will demonstrate that understanding by creating an artwork
that has unity.
To help demonstrate the relationships among
the elements and principles, have the students
complete the following activity.
Give students a large sheet of paper and have
them draw an interesting line from one side of
the paper to another; then have them notice that
just one line has created two shapes. Now have
the students draw several more lines that each
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go from one side of the page to the other, so the

lines are more or less parallel. Point out that
they have begun to create the principle rhythm.
Help them understand how the lines create
rhythm, if they dont understand.
Have the students draw two lines that go from
one side of the page to another, but at an angle
to the other lines. Have the students look at
how many shapes they now have. Now they
should introduce the element color, by coloring
one shape. Ask the students how coloring one
shape puts several other principles and elements
strongly into play. (Color, of course, proportion,
value, emphasis, balance, and the space is now
more definitely broken up). Let the students
color several more shapes. Now the idea of

positive and negative space is clearly established

and the differences between the colored shapes
and the uncolored have provided at least some
texture, and balance and rhythm are stronger
due to the increased number of colored shapes.
Have students get in small groups and look
at the experiments. The point is not evaluation, whether someone did a good job or not,
the point is to start learning about the complex
ways the elements and principles of art interrelate. In fact, unless there is significant variation
among the experimental drawings, the students
will not be able to see the complexities. For

example, when the students look at each others

work, some of the students will have carefully
balanced the colored shapes and/or the overall
design while others have not. Have the students look for what conveys a feeling of balance.
Are some ways static and others balanced but
dynamic? What makes the difference? Students
should discuss each element and principle and
how they relate. Students can add color or lines
to try out ideas as they discuss.
If you need help understanding the principles
of art, read the definitions in The Elements and
Principles of Art in this packet. If your students
have trouble with one or more of the principles,
use introductory activities included with the artworks in this packet.
After the group discussion, show the class the
slide of Fallen Icarus in the Park and discuss
unity; and how it, as a principle, is concerned
with the overall feeling of the artwork. Have
students look at some artworks and discuss how
each is or is not unified. Then assign students to
create an artwork that is unified. Offer students
several different still-life arrangements to choose
from or allow students to create artworks based
on their memories and ideas. Several times
during the drawing or painting time, stop the
students and have them look at their artwork to
see if it is developing unity. Have them evaluate what is happening and how they want to
continue or change the drawing or painting so it
gains or retains unity. You may need to remind
them of the many ways they identified that artists create unity.
When the drawings or paintings are finished,
have the students create a display that has a
unified effect as an exhibit. If helpful, allow the
students to choose representatives who will
confer with them and then make decisions as a
smaller group.
Art HistoryInstrumentalist Art
Objective: The students will understand how
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art has been used throughout history to accomplish specific purposes. (Instrumentalist Art)
Show the class the slide of Fallen Icarus in the
Park and have class members discuss the purpose of this artwork. In addition to its value as
a well-designed and interesting artwork, this
piece makes a comment about our society or
asks us to examine our own lives. Use ideas

Show students other works that make social

comments. Some possibilities are, from past
educator evening packets, Integration, Harrison
T. Groutage, Nov. 1991; War or Peace, Cyrus E.
Dallin, and Money Plant, Robert Marshall Jan.
1992; Protest, Cyrus E. Dallin, and , Feb. 1993;
You Can Marry Outside of Your Faith. . . By Calvin
Grondahl; Cows of Art History: at the end of
innocence by Gregory Abbott; Over Three Billion
Served by Alex Darias, Oct. 1994; New Americans
by Nicholas Britsky, and Johnnys Apron by
Trevor Southey, Nov. 1994; and many others.
Have students choose one piece and write 1-3
paragraphs about the comment being made.
Students should include a problem or current
situation they feel warrants addressing.
If you want the activity to include art production, have the students plan and execute an artwork that addresses a chosen situation. (The
problems do not have to be what we consider
Social Problems. Students should be free to
choose anything they want to comment on or
pose a question about.) This project can be completed by individual students, by small groups,
or by the class as a whole. Since one purpose
of this art is to communicate or stimulate ideas,
make sure the finished project(s) get displayed
where the whole school can see the artworks.
Students should choose titles for the work(s) in
keeping with the purpose.

Ruth Wolfe Smith

An Allegory of the 1960 Elections
from the Discussion Questions, if you havent
already discussed the work and its meaning.
Then show Donor Bank by Richard Van Wagoner.
Ask the students what kind of social comment
this piece is making. (See Activities, Richard Van
Wagoner) Then ask students if they know of
other purposes for specific works or kinds of art.
At this point, the activity can go many ways, a
few suggestions follow:

Expand or direct the activity to artworks that are

narrative in nature. These works may be about
the artists themselves, about a specific person,
or about a part of society and normal life. Many
examples are available, including slides from
past Educator Evening Packets. Show the students several and have them discuss what the
artworks tell us about the artist, the person
depicted, or the slice of life represented.
Move to or include stained glass and other
decorations in cathedrals, which helped teach
churchgoers religious stories and principles.
Show examples and let the students pick out
familiar stories. You may want to point out
that religious symbols were also used to convey
130

ideas about the people depicted. If it fits your

curriculum, go through some religious art,
identifying commonly used symbols. When
the students understand the idea, make them
Symbol Detectives. Dont worry too much
about whether they are correct in their identification and explanations, just get them excited
about the idea of symbols. You may want to
have students choose a particular symbol and
research its meaning. For example, the lilies
shown in many religious paintings are symbols
of the lineage of David, the stem of Jesse.
You can also explore symbols in non-Christian
artworks.

students identify ways written language or oral

traditions are used to give us information or
ideas. For example, myths, traditional stories,
fables, fairy tales,

Another possibility is to explore several art

movements, examining the focus or purpose
of the works and how they relate to the art of
the period. For example, the Impressionists
were concerned with depicting light and color,
primitive art often represents a deity or myth
and may be used to thank, as part of worship,
as a symbol of dead individuals, as a prayer for
game or harvests, etc. The expressionists wanted to give form to feelings.

Language Can Promote Ideas

Objective: The students will understand how
various forms of language expression teach or
promote ideas indirectly.
Show the class the slide of Fallen Icarus in
the Park. If you have not discussed the ideas
explored by the painting, do so now. This work
uses the myth of Icarus, which itself has a message, and it uses the situation of a monumental
event happening while people around go about
their lives without noticing. The painting is not
intended to simply tell us we should be more
aware of whats going on around us, it also is
intended to invite us to explore our lives and
the significant events in them. The artist doesnt
give viewers an answer, but he does suggest that
we need more awareness. Other mediums are
used to teach us or to stimulate thought. Have

Harrison Groutage, Integration

Drama/Healthy Lifestyles
Families Can Have Unity
Objective: Students will improvise scenes based
on personal family experiences that show an
understanding of unity.
Show the slide of Fallen Icarus in the Park and tell
the story of Icarus. Have the students role play
the characters in the story. Then divide the class
into groups and have each group role play the
story.
As a class, brainstorm and then make a list of
situations in which if the student had obeyed or
listened to the counsel of parents (or guardians),
the student would have been safe or stayed out
of trouble. Divide the class into groups of five
or six students. Have each group choose one of
the situations listed from the brainstorming and
role play the situation.
Have the group discuss the role playing. Then
have each group role play their situation again,
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solving the problem in a way that restores unity

and peace and protects the student.
NOTE:
Remind students as they develop their role
plays that each situation needs a beginning,
middle, and end. They need to show:
what started the problem
how/why the advice of a parent, guardian,
or teacher was ignored
the consequences
Explain that there is always a space of time
between an action and our response to it In that
space of time we are free to choose our response;
however, we cannot choose the response or
action of another person. Have the class evaluate the differences between the two versions of
each role play.

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Elements and Principles

Sketchbook Assignments
Secondary
The following lessons are for out-of-class high school sketchbook assignments on the elements and
principles. The assignments are on the school web site for the students to view at
www.ssh.sevier.k12.ut.us/faculty/SSH%20Art/index.html
The pages on the web site have all the images because they can be used for educational purposes
within a classroom. Here, weve included only those images we know arent a copyright problem.
For the other images, weve included a web site address.
The list of elements and principles is somewhat different from the one weve used for the packet,
and some of the assignments are geared particularly toward the teachers class (for example, the
assignment to draw views of the Sevier Valley), but all can be easily adapted. In addition, You can
easily use the same ideas with different artworks. Hopefully, your class will also have fun with the
assignments.

Trevor Southey, Full Bloom

133

Line
Definition
Line can be described as the path left by a moving point. It is a visual path of action. A line
expresses the energy of the person or thing that made it. Lines may vary in length, width, or
direction. They can be continuous or broken, thick or thin, regular or irregular, static or moving,
straight or curved, or any combination of these. Lines can b grouped to make patterns or textures
or to portray shadows. Line is primarily a means for defining visual form.
The line that simply designates the outer edge of an area or shape is called an outline.
A contour line is a line used to describe the edge of a three-dimensional object in space. It indicates
the last visible point on a surface that bends away from the viewer.
Lines can be used to create values or textures. Hatching is the placing of many lines next to each
other. Cross-hatching occurs when many parallel lines cross each other.
Gestural lines indicate action and physical movement. Our eyes follow the active lines as they swirl
across the page.
For this exercise, draw your shoe three times. (1) Draw an outline of your shoe. (2) Draw your shoe
using contour lines. Use the contour lines to show the 3D detail. (3) Draw your shoe using lines to
create value.
Rhinoceros, Albrecht Drer 1550

134

Shape

Definition
Shapes are enclosed areas; solid matter that tells us that something is an apple, a cloud, or a person. We readily identify objects by the shapes they present. Shape describes something that is two
dimensional.
Shapes fit easily into two basic categories: geometric and organic. The geometric shape is precise
and sharply defined. Most manufactured and handmade objects are based on geometric shapes.
Although we often recognize geometric shapes in nature, most natural objects are organic shapes.
Organic shapes reflect the free-flowing aspects of growth and are produced in a wide variety of precise and irregular shapes.

Pablo Picasso, Composition #2

byu.edu

Fernand Leger, Composition Mecanique

byu.edu

Many shapes can be simply described as curved or curvilinear (thin curved outlines of shapes), or
angular. Curved shapes are graceful; angular shapes suggest strength.
Positive shapes are solid, tangible aspects of a composition. Negative shapes are the areas that
either surround the shape or exist between shapes.
Visually express three emotions using shapes and lines. Create a drawing for each emotion.
Original images:
Small Worlds VII, Wassily Kandinsky, 1922
http://search.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?record=51022&=list&=1&=&=And

Pierrot and Harlequin, Pablo Picasso, 1920

www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=60519+0+none

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145

Back to the Basics

at the Springville Museum of Art
Artist Biographies
Phillip Henry Barkdull, Designed Landscape:
Symphony in Colour
Wulf Barsch, Toward Thebes
Ken Baxter, Mechams Boots
Allen Craig Bishop, La Semilla Brota
Silvia Davis, Guest
Harrison Groutage, Along the Bear River
John Hafen, The Mountain Stream
Frank Huff, Drive-Inn
Raymond Jonas, Abstract Configuration
Brian Kershisnik, Fallen Icarus in the Park
Jacqui Biggs Larsen, Cottage Industry
Robert Leroy Marshall, Snow Canyon
Georgi Melikhov, Victory Day in Berlin

Bonnie Phillips, Whole Wheat on Tuna

Gary Lee Price, Irises
Lee Greene Richards, Grandmothers Garden,
Salt Lake City
Frank Riggs, Tohatchi
A.D. Shaw, Twice Told Tales
Dennis Smith, Barn Swallow
Gary Ernest Smith, Great American Farmer
Minerva Teichert, Hereford Roundup
Dahrl Thomson, Island of Hope
Richard Van Wagoner, Donor Bank
Michael Workman, In Darkness
Nevertheless Illuminated

146

ARTIST:
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SIZE:

Phillip Henry Barkdull (1888-1968) Fillmore/Logan

Designed Landscape Symphony in Colour 1930
Oil on canvas
30" x 24"

All too often, talented and interesting artists are

undeservedly forgotten by history. One such
artist is Phillip Henry Barkdull. P. H. Barkdull
was born on March 22, 1888, in the small community of Hatton, just outside Fillmore, Utah.
He was the second of three sons born to John
Henry and Emma Isabell Barkdull. While
Henry was a child, his family struggled to make
a success of their small farm. During his youth,
Henry fell, hitting his head on a railroad track.
He suffered a severe hearing loss. Later, a mastoidectomy left him also suffering from bad
sinuses and migraines, which continued for the
remainder of his life.
There were no schools in the rural area where
Henry grew up, and his family needed his
help on their farm, so he did not attend school.
Finally, at the age of 23, he left the farm to begin
high school at Brigham Young High School in
Provo, where he took up the study of art. He
was embarrassed because he was so much older
than the other students, so he lied about his age.
Even though he was always sickly, he managed
to participate on the high-school track team.
After graduation from high school, he entered
Brigham Young University to continue studying
art. However, in 1917, before he could receive
his degree, Barkdull was invited by an old
roommate to accept a position as Instructor of
Art at Dixie Normal College in St. George. But
then, his career as an art instructor was delayed
by his induction into the Armed Forces. He
served for only a few short months before his ill
health resulted in a discharge, and he once again
began teaching art in Southern Utah, this time at
Hurricane High School. Again his tenure was a
short one, and he spent the next six years teaching art in various Utah schools.

Next, Barkdull moved to Provo where he taught

arts, crafts, and design part-time at Provo
High School. He spent the summers attending Brigham Young University and graduated
in 1928. He continued teaching at Provo High
School for two years after his graduation from
BYU. It was during this time that he attended
summer classes at Utah State Agricultural
College and met Birger Sandzen, a Kansas artist
who had a greater influence on Barkdull than
did any other artist. Sandzens neo-impressionist technique, with its thick impasto, raw
color, and regionalist subject matter presented
in almost a Cubist style, sparked Barkdulls
imagination and resulted in Paintings [that]
shine out like a beacon amidst the foggy grey
of many of his contemporaries, according to
Dr. Vern Swanson, Director of the Springville
Museum of Art.
The two summers Barkdull studied under
147

Sandzen resulted in Barkdulls most productive period. Barkdulls Designed Landscape:

Symphony in Color clearly demonstrates
Sandzens influence. Although formally structured, the painting is saturated with the pure
hues and rich pigment of the fauvists. At the
time it was painted1930it was a significant
departure from the current Utah painting style.
This new style of painting was not appreciated
by other Utah artists, who thought it was too
radical. On the few occasions when Barkdulls
works were sent to New York for criticism,
they were given favorable reviews. However, a
new artistic style appeared and soon swept the
country. This style was termed Dirty Thirties
because it reflected the negative effects and
influences of the Depression Era. Many Utah
artists moved directly from Impressionism
to this new style, never discovering the Neo
Impressionist style. In contrast, Phillip Barkdull
had managed to stay with the leading edge of
art while hidden away in the art world of Utah,
making him an extraordinary artist.
It was, however, as a teacher of design that
Barkdull made his greatest contribution to the
Utah art scene. During the fall of 1930, a teaching position at Brigham Young University was
vacated by B. F. Larsen, when he left for a years
sabbatical in France. Barkdull was chosen to fill
the position. He was listed as an Instructor in
Art, teaching the following courses: Graphic
Representation, Theory and Practice of Design,
Domestic Art Design, and Outdoor Sketching
with Oil Color. After his brief tenure at BYU,
Barkdull was hired by the Logan School District
as Supervisor of Arts and Crafts of the Logan
Schools, and he also taught art at the high
school part of the day. His busy schedule as
both instructor and district supervisor combined
with his constant poor health all but ended any
serious focus on painting. Persistent health
problems resulted in his early retirement in the
spring of 1954.

After his retirement, financial problems forced

Barkdull to continue working as a private

instructor. During this time, he turned to painting watercolors, mostly florals. Due mostly
to his battles and concerns with poor health,
Barkdull never fully developed his artistic
gift. His innovative style and obvious talent
were never expressed as they might have been,
given the opportunity. Phillip Barkdull died on
November 6, 1968, in Logan, without having
established his talent and significance in Utah
art history.
.

Phillip H. Barkdull, Seagulls on Utah Lake 1930

ARTIST:
TITLE:
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Wulf E. Barsch (1943- ) Germany/Utah

Toward Thebes 1985
Oil on canvas
24"x 35 3/4"

Wulf Eric Barsch was born in Reudnitz,

Germany, on August 27, 1943. Before Barsch
was born, his father was drafted into the
German army, and Wulf did not see his father
until he was 16 years old. Although World War
II ended in 1945, Barschs father was a prisoner
of war who was moved from Texas, to France,
and then to Russia before he was released. All
this time, the family assumed he was dead.
After the war Wulf, his mother, and his sister
unexpectedly had to flee the country, changing
their names in order to escape.
Barsch received his early art training in
Hamburg and Hannover, Germany, from master
students of Kandinsky and Klee. An important
influence on Barsch, Paul Klees idea that art
does not make pictures of nature exactly but
it makes something that is a new creation, it
makes some feeling or experience with nature a
reality, is a philosophy that Barsch incorporates
in his own art.
During his student years, the painter became
interested in the Vienna School of Fantastic
Realism and the work of Mark Tobey, a devout
Bahai. He later studied Egyptian and Islamic
culture and history, and that interest is still evident in the recurrent spiritual symbols in his art.
A convert to the L.D.S. Church, Barsch served
a mission for the Church in northern California
and attended Brigham Young University. Wulf
received a master's degree in printmaking
from Brigham Young University in 1971 and a
Master of Fine Arts degree in painting in 1972.
Barsch immediately joined the art faculty at
BYU. Barschs achievements include international recognition for his paintings and prints.
Winner of The Prix de Rome from the American

Academy in Rome in 1975, Barsch spent the next

year, with his family, working in Rome. Other
awards include the Printmaking award from the
Western States Art Foundation, an award for
Excellence in Art from the Snowbird Institute,
and the Directors Award from the Springville
Museum of Art.
Due to his own introspective nature, Barsch
believes that each of his works necessitate a private interpretation of spiritual mystical themes
from the viewer. Barschs metaphorical paintings introduced a new enthusiasm and recognition for Mormon Art during the 1980s. A leader
of the second wave of the Art and Belief
movement, Barsch proposes that a culmination
of faith, heritage, imagination, and contemporary life is displayed through the use of abstract
and geometric designs to emphasize spiritual
themes.
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Dynamic Symmetry, the proportions often called

the Golden Mean, undergirds every painting
of Barschs. The idea of sacred geometrythe
proportions of the universedates back to the
ancient canons. It is evident as the underlying design reflecting the eternal order of nature
itself. Mysterious, arcane, and, other worldly,
Barschs art is geometrical, intellectual, and mystical, but the paint application is just the oppositemodern, direct, wiped, color contrasts, and
wet into wet.
The effect of these opposites is
to create a sense of place in the past relevant to
today.

Brigham Young University, in her monograph Wanderings: Abraham, Ulysses, and the
Landscapes of Wulf Barsch, describes this thematic approach and Barschs symbolic quest for
home: Even at first glance, Barschs landscapes
leave a peculiar sensation that the compositions
are fragments of a very long sentence and that
the vocabulary of the fragments is distinctly personal. . . In classic form these episodic scenes
are a section from the middle of the story. .
. The syntax of this continuous sentence is an
ideal vehicle for expanding Barschs theme. He
wanders from episode to episode in the search
for home and each incident adds absolutely
necessary attributes of self-knowledge and self-control.
McConkie explains further: Wulf
Barschs environment and his art
are an attempt to recreate something he wishes to remember,
something for which he searches
with the patience of a mystic. His
art expresses a universal theme
about the home that he believes
he once knew and the life-long
struggle to become once again a
denizen of that society. Knowing
about that home, he says, helps
explain the present and control
the future. They are all really the
same.

Wulf Barsch, Amduat, 1982

In an unpublished manuscript on Mormon
Art by Dr. Vern G, Swanson, Director of the
Springville Museum of Art, he says, Barschs
exploration of spiritual-mystical themes, especially the Abrahamic vision, through his own
very private interpretations has established him
as one of Americas premier religious artists.
. . Barschs meditations have propelled him
into contemporaneous metaphorical painting.
Like most of the masters of this century, he has
worked consistently on variations of a theme, in
this case, the Hebraic mysteries.
Judith McConkie, of the Museum of Art at

Toward Thebes is an abstract painting which, according to Dr. Vern

G, Swanson, is based on the theme of Life in this
mortal estate, in which, as the Apostle Paul says,
"We see through a glass darkly" (I Cor. 13:12).
This life appears chaotic to us, as if we viewed
a tapestry from the backknots and ends and
very little design. But when we, in the next life,
can see from the front, the beautiful and intricate
design will be clear. Thebes, Egypt's capitol city
during politically stable times, symbolizes the
idea of order coming out of chaos.
A hint of God's design is seen in the Magic
Square, influenced by the German artist
150

Albrecht Durer. It was scribbled on while the

paint was still wet by Wulf's brush handle. It
might represent the 15 Prophets, Seers and
Revelators (LDS First Presidency and Twelve
Apostles) on the earth at any one time. These
numbers add up to fifteen, no matter in which
direction they are counted. Though looking chaotic, they are logically organized, if the
viewer will but look a little deeper.
492
357
816
The Greek Alpha and Omega letters at the bottom of the picture represent the Lord Jesus
Christ. The foundation design beside these letters might indicate the temple in New Jerusalem
(Jackson County, Missouri). The numbers "14"
and "15" could denote the process of counting
up to the prophetic number "Fifteen".
Barsch has juxtaposed contrasting art elements
to give vitality to his painting. He has contrasted blurred areas against sharp and hardedged sections, neutral, tonal and grayed areas
are superimposed against zones of intense
chroma. The opposition of naturalistic content
with abstract forms, amorphous patches with
geometric shapes can also be seen. Carefully
considered areas contrasting with geometric
shapes can also be seen. Carefully considered
areas contrast with carelessly wrought sections
that allow for the full range of aesthetic devices
to energize Wulf Barsch's work.

Wulf Barsch, Toward Thebes 1985

151

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Kenneth "Ken" Bischoff Baxter (1944- ) Salt Lake City

Mecham's Boots 1973
oil on board
30" x 30

Ken Baxter began painting at the age of 12 and

has not been distracted from painting since!
Although he was born in 1944 in San Diego during WWII, he grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah,
where he began studying art in the seventh
grade. By the ninth grade, he was winning first
place in state-wide competitions. After graduating from the University of Utah with a Bachelor
of Fine Arts, he taught high school are while
attending Utah State University and earning his
Master of Fine Arts. Even thought teaching had
its compensations, his love of painting and his
unshakable determination to make art his career
prompted him to leave teaching and become a
full-time artist.
Throughout his career, Ken has continually
experimented with new approaches to his
painting. Successfully mastering a style and,
as a result, successfully selling his works have
not stopped him from trying new methods or
changing his techniques. As a matter of fact,
whenever he finds himself comfortable in a
style or technique, he plunges himself again into
exploring new and challenging concepts. He
thrives on testing and playing with unique color
combinations and compositions, refining his
work but keeping it vibrant and fresh.
Currently, his favorite approach to painting is
the Plein-Air mode. Without knowing this
term, Ken was already practicing this technique
as a 14-year-old art student, painting outdoors
in below-zero temperatures and huddling in
blankets to keep warm. The technique requires
facing challenging weather conditions, responding perceptively to the imitate environment, and
maintaining intense concentration.
The plein-air (open air) technique was started

about 1870 by the Barbazon School in France

and was carried on and perfected by the French
Impressionists. Today, very few painters actually work plein-air. Unlike studio painting,
which affords plenty of time to compose and
paint scenes, the goal of plein-air artists is to
record quickly the essentials of the scene and
to represent the effects of atmosphere and light
that cannot be observed in the studio. As he
stated in an introductory letter to Vern Swanson
at the Springville Museum of Art, today, very
few painters actually work in the plein-air for
several reasons. The environmental conditions
are complex, and unpredictable weather creates
challenges such as fly-away canvases, frozen
fingers, heatstroke, dust, rain, etc. Also, the goal
is to capture the essence of a place as it presents
itself during a given time frame. The constant
movement of sunlight requires the artist to
quickly record this impression, while continually keeping in mind design, surface quality, spon152

taneous brushwork, effects of the atmosphere,

and the quality of light. Quite a challenge!

of different cultures has inspired him to travel

throughout the U.S., much of Europe, Canada,
Mexico, and parts of Indonesia. Scenes of
familiar and intimate aspects of everyday life,
at home as well as abroad, interest him and
intimate scenes are the ones that he most often
captures on canvas. Mechams Boots is one of
these private glimpsesa pair of old boots, a
leather suitcase, and an old trunk in a seemingly
casual heap, but making a composition as careful as any still life. The triangular shapes, warm
brown tones, and accurately rendered textures
create a strongly unified work, kept from passivity by the many diagonal lines and the varied
shapes of the hinges, locks, and other details.
The popularity of Ken Baxters work is attested
to in that he has won numerous prestigious
regional and national awards and that his art
has appeared in many national publications.
He has exhibited throughout the West and in
Europe and has placed over 1500 paintings in
private, corporate, and permanent museum collections.

Ken Baxter, Sheds Near Herriman, Utah 1994

Kens approach is done with spontaneous and
vigorous brushwork. With crisp strokes and
painterly assurance, he effectively captures his
favorite genre subjects in an impressionistic and
airy manner. His expertise, keen sense of mood,
and sensitivity to the atmosphere enables him
to pin down the season, the time of day, and
even the temperature of his work. Of painting
outdoors, Ken says, although weather conditions do cause difficulties, they also present the
unexpected opportunities which create the distinct qualities achieved only by plein-air. A good
painter should provide the viewer with a feeling
that makes the invisible visible; a feeling that
elevates the common place to the poetic.
His desire to understand people and his love
153

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Allen Craig Bishop (1953 ) Salt Lake City, Utah

La Semilla Brota 1990
oil on canvas and board
56 x 88-1/2

Born May 7, 1953, in Moab, Allen Bishop is one

of Utah's boldest Abstract Expressionists. He
graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine
Arts from the University of Utah in 1978, and
he received his Master of Fine Arts from the
University of Denver School of Art in 1982. The
Utah Arts Council awarded him a Visual Arts
Fellowship from 1987-1989. Currently, Bishop
operates Ylem Art School in Granite, Utah,
where he has been the director and an instructor
since 1988. He also has taught at Sam Houston
State University in Texas, at the University of
Denver, at the Visual Art Institute in Salt Lake,
and at the Salt Lake Art Center.
Bishop views a work of art as a living entity, as
an organism caught in the middle of the creative
process. He says, "I treat each piece as a new
organism, breathing with its own type of life. I
do not seek to mimic, but to expand nature; not
to plagiarize, but to continue the creative processes of God." Consequently, Allen does not
paint within the traditional, rectangular frame,
but expands his canvas, making it reach out
in all directions like an abstract sculpture. His
paintings almost appear to grow in an array of
varying shapes and colors. He explains, "my
paintings generate a type of life of their own
beyond a simple accumulation of shapes and
colors." Like La Semilla Brota (Spanish for
"budding seed"), they burst forth, striving for
life. This organic quality may have its roots
in Bishops interest in biology as well as in his
reluctance to have traditional formatting dictate
the shapes his art will take.

paintings. "Recently," he says, I've introduced

elements of time, change and choice by using
shaped canvases in rearrangeable, multi-part
configurations. This way, I hope to give the
viewer/collector increased opportunity to participate in the process of visual communication,
thus allowing the 'universal structures' of shape
and color to function on a more elastic and democratic level.

Allen involves the art collector in some of his

works by fashioning his paintings in movable
pieces so they can be arranged according to the
desire of the owner. He calls them "permutable"

Bishop still makes some arrangible pieces, but

he also is making wood reliefs, several of which
are large public projects. For the Science building at Southern University of Utah, in Cedar

Bishops nonobjective, geometric, multi-pieced

art works involve people in the creative process
long beyond their completion. As long as his
painting survive, they can be arranged and rearranged into new, living works of art. Colors
and shapes cause the eye to move from one area
to another, and as these shapes and colors are
placed in fresh positions, they create new ways
for viewers to see and to interact with the paintings.

154

City, he created a 5 x 25 work entitled

Probe. The artwork consists of five
shaped wood panels with a low relief of
shapes glued to the panels and then painted with acrylics.
Another large project was the design of
logo panels for the group Leonardo on
Wheels, a science and art exhibit that
traveled the state. Bishop painted designs
on large hexagonal plastic panels for each
area of the exhibit such as light, movement, energy, etc.
When asked about changes in his art,
Bishop cites the movement to wood
reliefs as an important area of exploration
and says he is including more recognizable shapes in his worknot realistically
painted, but clearly identifiable shapes
such as birds and snakes. Sometimes the
links to realism in his works are subtle,
such as his group of works Assent of Man.
Although the pieces are painted abstractions, the
proportions of each piece, 54 x 24, are reminiscent of human proportions. And, like many
of his works, Bishop says Assent of Man has
references both to science and religion. He produced the work largely as a response to Charles
Darwins book the Descent of Man.
Recently, Bishop was part of a team working on
the design of the light rail station near Franklin
Quest Field in Salt Lake. His assignment was to
design the pavers for the station. Another recent
commission is a piece to be installed in the new
Science building under construction at Utah
State University.
In addition to the growing list of public artworks by Bishop at places like Red Butte
Gardens and South Towne Center, his pieces
are in private collections, museums and state
collections throughout the state including
The LDS Museum of Church History and Art,
the Springville Museum of Art, and the BYU
Museum of Art.

Allen Bishop, Leonardo on Wheels

Allen Bishop, interviews
Jerry A. Schefcik's "A View of Four," Utah Arts
Council Visual Artist Fellowship Award, 1990.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
In science, religion and art, nature is a complex
and fertile matrix for both mystery and discovery. My work is grounded in non-objective,
internal directions, but I am also attracted to
natural, external phenomena. Recognizable
subject matter often appears in my work, but I
am less interested in natural appearances than
I am in the visual exploration of both natural
and internal dynamics. Scientific and religious
concepts often interact and inform these expressions. It is important for me to be open to a wide
range of creative influences and approaches,
engaging both rational and intuitive processes.
Art making itself is akin to the processes of
nature: the building, changing and destroying
of forms in the evolution of a more dynamically balanced and, perhaps, a more interesting
and meaningful whole. I make paintings, draw155

ings and prints. Many pieces are shaped and

painted wood relief panels, often in multi-part,
rearrangeable formats. I think of such pieces as
visual organisms that can permute/mutate and
adapt to various contexts. Some pieces are carefully designed before production; others evolve
more playfully from wood and mental scraps,
changing over time; often ending up radically
different from the original idea. Either way, I
sense myself as a link, an agent of change - a
small step between what was and what will be.
With shape, color, physical materials and internal dialogue, my attempt is to explore and
express the themes, mysteries and paradoxes
of the universe we are part of. I cannot imagine
anything more interesting.
Copyright 2002 Allen
Bishop
http://www.ylemart.com/
artists_statement.htm

used by permission of the artist

Allen Bishop, Big Bang

image used by permission of the artist

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Silvia Liz Davis (1957 ) Teasdale, Utah

Guest 1994
wood sculpture
28 -/2" x 15 x 19

Born in 1957 in Cupertino, California, Silvia

Davis has been a resident of Salt Lake City since
1966. She was born an artist; throughout her
childhood she loved to paint and draw and create models out of cardboard, paper, and mud.
When she went to college it was with the idea
of studying painting. However, she found that
she preferred working with three-dimensional
forms and discovered that wood was the perfect medium for her. Clay was not restrictive
enough; she says she needed the limitations of
wood to force her to resolve forms more clearly.
Davis has been working exclusively in wood
since receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in
sculpture in 1980 from the University of Utah,
from which she also received a Master of Fine
Arts in sculpture in 1993. Interested in realism,
she works from observations made directly from
life. She focuses a geometric clarity on her subjects.
"My sculptures are a combination of direct
observation and a personal sense of design.
Contrast between complex geometric pattern
and clearly defined volumes has always fascinated me.
I look at bits and pieces of everyday life which
I translate into wood. A recurring interest of
mine is the coexistence of plants and animals
with the man-made environment. I try to
make my sculptures real enough so that people
can empathize with the subjects portrayed.
Simultaneously, I want the work artificial
enough so they can be seen freshly. Wood is
the artificial element that allows the subject to
be seen as sculpture. No subject is too insignificant for me, The world is full of subjects that are
looked at all the time but rarely seen. The more

closely I pay attention, the more the world is

worth looking at. I never create sculpture out of
a void. Instead I try to open my eyes to what is
already there."
This sculpture, Guest, is made from found
woodan old painted door. The wood was
laminated and then carved, and the painted
areas are the original painted surface of the
door. Some of the painted areas were touched
up after the carving was finished, to connect the
piece. She says using the door to create the dog
forced her to use some creative solutions in her
sculpting.
Davis has worked in a variety of artistic settings:
as a sculptor for the Utah Shakespeare Festival,
as an instructor at the Petersen Art Center teaching life drawing and sculpture, as an instructor
in Woodworking at the University of Utah, as
a sculptor consultant for architectural firms, as
theater technician, as a free-lance sculptor and
scene painter for the Pioneer Theater Company
at the University of Utah, and as a sculptor,
fossil preparator, and casting technician at the
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Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

Silvia has participated in numerous Utah exhibitions as well as several one-person shows of
sculptures and drawings. In 1983, she received
the North American Sculpture Award from
Denver, Colorado.
Davis presently lives in Teasdale, Utah. Her
works for sale are currently handled through
the Phillips Art Gallery in Salt Lake City and
Coda Gallery in Park City and Palm Desert,
California,.

Silvia Davis, Colt 1995

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Harrison T. Groutage (1925- ) Logan, UT

Along the Bear River 1978
acrylic on canvas
36 x 48

Harrison Groutage was born on April 21, 1925

in Richmond Utah. Groutage spent much of his
life on the University level whether it was as a
student or a teacher. He attended Utah State
University and Weber State before he went on
to Brigham Young University where he received
his Bachelors Degree in 1953. He then studied at the University of Utah and received a
Masters of Fine Arts degree in 1954. Groutage
later went back in 1963 and did Post Graduate
work at Iowa State University.
Between 1952 and 1963 when Groutage did his
Post Graduate work he spent a lot of time not
only on his artwork and school but getting his
feet wet with teaching. Groutage was often very
popular with his students not only because of
his artistic talents but also because of is facile
mind and quick wit. He first taught at Snow
College from 1952-53. Then Groutage obtained
an art position at Utah State University, which
he would keep for over 30 years. While he
taught at Utah State he was also a guest instructor for summer sessions at the University of
Utah, and Boise Jr. College and held watercolor
workshops at Monterey Bay for over ten years.
After teaching at Utah State for nine years he
was made Head of the Department of Art (SMA
web site and Artists listings information).
Harrison Groutage is an enormously talented
artist and is proficient in many different fieldspainting, watercolor, oils, acrylics, printmaking,
ceramics, advertising design, and lettering. His
main interests have now turned to painting. He
shows great versatility in both oils and watercolors and once said, One must not be married to
one treatment, or one method. Desert News

writer Richard Christensen feels more viewers

are attracted to his watercolors. The transparency and soft edges, characteristic of watercolor,
are handled masterfully, especially in his small
paintings (Desert News Tues. March 18, 1980,
8C). However, Groutage didnt paint in only
watercolor and oils, nor were all his paintings
small, one of his most famous works is a rather
large mural. In 1964 Groutage was commissioned to do a mural for Dixie State College in
St. George, Utah. The mural was to be place on
the side of the new Fine Arts Center designed
by architect William Rowe Smith. The mural
has been cherished by the students and faculty
at Dixie for years, sadly in 2002 the building,
which had been condemned was demolished to
make way for a new, larger Fine Arts Center(15Bytes: Artists of Utah E-Zine Touches of Fine
Art, Dec 2002,p.3).
While Groutage doesnt limit the subjects of his
work he has shown a great love for landscape.
Of this love he states, The existence of sky,
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water, and land forms, as they defy the elements

and man, move me to the expression of ideas in
my work. Frequently , I study the same features
which inspired our early painters; proving that
in spite of the damage inflicted by man (often
greater than that caused by all the relentless
forces of nature), many of them have remained
alive and well (quote from SMA archives, 15 Jan
1991).
Groutage has been able to capture landscape
and various genre scenes with a technique
which expresses great depth of detail with
minimal work. Whatever the medium Groutage
seems to use he loves the subject of nature. Like
many Utah born artists the Western Landscape
seems to capture Groutage so that he seems
to never leave. I am a confirmed westerner.
While my painting derives its inspiration in
fields, streams, mountains, rocks and coasts of
the west, I paint mainly in Utah. I respond to
the western landscape with its special aspects of
form, light and atmosphere, an obsession which
carries over to the three-dimensional work in
wood and stone. In addition to painting, some
of my current projects include a series of bird
forms and a series based on primitive artifacts
of several cultures (MOA
archives).
Harrison Groutage, who
has received recognition for
his handcrafts, printmaking, painting, drawing and
murals, has had 55 oneman show, participated in
60 group shows, received
55 awards and is included
in over 500 private and
public collections. Honors
and recognitions include:
National Academy of design,
World Book Encyclopedia,
Paramount Pictures, National
Watercolor Society, Watercolor
USA, Western States Art
Foundation, Jackson Hole Art
League, Snow Bird Institute,
Utah Sate Institute of Fine

Arts, Mormon Arts Festival, Springville Art

Museum, Pasadena Art Museum, California
Watercolor Society, Utah Heritage Society,
and more(Ten Utah Painters, 1984). Harrison
Groutage is an experimenter with new techniques and has used this to his advantage, now
his works are in great demand throughout the
state.
Harrison Groutage is best known for his watercolors and dramatic landscapes in oils and acrylics. Groutage has retired from teaching at Utah
State University as an emeritus professor in the
Fine Arts Department and is missed by all those
who were fortunate enough to have him as a
teacher.
"Grout," as his old students and friends affectionately call him, considers himself an abstract
realist. As Carlton Culmsee has noted: "The
role of the poet [artist] is to create something
new something never before seen on land or
sea." Grout rises to that challenge to create new
images and compositions of our familiar western landmarks so revered by early painters,
reaffirming their dignity with fresh insight by
distorting and abstracting with his own creative
ingenuity.

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John C. Hafen (1856-1910) Springville, Utah

The Mountain Stream 1903
oil on canvas
26"x 23"

john Hafen was born in 1856 in Scherzingen,

Switzerland. His family, converts to the LDS
faith, came to the United States when Hafen was
six years old, determined to join the Saints in
Utah. On the way, they spent 12 days in Winter
Quarters, Nebraska, and Hafens two-year-old
brother died there. They made the rest of the
journey by ox team. After reaching Utah, the
Hafens settled first in Payson and then after two
other moves, established themselves in Salt Lake
City in 1868.
John was very interested in art from a young
age and became one of the youngest and earliest students at the "Twentieth Ward Academy"
or "Seminary," in Salt Lake City, a school that
included drawing instruction in its lessons.
During the next ten years, Hafen was taught by
George Ottinger and Dan Weggeland, two early
Utah artists who not only became friends with
the young Hafen, but also encouraged him to
seek traditional training outside Utah.
In 1881, a group of young artists, including
Hafen, founded the Utah Art Association,
which later became the Utah Art Institute. The
Association's purpose was to produce exhibitions and provide art instruction. The initial
exhibit was the first time artists in Utah had
organized and directed their own show. Over
the next nine years, John continued to paint
and draw and exhibit when possible, including
at George A. Meears' sample roomhe was a
whisky wholesalerwhere space was available
for local artists to display their work, free of
charge.
In 1890, Hafen helped convince LDS church
authorities to sponsor the "French Art Mission,"
an opportunity to study at the Acadmie
Julian in Paris. The trip also was made pos-

Mahonri Young, Portrait of John Hafen

sible for several other young Utah artistsJ. B.
Fairbanks, Lorus Pratt, and Edwin Evans. The
artists' studies in France were subsidized by the
LDS church so the artists could improve their
skills and paint murals and paintings in the LDS
temples upon their return to Utah.
Hafen's studies in Paris had a vital impact on
his work; like many other young artists of the
time, he switched his interest from academic
studio work to landscape painting from nature.
Espousing his new view, Hafen wrote, "Cease to
look for mechanical effect or minute finish, for
individual leaves, blades of grass, or aped
imitation of things, but look for smell, for soul,
for feeling, for the beautiful in line and color."
Back in Utah by 1892, Hafen began work on
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the murals for the Salt Lake temple.

Although Hafen did the most work, Pratt,
Fairbanks, Evans, and Dan Weggeland all
contributed their Paris-honed skills.
The next year, the Society of Utah Artists
was reestablished with Hafen serving as
Vice President. The society's exhibits were
well received, with many people willing to pay the entrance fees. Although
Hafens paintings from the middle 1890s
to about 1907 are now considered masterpieces of Utah art, he wasnt able to
support his fast-growing family on what
he made from his work. Consequently,
he held various jobs and at times received
support from the Church in exchange for
paintings and drawings, which now make
up the impressive Hafen collection at the
Museum of Church History and Art in
Salt Lake City.
Hafen taught at the Brigham Young Academy
and eventually settled in Springville with his
wife and ten children. Originally the family
lived with the Myron Crandall Jr. family because
the Hafens couldnt afford to pay rent. Later,
Hafen traded a painting for a hilly section of
Crandalls land. Alberto O. Treganza, a close
friend of the Hafens, designed their home in the
Swiss chalet style. The building was paid for
by sales of paintings and the bartering of paintings to a local doctor who traded the paintings
for work his destitute patients did on the Hafen
home. To cover one bare cement wall, Hafen
painted a mural of hollyhocks and attached it
to the wall. After Hafens death, the canvas
was removed, mounted and framed and is now
owned by the Springville Museum of Art. The
Hafen home in Springville still stands today.
While in Springville, his interest in art education
led Hafen to donate a painting to the Springville
High School and to encourage other artists
(including his friend Cyrus Dallin) to donate
artwork. This art collection grew and eventually
necessitated a building to house and display the
art: it became the Springville Museum of Art.

John Hafen, Hollyhocks

Although Hafen made frequent painting and

selling trips across the country, he lived in
extreme poverty until he moved to Indiana
late in his life. There, he was accepted into a
group of regional impressionist artists and at
last began to achieve success as an artist, including winning a prestigious commission to paint
the governors portrait. He lived in an attractive cottage overlooking a beautiful valley, surrounded by friends. However, just as he began
to realize his life-long dream of providing for his
family through sales of his art, Hafen contracted
pneumonia and died in 1910.
Ironically, John Hafen is now considered the
most appealing of the early Utah stylists, and
was called "Utah's greatest artist" by Alice
Merrill Hone, an early Utah art activist. He, of
all the early Utah artists, best communicated the
poetic essence of nature.

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Frank R. Huff, Jr. (1958 ) Kaysville, Salt Lake City, Utah

Drive-Inn, Salt Lake City 1997
oil on canvas
39-3/4 x 49-3/4

Drive-Inn, Salt Lake City (1997) exemplifies Frank

Huffs interest in capturing abstract and angular
patterns. Because he so often paints on location, he captures the atmospheric details of light
but is unable to depict figures before they pass
through the scene.
Huff is known to work in both oil and watercolor depicting landscapes, cityscapes, still lifes,
and figures, all with an emphasis on line and the
same disregard for nostalgia. His earliest influence was without doubt his father, Frank Huff
Sr., who, as a commercial artist, was his sons
first artistic idol and the teacher from whom
Huff learned the importance of composition and
line.
Born in 1958 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Huff
became as skilled at golf as he is in art. In 1977,
he was admitted to the University of Utah on
both art and golf scholarships. Although he
trained with Alvin Gittens and F. Anthony
Smith, Huff was a more dedicated golfer and
won more awards and honors in golf than in art.
It was not until his success in the 1982 Park City
Arts Festival that he decided to invest his time
and future in his artistic abilities.
In August of that year, he married Jean Russell,
of Glasgow, Scotland, and began painting more
and more frequently. His paintings began to
reflect the influence of Richard Diebenkorn,
Edward Hopper, and especially, Edgar Degas.
He appreciates these artists for their use of
compositionally beautiful and inventive space,
and their ability to focus on completely new and
contemporary subjects. Degas paintings of ballerinas, for example, depict more than dancing
figures. Degas utilizes creative points of view
and fully develops his background space with

interesting brushstrokes and texture. With new

inspiration, Huff returned to the University of
Utah in 1987 to study under Paul Davis and
David Dornan for a year.
Frank Huff was then painting, and he continues
to paint, up to 200 pieces a year. He still draws
inspiration from Degas and some of his compositions are as involved and detailed as those of
the Impressionist master. He also continues to
create works which reflect contemporary life
both in subject matter and application.
The artist recently moved from Kaysville to St.
George, Utah, and has been, according to him,
painting prolifically. He plans to paint full
time, creating artworks that bring a spirit of
peace and excitement to a home or the place
where [they are] exhibited.
Huff has been featured in the publication Utah
Profile as one of Utahs foremost artists and
during the Winter Olympics, he was honored as
one of Utahs top 100 living artists.
Olpin, Robert S., William C. Seifrit, and
Vern G. Swanson. Utah Art. Layton: Gibbs
Smith, 1991.
Huff, Frank Jr. What Makes Good Art?
/ Frank's Philosophy http://www.frankhuff.
com/goodart.html

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Raymond Jonas (1942 ) Provo, Utah

Abstract Configuration 1982
Wood
45-3/4 x 72 x 60

Raymond Jonas was born in 1942 and

grew up in California, where he had
many opportunities to see good art
traveling exhibitions from Europe as well
as the work of local artists. Jonas says he
has learned much about art from looking
at the work of other artists.
His formal studies were completed at the
Art Center in California and at Brigham
Young University in Utah. He began
work as a painter in the 1960s, heavily influenced by abstract expressionism, especially the paintings of Willem
DeKooning and Franz Kline. This interest led to a serious study of the paintings, ceramics, and sculpture of the 20th
Century master, Pablo Picasso. Although
Rays work, for the most part, does not resemble
that of Picasso, that single artist, more than any
other, has had the most profound influence on
Jonas and on his art.
While studying crafts at BYU, Ray discovered
wood as a medium and began a love affair
with form and made over 100 free-form containers. In the 1970s he started making wood
sculptures, because wood was inexpensive, easy
to work with, and he
could make large forms. The greatest influence
on his work at this time was Henry Moore.
Jonas met Milo Baughman, a noted furniture
designer, in Utah in the mid 1970s. Working for
him was Rays first experience with the carving
and construction of wood furniture. He executed the designs of Milo Baughman and later
constructed furniture based on his own designs.
This furniture design became the balance of his
work in the 80s. For Ray, the furniture was
simply sculpture people could sit on. Then Ray

explored the use of metal, especially steel, in

fabricating sculpture. At the same time, he
continued his work in wood sculpture and
furniture.
What Ray is interested in communicating
through his work is the beauty of the abstract
form, which is what excited him about art from
the beginning. He says,
There are certain combinations of materials,
certain shapes, certain proportions and relations
of materials and shapesthe creation of forms
which can give the viewer an incredible experience with beauty. I have felt this in the work of
other artists. They have imbued their sculpture
with content or meaning. It is very powerful. It
has a life of its own. I strive for this in my own
work. I stress craftsmanship in my work and
labor to make each new sculpture better.
Presently, Ray is combining wood and metal,
especially bronze and wood. In July of 1998,
Ray exhibited recent works at the Springville
Museum of Art in a joint show with his son,
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Noel Jonas. These more recent works by

Ray, Totemic Images, reflect the Northwest
American Culture of the past. Jonas draws
on several primitive cultures, including early
African and aboriginal, for much of his artwork
and appreciates the spiritual role this art plays
in each of the respective cultures. Jonas work is
not political, instructive, or illustrative. Instead,
he deals with form for its own sake and finds
beauty in its simplicity.

Configuration the artist has created tension in the

work by juxtaposing the almost clinically white
finish against the richly textured wood, using
both the natural grain of the wood and the chisel marks that resulted from his butchering of
the shapes. The artist also has balanced the formal elementssimple, abstract shapesin such
a way that the piece has an organic feel to it.
These paradoxes are repeated in the relationship
of the scale and volume to the visual weight.

Abstract Configuration is a good example of Ray

Jonas early work. He chose sycamore because
the woods size allowed large-scale work. The
separate elements were roughed in with a chain
saw and sculptors adz, then refined with a
gouge and power sander. The parts are joined
together with steel pins and all-thread. By
attaching elements, a form even larger than the
original tree was realized.

Although the piece is about six feet by five feet,

the white color makes the piece appear light.
All these contradictory elements have been combined to create an intriguing piece of sculpture
from a few basic shapes.

Ray says, The initial idea was to make a large

form, utilizing a hollow bowl, with a variety
of shapes, and setting them at angles to one
another. That is all I had to begin withthe
idea. From there, it was a matter of relating the
parts to each other. I moved the parts around
until something started to happen. Then I put it
together. It was necessary to make some changes, altering some parts, and even abandoning
and reshaping others that were not appropriate
to the form.
Dr. Vern G. Swanson, Director of the Springville
Museum of Art, comments that in Abstract

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Brian T. Kershisnik (1962 ) Kanosh, Utah

Fallen Icarus in the Park 1988
oil on canvas
18 x 24

Brian T. Kershisnik was born July 6, 1962, in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Because of his
fathers employment as a petroleum geologist,
he spent his childhood in various cities around
the world including Luanda, Angola; Bangkok,
Thailand; Conroe, Texas; and he graduated from
high school in Islamabad, Pakistan
(although in absentia because of an emergency evacuation due to the burning of the U.S.
embassy).
Kershisnik completed his first year of college
at the University of Utah before serving an
LDS mission in Denmark. After living with
his family in Bergen, Norway, for a time, he
returned to the States to pursue his studies at
Brigham Young University. While attending
BYU, he received a grant to study in London for
six months. In 1987, he received his Bachelor
of Fine Arts degree in painting and married
Suzanne B. Christensen. Brian and Suzanne
moved to Austin, Texas, in 1989, where he
earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at the
University of Texas. They currently reside in
Kanosh, Utah, with their two children and a
black dog.
During his youth, Brian didnt know any artists, and he was in college before the thought
occurred to him to make art his career.
However, when he started studying art, the
seeds of his current work were almost immediately sown, perhaps because they were partially
innate and were partially due to his childhood
exposure to native arts. Kershisniks love of
antiquity and of native art appears both in overt
devices, such as his periodic use of the frontal
eye on profiles and also in less overt ways such
as in his use of the human figure as a symbol
that leads the viewer into the story the painting
depicts or reminds us of. As well, there are cer-

tain qualities in the paint itselfmuted colors, a

softness of line, a glazewhich convey a sense
of timelessness.
One characteristic of primitive artists that
Kershisnik approves of and consciously tries
to emulate is the position they take of being
watchers and not participators in the scenes they
portray. Brian believes it would be arrogant
and presumptuous to paint as if he were a participant in marvelous or grievous happenings.
Therefore, his painting of the Atonement is not
of an agonized Christ; instead, its painted as if
he were a viewer of the apostles sleeping under
the tree. He feels some artists are too free, are
almost voyeurs, while primitive artists make
no claim of having seen the events. They keep
the art obviously surreal; they make the art a
reminder of a story, an invitation to go reread
the story.
Kershisniks pieces are narrative, but it is impor166

Brian Kershisnik, Fallen Icarus in the Park

tant to him to maintain that same element of
surrealism in his mind, so he doesnt necessarily have to use historically accurate details.
Fallen Icarus in the Park (an idea taken from a
Heironymous Bosche painting), like much of
his work, tells a story, a truth Kershisnik hopes
will increase our awarenessthat critical events,
extreme situations happen, but no one pays
attention or understands, just as the people in
the park go about their lives in ignorance of
Icarus fall from the sky.
Kershisnik doesnt think about his ideas for
paintings too much ahead of time; he believes if
he did, his paintings would be less honest. He
says he gets his ideas serendipitouslyfrom
painting mishaps or from something he heard,
even possibly heard wrong (the wrongness
doesnt matter, it is where the idea takes him,
how it arbitrarily gets him thinking along a certain line). One time he was working on a painting and realized the hand he had painted was
the best hand he had ever painted but wasnt in
the correct position, so he changed the painting
to make the well-painted hand be in the right
place. Another time, too much red paint became
the focal point of a work instead of a mistake.
Kershisnik is introspective but also whimsical.

These two characteristics are evident in

his painting The Difficult Part, in which a
couple are dancing in an impossible position. The painting is fanciful yet also is
a metaphor for the whole manwoman
relationship, suggesting the relationship
can be both dangerous and also paradoxical. Using metaphors and symbols
that mean several things at one time,
Kershisniks paintings have an element
that prods us, as viewers, to reexamine
the meaningful and deep parts of our
lives, to look again, to use our accumulated knowledge to understand a little more,
to at least look for more within ourselves,
and to examine who we are as defined by
our understanding of the human experience.
Brian Kershisnik doesnt paint from life
he doesnt use modelsbut a viewer
once commented to him that he believes Brian

Brian Kershisnik
The Difficult Part

image used by permission

does paint from life, even more than those artists who use models because he paints the real
essence of life. Kershisnik refers to Jackson
Pollack, who said he paints from nature because
I am nature. Although Brian thinks Pollacks
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surprising to me as it is to any viewer taken

by an image. This element eludes me
every time I try to control it. I firmly believe
that when a painting succeeds, I have not
created it, but have rather participated in it.
I paint because I love and because I love
to paint. The better I become at both, the
more readily accessed and identified is this
grace, and the better will be my
contribution.

statement is rather arrogant, he does agree his

own art is from life because of how the paintings develop out of his experiences and ideas.
Paintings should be beautiful, be inviting, create a desire in the viewer to spend the time
needed to learn what one should from the artwork, according to Kershisnik. However, he
also believes artists shouldnt bow to the lowest
common denominator of producing pretty art.
In addition, Brian doesnt believe art should be
weapon-like, even if it is about some ugliness in
life such as rape or the murder of children. All
art needs some affection for the viewer, some
compassion for the victims; it should be humanizing and should move humanity forward.
Whatever the trials in our lives, Kershisnik says,
what is most important is how we continue,
what we learn from our experiences. He states:
There is great importance in becoming
human, in striving to fully understand
others, ourselves and God. The process is
difficult and filled with awkward
discoveries and happy encounters, dreadful
sorrow and unmitigated joysometimes
at the same time. I believe art should facilitate this truth rather than simply decorate
it, or worse, distract us from it. It should
remind us of what we have forgotten,
illuminate what we know, or teach us new
things. Through art we can come to feel
and understand and love more completely
we become more human. The artists I
admireobscure, famous or anonymous
have contributed to my humanity through
their whimsy, their devotion, their tragedy,
their bliss or their quiescence. I seek to be
such an artist.
As nearly as I can trace, my paintings emerge
from living with people (and my dog) and
from affection for the processes I use to make
pictures. Although my skills of
observation and craft are good, there is a
fundamental element that makes a picture
succeed that is outside of my control. It is a
gift of grace every time it occurs and is as

The artworld is acknowledging Kershisniks

ability to participate in paintings. He has
had eight solo exhibitions in galleries that
range from the Dolores Chase Fine Art Gallery
in Salt Lake City, Utah, to galleries in Texas,
Washington, and Oregon. In addition, he has
participated in group shows at the Salt Lake Art
Canter, the Kimball Art Center in Park City, galleries in Texas, Utah, and New York, has exhibited and won awards at the Springville Museum
of Arts Spring Salon and at the Utah Museum
of Fine Arts on the University of Utah campus;
Brians work was also selected for official exhibition during the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II,
at Austin, Texas.
Brian Kershisniks paintings are in permanent
collections at Brigham Young University, including a painting in the Tanner Law Library, at the
University of Ohio, Illinois State University,
the Springville Museum of Art, the Museum of
Church History and Art, Salt Lake County, The
State of Utah, and are owned by Delta Airlines
and Nordstroms.
He has recently published the book Painting
From Life and his artwork can be viewed on the
web at: http://www.kershisnik.com/
http://www.guild.com/servlet/Guild/
ArtTeamPage?atid=1810

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Jacqui Biggs Larsen (1962- )

Cottage Industry 1998
Mixed media
48 x 66

Springville, Utah

As a girl, Jacqui Biggs Larsen rode her bike

down to the local strip mall and dug through
dumpsters for bits of this and that, which she
used to make cards for her family. However,
when she majored in art at BYU, she was
pushed toward a more academic approach,
partly by the structure of the art program, which
focuses in the beginning on developing basic
skills and a visual vocabulary. In her advanced
classes she was dissuaded at times by particular
teachers from creating the kinds of works she
now createsa complex combination of collage, montage, and assemblage that generally
includes some drawing and painting.
Jacqui Larsen says her works are, like many artists, ways to define the self, to explore who
she is. Although her works are Postmodernist
(see The Art section, definitions), she says none
of the academic work was left behind or lost,
just incorporated into the particular kind of
work she now does. (She is remembered by
classmates as being one of the best draftsmen in
their classes.) Her works reflect the complexity
of the times, the complexity of womens lives,
and in particular, her own complexity. She says
she finds herself exploring childhood, sisterhood, maternityin ways that question western
traditions of idealism. By replacing representations of femaleness with images of everyday
women, I hope to piece together new myths and
narratives. In these ways, Larsen is also a feminist artist, concerned with issues contemporary
women face.
To create her artworks, Larsen uses actual
artifactsphotographs, torn-up maps, pins,
string, casters, quilts, old savings stamps. She
believes these artifacts provide an entrance to
her pieces and physically attach them to the here
and now. This dual role of the artifacts, being

old but in the present, is representative of what

Larsen says is at the heart of our experience
contradiction. We are part earthly creatures and
part spiritual, and Larsen seeks in some way to
bring these realms together.
Like many postmodernists, Larsens work is layered with meaning, and although the symbols
often have personal meaning, they also are universal enough to allow viewers to
understand and to tie the images and ideas into
their own experiences.
Larsen wants to know why and how she got
to be who she isto be aware of choices and
possibilities. Viewers who seek to understand
Larsens work are likely to find themselves
motivated to explore and question as well.
Jacqui Biggs Larsens ability to create powerful
artworks that provoke us to examine our lives
and what they mean has garnered her many
awards, fellowships, and grantsmost recently,
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two grants and a fellowship from the Utah Arts

Council, and the first place award in the Spring
Salon at the Springville Museum of Art, April
1998.
Larsens piece, Cottage Industry, also is a feminist work, in the best sense; it explores issues
common to women. The artwork protests the
categorization, duplication, and trend following that is particularly strong among women.
However, the artwork does not reject all traditional values. The composition uses an antique
quilt as the stretched backing. The quilt is mellowed, worn, beautiful, but not a carefully made
heirloom. The pieces vary in size and shape not
as parts of a particular design, but rather with
what must have been available scraps. The doll
clothes are from a Shirley Temple doll, the child
actress who defined what a beautiful little girl
should be for at least two generationsdimples,
carefully curled ringlets and a combination of
bright-eyed innocence and sweet flirtationa
real doll. The numbered tickets along the sides
of the piece, the repetition of images, and the
joined rulersused to produce two drawings
with the same proportionsall protest the production of copies, especially copies of people.

The three Shirley Temple paper doll dresses,

I hope, are more open ended: are they other
worldly Muse figures, or societal cutouts suggesting appropriate girlhood activities, such as
dancing, gathering fruit, or making crafts? By
repeating the image of myself ironing across the
bottom of the canvas, I not only echo the rhythm
of the repeating quilt squares, but also mimic an
industrial production line, one which produces
little girls as though from a template. The act of
ironing, then, becomes the girls difficult work:
how to labor authentically and become a self
rather than a product.
Jacqui Biggs Larsen, Heavy-Headed Dance 2003
image used by permission of the artist

Jacqui herself says, In Cottage Industry, I found

myself exploring tensions between childhood
and societal expectations. Even the title echoes
this. Cottage implies a quaint domestic setting, one in which a four year old, like the one
pictured ironing (who happens to be me), could
grow up unimpeded. Industry, on the other
hand, suggests a mechanized, defined outcome
or product. I began this piece with a vintage
quilt as background. It caught my attention
because of its obvious homemade quality, pieced
together from sewing scraps and worn clothing, and the randomness of the colors and patterns. The rips and stains, echoes of its history
of household use, made the perfect background
against which I could juxtapose more mechanized images. The picture frame, for instance,
crops the young girl ironing at the shoulders,
perhaps reducing her to a specific function.
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Robert Leroy Marshall (1944 ) Springville, Utah

Snow Canyon 1984
watercolor
23 x 33-1/2 (58.1 x 85.2 cm)

and objects in his house, to a series of paintings

of pottery, to a series combining pottery and fabriche felt the need to add some rectangles and
sharp edges to the ovals and the ellipses of the
pots. He says he got very interested in the folds
of the fabricthe paintings became like little
landscapes to him. The next move, from painting fabric to actual landscapes, came naturally.

Robert Marshall was born in Mesquite, Nevada.

He attended Brigham Young University, where
he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1966 and a
Master of Arts in 1968. He began teaching
soon after graduation at Fullerton College in
California. In 1969, he moved to Utah to join
the studio art faculty at BYU. He has served as
chairman of the art department for 12 years and
as director of study abroad programs in London
and in Madrid. Marshall believes that as a professor, he can give back to humankind some of
what he has been given. Part of the fulfillment
he finds in teaching comes from being able to
share in the creative processes of others.

Robert Marshall, unlike some contemporary

artists, is convinced that the landscape tradition is still a viable option and has a justifiable
place in contemporary painting. For Marshall,
Awareness of the intrinsic (and I believe lasting) beauty of a particular location is always
intensified through private rather than collective
discovery. Quiet hikes into the landscape intensify our connection with the land in a way that
standing on the periphery and observing the
obvious can never accomplish.
In both his watercolors and his more recent oils,
Marshall shares his discoveries and invites us
into his private dialogue with the patterns, colors and textures that usually go unnoticed.

Marshall is an accomplished draftsman and is

knowledgeable in color theory, film making,
and in contemporary art history. As a painter,
he originally was best known for his watercolor
landscapes, but after a time he felt the need
to grow and progress, and he took a leave of
absence from the university and began working
in oils on large canvases. Since that time, he has
gone from painting his children and patterns

Robert Marshall, Iridescence 1994

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His watercolors have a sense of intimacy of

place that have been intensified in his latest
workslarge, richly colored canvases entitled
The Wetland Series. These paintings are often
praised for their beauty, although Marshall says
these paintings are of areas many people would
pass by without noticing. Unconventional landscapes, they are tightly focused examinations of
the cycle of life in the wetlandsgrowth, death,
and decayan intense look at the natural elements where land and water meet.

dislocate the viewer. He tells us, Interlocking

passages of color areas simultaneously confirm
and deny the flatness of the picture plane as
forms emerge from the paint. I am not however,
dealing with contradictions, but rather I want
each painting to be delicious and invitinga
confirmation of multiple layers of reality.
Marshall is interested in helping the viewer to
meditate and ask questions that perhaps would
not otherwise have been asked. This kind of
dimensional interplay is one way by which he
can accomplish this goal.
Snow Canyon was painted on site during a painting trip Marshall took with students in 1984.
It is a delicate but detailed view of the this
scenic canyon, just north of St. George, Utah.
Although the painting is a watercolor, the rock
formations have mass and solidity and a strong
sense of agelessness. Marshall has captured
both the look and the feel of the areahuge
weathered rock faces and dry desert, sprinkled
with just enough green to heighten the contrast
between inhospitable rock and only slightly
more hospitable ground.
Marshall says his focus in the painting was on
trying to capture the varying textures of the
scene. To reproduce the textures he used a technique like dry brush watercolor, with a lot of
surface texture, layering of colors, and a little
opaque watercolor.

Robert Marshall, Money Plant 1982

Marshalls paintings are influenced by both
Abstract Expressionism and Realism. In the
simplest sense, Marshalls paintings are about
surface, color, and form. On a more complex
level, they are descriptions of realities. Through
the contrast of illusionary three-dimensional
form and the two-dimensionality of the paints,
Marshall hopes to engage and momentarily

The design of the painting leads viewers eyes

into the rock formation, following what at first
glance appears to be water but then becomes
clearly a dry creek bed, shaped by the passage
of water it once held. The rocks themselves
have intriguing crevices, inviting exploration,
and the soft complementary colors of the rocks
and vegetation produce a richness often missing
in watercolors. It is a painting to be lived with,
to return to over and over again.

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Georgi Stepanovich Melikhov (1908-1985) Kiev, Ukraine

Victory Day in Berlin 1960
oil on canvas
31" x 39"

A painter of historical and contemporary

Ukrainian subjects, Georgi Melikhov was born
in Kharkhov, Ukraine, in 1908. He studied at
Kharkhov Art Institute from 1933-34 and at the
Kiev Art Institute from 1935-41. After completing his training, Melikhov taught at the Kiev Art
Institute from 1945-66 and was head of the art
department. In 1948. he was awarded a Stalin
Prize for his painting The Young Taras Shevchenko
Visiting the Artist K.P. Bryullov. He exhibited
his work in shows such as the All-Union Art
Exhibition in Moscow in 1947 and 1951, and his
paintings are in private collections abroad as
well as the Kiev Museum of Ukrainian Art. He
died in Kiev in 1985.
Melikhov was of a generation of Ukrainian artists who enjoyed a measure of self-expression
through painting, which was largely denied
to any other section of the artistic community
or the population of the Soviet Union as a
whole.(Graham, 1988)
Under Stalin, Soviet Art was seen as a vehicle
for promoting the ideology of Communism, and
the government influenced both the style and
the subject matter of most official art. European
and American Post-impressionist and Modernist
influences were seen as corrupt and were rejected. However, by 1950, that control had began to
loosen, and the predominant style of painting
became a rich Working-Class Impressionism.
(Swanson)
Although the content of their art was government driven, the artists had undergone many
years of academic training as well as serving a
long apprenticeship, giving them fine technical
skills. This fine art tradition resulted in
paintings with sumptuous paint quality and elo-

A frag ment of Georgi Melikhovs The Young

Taras Shevchenko Visiting the Artist K.P. Bryullov
Taros Shevchenko (1814 - 1861), a political hero,
was known as The great son of the Ukrainian
people, a revolutionary-democrat, and an ardent
fighter against tsarizm and serfdom.
(artukraine.com/historical/sacred_freed.htm)

quent style. (Swanson)

This painting, showing a young soldier seated
at a piano on the day Berlin fell to the Russians,
demonstrates the changes that had taken place
in the country. The nine-day battle that took
Berlin and crushed the Nazi regime was Stalin
and the Soviet army at its strongest, yet the soldier is not shown in a heroic stance but rather in
a private moment of contemplation, separated
from the battle that had just ended. The
painting even seems to suggest a longing for
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home. The softness of the tonalist palette helps

create the meditative feel of the work while the
papers strewn about the floor serve as visual
interest and remind viewers of the war, contrasting the idea of battle with the peaceful, sunlight
scene of a man playing the piano.
Sources:
sma.nebo.edu
Graham, William.1 7 November 1998. www.
ukraineart.com/artists.htm

Georgi Melikhov, Victory Day in Berlin 1960

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Bonnie Phillips (1942 ) Salt Lake City, Utah

Whole Wheat on Tuna 1981
watercolor on satin
32"x 46"

Bonnie Phillips is a successful artist, a public

and environmental art consultant, and an art
dealer. She and her husband Denis own and
operate the Phillips Gallery in Salt Lake City.
Her award-winning art is displayed in museums, collections, and galleries in Utah as well
as in Wyoming, California, Idaho, New Mexico,
Virginia, and Ohio.
A 1965 graduate of the University of Utah,
Bonnie and Denis opened their gallery, which
sold modern and contemporary art as well
as art supplies, and framing materials. More
than anyone else, the Phillipses challenged the
bounds of Utah taste through their intelligent
promotion of less traditional art. While other
galleries were attempting to land the most saleable artists for their stable, the Phillips Gallery
was the first viable modernist and avant-garde
concern in the Utah art market. (Utah Art and
Sculpture p. 200)
Phillips paints Op art, abstract expressionist, and semi-abstract works. She is best know
for her watercolors on satin fabric. She loves
the freedom to express herself, and states "I'm
not restricted to reproduce exactly what I see.
My work goes through a distinctive process,
an emotional process. The end product is the
essence of what inspired me." Phillips explained
to one interviewer that she works slowly and
waits for inspiration and continues to work until
she feels she can't do it anymore. Phillips has
created her own style which has been called "a
complex and reticular montage often termed
geometric impressionism."
While in school, Phillips was taught that less is
more. However, she finds simplicity extremely
difficult and now she feels "more, more, more,"
is best. Phillips discovered that Utah people are

Denis and Bonnie Phillips

becoming more confident and comfortable with
abstract art; "however," she stated, "it has taken
courage and education."
Whole Wheat on Tuna can be classified as Op art
because it denies representation and creates
optical illusions. Phillips develops her illusion
by using watercolor on satin. This is a technique
not seen often. It combines stencil, tape, and
resist process to give a luminous, rich transparency.
Bonnie Phillips has recently begun to create
mixed media artworks using airbrush techniques, painting, drawing, collage and handwriting. According to Lance W. Duffin, of the
Salt Lake City Weekly, these works offer an
immediate gratification as well as a mental and
spiritual challenge. He says Phillips works
present an exciting duality, rich in both color
and meaning, simultaneously playful and
introspective. These works lure the viewer

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through their energy and beauty, to a moment of

quiet
contemplation.
Like many artists, Bonnie Phillips uses her art as
a way to search for understanding and meaning.
Conversely, she also hopes her art provokes questions in viewers and asks them to search for their
own understanding.
www.slweekly.com/editorial/1998/ae_981105.cfm
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C.
Seifrit. (1997) Utah Painting and Sculpture. Salt Lake
City: Gibbs Smith

Bonnie Phillips, Balance 2002

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Gary Lee Price (1955 )

Irises 1994
bronze cast
33-1/2 x circular

Springville, Utah

Gary Lee Price was born May 2, 1955, in Twin

Falls, Idaho, to Betty Jo Stripling and Delbert
Wayne Price. When his parents divorced, Gary
went to Germany to live with his mother and
stepfather, Theodore Reeder. When Gary was
six years old both his mother and stepfather
died, so he moved to Idaho to live with his
father and stepmother, Nellie Dimick Price.
Gary went to both grade school and high school
in Montpelier, Idaho. Once Gary graduated
from Montpelier High School, he went on to
study at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. He
then served a two-year mission for the LDS
church in southern Germany. Following his
mission, Gary studied in Jerusalem for six
months through Brigham Young Universitys
Study Abroad program. He then studied at
the Utah Technical College in Provo (now
Utah Valley State College), where he met and
studied with sculptor Stan Johnson. Studying
under Stan is what drew Gary to sculpture and
inspired him to enroll at the University of Utah
and study painting, drawing, and anatomy.
While he was at the University he studied under
Alvin Gittins as well as Stan Johnson. Gary
focused on the human figure, his favorite subject
to sculpt. In 1982, he earned his B.F.A in painting and drawing.
During his high-school years, Gary painted and
sold his landscape paintings. Later on, Gary
worked as a ranch hand, a farmer, a jewelry
salesperson and manager, and worked in Stan
Johnsons studio and foundry in Mapleton,
Utah. Gary gained many skills through his
work including mold making, wax and slurry
casting, and welding. These skills would later
become very important in influencing the direction of Garys art. Some of Garys earliest
subjects include Southwestern and wildlife

themes, such as Buffalo Nickel and Return of

Fury. His first recognition came with the Death
Valley Art Show, followed by national recognition for his sculpture They Rise Highest Who
Lift As They Go.
Gary Price is known for his great diversity. His
work has been referred to as eclectic because of
the diversity in subject matter. For Gary ,art is
a quest for beauty, and his work ranges from
wildlife, sporting, figurative, and western subjects to that of religious subjects. He works in
sizes from pendants to large installations and his
style ranges from controlled to impressionistic.
About his work Price says, The ability to listen
and draw upon the many sources of inspiration that constantly surround us determines our
growth. What I try to do is remain open, not
pigeonhole myself to one subject matter or style.
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My work is constantly evolving.

On June 13, 1981, Gary married Lanea Richards.
Today they have five boys and live at the
base of the Wasatch Mountains on 10 acres in
Springville, Utah. These five boys contribute
to Garys most recent focus in art childhood.
Gary believes each child has the unalienable
right to a happy childhood. He says, I am trying to make a statement about humanity in my
work. I sincerely want to lift the human spirit,
mine included. Prices object is to create a
work that is harmonious and refreshing to the
soul.
Gary has contributed to the art world in numerous ways in addition to his personal work. Gary
founded the Sculpture to Live By committee,
finding sculptures each year to be permanently
exhibited in Springville, Utah. Gary has been
elected to the National Sculpture Society in New
York. Gary has won the Best of Show at the
Scottsdale Artists school, and has been featured
in Southwest Magazine.

extremely enjoyable and rewarding. Having

graduated in painting and drawing and then
later discovering 3-D, I find that creating these
reliefs combines the best of both worlds. Most
of Gary Prices relief sculptures are depictions of
flowers or plant life.
Price believes art is a quest for beauty. About his
flower plaques, he has said, One of my greatest
passions is gardening. Im fascinated with the
idea that we can dramatically control the way
we feel about life simply by planting some trees,
bushes and flowers. I believe our surroundings
and immediate environment have a very strong
influence on us. . . I love springtime and cant
seem to plant enough bulbs. Flowers, to me,
are true masterpieces and these reliefs are my
attempts to prolong their beauty.
Irises is a bronze cast which clearly portrays Prices love for nature, his ideas about creation, and his interest in scientific patterns seen

Gary believes in always remaining a student

and finds the great masterpieces he sees during
his travels provide sources of inspiration for his
work. Along with living in Germany for two
years, he spent six months in Israel, one month
touring the jungles and ruins of Mexico and
Guatemala, and in 1984, he traveled through
eleven different European countries for three
months, including a month in Egypt. Gary also
has continued his art education by taking various classes from many other fine artists. He
says, I believe in schooling and receiving critiques and training from those who know more
than I do. I dont believe in groups or organizations that foster one way of sculpting or looking
at something. Can we be open minded? Can we
create something of beauty or make a statement
that needs to be made? These are the things that
interest me. Sculpture is a process of learning to
listen, trying to see and doing ones best to feel.

Gary Price, Daffodils

image used by permission

Irises is one of many bas reliefs Price has created. Gary said, Creating relief sculpture is
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in nature. Price has taken one of natures most

delicate creations, the flower, and has portrayed
it in one of the most stable and indestructible
materials. Prices respect for this type of life is
very evident. The irises are contained within a
circle and a rectangle, which are a reference to
Leonardo da Vincis famous Vitruvian Man. Da
Vincis Vitruvian Man is taken from his sketchbook on proportions of the human figure and
explains ideas of Pells mathematical series and
its relationship to perfect proportions. These
geometrical theories are also related to the
Golden Rectangle, often used by the Greeks in
architecture and sculpture, and today, studied
in all sciences. These mathematical sequences
are often found today in many creative works as
well as in plant proportions. By making reference to these scientific relationships, Gary Price
has communicated that these plants can be seen
as perfect creations following all the laws of
science, but above the ground, they become
something less scientific but more delicate and
beautiful. Although based on scientific prin-

ciples, Prices depictions of flowers still focus on

his idea that art should lift the spirit.

Gary Price, Paper Airplane

image used by permission

Gary Price, Puffed up Prince

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Lee Greene Richards (1878-1950) Salt Lake City

Grandma Eldredges House, Salt Lake City 1922
oil on canvas
22" x 28"

Lee Greene Richards was born in Salt Lake

City, July 27, 1878. Originally named Levi, like
his father, he changed his name to Lee, preferring that shortened version for professional
reasons. He grew up in Salt Lake City surrounded by artists. His grandmother, Sarah
Griffith Richards, was a well-known English
watercolorist. His father, Levi W. Richards, was
also a painter but did not get much opportunity to paint because of the demands of pioneer
life. He was, however, very interested in the art
world.
Lees neighbors included George M. Ottinger,
whose studio the young Richards visited
often. In addition, Mahonri Young and A. B.
Wright lived on the same block and the three
artists became known as the Twentieth Ward
Group. They were fellow students under J.
T. Harwood, along with John Sears and Louise
Richards. According to Mahonri Young, Lees
academic drawings were the best of the class.
Richards claimed that Harwood so effectively
taught the academic methods he had learned
at the Acadmie Julian that Richards learned as
much from J. T. as from any of his later teachers in Paris. (For biographical information on
George Ottinger, Mahonri Young, J. T. Harwood,
and Louise Richards [Farnsworth], see SMA
Elementary Art Core Posters, 1997)
A mission for the LDS church took 18-year-old
Richards to England in 1895, where he was
able to visit the British museums and see original paintings by the old masters as well as to
sketch and paint the lush English countryside.
Richards perceptions of the English portraitists
during his museum visits impressed the young
man so much that he aspired to portraiture himself.
After a visit to Paris at the end of his time in

England, Lee Greene Richards came home

determined to earn enough money to go back to
France and study art. Upon returning to Utah,
he worked three years at Zions Savings Bank
of Utah before realizing his dream and returning to Paris. He studied for three years (1901
- 1904), first at the Acadmie Julian (which had
no entrance exam) and then, after passing the
rigorous entrance exam, at the Ecole de BeauxArts in Paris.
A successful exhibition career began with the
Salon des Artists Francais in 1903. In 1904,
he headed the Salon list for honorable mention, becoming the first Utah artist to receive
such a distinction. Following this illustrious
beginning, his successful career continued with
works exhibited by the International Society
of Painters, Sculptors and Etchers in London,
Manchester, and Burnley, England; and at
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the Chicago Art Institute, the Pennsylvania

Academy of Fine Arts, and the Panama-Pacific
Exposition in San Francisco.
After Richards return to Utah in 1904, he
received many commissions for portraits due to
a combination of factorshis undoubted and
internationally recognized skill, his family connections to important LDS church and community leaders, and the providential move of John
Willard Clawson, an accomplished portraitist, to
California. In 1908, Richards married Mary Jane
Eldredge, the daughter of a well-to-do Salt Lake
banker. The money Mary Jane brought to the
marriage paid for a long honeymoon in Paris for
the newlyweds. Then in 1910, they moved back
to Utah and Lee set up a studio in the combination barn and carriage house at the back of the
propertyhis mother-in-laws home.

missions. However, it was his ability to capture

some integral essence of the sitter that brought
him recognition in the art world. His personal
philosophy of art was that art should be firmly
based in the traditions of the past but, while
based on certain fundamental principles,
it was up to each artist to find the particular
adaptation so he may perfectly reveal himself.
Although best known for portraiture, Richards
also painted still lifes, landscapes, and murals.
He often painted his children and used them

Lee Greene Richards painted many portraits; for

those of family and close friends he used a less
formal and looser style than for his official com-

Lee Greene Richards

Big Cottonwood Stream 1932

Lee Greene Richards, Portrait of Artist's Wife

Brigham Young University Museum of Art
online collections

as models in his murals, the children posed in

appropriate costumes. The early years of the
Great Depression saw a revival of historical and
genre painting in Utah. Murals were commissioned for the dome of the state capital building, and Richards was one of the artists heavily
involved in their completion. With a number of
artists working on projects depicting Utah heritage and culture, the number of paintings of pioneers increased. Lee Greene Richards was one
of the most active muralist and easel painters in
this regionalist phenomena.
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Frank Riggs (1922 ) St. George, Utah

Tohatchi
1990
metal
85-1/4 x 38 x 58-3/4

Frank Riggs is one of the most significant nonobjective sculptors of Utah. He is acknowledged
for minimalist constructions of painted and
highly designed aluminum. Originally, Frank
was a New Englander, born in New York City.
Later, his father moved their family from the
Big City atmosphere to the country village of
Chappaqua, New York, where he lived until he
left to study design at the Pratt Institute. Then,
like for many men of his generation, World War
II interrupted and changed Riggs life.
As a member of the Air Force, he was stationed
in France, but then, with a small group of other
pilots, he was sent to Scotland. There wasnt
room in the barracks, so Riggs and his group
were billeted with townspeople. There he got
to know a neighbor woman, never dreaming
she would become his mother-in-law. However,
when he met her daughter, Rosemary, he decided liking her mother was a good reference, and
they married and eventually returned to the
United Stateshe with the US Forces and she as
one of three passengers aboard a tramp steamer.
Back in the States, Frank and Rosemary Riggs
moved to the original family seat of Gloucester,
Massachusetts, where he worked as an industrial designer. After working there for a time,
he moved to Utah because his employer, Milo
Baugham, a famous contemporary furniture
designer, was invited to establish an environmental design department at Brigham Young
University and in so doing, moved his design
staff with him. Riggs taught part time at BYU
and when Baughman returned to the East, Riggs
left furniture design and pursued his lifelong
ambition of a career as a sculptor.
Although Riggs mother was a painter, she
painted portraits and landscapes, and those

were the kinds of art he was exposed to as a

youth. He wasnt particularly interested in
traditional art. But when he first visited the
Museum of Modern Art, he says the art there
was a revelation to him, a feeling of Where
have you been all my life?, and he knew what
direction his art would take.
For the first few years, Riggs experimented with
many kinds of media. During this experimental
period, he made a sculpture for Brigham Young
University campus, Windows of Heaven , a 30
high welded metal frame with stained glass
inserts. The sculpture is almost classical in concept, based on gothic components Riggs drew
from the gothic churches he lovesits like a
pipe organ against stained class windows. He
built the piece horizontally, and says that when
during installation the piece was hoisted by one
corner, he was not certain the weld would hold
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that much weight, but to his great relief it did.

One year later, he won an award at the state
show, and his career as an artist took off.
In 1970, Riggs became a co-founder of Utahs
North Mountain Artists Cooperative in Alpine.
This cooperative was made up of mostly BYUtrained artists who were interested in Mormon
art and who viewed their cooperative in ideal
terms. The cooperatives original goal was to
build an artists association, art center, and art
school in one area near Bull River. Frank Riggs
believed the cooperative would be an excellent way to develop Mormon art: If Mormon
art ever develops anywhere, theres as good a
chance as any it will develop here, he said.
Although the idea was worthy, the cooperative
was difficult to establish because the artists seldom worked closely together.
However, Riggs personal career was successful, and he developed a market at various
galleries, including a main gallery in Aspen,
Colorado. Although several of the galleries
Frank sold through fell victim to the art market
slump in contemporary art, he has works scattered throughout the United States as well as in
England, Japan, and Sweden.
Riggs work is nonobjectivewithout a subject. As a Formalist, he is interested in shapes
and design, and says his pieces are not about
anything, each exists for itself. For Riggs, the
triangle and circle hold great fascination for me,
as they have done for others down through the
centuries. My sculptures are . . . abstract spatial
relationships between these pure forms. I create intuitively by adjusting these shapes until
I feel right about their organization. I find a
great amount of inspiration from the giant rock
formations of the Southwest. He sketches ideas
on paper, then makes small models, then often
makes larger models, which are either sent to a
foundry to be constructed or are constructed by
himselfhard, painstaking work, he admits.
While starting his art career, Riggs continued
to teach part time and says that as a teacher, he
liked to take simple objects out of their typical

Frank Riggs, Sentinel 1988

environment so the students could see them

as designs instead of merely labeling them as
known objects and never really examining the
shapes and their relationships. He loves design,
particularly three dimensional design, and he
enjoyed his years as a teacher. Periodically he
runs into a former student who thanks Frank for
what he taught, making Frank feel his teaching
was successful.
It is not just in his teaching that Frank Riggs
asks individuals to think and to reexperience the
world through different eyes; it is also through
his sculpture. His sculptures do not illustrate
anything, although they can impart emotion to
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viewers who will just go with the flow of the

work. His titles are chosen after the work is
finished; and although some are descriptive of
how the sculpture makes him feel, others, like
Tohatchi , were chosen because the word sounds
like the piece looks.
Currently, Frank is working on wall piecesbas
reliefswhich he decided, after finishing a
couple, are influenced by his memories of Radio
City Music Halls 20s Art Deco style. Like
many contemporary artists, Riggs is looking
back to a previous art movement and translating
elements of that style through the medium of his
experience into present-day, Postmodernist artworks. He says he is not sure where the pieces
will take him, but he is enjoying the exploration,
and some other people are apparently enjoying
it too because he already has sold some of the
reliefs.
Frank Riggs and his wife now consider Utah
their home. They live in St. George, visiting
cooler areas during some summer months,
spending time with their three children and
eight grandchildren, and hoping for a few greatgrandchildren. Riggs says as long as he can
still pick up his tools, he will continue to make
sculpture.

Frank Riggs, Untitled 1978

Salt Lake City Parks Administration
http://www.ci.slc.ut.us/arts/publicart_2.htm

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Arch D. Shaw (1933 ) Roosevelt, Utah

Twice Told Tales 1993
oil on canvas
30 x 40

A. D. Shaw was born October 8, 1933, in

Hutchinson, Kansas. He was raised on a farm in
Montwell, Duchesne County, Utah. Although he
moved to Salt Lake City in 1966 to work for the
Utah Education Association and for the Jordan
School District in the graphic arts department,
his ties to Montwell have always remained
strong. His rural upbringing has greatly influenced his work, giving much of his work a western bias.
From 1966 to 1984, part of A. D. Shaws responsibilities included doing illustrations, cartooning, and photography. During these years, he
was able to pursue painting only on a part-time
basis. Finally in 1984, after working 20 years
in the field of graphic design, Arch Shaw left
Jordan School District to pursue a full-time
career in the fine arts.
Today, no single subject dominates Shaws
paintings. He is a plein-air painter of western
landscapes, a genre painter of todays western
people, a studio painter of period subjects, and
a cartoonist. He has enjoyed success as an artist
and has shown his work in galleries throughout the western United States. (Plein air means
painted outdoors. Plein air artworks are usually
more immediate and impressionistic than studio-painted pieces. Genre paintings show normal people doing typical day-to-day activities.)
Arch Shaw has as wonderful sense of humor.
He often shows his puckish nature in his paintings. In fact, this is readily seen in his painting
Ego Trip: Self Portrait. (See the SMA web site)
According to the author Steve Hale, When
members of Utahs art colony were asked to
paint self-portraits for a show, Shaw obliged
with one that portrays a rear view of himself at
work. A mirror showing his profile painted with

A. D. Shaw, Ego Trip: Self-Portrait 1986

near photographic fidelity, and a full view of his

self-portrait on the easel. The self-portrait is a
cartoon. Shaw says he still is basically a cartoonist gone straight."
Shaw has a compulsion to paint, and keeps a
tight schedule, starting work at his studio by 4
a.m. every morning. He keeps this demanding
schedule because he loves the work although
he also learned that kind of work habit growing
up on a farm. To be a decent artist, he believes,
you need two things: a knowledge of the craft
and the ability to paint from the heart. (Karras)
I have a little saying: If the painting is going
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well, you're having fun, and if you're having

fun, the painting is going well. I think you
have to maintain the emotion throughout the
piece or else you lose it. (Karras)
Shaws paintings of rural scenes are popular,
probably because they remind viewers of quieter times and give them a sense of peace. "I used
to think that people bought my farm scenes
because they had a rural upbringing or had
spent summers with grandparents, but I found
out that wasn't always the case," Shaw said. "I
found that a lot of people who've never had
a lot of experience with it buy that particular
genre because it represents some slowness, some
peace in their life, an escape from the everyday
hustle-bustle of city life."(Karras)
In Twice Told Tales, Shaw depicts three men,
farmers, chatting during a break in their work
day. The posture of the men tells viewers these
men are old friends, comfortable with each
other. The title, Twice Told Tales is more evidence of Shaws humor, his understanding of
rural life, and of people in general. This is the
durable friendship of men with similar back-

grounds, consecrated by the repetition of the

stories of their everyday lives.
The composition of the painting contributes to
the paintings sense of stability and peace. The
three men form a triangle, two of the men facing
each other while the third looks on. The farm
equipment, the landscape, and the mens clothes
place them in a typical Western scene. The lack
of detail both allows viewers to generalize the
scene to familiar territory and to experience
the painting as a portrait of a way of life, not
of specific people or places. The bare pathway
and the gesture of the men create a strong visual
interest and a sense of immediacyviewers can
place themselves in the middle of the stories.
Karras, .Christy Shaw Paints Fastto Freeze a
Vanishing West. The Salt Lake Tribune:
Sunday December 08, 2002 . Retrieved from
www.sltrib.com/2002/Dec/12082002/arts/9103.
asp

A.D. Shaw, Twice Told Tales

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Dennis Von Smith (1942- ) Highland, Utah

Barn Swallow 2002
mixed

Dennis Smith is a versatile artist who works in

bronze, oil, metal, glass, and pen and ink.
He was born in 1942 in Alpine, Utah, where he
lived until 1961, when he traveled to Denmark
to live for two and one-half years. While there,
he was attracted to the expressionism and
humanistic themes of Scandinavian art. Upon
returning from Denmark, he graduated from
Brigham Young University and continued his
graduate studies there until being accepted
to the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
By 1968, after returning to Utah, Smith had
set up his first studio in his fathers old chicken coop and had begun to exhibit his work.
Originally, he was best known for his sculptures of children, which exhibit his ability to
capture moments of play, reflection, and intimacy. His sculptural pieces range from life-size
garden sculptures to small, figurative bronzes

and include mixed media assembleges. Some

of these assemblages are marvelous flying
machines. Abstract and machine-like, yet whimsical and approachable, these pieces represent
the imaginings of childhood.
Over the years Smith has created dozens of
these fanciful aircraft. He says, "Have you ever
wondered what it would be like to fly? Almost
everybody has..." These sculptures are dream
machines, made of bits of this and thatdelicate and intricate, but able to send children (or
adults) aloft.

Dennis Smith, Blue Airship

Primary Childrens Medical Center
image used by permission

In the late 1980s, Smith turned to oil painting for

an inner exploration, a creative exercise where
I dont have to prove anything. While Smith
may not have felt the need to prove himself
with his paintings, the paintings are proving
that as an artist, he is not restricted to three187

dimensional art forms. His painting style leans

towards Figural Abstraction, and his paintings,
though often intensely personal, are built on
metaphors universal enough to invite others in,
to share their memories and symbols too. Some
of his paintings, like Keeper of the Gate (1989),
and many of his sculptures, are celebrations and
explorations of the freedoms and restraints of
childhood.
This exploration of childhood and family has
inspired artwork that is exhibited through galleries in the United States and is permanently
installed in public plazas, airports and buildings. Smith has received commissions from
public and private institutions, and his art is
located in many locations across the United
States as well as in Russia and England. Smith
recently joined his son, Andrew, for a very
popular exhibit of found- object sculptures at
Brigham Young Universitys Museum of Art.

Dennis Smith, Girl Reading

image used by permission

and his views on life. His impressionistic style

captures his exuberance for life and embodies his passion for transcendenceexpressed
through the spontaneity of children, reflections
of the past, and hopes for the future.
At the core of Dennis' work is the spirit of
the human soul. We often see this represented
through the innocence of childhood. To Dennis,
the child is a metaphor for life. Children's lives,
as they explore the world around them, parallel
our lives as adults as we discover our identity in
this universe. Each piece by Dennis Smith captures this spirit, still vibrant and alive, frozen in
the moment of discovery. ( http://www.smithsculpture.com)

Dennis Smith, Peace Cradle

image used by permission
smithsculpture.com

Dennis Smith is as much a philosopher as he is

an artist. His work is a window into who he is
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Gary Ernest Smith (1942 ) Highland, Utah

The Great American Farmer 1996
oil on canvas
60 x 48

Gary Ernest Smith was born in the rural Eastern

Oregon community of Baker, in 1942. He
attended Eastern Oregon State College and
Brigham Young University, from which he
earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. He served
in the United States Army for two years as an
illustrator, and he was on the faculty at BYU and
acted as gallery director for three terms. Since
1972, Smith has been self-employed as an artist. He and his wife, Judy Asay Smith, have
four children and live in the arts community of
Highland, Utah.
Gary Smith presents impressive credentials as
an artist. Though known for his paintings, in
recent years he has also turned his talents to
sculpture. His paintings, some of which depict
rural America from the turn of the century to the
present, and others, which depict early Utah and
Oregon 20th-century life, hang in museums, in
private, corporate, and university collections, as
well as in churches along the Wasatch front. He
is extensively published as an illustrator and has
received many major commissions for his paintings and sculptures.
Dr. Vern Swanson, of the Springville Museum
of Art, says Smith as seeks his ends through
stylistic experiment. Smith strives for simple,
direct statements that capture the essential character of his subject: icon and image are more
important than explicit detail. Large bold
shapes, Smith says, with minimal detail, are
the substance of my work. Most of the detailing
in my pictures is implied rather than painted.
Termed a Neo-Regionalist by many, Smith
works on the basis of reinterpretation of rural,
Mid-America themes. While acknowledging the
appropriateness of the term Neo-Regionalist, he
also feels its too limiting. As an artist he con-

centrates on spatial and coloristic solutions, and

his themes are often spiritual, though the interpretation is clearly unique in form and style.
The subjects of Gary Smiths art range through
three major areasovert and latent religious
subjects, landscapes, and evocations of the rural
west, each born from poignant personal experiences in his life.
Smith admits to being a driven painter who
needs the distractions of his musician wife and
his children to rescue him from spending all day
in the studio. He attributes his work ethic to his
upbringing. With his brothers and father, Smith
worked on the family cattle ranch and farm.
Farming is hard work; I didnt want to do that
the rest of my life, he says. I wanted more. I
wanted to be an artist. I had no idea what that
entailedit was a dream, kind of an
unreachable dream.
189

close to the land in which I have such a deep

emotional attachment."
Smith also says his . . . art is a constant struggle
for the new insight, for the more effective technique. It is as changing and evolving as life
itself. To unite humanity with the earth through
art is like combining the body with the spirit.
Theodore F. Wolff, art editor for the Christian
Science Monitor, says of Gary Smith, Few artists today see things whole. Most prefer a sliver
of the truth and an art defined by theory, passion or imitation. Not so Gary E. Smith. For
him art is expansive and holistic, ideal for sharing what is good, beautiful and true, and the
best way to communicate ones deepest beliefs
and intuitions.

Gary Smith, Guardian

Brigham Young Museum of Art
online collection
Gary Smith has obviously reached his dream.
Art is a way of addressing humanity, Smith
says, and my works attempt to merge ideas
and memories. Smith believes Good art
functions on many levels. There is the surface
appeal of subject, and below that are layers that
may be peeled off, revealing information about
the individual artist and the psychology of his
era. Theres the subject but theres also the
underlying theme.
"Of the main themes I deal with in the creative
process, productivity and self-reliance seem to
reoccur in the rural people I paint. I attempt to
portray something of the struggles and triumphs
of those who work with a sometimes friendly,
sometimes harsh environment. It is important
for me to live and work with my family in a
rural area. I need to follow the seasons and be

Gary Smiths 1997 exhibit, Fields, at the

Springville Museum of Art, centered on eight
large canvases (he has since added to the suite)
that show fields in various seasons and stages
one is of plowed ground with a dusting of snow,
another of a harvested field with a few scattered
bales of hay, and another has furrows echoing
the contours of the rolling hills.
At the opening for the exhibit, Smith asked for
a response to his pieces. One individual said I
think you feel the same way about the land I do,
but most people overlook such kinds of beauty
and never see it. Smith agreed that most people dont see empty fields as beautiful, and says
that is why he painted these particular paintings. And its working, he says; people have
come in (to the show) and looked around for a
while and then come up to him to tell him about
a field he needs to seetheir eyes have been
opened. That personal insight Smith struggles
to attain and to share has successfully expanded
to encompass the viewers of his paintings.
Careful observers walk away from his paintings
with a broader, more appreciative view of
beauty and of the goodness of the earth and
the people who work it, and of this artist, who
paints it.
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Minerva B. Kohlhepp Teichert (1888-1976) North Ogden, UT/Cokeville, WY

Hereford Roundup 1956
oil on canvas
62 x 108-1/2

Minerva Bernetta Kohlhepp Teichert was born

August 28, 1888, in North Ogden, Utah. She
grew up on a remote ranch in Idaho, the second of ten children. Her mother, Ella Hickman,
was the daughter of one of the bodyguards of
Brigham Young. Her father, Frederick John
Kohlhepp, had been disowned by his prominent family when he joined the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. From her parents
she gained a knowledge of the scriptural stories
she would later portray as well as the indefatigable spirit that would characterize her life.
In addition to her formal schooling, Minerva
was taught by her parents to love reading and
to appreciate good music, literature, drama,
and art. She and her sister acted out plays in
a willow copse on their ranch. When Minerva
was four years old, her mother gave her a set of
watercolors, and from that time forth, Minerva
considered herself an artist. She carried sketch
pad and charcoal with her constantly, sketching
even the wild horses that were brought in to the
corrals. After she was married, she drew everything, including fresh-caught fish before cooking
them. Her skilled rendering of life and action is
the result of this early preoccupation with
drawing.

When Minerva was 14, she went to San

Francisco to work as a nursemaid for a
wealthy family. During this time she was able
to observe great paintings at the Mark Hopkins
Art School. After she returned home and graduated from Pocatello High School at age 16, she
taught school at Davisville, Idaho, saving money
to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. When
the time came for her to leave for Chicago, her
father refused to let her travel alone.
After being set apart as an LDS Church missionary, she traveled east with a church group,
the first woman to be sent for art lessons with
the official blessing of the LDS Church leadership.
In Chicago, she studied under John Vanderpoel,
a master of the academic school of painting.

Minerva Teichert, Desert Horses

191

She returned home periodically to earn money

by teaching or working in the fields so she
could continue her studies. When her studies in
Chicago were completed, she returned to Idaho
to "prove-up" her own isolated homestead, living by herself and sleeping with a revolver
under her pillow. She was courted by two
young men, one wealthy (whom she rejected)
and the other, a cowboy. When she received a
scholarship and left for New York City to study
at the Art Student's League, she told the cowboy,
Herman Teichert, to marry someone else.
The League was one of the most important art
centers in the world, and Minerva studied under
Robert Henri and George Bridgeman, eminent
realist art instructors of the time. She
periodically used various skills to pay her way.
She sketched cadavers for medical schools,
illustrated children's books, painted portraits,
and performed rope tricks and Indian dances
on the New York stage. While in New York she,
and other students, had paintings exhibited in
the immigrant receiving station on Ellis Island.
Minerva became close friends with her mentor, Robert Henri, who called her Miss Idaho.
Although her artistic subjects and interests were
very different from Henris, she did develop
a vigorous style with broad brush strokes that

owes an obvious debt to his bold technique.

Though rated with the top artists of the time,
she returned to Idaho instead of taking advantage of an opportunity to study in Europe or of
stepping into a professional career. Her teacher,
Robert Henri, told her to go home and paint the
history of the Mormon people. She returned to
the West feeling she had a mission to perform.
Minerva married Herman Teichert, kept books
for the ranch, cooked for the hands, raised their
five children, and painted. Her studio was their
narrow living room, where she tacked up her
canvases to paint. The room was too small for
some of her works, which had to be folded as
she painted. Since she could not get far enough
away from her large paintings to get the correct
perspective, she looked at her work through the
wrong end of a pair of binoculars. Teichert sent
her children to bed at eight oclock each night
and then painted until midnight. Some nights,
she set the clock ahead so she could send the
children to bed earlier and have a little more
time to paint.
Minerva painted on everything she could find:
boards, aprons, flour sacks, the margins of
books, walls and doors, and on brown paper
bags. She loved to paint the western wilderness

Minerva Teichert, Indian Captives at Night

192

Minerva Teichert, Love Story

Brigham Young Museum of Art
online collection
with its predominance of blues and grays, but
seldom painted just the land. Human figures
and work animals, usually in a narrative, were
her most common subjects. She used neighbors
and family members as models, providing herself with a wide variety even though she lived
in a rural area.
Although Teicherts colors are generally subdued, she frequently used bright red paint to
emphasize the central character or focal point.
Her paintings are large and mural like, to be
viewed from a distance. The strong composition
and draftsmanship combine with delicate colors
and lines and compelling narrative to produce
powerful works of art, which she hoped would
motivate people to build Zion.
Women figure prominently in Teicherts works.
She also did smaller paintings of flowers, still
lifes, and scenery, which were usually intended
as gifts.
Teichert was a prolific painter, painting more
pioneer and Indian subjects than any other Utah
artist. Today, her best-known works are those

published on the covers and in LDS magazines

and lesson manuals and her Book of Mormon
series of over 40 paintingswhich can be seen
at Brigham Young Universityand the huge
mural in the World Room of the Manti LDS temple. In addition, the Museum of Church History
and Art in Salt Lake City owns several large
pieces, including Madonna of 1847.
Pinborough, Jan Underwood. Bold Brush.
Ensign. 34-41 Salt Lake City
St. George Art Museum Brochure. 1992. A
Touch of Minerva Teichert.
St. George.
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and
William C. Seifrit. 1991. Utah Art Layton:
Gibbs Smith
Information also provided by Miriam Wardle, a
descendent of Minerva Teichert

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Dahrl Thomson (1950 ) Provo, Utah

Island of Hope
Marble
16 x 33-1/2x 13

Dahrl Thomson was born May 12, 1950 in Boise,

Idaho. She grew up mostly in Moscow, Idaho,
then moved to Provo at age sixteen where she
has lived ever since. She married her buddy,
Al Thomson, and they are the parents of three
adopted children from Peru.
Dahrl began her study of art at Brigham Young
University in the late 1960s, and returned in
1990 to finish her degree through the Design
and Illustration program. During that time, she
took a sculpture class, and became consumed
with her love of sculpture. She stayed an extra
year and a half, taking all the sculpture classes
she could. Neil Hadlock was the professor she
learned the most from, and he is still her mentor.
Dahrl started out doing metal fabrication and
bronze casting. In 1998, she turned to stone.
While exhibiting her work in a Colorado sculpture show, she was fascinated by the work of
a woman who worked in stone. The woman
invited Dahrl to stay at her home for a few days
and showed her a few basic things about stone
carving to help her get started. Later that year,
Dahrl was awarded a Utah Arts Council grant to
attend a marble carving symposium, where she
greatly increased her knowledge and skills.
She has exhibited her work in many juried
and solo shows in Utah and Colorado. She
was juried into The Society of Animal Artists,
New York City, NY. In 2002 she was selected
as one of 220 Utah artists (out of 10,000) for
the Official Olympics Exhibit and book: 150
Years of Utah Art, Artists, Springville Museum
of Art, Springville, Utah. She has worked as
a part-time faculty member and a visiting artist at Brigham Young University. Currently,
Dahrl works in her garage studio in Provo. Her
work is represented by A Gallery in Salt Lake

City, Utah, and Figarelli Fine Art, in Scottsdale,

Arizona.
ARTISTS STATEMENT
Finding expression through stone carving, my
objective is to create original sculpture that
resonates with the viewer. Therefore, I am constantly exploring images, shapes, textures, etc to
accomplish this goal. I choose stone for many
reasons: it is beautiful in its own right as Gods
handiwork; it represents eons of time, change ,
and travel, symbolizing a bridge between past
and present; it can be ground, sliced, hammered,
polished, grooved, given myriad textures,.
Inspiration comes from anything and everything from a shadow to a curve, to the shape of
the rock itself. Nature has an endless supply
of forms, patterns, and juxtapositions to inspire
me. The timeless beauty of Egyptian, African,
and Native American art has greatly influenced
the forms I carve, as well as some of the great
sculptors: Isamu Noguchi, Francisco Zuniga,
Brancusi, Archipencko, Jesus Moroles, and others. However, complete originality is my
creed, and I do not copy anyone!
I love the hard physical work of carving rock
although a fairly slow processit is very satisfying and a source of constant discovery. During
the process, I use large and small angle grinders
with diamond blades for cutting, diamond cup
wheels, die grinders with an assortment of bits
and wheels, air hammer and chisels, masonry
wheels, etc. Then I move on to the hand tools
such as very coarse raspsdown to finer rasps,
and from there to sandpaper from coarse to
fine. Eventually, I may wax or polish the piece,
or leave a snowflake or more natural finish,
(which I prefer). As for stone, I use marbles
194

from such locales as Colorado, Canada, and

Alaska; Limestone from Kansas and Indiana;
alabaster from Utah and Coloradoor wherever
there is good rock to be found!
What is almost as fun as carving stone is having
an artwork cast into stainless steel or bronze
and giving the original piece another interpretation: that may be a high-tech look or a different color and/or finish. To me its all more fun
than Christmas!
My philosophy, which stems in part from that
of my mentor, Neil Hadlock, is that abstraction
can be more powerful than realism. A sculpture
that is somewhat ambiguousless explicitis
to me far more interesting and tantalizing; it
demands my involvement in interpreting what
that artwork is about. I find that so much more
stimulating than something that is completely
spelled out realistically. I also feel that more cre-

ative ability is required in creating art that says

something without saying everything. Great
art asks questionsmediocre art answers them.
My philosophy includes the reasons why I chose
stone as my main medium . . .Its history predates man (how many parts of untold life-forms
inhabit its dimensions? How many rivers or
ravines corridors through countless centuries
did it travel to find itself in my possessionor
yours?) Stones are the metaphoric bones of
Mother Earth; stone has permanence, strength,
beauty, integrity; it stores heat and cold and
sometimes lightas in the case with translucent
rock or gems. Stone has been worshiped, used
to mark sacred places, and thought to symbolize
eternal life. Every stone is differentand I love
that!

"Un/Common Ground"
Installation of work by Dahrl Thomson at the Springville Museum of Art
Springville, UT
November 2000 - January 2001
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Richard J. Van Wagoner (1932 )

Donor Bank 1990
oil on canvas
48 x 71-3/4

Pleasant View, Utah

Richard J. Van Wagoner was born in Midway,

Utah, in 1932, lived in California for a few years
and then returned to Utah where he received
his education. He graduated from Davis High
School and Weber College and then received a
Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah.
He earned a Master of Fine Arts from Utah State
University in Printmaking. Then he received
another Masters degree, this one in painting
from the University of Utah.
In 1959, Van Wagoner began teaching at Weber
State College in Ogden. Originally, he taught
many different art classes; but later he specialized in watercolor, drawing and painting. He
was chairman of the department of art from
1975-1981. Now retired, he continues to paint
and exhibit throughout Utah and the United
States.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Van Wagoner
painted figures in landscapes. Later, his work
increasingly depicted the western urban landscape of freeways and automobiles against a
backdrop of inner-city and suburban vistas.
Van Wagoner has always been interested in the
ordinary, unposed moments of daily life and
in recent years his subject matter has focused
on autos, trucks and highways. Donor Bank,
his 1990 oil painting, is a perfect example of
his shift to painting urban landscapes with
automobiles. Van Wagoner says he has always
loved or hated cars. He feels the transportation
system dominates our lives and is the greatest manifestation of mans interests, needs, and
activities. The title Donor Bank reflects this
domination by comparing the use of used parts
from wrecked cars to the use of donated human
organs. The realism of this painting reinforces
Van Wagoners comment on the importance of

cars in our lives.

Artist Statement from weber studies/spring
2001
We are bombarded by the social problems of
a complex world. Should the artist comment
about the injustices in our society? It seems
impossible to me that any artist, aware of the
growing social issues of our time, could paint
pretty landscapes. It is interesting that pretty
landscapes remain the popular genre of our
western society.
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My heroes were discovered early in life. They

were courageous, righteous, uncomplicated and
magnificent. But the conservative environment
of my youth repressed flexibility of thought
and an investigative attitude into life. It is taking me a long time to become a citizen of the
Twenty-first Century. Having been given all of
the answers early, I feared asking questionsto
investigate the mysteries was evil. Consequently,
my ignorance has been (is) the greatest of evils.
Much of my art reflected (perhaps reflects) the
sanctity of my ignorance.
Experience and time have humbled me. Now,
as an old man, light elucidates, not so much in
solutions, but in query, wonder and amazement.
Existence becomes more complex, but I revel in
the questioning.
The traditional, academic training that I received
earlier in life has provided the tools for developing the surreal, complex imagery of my recent
work.

Richard Van Wagoner, Emergence

weber studies web site

In making a painting, I start with an object from

nature or from the man-made world. It may be
from reality or from my imagination. Perhaps
it has no relevance to anything that I have been
thinking about. But it must be an object that
interests me in ways that I may not recognize or
that may be difficult to verbalize. Once painted,
the illusion on the canvas causes me to react
again in ways that may appear to be irrational.
I continue to add images in this fashion until
the painting is finished or beyond repair. Some
works I keep, as partial answers to my questioning. Others I destroy. I can only hope that viewers become interested in the process and subject
of my inquiry.
weberstudies.weber.edu/archive/archive
%20D%20Vol.%2018.2 now/Vol.%2018.3/
VanWagonerArt.htm

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ARTIST:
TITLE:
MEDIA:
SIZE:

Michael Workman (1959 ) Spring City, Utah

In DarknessNevertheless Illuminated 1991
oil on board
12 x 20-3/4

Born in 1959, Michael Workman grew up on

his familys small farm in Highland, Utah.
Although he had a childs natural aversion to
chores, he is grateful for his childhood experiences, recognizing their role in the development
of his love of the outdoors and of rural life and
his strong work ethica background that continues to affect his paintings. As a youth, he
became interested in the LDS Church, and after
being taught by a neighbor, joined the Church
and later served a mission in Melbourne,
Australia.
After his mission, Workman attended Brigham
Young University, majoring in drawing and
painting. He worked his way through school as
an Architectural Illustrator for Rick Kinateder,
of Orem, and he continued to work as an illustrator after graduation from BYU. However,
he soon became restless and returned to BYU,
where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Like other students, Michael participated in
the yearly student art exhibits at BYU, and
at one exhibit, a representative of Meyer
Gallery noticed his work and asked to represent Workman. He continues to sell his work
through Meyer in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in
Scottsdale, Arizona. He also teaches workshops
in Utah, Texas, and Arizona.
Michael Workman has been an invited artist at
several major exhibitions including the Artists of
America shows in Denver, Colorado; Northwest
Rendezvous in Park City, Utah; Western Classics
Show in Scottsdale, Arizona; As They See It
Show at the Salt Lake City, Utah, Art Center; and
the LDS Artists Exhibit at the LDS Museum of
Church History and Art in Salt Lake. In addition, Workman has been featured in several
publications including Leading the West100

Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, by Don

Hagerty, and in Utah Painting and Sculpture, by
Dr. Vern G. Swanson. His work was featured
on the cover sheet of the novel Lonesome Land,
from Bison Books. Articles about Michael and
his work have appeared in magazines such as
Southwest Art, Focus/Santa Fe Art Talk, Art of
the West, and Utah Business.
Michaels many years of work as an architectural illustrator show in the quality and ease of
his draftsmanship. The new Dictionary of Utah
Art terms Workman . . . an outstanding tonal
realist painter who . . . is considered one of
the major American Contemporary Tonalist
painters. For the last five years Michael has
made his living as a gallery artist. He lives in
the historic town of Spring City, Utah, with his
wife and five children, surrounded by the rural
198

scenery he loves, working on paintings, and

dabbling in agriculture with his own small gentlemans farm.
Workman started painting cows in graduate
school when he was trying to find out how
and what he wanted to paint. He chose cows
because he had memories of them from his
childhood, because they have geometric shapes
that are easy to compose, and because they work
well as metaphors for our physical existence
and can be juxtaposed or set in such a way as to
contrast with a spiritual existencethe light. He
completed a series of paintings with cows and
believes that
In DarknessNevertheless Illuminated is the
most successful of that series.
Workman says he tries to paint so there is as
much in each painting as an individual viewer
wants to get from it. Therefore, his paintings
work as paintings of rural scenes, they also have
painterly qualities that appeal to artists and
art historians or connoisseurs, and they have a
poetic quality, layers of depth and meaning, that
center on mans purpose on earth and what life
means. It is these qualities that induce Dr. Vern
Swanson, Director of the Springville Museum of
Art, to label Workman an Academic Visionary.
Michael and six other artists recently spent two
months in Europe, traveling through England,
France, Belgium,the Netherlands, Germany,
Austria, and Italy. They went to as many art
museums as possible and also spent time in the
countryside taking photographs and making
sketches. After they returned home and had
each completed some works, they had a show
of their work at the Springville Museum of Art,
called Seven through Seven.

be carefully feeling his way along. Workman

believes that assessment of his process of creating is accurate, and he thinks that process will
continue. He doesnt want to get stale or to get
in a rut of painting what sells, over and over;
but he believes he is headed in the right direction, that he has found the kind of work he
wants to do. He does expect to produce more
figurative work over the next few years, as a
result of the art he saw on his European trip.
Michael Workman says he made a conscious
decision to create artworks that appeal to those
viewers without an education in the artsto
produce paintings that are successful as attractive
scenes and to also have the pieces appeal to
artists and to the educated or naturally poetic
people who look for and find layers of meaning
in his paintings, which contain both universal
symbolic meanings as well as being open ended
enough to invite the viewer to tie into his or her
own experiences and understanding.
In DarknessNevertheless Illuminated is a good
example of that complexityin addition to
being well painted and designed, the painting
offers viewers a chance to examine what light
and darkness mean to them and to go about the
business of increasing their understanding of
what life is all about.

Workman says that seeing such a lot of

European Art strengthened his orientation and
ideas about art because so much of art throughout history is spiritual and religious. Workman
says he doesnt see his art as likely to go
through radical changes. In graduate school one
of his teachers said to Michael that he seemed to
199