Art of Japan unit, grade 2

Second graders are enjoying our Japanese art unit, which started with the story of Katsushika Hokusai, the most poetic name ever in my opinion, and his many "Views of Mt. Fuji." After reading his story, The Man Who Painted A Mountain, we looked at his many artistic variations on the theme and compared them to photos of the dormant volcano. In both, we saw different seasons, times of day, weather conditions, and near and far proximity. After this lesson, we studied notan, or the Japanese art of paper cutting using balance between dark and light and positive/negative shapes.

Art from other times and places...

It's my favorite time of year in the classroom - time to start our multicultural units!
Don't get me wrong, we study art history all year long from lesson to lesson, but these units are in depth studies of a specific culture or era, involving a number of different activities. It is exciting to think that by the time students leave Dolvin as a middle schooler, they have had art history experience that truly crosses the world and thousands of years.
Here is the list of topics by grade level and as seen on our world map - check back soon to see our progress!
K - Prehistoric art
1 - African art
2 - Asian art
3 - Art of Ancient civilizations
4 - Mexican art
5 - Medieval/Renaissance

Here's a sneak peek... which culture are these students learning about?





watercolor vegetables (Miroco Machiko)

Browsing the internet this summer, I came across some of the most beautiful drawings and paintings I have seen in a while, produced by a young artist from Japan named Miroco Machiko. So often, we teach from master artists who are no longer living, and it was really refreshing to inspire the students with the work of an up and coming young woman with a very unique take on natural images. Most of her work involves plants and animals - they have a childlike quality to them with the bold shapes and exciting colors, often with a dark background, creating a "glow."
Third graders looked at examples of still life drawings and drew crayon contours of an assortment of vegetables. Next, we used liquid watercolors for the veggies - learning to make the colors "bleed" - and a final layer of black for the negative space. This was the first time we have used liquid watercolor, and the students really enjoyed the quality of the colors.

***Update *** Students,  I sent an email to the artist's website, and she kindly sent us a reply, which I copied and pasted here. How cool!

Hi Hope Knight

I looked at art works of your students. It is my pleasure to see many colorful vegetables with freewheeling thinking.

Thank you for utilizing my works for your class. 

mirocomachiko

◆

ミ　ロ　コ

マ　チ　コ　　mirocomachiko

Machiko

My example, so fun to make!

Kirigami, Notan, and Rice Field Art

Second graders have had a wonderful time during our unit on the art of Japan.  We are ending the unit with two papercutting techniques known in Japan as Notan, or a balance between opposites, and Kirigami, the art of folding and cutting paper designs.  Thes were a great way to show the differences between radial and linear symmetry. 
We saw a presentation about an amazing art event in Japan that forms in the rice fields.  See the pictures below - how cool!!!

Kirigami snowflakes... it actually snowed a little outside when we made these!



a well balanced Notan design with linear symmetry



This is a rice paddy in Japan with farmers planting rice seed.  (These pics were sent to me via email a few years ago - please add your link in the comments if they belong to you, and thanks for sharing)



an image starts to emerge as the plants begin growing..



yes - it's Hokusai's "Great Wave" - made from rice plants!

a close up view of the all-natural plants - no ink or dye is used



another field ... the kids really got a kick out of seeing this!



2nd grade Japanese Tea Bowls

This is a tea bowl made from clay.  It is used in Japan for the daily tea ceremony. 

We made the bowl from two slabs (body and base) and a coil (for the foot).

Sealing the seam

Cutting away the extra clay from the base

These pots are almost ready for their first firing.

These pots have been fired once, glazed, and are waiting for their second firing in the kiln.

We decorated the surface with Japanese symbols and characters.

Elders are always served their tea first as a sign of respect.

We prepared them to go home with a little information sheet.

Tea ceremonies are enjoyed in a clean, quiet, peaceful setting.

Many countries and cultures drink tea and make ceramic art. 
It's fun to see the differences and similarities!