Projecting Pinterest

"I follow you on Pinterest!" was the exclamation I received from a 4th grade girl in art class last week. Not what I expected to hear as I directed my Upper El students to look at the wall where I was projecting images of Art Nouveau. 

I was quite taken aback. Most of my students hadn't heard of Pinterest and were confused as to why my name was at the top of the screen; never mind that one of my students was following my pins-- and I didn't even know it. My fearful surprise quickly turned to excitement. Perhaps this was another learning tool?

I had been pinning images of Art Nouveau for my own inspiration and lesson planning. But, when I needed to introduce this movement to students before we began our scratchboards, I was flat out of time to create a powerpoint or print out a slew of images. I settled on the idea of projecting my Pinterest board on the wall over my desk. Not only was it a mega time saver, but it facilitated a sincere conversation with more ease because we could focus on the images that caught their eye. It worked well. We could easily see similarities between the works that made it Nouveau. 

Pinterest has become my new and unintentional school-to-home connection. I'm not sure if any other students have followed me, but if they do they will be inundated with art images. Now that I'm aware, I'm thinking of my pinning with more purpose. How Nouveau...

Has anyone else shared their Pinterest page with students or used it in a similar way? What have your experiences been?

(Also note, my desk is NEVER really that clean.) 

Ukranian Eggs: Pysaty Folk Design

More lines, colors, shapes, and patterns!

This Easter-timed, but culturally-focused work follows our discussion about story-telling in art.

Each color and pattern on a Ukranian egg represents a story. The word pysaty itself means "to write" with beeswax.

I found this fabulous, old-school Reading Rainbow featuring Patricia Polacco dying pysaty after they read her book, Rechenka's Eggs.

I did this lesson with Kinderhaus first, then tried it with older grades. I wasn't planning on doing it with Middle School, but when they saw the eggs they wanted to, too. A few middle school girls are even planned an egg hunt for the Kindergarteners using the eggs they designed.

I have found that although the watercolor crayon-resist method would make the most sense in this lesson, students have more control of their designs when they just use marker.

Of course another egg-stention of this lesson would be to try to actually dye the eggs in the traditional method, but I wasn't ready for that this year. We'll see about next year.

At the bottom of this post, I copied the symbols and color meanings of the designs from http://graphicoriginals.com/history.html.

Symbols    drawings of symbols (will open in a new window)
Sun, circles- life, warmth and the love of God
Swastika- a common motif for happiness, blessings, good fortune and good will.
Tripod- a solar symbol known from Trypillian times meaning a trinity: birth, life, death; man, woman, child; the magical number 3
Star or rose-usually 8 pointed but also 6 and 5 pointed in ancient times signifying purity, life, the giver of light, the center of all knowledge, beauty, elegance and perfection; the eye or divine will of God, symbol of God's love for man. Today sun and cosmic symbols signify happiness, prosperity and good fortune
Triangles-a trinity; formerly air, fire, water or the heavens, earth and air. Now the Holy Trinity is meant.
Lines-unbroken to not break the thread of life
Sieve-dividing good from evil
Basket-contained knowledge, motherhood, the giver of life and gifts
Rakes-rays from the sun, reference to harvest
Spirals-divinity or immortality
Grape vine-continuity, good fellowship and strong, loyal love; as the wine of communion-the love of God and of Christ for mankind
Deer- leadership, masculinity and victory
Horse- an ancient sign for the sun, believed in ancient times to pull the sun across the sky; therefore, wealth, properity, speed and endurance
Ram- perseverence, dignity, leadership and strength
Rooster- coming good fortune, for men it predicts a rich married life with many children
Hen- fertility
Spider-patience, artistry and industry
Hen's feet-protection of the earth toward her young; guidance of the young in their search for knowledge
Horns-nobility, wisdom and triumph over problems; an implication of manhood and leadership
Wolves' teeth-loyalty, wisdom and a firm grip
Churches-appeared at the time of Christianity, used only in western Ukraine
Birds- precursors of spring
Fish- symbol for Christ and Christians
Netting- separating good from evil
Crosses-in many shapes, usually to represent Christ's suffering
Meander lines- eternal life
Ladders- prayer and rising to Heaven
Wheat- generous harvest
Pine needles- eternal life
Dots- stars and constellations
Flowers- wisdom, elegance and beauty
Leaves and flowers- life and growth

Colors
White-purity, virginity, innocence and birth
Green-renewal, spring, hope, health and victory of life over death, freedom from bondage
Yellow-light and purity, harvest, warmth, wisdom, youth
Orange-endurance, strength, ambition, the everlasting sun, the red of passion tempered by the yellow of wisdom
Red-a positive color for passion, action, fire, spiritual awakening, divine love, used especially for children and youth
Black- constancy, eternity, used with white as respect for departed souls, also fear or ignorance
Purple- fasting, faith, patience and trust
Brown- mother earth, bringing forth bountiful gifts
Blue- blue skies, life-giving air, is a talisman of good health
Pink- success, contentment
4 or more colors- family happiness, peace and love