Happy Holidays!

Dear GROW Friends,

We are one day away from winter break. Who's excited about taking a break from school until January 5? I am! 🙋

Actually, I feel several emotions - have you ever felt that way? I'm excited about winter break, because I get to sleep later. I have more free time to read, go for walks, and do other fun things. But, I do miss seeing my friends at the Nasher. I am lucky because I really like my job, the people I work with, and the place where I work. 

In case you also miss the Nasher, here is a video about a few sculptures by an artist named Phyllida Barlow. 

After you watch the video, think about Phyllida Barlow's small sculptures made of everyday materials. What can you find in your house that would make a great sculpture material? Look for items like empty cereal or other boxes, grocery bags, empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls, and aluminum foil. Also, the recycle bin is a great place to look for sculpture materials! Make sure you check with a parent or grown-up before you start making your sculpture.

Have a wonderful holiday break, stay warm, and I can't wait to see you in 2021.

Hugs,

Ms. Melissa

Fall Leaves

Dear GROW Friends,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the week playing in the front yard (we have a huge leaf pile!), walking our dog Jojo, and going on a few adventures.

leaf pile!

Jojo

We saw lots of cool animals and fed a giraffe at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love watching the leaves turn different colors as they fall from the trees. 

What leaf colors have you noticed lately? I've seen reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and greens. My favorites are red leaves of any shade - red that is bright like the sunset, red that is so dark it is almost maroon, and everything in between. 

I also love the beautiful yellow leaves on the ground in the picture with my dog, Jojo. The leaves are from a gingko tree in my neighbor's front yard. I collected a few of them to bring home and keep on my desk. Looking at their pretty yellow shapes throughout the day makes me happy!

Where can you find leaves? In your front or backyard, in a park or playground, maybe near your school? 

Check out this fun nature drawing activity below. You'll need the following materials:

• parchment or other plain paper
• crayons - old crayons without their wrapper work best
• tape
• Sharpie or other marker (optional)
• a hard surface - table, folder, etc.

At the end of the activity, you can return the leaves to nature. If you'd like to keep your leaves as a souvenir, make your own Nature Keeper using the video below. You can include your nature drawing too!

Hugs, 

Ms. Melissa

A Letter To GROW Students

Dear GROW friends,

Hello! How are you? How does it feel to be a 3rd or 4th or 5th grader?

I sure have missed seeing you at the Nasher. I have a feeling some of you look a little different. Maybe your hair is longer? Or is it shorter? I bet a bunch of you are taller, too! My hair has grown a lot longer since our last tour. I'm not any taller, though. 😊

Are you going to school in person or attending virtually from home? I have worked from home since March, but I have had a few chances to visit the Nasher and see my co-worker friends as well as my sculpture friends. 😄  My two children have gone to school both in person and virtually. Right now, they're at home in virtual school.

If you'd like to share anything with me, please write in the comments below!

Since we're not able to meet at the Nasher, I've made a few videos for you to watch. The first one is a short introduction on what we might see and do during our videos.

The second video takes a long look at one of our newest sculptures. I think it might also be one of my favorites. 💗 You can watch the whole video all at once, or you can watch a little bit one day, a little bit another day - however you like.

Please check back here every once in a while. I'll share more letters, pictures, and videos. If you don't comment here, you can always share a message or photo with Ms. Lawson, and she'll pass it on to me.

I miss you, GROW friends! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week.

Hugs,

Ms.Melissa

End of Year Message, 2019-20

One last message before we go off for summer. 💗

Talking Heads Tour, Part Three

We visited this work of art for our final stop of the Talking Heads tour. 

Roy Lichtenstein, Head with Blue Shadow, 1965

Look at the expression on her face. How do you think she might be feeling? What makes you think so? 

The artist Roy Lichtenstein is known for his paintings that are inspired by comic books. Comic books were printed with tiny colored dots called Benday dots. 

Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Oh, Jeff...I Love You, Too...But…, 1964.  © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Collection Simonyi.

Detail of Prince Valiant comic from 1938

In the Nasher's sculpture, Lichtenstein takes his painting style and makes it three-dimensional. Head with Blue Shadows, like many of his paintings, is almost entirely primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.

 

We used our imagination to think about the woman in this portrait. What kind of person is she? Where does she live? What are her favorite hobbies? Then we drew one of the following: her home, vehicle, pet, or outfit/shoes and added primary colors and stickers. 

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Talking Heads Tour, Part Two

We visited this sculpture at our next stop of the Talking Heads tour. How is it different from the first two we saw? How is it similar? 

Naum Gabo, Constructed Head No. 2, 1916 (enlargement 1975)

First, we copied the sculpture's pose.

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The third graders also sketched the sculpture.

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The artist Naum Gabo used flat pieces of stainless steel to make this sculpture. Gabo was interested in exploring new materials, especially materials that had recently been invented. At the time that he made this, stainless steel was not considered an art material.  Which sculpture from our last stop was also made of stainless steel?

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Gabo often made many versions of the same subject.  There are three smaller versions of Constructed Head No. 2 made of cardboard, galvanized iron, and plastic (one is in the Dallas Museum of Art's collection).  He also enlarged his idea – in other words, he took the small version and made a larger one. In fact, he made four large versions. The Nasher's sculpture is the only one made of stainless steel.  

The third graders imagined posing for a sculpture again, this time showcasing more of their spirited personalities!

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Before moving on to our next stop, the fifth graders passed around a raised drawing of a different sculpture. They took turns running their fingertips over the drawing without looking at the picture. Then, they looked across the gallery and pointed to the sculpture they would visit next, based on what they felt in the drawing.

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Talking Heads Tour, Part One

So...I accidentally skipped writing about the 3rd and 5th graders' second tour, Talking Heads. Oops! 😆 Let's travel back in time to last fall.

Vocabulary: 

portrait / retrato 

found object / objeto encontrado 

assemblage / el montaje 

​pose / la pose 

primary colors / colores primarios

We put on our (imaginary) debate caps at our first stop. After dividing into partners, one partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures below are similar.  The other partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures are different. Then, we used our observations to debate whether the two artworks had more in common or more differences. What do you think?

 

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Who do you think the people represented in these sculptures could be? What are some clues that tell us who they are?

On the left is a portrait of a person named Hiawatha, who lived almost 500 years ago (works of art based on real people are called portraits). Hiawatha is known for helping to unite five different groups of indigenous peoples to create the Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha and a woman named Jigonhsasee helped spread the message of a man known as the Great Peacemaker. Together, they encouraged the different fighting groups to make peace and work together. 

To make this sculpture, the artist Jess combined different things that he found or collected, also called found objects. A found object is a natural or man-made object, or fragment of an object, that is found or sometimes bought by an artist. You might think of this sculpture as a 3-dimensional collage. Another word you might use is assemblage. 

Left: Jess, Hiawatha,1962
Right: Jeff Koons, Louis XIV, 1986

On the right is a portrait of King Louis XIV of France. Louis lived 300 years ago and was king for 72 years, the longest of any king in Europe! He believed he was the best and only choice for king of France. 

Louis had many paintings and sculptures made of him. He wanted his portraits to look strong, young, brave. Some clues that this sculpture is of Louis XIV are his fine clothing and signature hairstyle. The artist Jeff Koons cast this sculpture from stainless steel. 

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Before we moved to our next stop, we imagined how we might pose if an artist made a portrait of us, showing that we were strong leaders. How would you pose?

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Faces Tour, Part Three

Enjoy this video about the last stop in our Faces Tour!

Hugs from the Nasher!

Hi GROW friends! I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and safe at home. I can't believe three whole months have passed since I last saw your smiling faces. Actually, I can believe it, because I really miss seeing you all! 

I still have lots of pictures to share from our GROW tours and will start sharing them this week. Check back often for pictures, videos, and other fun stuff.

And please add comments or questions on any of the blog posts. I'd love to hear from you!

Sending you virtual hugs ~

Ms. Melissa

P.S. I thought you might like to see the newest addition to our family. Please say hi to our new dog Jojo!

Faces Tour, Part Two

Students chose one of the following sculptures to sketch at our next stop. What do you see or recognize in these sculptures? 

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For these artworks, Barry X Ball looked at sculptures by the artist Medardo Rosso. Rosso made Sick Child, the sculpture in the image below on the left, between 1893-1895. To create his own version, Ball first scanned Rosso's Sick Child. He used these scans to create a 3D digital model of Sick Child on his computer. Then he made changes to the 3D digital model. How are Barry X Ball's sculpture (below on the right) and Medardo Rosso's sculpture different?  

Left: Medardo Rosso, Enfant malade (Sick Child), 1893-95, Galleria D'Arte Moderna, Milano
Right: Barry X Ball, Sick Child, 2013-19

Ball usually creates a mirror image so that it is the opposite of the original sculpture.  He also makes changes so the subject might look more detailed or more abstract. Then he uses a machine that carves a solid block of stone to look like the digital model. Afterward, he and his assistants carve and polish the stone by hand to complete the sculpture. 

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Medardo Rosso made many of his sculptures out of wax. Wax is used during one of the steps in creating a bronze sculpture, but Rosso decided to treat his wax versions as the final artworks. He liked how wax looks translucent, as though light can pass through it (think of a candle, especially when it's lit). Ball also uses stone that plays with light and can also appear translucent. Below is a wax sculpture by Rosso on the left, next to Ball's version on the right.

Left: Medardo Rosso, La Portinaia, 1883–84, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milano
Right: Barry X Ball, Doorwoman, 2013-19

Ball carefully chooses the stone for his sculptures. Many stone sculptures are carved from white marble. Ball likes using stone with different colors and patterns. How might his sculptures look different if he had chosen a more traditional white marble?