Art from the Heart

From mid February until early March I was privileged to be part of an art project at a local school.  Students were divided into multiage groupings and assigned a decade.  Before Christmas they had examined and performed music from their decade.  In January they decided to invite local artists to come in and do an art project relative to their decade which would later be exhibited at Pynelogs Cultural Centre in the annual Art From the Heart Exhibit showcasing student art from Kindergarten to Intermediate School.

I chose the 1990s and a look at the art of Robert Bateman.  I felt it was the best example of the art of the rise of environmentalism and it was Canadian. 

It was great to share my love for Bateman's work and his passion for nature which I share.  I was also able to share some of my own artwork.  The students' reaction was great for my self esteem!

I had them choose pictures to represent either a creature or its habitat and use those pictures as reference when they created their own drawings.  They were to focus on drawing things the way they really look according to their reference pictures and not what they thought they should look like.  Since we were using pencil crayons, we also focussed on blending and shading to help create shape and light in their drawings.  Their work was incredible and I am very excited to see it on display April 12th - 24th at Pynelogs in Invermere.  I look forward to attending their Opening on Wednesday April 13th from 5:30 - 8:30 pm.