paint your palette blue and grey...

after our trip to nyc, i was moved by this painting to do an art project.

so pb and i did some planning and i decided to let my 3rd grade art classes collaborate on their own version of van gogh's famous work. i made a copy of it for them to use during class.

then i made a grid on the back of the copy.

the grid broke the painting down into 63 squares, each being 1 x 1 inch. each student was assigned one square that was to be replicated on a 5 x 5" square. after his/her first square was completed, students could do 1-2 more to help complete the project. we discussed proportion, color, texture, and van gogh's expressionistic brushstrokes. i told them that i was amazed at the thickness of the paint when i saw the original piece. we read about his tragic life and death. i am sure they will never forget vincent.

i was amazed at the vigor that these little 3rd graders had for painting their own small pieces of our big puzzle. it was so interesting to watch them mix the colors and try to imitate the brushtrokes and movement on the canvas. how differently each one of them saw textures and shades of blue and yellow...how they tried to capture the bold beauty of this painting with such honesty and excitement.

we put all of the squares together today and it was installed at honeymoon bakery for display.

stop by and see our masterpiece.