“No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.” ~Proverb
This week, we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the Spring Equinox. Here in upstate NY we are still trying to thaw out from the snow & ice storms, so we thought we would get into the spirit by sharing some fun spring projects and inspiration.
When I think of spring, the first thing that comes to mind is flowers. And when I think of flowers and artists, I immediately think of Georgia O’Keeffe. As many of you may know, O’Keeffe was a prolific painter of nature and landscape scenes. What you might not know however, is that she has a strong connection to our area.
From 1918 until 1934, O’Keeffe spent part of each year living on an estate on Lake George, which is less than 30 minutes north of our office. During this 16 year period, she created more than 200 paintings on canvas and paper in addition to sketches and pastels. This actually made her years in Lake George some of the most productive in her 70 year career!
Following are a couple of websites featuring O’Keeffe lesson plans for children
- The art of Education website offers an O’Keeffe Flowers Lesson plan for grades 3-5, click here to view it
- If we are thinking of Georgia O’Keeffe, we can’t forget her Poppies, click here, and view a lesson plan that Painted Paper has.
Another great way to Think Spring! is by creating a Spring Bulletin board. The Classroom Creative blog has a great post called “15+ Spring Bulletin Board Ideas.” If you’ve created a spring bulletin board, we would love to see it. Post a picture on our Facebook page, or email it and we will post it for you.
With Spring, also comes COLOR! In January we shared the 2014 Pantone Color of the year, which was Radiant Orchid. Pantone also has a Spring 2014- Fashion Color Report. Will you be incorporating any of these colors into your art projects this spring?
For additional ideas on other spring related projects, don’t forget to check out our Pinterest Board. If you have a creative and fun way that you are welcoming spring, please share it with us on Facebook or email us and we will post it for you!