Modern Art Marvels
About the Teacher
Ana Esteve Llorens was born in Valencia, Spain. She earned a MFA in Sculpture in 2011 from VCU, and a BFA in 2007 and a MA in 2008, both from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain. She has received numerous awards and fellowships including a Fulbright Fellowship, an Arte y Derecho Foundation Award, a Grand Tour 2011 Fellowship among others. She has been and artist in residency at Yaddo in NY and Casa de Velázquez in Spain. Her work has been shown widely nationally and internationally and is held in private and public collections both in Europe and the Americas.
A note from the teacher & some of the things the campers learned while in camp
Dear Parents,
First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Ana and I have been the teacher of your children during the Modern Art Marvels Camp this week. I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to get to know them and share time and ideas with them. I have to say that your children made the most out of this art camp, and turned their and my experience as an artist into one of the most enriching I have ever undergone. All of my beloved students, Sidney, Clara, Martine, Gabi, Millicent, Cayden, Isabella and Molly contributed to the success of the group with their valuable and unique ideas.
They will be great artists if they choose to. Their expressiveness, creativity, freedom and talent are tools they all have, tools that will help them reach whatever they imagine, in the field of art or in any other field they choose. These are amazing fellow travelers that will help them succeed in whatever they undertake. And these are tools I have tried to strengthen through each of the activities we have done this week.
Now, I would like to tell you about these activities:
In Modern Art Marvels camp, the 20th century has been the main character. While presenting the work of famous avant-garde artists, your children have learned about techniques and movements to create original works or art. As I mentioned above, self-expression was encouraged during the decision making process and production of each piece.
Monday June 18th:
Draw what you see: A still life comprised of a red ball, artificial flowers and a plastic dinosaur was set for the students to draw. By rotating the model and drawing on the same paper 3 times, with a different color every time, the children generated an abstraction of the model. They were asked to pay attention to proportions and to the relative location of the objects.
Cubism was explained while presenting the work of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.
Afterwards, they retraced some intersecting lines within their drawings, finding new shapes. The resulting drawing was glued to a colored cardboard that functioned as the frame and that the children decorated after their own taste. They were ask to title their work using their imagination and own experience.
Some of the titles include: “The Jumping Dinos”
“The Fiesta”
“Dinos is Hawaii”
“Still Live in Prehistory”
“4 Little Dinos”
“Moonforest”
“The Three Oranges”
Tuesday June 19th:
We started the papier-mâché project. Using two water bottles, newspaper, flour and water, we modeled the paper on the bottles to create original vases.
We played Exquisite Corpse as an introduction to Surrealism. Exquisite Corpse is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, by following a rule. The result is an unexpected and surprising composition.
Draw what you dream: Starting with a group conversation on dreams and imagination, students were encouraged to draw and paint what they dreamt or imagined.
They were given complete freedom to draw and express themselves, so as to color their drawings. They were also asked to title and sign their works of art.
Some of the dreams include: a chocolate world, the largest catfish, fairies in Hawaii, wind breeze, and singing!
Wednesday June 20th:
We continued with the papier-mâché project. The children decorated their pieces with new applications following their own ideas and creating unique designs.
During the break, the children enjoyed an incredible splash-day.
Paint what you hear: We created our own rhythms by knocking on the tables, and then compared these rhythms to the use of color and repetition. Gradients and geometries were explained while presenting the work of artist Sonia Delaunay. The children chose a color for the background of the canvas that they would use for their own compositions.
Thursday June 21st:
We chose a color for the background of the vases made with papier-mâché. Cold and warm colors were explained. After painting the background, they chose a different color for the decorative motifs they had applied: a warm color if the background is cold, or vice versa.
Paint what you hear: we continued by drawing geometric compositions on the canvases, combining lines, circles and semicircles of different sizes. We started with lines that didn’t touch, and then added circles in between these lines. The circles, made using different objects as patterns, started to intersect as they grew in size. These intersections were the starting point for the application of color. Children painted each single section using a different color after their own criteria.
Friday June 22nd:
Multiply what you like: several cartoon celebrities were shown to the children. After choosing their favorite one, they cut and glued them in a white cardboard. The resulting composition was a repetitive array of 9 elements (3 arrows and 3 columns) . The work of American Pop artist Andy Warhol was presented while talking about the objects and colors used in his work.
To finish the camp, we revisited the works done, reading titles and remembering the ideas learnt on color and composition, but above all the value and uniqueness of everyone’s own voice.
Again, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to work and meet your sweet and amazing children. I really look forward to work with them soon again and to their future achievements and successes.
All the best,
Ana Esteve Llorens
