Symbolism in Aboriginal art and Dreamtime painting

Dreamtime paintings are sacred to Australian Aborigines. They tell a story and communicate to other aboriginal tribe members about the location of animals, watering holes, food and geographical details of their land. Only recently have contemporary art enthusiasts supported the marketing and proliferation of these dream paintings into the resale commercial realm.

These paintings reveal the sacred creation story believed by aborigine people of how the spirits formed all the mountains, rivers and valleys. "Found" in a trans-like state the paintings are done on the ground revealing a bird's eye view of the land and used as maps among other tribe members. Covered in dots, the surfaces resemble a celestial image of patterns and symbols arranged like constellations that reveal camp sites, fires, grass, kangaroos and endless detailed information in the night sky.

FMAA students studied many of the symbols and styles used by aboriginal artists to create a dreamtime painting of their own. First priming the canvas with a mid tone color to resemble the earth, students then drew their design with oil pastel and completed the painting in acrylic. The stories below tell of campsites and campfires with kangaroos and watering holes under the midnight stars. See if you can find them all!

Rhythm and Movement with Louise Nevelson

Louise Berliawsky Nevelson

was born in Russia in 1899. She spent the majority of her years as an artist in New York City (1920 - 1988) working in metal, wood, and cast paper creating "assemblages", or assemblies of discarded objects, redefining their purpose and meaning by giving them new lives as a work of art. This new genre of assemblage was formally recognized in the 1950's although Louise had been creating her found wood sculptures since the early 1930's!

"When you put together things that other people have thrown out, you’re really bringing them to life – a spiritual life that surpasses the life for which they were originally created."

Shallow relief, monochromatically toned, her sculptures are an organization of forms that create rhythm and movement through positive and shadowed space. Massive installations of organized forms, her work is monumental in size and feeling. Having studied with famous artists such as Hans Hofmann, George Grosz and Diego Rivera, her work is a mixture of styles that transcends categorical descriptions and is associated with as many art movements as Cubism, Dada, Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism and she is also known as the pioneering dame of Installation art. She received several honorary doctorates and awards from schools including Harvard, Columbia and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Below are some examples of Louise Nevelson's work that strongly reveal a dynamic sense of pattern, taking on a life of their own in elegant silence. After studying several images of her work, students at FMAA were each given vast amounts of wood scraps recycled from lumber yards and local studios throughout the city to create an inspired composition that captured rhythm and movement. At the end you will see the first stages of these fantastic assemblages being built:

To find out more about the art classes at Flying Machine Art Academy, please visit our website at www.flyingmachineartacademy.com

Monoprints

Monoprinting!  

A monoprint is a really great way to create a loose, painterly feel to an otherwise meticulously precise method of printing.  It's a form of printmaking that can include collage, hand-painted editions and series of images that relate by reusing the same printing plate without washing it inbetween prints, therefore retaining the shadow image of the previous print ( and less cleaning!).  

Monoprint's unique process creates only one of each print, thus its name.  Typically executed on clear plexiglass, the artist can lift the clear plate to see what her image looks like before printing .  Painting directly onto the plate, the process is immediate, visceral and unpredictable, often capturing the texture of the original brush strokes.  

FMAA students studied the wonderful artist Georgia O'Keefe, famous for her desert skull paintings and intricate, oversized depictions of flowers.  We brought in a vase of sunflowers to use as inspiration for color, texture, shape and composition.  After perusing many O'Keefe images, the students painted directly onto plexiglass plates with the option of using the sunflowers as inspriation.  It was great to see their faces after each print and witness the confidence and curiosity build with each successful attempt.   The first image you see below is a portrait of Georgia O'Keefe followed by a few images of her paintings.

www.flyingmachineartacademy.com 

Andy Warhol, Printmaking

Capturing the personality, brilliance and ingenuity of Andy Warhol is no small task.  Known originally as the talented illustrator for the I. Miller and Sons shoe company, Andy Warhol's bold, graphic style developed into his now iconic style seen below that has come to define Pop Art.  

Even beginning to understand the mastery in the art of Hokusai, carefully carving multiple woodblocks to register each color, layer upon layer and create this...

                                                 

masterpiece where each color applied requires a separate block of ink.  Again, no small task.

This week our artist's at FMAA explored the art of printmaking and the many skilled steps involved, including:  1. drawing, 2. transferring the drawing 3. carving 4. inking 5. burnishing 6. centering/registering the paper and finally...printing.  Phew! Line quality, composition and a great facility for fine motor skills are developed as seen in the pictures below.  

                                                        

                                                        

                                             

                                                        

 

To find out more about art classes at Flying Machine Art Academy, contact us at http:www.flyingmachineartacademy.com    or call 510-847-6248.  Flying Machine Art Academy, where imaginations soar!

Observing technique

Watching the array of talent at Flying Machine Art Academy this month has been sensational.  Starting at age 3 and moving all the way up to age 13, our students are producing some incredible works of art with careful skill, observation and top notch creativity.  

Portrait painting, and landscape painting have been the focus this summer with an emphasis on  drawing technique and observation; shape and placement of the eyes, ears, nose and so on in relation to each another with portraits.  Depth perspective and establishing a sense of space between objects were established in the landscape paintings. The emphasis was LESS on realism and perfection, MORE on capturing a genuine likeness and personality.

Students mix all their own colors here at Flying Machine Art Academy, tints and shades to create volume, depth and variation.  That's a lot of mixing!  Our students are working hard, and it shows! 

To contact us for a drop in/ trial class, please go to www.flyingmachineartacademy.com  for class times and registration information or call 510-847-6248 and ask for Molly or Corby Leith.

Enjoy!

All Ages! Flying Machine Art Academy

Flying Machine Art Academy             140 Balboa St, San Francisco          Art classes for all ages!

Flying Machine Art Academy specializes in working with all ages in drawing, painting and pottery.  The photos above were taken over the past month during our Tuesday/ Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning classes.

Our highlight earlier this week from our Tuesday class, ages 7-12;  student's pottery after the final kiln firing (top image). See for yourself the amazing range of skill being developed at Flying Machine Art Academy at 14o Balboa St., San Francisco.  

  Our Summer schedule starts June 13th!!

Check it out at: 

http://www.flyingmachineartacademy.com   

510-847-6248

Huichol Indain Yarn paintings created by Flying Machine Art Academy's Kindergarten class

The Huichol Indians of Northern Mexico (190-mexico-s-huichol-resource-page-their-culture-symbolism-art)created these amazingly colorful yarn and beaded paintings, seen directly above, and were the inspiration for last weeks project that led them to create different concentric lined compositions.  The Huichol people are descendents of the Aztecs and are related to their Uto-Aztecan speaking cousin, the Hopi of Arizona.  The people, numbered to be about 18,00, still inspire many artists today and are admired by many more for their beautiful, skilled work.

Incorporating this concept in their art, Flying Machine Art Academy's Saturday morning kindergarten class focused on shape, contour and concentric lines for their weekly project.  The first three images seen above were created by three and four year olds after learning about the Mexican artist's amazingly detailed use of line and color to depict animal forms, plant forms and people. This work was completed in just one hour!  This lesson was part of a unit on Mexican art.

Saturday morning Kindergarten classes are from 9-10am and introduces key concepts of art history and design techniques.  visit us at http://www.flyingmachineartacadmy.com  and come join in the fun of learning!