August 7, 2023
Resources for Min/Max Project
NEW: a rotating group of artists and art educators will be bringing you high quality art projects and lessons at Outside the Box Creation! September's project is the second in a row by art educator Claire Hart: minimalism vs. maximalism.
DOWNLOAD YOUR PROJECT PLANSetting the Stage
We are stepping into the world of design with this project and are excited to introduce two of the world's biggest design categories, minimalism and maximalism!
Minimalism is a design style that features one or two main elements and a lot of white space. The minimalistic table above is by American artist Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988). The table legs are crafted from bold, funky shapes that only make contact with two of the three sides of the glass table top. Your eyes are pulled straight to the shape of the legs with no distractions.
Image Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isamu_Noguchi,_Coffee_table,_1959_(5646039032).jpg
Maximalism, on the other hand, couldn't be more different! Maximalism's philosophy is more is more, meaning the more chaos you can add to your artwork, the better! Maximalism typically features lots of colors, patterns, textures, and shapes all at one time.
Take a look at the chair above. The viewer's eyes are not directed to look at any one part of the chair, but to constantly move all around and notice new things about the piece. The patterns don't necessarily go together, yet when put together like a quilt they create a crazy and cohesive image.
Does one of these styles call to you more than the other? Let's find out which one you like best (or both) by making our own mixed media pieces with Artist Claire. Have fun!
Image Credit:
https://www.modholic.com/
Eiffel Rocker Chair, Multi
Supplies Needed for Insider's Club Members (or if you're a box subscriber & want to purchase additional supplies)
Strongly recommended: Pura's Cuentos: How Pura Belpre Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories by Annette Bay Pimental. You can purchase it or find it at your local library, or watch our Artist in Residence's read aloud below!
Patterned Origami Paper like this
TOSS Recycled Paper Paint Plate like these OR paint palette paper pad like this
White mixed-media paper like this pad
Elmer's Glue like so
Construction paper in several colors like this pack
12-color Acrylic paint set like this one
Paintbrush like these
*The above Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of them we may earn a very small commission but it does not increase your price at all, so we hope you will!
Main Project Tutorial
There are TWO parts to our Main Project this month: one for Maximalism and one for Minimalism!
Taking It Further
Read Together
Pura's Cuentos contains several Spanish words, so we have defined them here for you!
Cuentos - stories
Abuela - grandmother
Gracias - thank you
Adios - goodbye
Coqui - a frog native to Puerto Rico
Gallo - rooster
Pato - duck
About the Artist
Claire Hart
Claire received her BA in Ceramic Arts from Gonzaga University in 2015, where she participated in several invitational shows and earned the Senior Arts Award. After college, she completed a two year internship with the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts, collaborating with celebrated ceramicists and developing her own experimental style. She taught ceramics in Montana and Oregon for several years before relocating to Arizona to join Reitz Ranch Center for Ceramic Arts in 2021. Claire currently shows at Zen Mountain Gallery, Sedona Artist Market, and is soon opening a gallery and showing at Box Car Clay in Cottonwood, AZ.
Scroll through the photos at right to see Artist Claire's ceramic creations! Claire emphasizes the textures she sees out in nature, do you recognize any textures in her pottery?
Instagram
@hart_ceramics
Printable Activities & Answer Keys
Our newly designed project instructions feature activities just for fun!
The September games are a vocabulary word unscramble and a True or False quiz.
Below is a printable version of each activity for sharing and the answer key.
About the Insider’s Club
The Outside the Box Insider’s Club is a monthly digital membership that includes videos, downloadable curriculum/project plans, and tips to make it easy for parents to do art regularly with their kids! If you know someone who would enjoy this, please share the Outside the Box Insider's Club. If you have been a box subscriber for a year or more and have accumulated a large stash of art supplies, you may want to switch to the Insider's Club digital membership.
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