Thursday, July 14, 2011

Fooling Around with Math and Art

The other day I started "foolin' around" with primary colored squares painted as a grid for a project unrelated to school. If I had had pastels at home I'd have used them, but watercolors had to suffice. Didn't like it. Then I added some inner squares -- still didn't like it. But, they did remind me of Kandinsky a bit. By then I was morphing into the "school mode."

Next, I decided to partition sections off (with no two sections partitioned exactly alike) and added some doodled borders.

By then I was thinking about representations of multiplication facts.
I added some small design motifs in the center of each square to see what that would look like and the corresponding multiplication facts around the outside border.  I am not crazy about this as a finished project, but I am liking the concept and plan to refine it for possible use with 3rd graders next year.

I think it is sometimes useful to see how an idea begins and what thinking processes go into making it a viable art project. This is one of those "in process" moments!!

2 comments:

  1. What a great feeling when you can connect art with other disciplines.
    This is a wonderful idea.

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  2. You need to submit this one to School Arts Magazine or place to be published. Such a simple, obtainable project with lots of great potential. It has been a long time since I visited… I'm teaching middle school now. But I have to keep visiting for ideas for my mini's at home. This one is a keeper. Way to go!

    MiniMatisse.blogspot.com

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