This half term, Year 5 have been exploring the work of Georgia O’Keeffe, an American artist famous for her striking, close-up paintings of flowers. We began by learning about O’Keeffe’s life and artistic style, looking closely at a range of her flower paintings and discussing how she used shape, line, colour, tone and scale to make natural forms the main focus of her artwork.
The children became art critics as they examined different pieces, sharing their observations about O’Keeffe’s use of bold colours, subtle changes in tone and the way she enlarged small details from nature. We then experimented with a range of media and colour-mixing techniques, exploring how tints, shades and carefully blended colours could create depth and detail.
Linking our artwork to Remembrance, the children used O’Keeffe’s distinctive style as inspiration to create their own beautiful close-up floral pieces based on poppies. They thought carefully about composition, enlarged shapes and the different shades of red, black and green needed to make their artwork effective and expressive.
Throughout the unit, the children developed important skills from the National Curriculum for Art and Design in Key Stage 2, including improving their mastery of art and design techniques, particularly drawing, painting and working with colour, recording observations and ideas, and learning about a significant artist whose work has influenced the world of art.
We are incredibly proud of the finished pieces. They are not only a wonderful celebration of the children’s developing artistic skills, but also provide a thoughtful and meaningful connection to Remembrance.
