“Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.” – Stevie Wonder

For the last few classes, students have been working on drawing flowers. The focus of this project is on drawing from observation, abstraction of composition, and color, light, and contrast. But they have held their mothers in their hearts as they worked.

I introduced the project with a demo on oil pastels and looking closely, my drawing as I did so projected on the screen through a document camera. Students then had time that first class to practice using the medium. When they were ready they bravely took a 12″ x 18″ sheet of black construction paper with the intent to cover the page in flowers – not in a row, not all going in the same direction, but as if they had been strewn across the page. Students were encouraged to allow the flowers to break the boundaries of the page by drawing partial flowers on the edge. Throughout three classes they looked closely, sketched what they saw, revised and persisted. I think they came out beautifully, especially as the sky darkens with clouds again today. The flowers are hanging in the lobby for all to enjoy.

These fantastic flower drawings have been uploaded to Artsonia and the students have written Artist Statements about their work there. They can be found at this link: https://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?project=1773743

Enjoy! And Happy Mother’s Day!