The Grange Park

This week I visited the beautiful new Grange Park behind the A.G.O. and O.C.A.D. Here's the site: http://grangeparktoronto.ca/

The park is beautifully laid out- our first impression was of an architect's drawing of a park. The trees and gardens are well-maintained and well-distributed throughout. Henry Moore's Two Forms sculpture has a new home; the Grange heritage building is accessible all the way up to the front door; there's a new entrance to the Learning Centre of the A.G.O.; and the kids playgrounds are awesome! 

Here's a shot of one of the beautiful old Chestnut trees (with the A.G.O. in the background): 

We also stopped by the gallery for a quick visit- here's one of the Rodin casts, in a beautiful spot with natural light:

- Patrick

Symbolic Self-Portrait Activity & Colour Walk/ Scavenger Hunt

Here are a few studio activity ideas that I've heard of recently that I think are good enough to write down:

    Symbolic Self-Portrait:
Step 1: on a large paper (16 X 20 or more) trace the outline of your profile using a projector.

Step 2: write a list of personal interests and experiences (optional: consider the questions:
What is one of your favourite quotes? philosophy? prayer? Who are the most important people in your life? What represents home for you? Where do you want to go? What represents the future for you?)

Step 3: Draw/ write/ paint/ and collage items and scenes from your list inside the outline of your profile.


    Colour Walk/ Scavenger Hunt:
Simple but potentially beautiful and a good way to work on the element of design: colour.

Step 1: Walk from the class to the park and back in 30 minutes and collect a different item for each colour.

Step 2: All students glue their items on the same neutral toned bristol board in the same order. Hang the final piece in the studio for future reference.