Step 1 - Introducing the Frida Kahlo Slideshow Guide

Step 1 - Introducing the Frida Kahlo Slideshow Guide MOTIVATION BEGIN READING HERE Today, I would like you to describe your/our house to me. Tell me something about how it looks. Is it big? Does it have a lot of windows? I m especially interested to know what color it is. Is it white or yellow or brown? What a wonderful and pretty house you/we live in! Let me show you the house in which our master artist Frida Kahlo lived for most of her life. Click Start Lesson To Begin 1. PHOTO OF CASA AZUL (KAH-suh ah-zool) Isn t this a colorful house! What colors is it? (BLUE, GREEN) It is called the Casa Azul. Do you know what that means in Spanish? (BLUE HOUSE) Very good. Three years before she was born, Frida Kahlo s father built this beautiful blue house in a small village outside of Mexico City. Frida was born here. Today, the house is a museum, which shows Frida s paintings and a collection of her favorite things. Click Next To Change Slide 2. PHOTO OF ARTIST - AGE 3 Frida s father was a photographer. Do you think he took this photo of Frida when she was only three years old? (YES) Frida was one of four daughters. She was a very good student in school. She started taking art classes when she was in high school. As we saw in the first slide, Frida s house was bright and colorful. So were her paintings and the way she dressed. She loved to dress up. You will get to see how she dressed, because most of her paintings were SELF-PORTRAITS. What is a SELF-PORTRAIT? (AN ARTIST PAINTS HIMSELF OR HERSELF) Very good. Click Next To Change Slide 3. SELF-PORTRAIT BETWEEN TWO CURTAINS Frida especially loved Mexican dress and jewelry. Each day, she braided her long black hair with ribbons and flowers or jewelry. She would try on a number of different blouses 1 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

and skirts with petticoats. She applied makeup carefully. One of her favorite costumes was a fancy blouse and a long colorful skirt with a white ruffle. She sometimes wore a shawl around her shoulders, called a rebozo (ray-bo-zo) in Spanish. For Frida, dressing herself was like painting. She chose colors, textures and shapes in her clothes, just like she did in art. In this self-portrait, Frida is beautifully dressed, standing between two white curtains. What is she holding? (A SMALL BOUQUET OF FLOWERS AND A LETTER) She gave this painting as a birthday present, so the letter she is holding was like a card addressed to her good friend. Frida always wore long skirts, so she could hide her weak legs. When she was eighteen years old, Frida was very seriously hurt in a bus accident. She almost died from her injuries. Many bones in her body were broken including both legs. After several months of not being able to get out of bed, she began to paint. When she was well enough, Frida began to show her paintings to other artists. One of the artists, to whom she showed her work, was Diego Rivera (dee-ay-go ree- VAIR-ah). He was a famous Mexican artist, best known for painting murals, which are large paintings on walls of buildings. He liked her work and fell in love with Frida. They married when she was just twenty-two years old. Frida s father was not happy about the marriage. He said it was like an elephant marrying a dove. Why would he say that? Well, here is the wedding portrait that Frida painted of herself and Diego Rivera. Click Next To Change Slide 4. FRIDA AND DIEGO Who is the elephant? (DIEGO) Why? (HE IS BIG/FAT) Who is the dove? (FRIDA) Why? (SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE IS FLOATING LIKE THE DOVE ABOVE HER HEAD, HER EYEBROWS LIKE WINGS OF A DOVE) Diego Rivera was over six feet tall and weighed over 300 pounds. But tiny Frida adored him. After her marriage to Diego, everything she did showed her love and pride of being Mexican. She decorated their home with Mexican art and wore Mexican clothing like embroidered dresses and shawls with jewelry. Frida was very proud of her Mexican heritage. In this double-portrait, we see her dressed in Mexican clothes -- a red rebozo (shawl) over a floor-length green dress and sandals. She wears a necklace of Mexican jade beads, and her braided hair is woven with ribbons and pinned up in native Mexican style. Do you think her hair is pretty? What is Diego Rivera wearing? (DARK BLUE SUIT, LIGHT BLUE SHIRT, AND LARGE BELT WITH BROWN SHOES) Rivera is wearing Americanstyle clothes. He holds his palette and brushes in his right hand, while his left hand holds Frida s hand. She portrays Diego as the artist and not herself. Why? (SHE THOUGHT HE WAS THE BETTER ARTIST) Her husband was always encouraging her to paint, because she didn t think she was good enough. 2 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

Frida paints with large, simple shapes and bright, contrasting colors. Besides the portraits, what else did Frida put in her paintings? (WRITING WORDS) This painting was done as a gift for another good friend. - Click Next To Change Slide 5. PHOTO OF FRIDA KAHLO After she married Diego, Frida traveled a great deal in the United States. Diego Rivera was a famous mural painter (painting on walls), who was in great demand. She traveled with him, but Frida missed Mexico. While walking in the streets of San Francisco and New York, Frida would proudly wear her native Mexican dress. Many heads would turn to stare at this attractive woman wearing such colorful clothing. Her marriage to Diego Rivera was not always happy, and they divorced but were later remarried. She began painting more and more. Her works began to show that she was hurting -- both inside and outside. She painted many self-portraits. She was asked why she painted herself so often. Listen to how she responded. CLICK AUDIO NOW Porque estoy muy sola, which means because I am all alone. END OF AUDIO CONTINUE READING One of the saddest things in her life was not having children of her own. But she loved her many pets and often painted herself with them. Do you have a pet? (YES/NO) Do you have a pet monkey, deer, or parrot? (NO) Would you like to have a pet like that? (YES) Frida did! In the courtyard of Casa Azul, she kept her pet spider monkeys, her deer, her parrots and pet dogs. Which of these pets do you think we will see in the next selfportrait? (RESPONSE) - Click Next To Change Slide 6. SELF-PORTRAIT WITH MONKEY AND PARROT What pets do you see? (MONKEY AND PARROT) This parrot was her favorite one, and his name was Bonito (bo-nee-toe). Do you know what that means in Spanish? (PRETTY) Notice how Frida painted the monkey s fur and the bird s feathers. Did she use lots of BRUSHSTROKES? (YES) Can you give me some words to describe how they would feel? (SOFT, FURRY) You have just used words that describe TEXTURE, which is how something feels or looks. In this painting we can only feel the TEXTURE of the fur and feathers with our eyes. She used lots of little BRUSHSTROKES to make it look realistic. Do you notice anything unusual about Frida s face? (ANSWERS WILL VARY) She had a light fuzzy mustache on her upper lip and heavy dark eyebrows that grew together across her forehead. She was very proud of the way she looked and made her eyebrows stand out. Do her eyebrows remind you of another kind of pet? (BIRD) 3 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

Why do you think she painted herself with her pets? (ANSWERS WILL VARY) In fact, Frida often painted herself with her pets, because they were like her children, especially the monkeys. A dinner guest of Frida s told a story about one of the monkeys. It would leap through an open window from the patio onto the dining room table, pick out a piece of fruit from the bowl, and run back into the garden to hide and eat the stolen treat. Another guest, who came for lunch, once said that one of the spider monkeys sat on her head while she talked to Frida and her husband Diego Rivera. They thought the monkey was very funny. Would you like to try to talk with a monkey on your head?! What did she paint in the BACKGROUND of this portrait? (LEAVES) Frida Kahlo loved painting leaves, as you will see in the next portrait of Mariana Morillo (ma-ree-a-na mo- REE-yo). - Click Next To Change Slide 7. MARIANA MORILLO Where do you see leaves? (BACKGROUND AND DRESS, FLOWERS AND LEAVES ON HAIR BOW) Look at all the lines she painted to make the TEXTURE of the leaves. Remember that photograph of Frida when she was only three? She was also wearing the same kind of big hair bow. Despite her lifelong struggle with poor health, Frida continued to paint, and she taught art classes to children in Mexico City. She taught her students to be proud of their HERITAGE -- of being from Mexico. What is your heritage? From where are your parents or grandparents? (RESPONSE) Frida and her students studied together, sang Mexican songs together, and laughed together. Her students learned about art, and they went to the museums to learn and draw. Do you remember the name of her favorite parrot? (BONITO) Let s take another look at him. - Click Next To Change Slide 8. STILL LIFE WITH PARROT We call this kind of painting a STILL LIFE, because everything is sitting still on a table. Do you think Frida was able to get her pet bird to sit still for very long? (NO) Frida spent the last few years of her life having to lie in bed. Her body had become very weak. She had more than thirty operations to fix all those broken bones from her bus accident. She didn t want to paint self-portraits anymore, because she looked so sick. So she began painting the colorful fruit of Mexico instead. A helper would arrange the fruit on a table, and Frida would paint the STILL LIFE while lying flat in her bed. Do you think it would be hard to paint that way? (YES) 4 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

Notice how the fruit OVERLAPS. Can you show me OVERLAPPING with your hands? (ONE HAND IN FRONT OF OTHER) What fruit is overlapping Bonito? (WATERMELON) Do you think the painting would have been as interesting if the fruits were not overlapping? (NO) - Click Next To Change Slide 9. STILL LIFE: VIVA LA VIDA (VEE-vah lah VEE-duh) Frida Kahlo finished her last still life painting of fruit and painted the words Viva la Vida, which means Hurray for Life, right on the watermelon. She died at the young age of fortyseven years old but left great paintings, which show her love for her Mexican heritage. Do you remember what colors her house was painted? (BLUE, GREEN) What was the house called? (CASA AZUL) Now that you know all about Frida, does it surprise you she lived in such a colorful house? (NO) Click Next To Finish Lesson to exit this unit click Back To Units 5 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

Step 2 - Learning From: Frida Kahlo Drawing Lines and Shapes The first step to good drawing is learning to look closely with your eyes. Looking carefully, study each line and copy it with a pencil or fine marker in the empty square below it. Using a pencil or marker, draw the simple lines to form one of Kahlo s favorite pets, her parrot, Bonito. Bonito means pretty in Spanish. Look carefully at each line, and let it fill the space. 6 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

Drawing Leaves and Branches Frida Kahlo loved the interesting shapes of plants and sometimes used them to fill her pictures. Practice some simple leaf shapes and branches with your pencil or marker. Let them fill the squares. Texture Fluffy feathers and smooth leaves have texture. Using crayons, see if you can make the textures below. Soft feathers on the birds, and smooth textures on the leaves. 7 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

The last few pages of this section contain the Art Activity for Frida Kahlo. This step-by-step outline will be a guide for instructing your child(ren) through the activity. The parent/instructor should review all steps necessary to complete this project before beginning any work. Cut out the Artist Profile Slip below and attach it to the back of the completed art project. Frida Kahlo (KAH-loe) - Mexican 1907-1954 Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, showed us her life through beautiful self-portraits and interesting compositions. She was very devoted to her heritage, and often included a few words within her work to help tell her thoughts in the spirit of Mexican retablos. The cultural dress, architecture, animals, plants and fruit of Mexico fill her paintings. ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Creative Still Life with Line and Color MEDIA: Paper and Oil Pastel Frida Kahlo (KAH-loe) - Mexican 1907-1954 Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, showed us her life through beautiful self-portraits and interesting compositions. She was very devoted to her heritage, and often included a few words within her work to help tell her thoughts in the spirit of Mexican retablos. The cultural dress, architecture, animals, plants and fruit of Mexico fill her paintings. ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Creative Still Life with Line and Color MEDIA: Paper and Oil Pastel 8 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

Step 3 - Working With: Art Activity Instructions ARTIST Frida Kahlo (free-duh KAH-loe) (1907-1954) Mexican ART ELEMENTS Line, texture and color MEDIA Paper and oil pastels VOCABULARY Mexican heritage, still life, line, color, texture VISUALS Print: Still Life with Parrot SUGGESTED MUSIC Music of Mexico EMPHASIS Creative still life with line and color MATERIALS FOR INSTRUCTOR AND CHILDREN One 9 x 12 construction paper (red, green or blue) Artist profile strip Box of oil pastels Pencil Glue Bird Line Drawing from Learning Packet PREPARATION Place the Kahlo print where is can be easily seen. Place your 9 x 12 paper (red, green or blue) vertically on your workspace. Position the bird line drawing next to your colored paper with the oil pastels close by for demonstration. SET-UP [ 5 minutes ] Distribute the following materials to each child: SUPPLIES: Oil pastels PAPER: Red, green or blue construction paper (use different colors if you have more than one child) and artist profile slip ORIENTATION [ 5 minutes ] Kahlo was very proud of her heritage and loved the culture of what country? (MEXICO) What did she choose to paint? (SELF-PORTRAITS, FRUIT, BIRDS, MONKEYS, PLANTS, ETC.) Today we will use Kahlo s love of birds and plants to create our pictures. We will use her intense colors and interesting textures. 9 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

DEMONSTRATION AND ACTIVITY Have the students repeat each step immediately with their materials. ORGANIZE YOUR WORK AREA [ 3 minutes ] 1. Place your colored 9 x 12 paper vertically on your workspace. [Demonstrate] 2. Set your bird line drawing next to your paper. 3. Put your pencil, oil pastels, and artist profile slip to the top of your workspace. CREATING YOUR BIRD STILL LIFE [ 15 minutes ] (The instructor will need to demonstrate with a dark pastel so students can see. Emphasize that the line drawing is merely a starting point or idea for their picture. ) 1. Begin with the eye. Place a dot one hand s width from top and right side of paper. Draw a circle around the dot to make the outside rim of the eye. Have the students point to the place on the paper where they plan to start, so they can make adjustments before drawing. Explain that they will need enough room for the whole body and a long tail. (It is fine if the tail needs to go off the page later.) 2. Really study the lines of the beak. Trace the lines with your finger. Make a dot at a thumb s distance out and down from the eye. Draw the four simple lines of the beak. 3. Draw the curved line of the head from the outside of the beak, over the eye, and down to where the wing will start. Form the throat line with an inward curved line from the bottom of the beak to the chest. 4. Continue this chest line outward and into where the feet will be to create the body of your bird. 5. The wing will be a simple upside down teardrop shape and can lay down relaxed or be up in a fluttering position. The wing can be in front of the body or out to the side. 6. Give your bird an interesting tail, using long narrow U-shaped curves. Make your tail fit the size and style of the bird you have drawn. It may be necessary to let it go off the page. 7. Complete your composition by adding a curved line that extends from the left edge of your paper to the right under the bird to form a branch. Add three to five large leaf shapes to make an interesting composition. Add two curved lines for feet on the branch. 10 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ADDING COLOR AND TEXTURE WITH OIL PASTELS [ 15 minutes ] 1. Review and demonstrate the textures of feathers and leaves from the Learning Packet. 2. Let the students begin by outlining their shapes in various colors. 3. Have the students build layers of color and texture with their pastels. A variety of color, along with layers of pastel, helps to add depth. MOUNTING THE ARTIST PROFILE SLIP [ 2 minutes ] (Profile slips for each artist are provided. They give a brief description of the artist, the technique, and the media used in the art activity. They should be mounted on the back of each art project after it is completed.) 1. Write your name on the front of the artist profile slip. 2. Using glue, mount the profile slip on the back of your artwork. 3. Encourage students to discuss their artwork with others using this artist slip of information. CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS Review vocabulary words while complimenting the children on their artwork. Review master artist s name and country. End with, Adios muchachos y muchachas, hasta la vista! (Goodbye boys and girls, until we meet again!) THIS CONCLUDES THE FRIDA KAHLO UNIT. 11 FRIDA KAHLO Ages 5 7 MeetTheMasters Online Edition