Looking and Discussing
Grade: 4–5; 6–8; 9–12
Subject: Visual Art, Language Arts
Discussing Ranchos Church, New Mexico
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Describe what you see in Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting
Ranchos Church, New Mexico. Be sure to include the entire
setting.
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Describe how the artist uses color, shape, line, and texture to
express mood, insights, feelings, and ideas.
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What colors did O’Keeffe use in this work of art? Describe
each color (be as specific as possible: bright or dull, warm or
cold, harsh or soft).
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What mood does O’Keeffe create by using these colors?
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Often when people first see this image, they think it looks like
something other than a church. What does this look like to you?
How did O’Keeffe make the church look like it had volume?
(Students' answers may vary widely, ranging from a mountain to an
upside-down paper bag.)
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How did O’Keeffe use abstraction to create this image? Does
it look real?
Writing
Grade: 4–5
Subject: Visual Art, Language Arts
See Student Activity: Looking
at Art Through Cinquain Poetry
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Daniel Catton Rich said that O’Keeffe “has always believed
that a long poem could be said in a few intense words and that a
painting could likewise be stripped down to its essential form and
meaning.” Using the cinquain poem instructions in the appendix,
have students write a poem using a “few intense words”
that describe this work of art.
Drawing
Grade: 6–8; 9–12
Subject: Visual Art
The Process of Abstraction
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Select an object, such as a piece of fruit or a plant.
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Make a series of four drawings. The first drawing should have as
many details as you can incorporate. In the second drawing, eliminate
some of the unessential details. In the third, incorporate fewer
details, and in the fourth, the least details. By the time you are
drawing the object for the fourth time, incorporate only the most
essential details. The fourth drawing should give the viewer a sense
of the object but not a realistic image of it.
Link to TEKS Connections
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