Klimt Trees

Students heard about Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt. They observed artwork painted by Klimt, and pointed out the different kinds of patterns, colors, and lines the artist used in his artworks. For their project, the students created a mixed media collage inspired by the artist's Tree of Life painting. Students began by painting their golden tree by painting a capital "Y" for the trunk and tree limbs. Next they painted eight swirly branches with a thin paintbrush. They added 10 black and white circles with paint to decorated their tree to make eyes as Klimt often depicts in his Tree of Life Painting. They create a ground space below the tree by cutting and gluing a pattern of black and white squares. Finally they drew flowers and/or leaves within each white square to create symbols similar to Klimt's painting.