1. Docent Setup List: Docent Clean up List: Tree of Life
Pull your paper and lesson plan from your teacher file. Give each student 1 paper
Pull the lesson bin and hand out supplies
Basket of fall colored tissue paper – 1 per table
1 glue stick per student
1 pencil per student
From the island and sink area pull
Paint trays (marked with lesson name) 1 per table
Water cups – 2 per table
Basket of Scissors
1 paintbrush per student
Make sure names are on back of art
Place completed art work on drying racks – remember to label with teachers name
Wipe down tables, refill any items and return to bins as you found them
Close the lens cap to turn the projector off
Send to parents about the lesson – thanks for doing this and leading the lesson!

2. Tree of Life Art@Booksin
Welcome in the students. State the lesson name.

3. Today’s Lesson Skill Development:
Tree of Life
Today’s Lesson
Skill Development:
Today you are going to create your own Klimt-esque Tree of Life using mixed tissue paper and paint.
Introduction to Art Nouveau
Layering
Painting
Use of patterns to create repetition and rhythm or, movement
Symbolism
Explain the lesson objective and description

4. Tree of Life
What is the Tree of Life ?
The Tree of Life represents wisdom, protection, strength, and beauty.
It is a reminder of our :
Past (roots)
Present (tree body)
Future (fruit on trees / smaller branches)
It reaches up into the sky and down into the earth
Ask the students – Have a short discussion around what is the tree representing.
The Tree of Life in its various forms is recognized in all cultures as a symbol of immortality and eternal life. From ancient Chinese and Egyptian culture to Germanic paganism and Mesoamerica, it has been sought after throughout the ages. And, while depicted in many different contexts, the imagery across all cultures is essentially the same. It is a reminder of our past (roots - ancestry), present (tree body - knots included) and future (fruit – labor and posterity).

5. Tree of Life
Who was Gustav Klimt?
Austrian born painter/ illustrator, and a leading member of the Art Nouveau movement he lived
Klimt used pattern in most of his work, often repeating rectangles, scales, spirals, and circles, as well as vining forms.
Feel free to go into as much detail as you are comfortable with.
The style of Art Nouveau can be easily recognized because it is full of decorative patterning, curving lines, and plant motifs. Klimt’s use of repetition and rhythm by incorporating rich patterning was a major element of his work.

6. The mural Tree of Life, 1905 by Gustav Klimt
Docents please talk to Klimt’s use of symbols, the tree itself is an important symbol in many cultures. His use of gold for paint and other luxurious techniques to illustrate a magical world, the presence of a single black bird draws the viewer towards the central part of the painting. The black bird is a reminder that everything that has a beginning also has an end, as black birds have been used as a symbol of death by many cultures. Our lesson today is to recreate the Tree itself. We will use tissue paper to create layers and depth. Note the use of gold and other bright colors to show light.
The mural Tree of Life, 1905 by Gustav Klimt

7. Gustav Klimt - Tree of Life
Gustav Klimt painted the “Tree of Life”which is an important symbol in nearly every culture.
The swirled branches make people want to keep looking at the painting to explore and find more.
Even with the mixed up patterns and swirly branches we still will always recognize it as The Tree of Life.
Remind students that trees may look the same, especially when they first begin - but they grow, thrive, change, are battered by storms and weather, become broken and, as they age, become very unique. In this painting its not about a person here his use of swirls creates the sense of movement and continuity of life this is the inspiration of today’s art lesson

8. Gustav Klimt’s Masterpieces
Tree of Life
Portrait Of Adele Bloch Bauer
Beech Forest
Here is some detailed explanations of these incredible paintings, however for purposes of the lesson please focus on the colors and the the use of shapes. In the Forest painting focus on the way he shows texture on the trunks.
For those who are interested these explanations are taken from = The portrait of Adele is notable for the mix of naturalism, in the painting of the face and hands, and the ornamental decoration used for the dress, chair and background. There is much more to this painting but not appropriate for this audience.
Beech Forest: Klimt's beautiful delicate brushwork captures this eerie scene. Here, he has perfected his own adaptation of Neo-Impressionism and Pointillism esthetics, resulting in the play of superb oppositional tensions across the painted surface. A densely textured meshing of dots creates the golden carpet, as though the beeches' bronzed fall foliage has fallen from the hidden tree tops. It is an explosion of separated atoms patterned into a unified mass. Crossing these dots are the striating horizontal lines of the tree bark. Klimt was undoubtedly fascinated that this series of horizontals, piled up into a columnar structure, created the vertical lines of the trees. The resulting tension is further exaggerated by the deployment of the two powerful polarized color blocks of red and green, whose oppositional forces accentuate the wood's stillness.
This color tension also projects the trees dynamically out of the landscape so that they loom up translucently. Counterpoising the red floor, the trees ultimately blend into the vibrant green background,
Gustav Klimt’s Masterpieces

9. Write your name on the back of the paper
Tree of Life
Write your name on the back of the paper
What does the Tree of Life mean to you?
Represent this by the choices of the colors of tissue you select
Glue tissue to paper
Paint your tree trunk and branches, use the guideline handout to help, represent your Tree of Life by:
The number of branches
The number of roots you paint
Be creative with color and designs – this is your version not Gustav Klimt's!
Remind students that trees may look the same, especially when they first begin - but they grow, thrive, change, are battered by storms and weather, become broken and, as they age, become very unique. Each art piece created in today’s lesson will be very unique.
Students should be encouraged to decide whether they wish to have their tree landscape or portrait. Please remind them not to paint the trunk all the way to the bottom of the paper as there needs to be space to paint roots. Add in details like the bark, the owl, birds etc. Use symbols and patterns that are meaningful to the student.
Please refer to our samples and encourage the use of symbolism.
Leave art to dry on drying rack and come back and collect it within 2 days (ideally) and store in your teachers bin.

10. How to build your Tree of Life:
Docents, here is the step by step on how to build this art piece. You may choose to demonstrate this step by step or use the handouts its whatever sits best with you. Enjoy!

11. How to build your Tree of Life:

12. How to build your Tree of Life:

13. Lesson plan adapted from mrsbrownsart.com
By Tara Button
October 2015, updated September 2017
Art History adapted from