2012 Art Show Tour

Come on a tour of the 2012 M.E.S. Art Show

"Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists"

Starry Night

This years Art Show is going to be based on "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists" and Illustrators.  One of the 2nd grade projects will be based on Vincent VanGogh's, Starry Night.  After creating their version of the famous painting in their choice of medium students then created a frame to go with their piece.  Using a variety of noodles that seem to mimic the theme, lines and shapes of the Starry Night students tried to create a frame design that would compliment their art work.  They glued the noodles to a poster board mat and then the frames were spray painted gold.  I don't often use things like noodles in projects with my kids but the wagon wheels, stars and rotini seem to fit really well and after they are painted the frames give the pieces a "museum-like" feel (besides that the kids have a lot of fun working with them).

Missouri Institute of Natural Science's photo
A picture is worth a thousand words!

WooHoo and way to go!!!  Three of my best and brightest have art works going to the state art show this year and one student won Best Graphic Design at the regional show!!  I am so proud of all of them!!!

Who doesn't love Eric Carle!  My first graders sure did enjoy creating their "Very Grouchy Ladybugs".  We started with the story and a good look at Carle's amazing illustrations.  Then the kids took flight making construction paper ladybugs with wings split for flight and a vibrant tissue paper collage for the background. As a finishing touch we added some google eyes for a touch of whimsy.

Inspired by Picasso's "Petite Fleurs", my kindergarten students made these pictures using a combination of oil pastel, silky crayon, tempra paint and construction paper. First we talked a bit about Picasso's life and art and looked at examples of his work including "Petite Fleurs". We then practiced drawing some simple flower shapes and talked about what would be a good size for the flowers we would put on the paper for our project. The kids then made about three flowers using oil pastel. Next I demonstrated the use of one of my all time favorite materials, silky crayons, and the kids added several more flowers with these. We added stems, leaves, vines and grass with green tempra. After tracing and cutting out the students arms and hands, they were given an opportunity to trade one with a friend. The project was finished by attaching the hands to the page so that it looks like one hand is picking a flower to give to the other. Check out more of our finished pieces at Artsonia.

My Signature Project

Of all the projects that I have done over the past thirty years this has become the one that I will most remember and be most remembered for. The "Patterned Cats" that my students have created have won many awards over the years and always cause a great deal of excitement when displayed in the halls of our school. This project is a review of concepts learned throughout the year in second grade. The contrast of the black and white cats on the brightly colored backgrounds is stunning.

NEW INSPIRATION

My journey into the world of web 2.0 tools has been productive in so many ways and one of the best has been finding ideas and inspiration from others using the same tools. Recently I tried two new projects that I found through fellow bloggers.

First was a third grade project using the artist Laurel Burch as inspiration, found on Jodi's blog, One Crayola Short. The kids were truly inspired by the art and life of Laurel Burch. I found a video interview with Laurel on youtube that I showed to the kids. We then discussed the video and looked further at her work with cats. Following some of Jodi's guidelines and a few of my own the kids were soon creating Fabulous Felines of their own.

The second came from the blog, Art is Messy and was a lesson on cave paintings that I did with my first graders. We began by touring the caves of Lascaux and then we talked about the art that was in the caves and about the artists who created it. We did some practice drawings of animals and then used those ideas to paint onto sand paper our own version of cave paintings. I found a short, out of the way hall in our school, put paper over the lights and we created our own cave to display the paintings in. We then went to explore the caves flashlights in hand. It was quite an adventure.

4th grade owls

Learning the basics of working with clay to create sculptural forms my fourth graders created their interpretation of an owl. We began by doing several drawings of owls and then working with clay turned them into three-dimentional versions of the drawings.

Shoe Stomp Medallion

My students really enjoy this project and it is very easy for them to do a nice job. Before beginning the project I tell the kids to go home and look in their rooms for the most interesting shoe bottoms they have and then make sure to wear them to school the next time they have art. When they arrive the next class they are each given a small piece of clay which they form in to a ball, strategically position it on the bottom of their shoe and then gently step on it to create the pattern for their medallion.
After the clay has been fired students paint it and string it with beads and feathers to create their final piece.

THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY!

These three pieces will be representing our school district at our Regional Art Show and then hopefully on to State.

CHRISTMAS FOREST

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year! Once again time has flown by and it has been far to long since I last posted. Oh well....perhaps an opportunity for a New Year's resolution! :) Going back in time a bit this is probably the best loved Christmas project in my repertoire. It is a favorite of parents and students alike. The key concepts are that of focal point, repetition and variety. Skills learned are working with stencils, use of pastels, color blending and collage techniques. Students begin by creating a stencil in the shape of an evergreen tree. Then use their stencil and pastels in different shades of green to create a forest of trees. I encourage the kids to trade stencils with classmates so that all of their trees are not exactly the same shape or size. Overlapping is also encouraged. Both of these things help make the forests look more realistic. When enough trees have been stenciled a horizon line is added and the sky is colored with pastel to reflect a certain mood or time of day. Color blending is discussed at this point. When students are finished with the pastels they use the inside shape from the stencil and a variety of collage materials to create a decorated tree which is then added to the forest. The end results are quite beautiful.

Mission 10,000 Rockets

"Every invention starts from a simple drawing on a paper." Students in grades 1,2,3 & 6 have been busy creating drawings of rockets for a program called Mission 10,000 Rockets. The program is a celebration of the launch of Digital Globe's World View satellite on a Delta II rocket. The satalitte will be equipped with a huge telescopic camera which will be used to capture images of houses, schools and many other places for Bing Maps. Bing is commemorating the launch with a book including 10,000 drawings of rockets of tommorow created by students in grades k-12 and we are hoping to see many of our drawings included.

What if Picasso Made Witches

Cubism and profiles are both difficult concepts for kids to pick up on and yet this silly seasonal project seems to help with both. Perhaps it is the extreme features and natural distortion of the subject matter that helps. Or that they are having so much fun creating a crazy character that they don't over think the concepts. Whatever the case it really seems to work. We take a look at Picasso and his art and have a discussion on how his style gradually changed before taking on the cubist characteristics. Students then experiment using Mr. Picasso Head a website where students can create portraits in the cubist style. With the ground work layed we tie the idea of cubism and portrature to that of the seasonal subject matter of witches or characters in costume and the kids take off with results that are awesome.

The Flavor of Fall

Warm colors, falling leaves, spooks and goblins, these are just some of the things that come to mind at this time of year. The first and second graders worked on projects that incorporated these ideas. The first graders learned how to draw trees with branches and then used sponge painting and warm colors to add the leaves to their pictures. The second graders created a tissue collage using warm colors and then added a line drawing of a tree and other things that reminded them of fall.

Workshop

Whatever happened to October......I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've posted anything. Here's to better time management in the days to come. :)

We just finished up a workshop on cornhusk dolls with local artisan and long time friend of the Manawa Middle School Art Department, Judy D. I am so excited to have the kids experience art projects that tie in to the rich cultural heritage of our country and corn husk dolls are an excellant way to do this. The kids are excited to be working with a different art medium and even though the subject was "dolls" boys and girls alike worked with great enthusiasm.

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes

Blazing Banyon Trees

Looking for attention grabbing art projects? Check out "Dynamic Art Projects For Children" by Denise M. Logan, Crystal Productions. One of my favorite projects from the book is The Blazing Banyan Tree. It is such a high impact project that it is a great way to draw kids in at the beginning of the year. My students really enjoy working on this project. If you would like to see more examples of this project check our Artsonia exhibit.

4th grade Dinosaurs

Kids love dinosaurs! That makes this subject a great art tool. The excitement for the subject matter makes it an excellant opportunity to work on things like composition, use of elements and priciples, style, and skill development. We use silky crayons to add color to this project, a medium which the kids are always eager to work with.

First grade Line Drawings

After discussing the art element of line and using verticle, horizontal, diagonal, curves, spirals and dots as jumping off points my first grade students began working on their first official drawing of the year. I've included a couple of examples here. I love to see the spontaneity and creativity of these young artists.