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.