Color Wonder

Sometimes when I am preparing materials for students, the materials themselves look like artwork!  This paint was prepared for a 1st grade "blob" painting...

I'm Positive - it's Negative Space!

This challenging project required 4th grade students to have an understanding of negative shapes and space.  They were very intrigued with the vases/faces illusion, in which the positive and negative continually flip.  Motivation was high as students brainstormed ideas for interesting shapes to cut - the results are striking!

Beautiful Birch Trees

 Students focused on a number of art concepts to create these watercolor paintings: line, shape, texture, warm/cool colors, and pattern. Increased student awareness of the natural world has been the result of our birch tree discussions. The fact that this is 2nd grade work amazes me!

5th grade Repousse Landscapes

5th graders used foreground, middle ground, and background details to create depth in these beautiful landscapes. They completed a repousse project in 4th grade, so they were able to apply knowledge about embossing and engraving to create wonderful patterns. The color and shine of these pieces really makes them stand out! 

4th Grade Ceramic magic!

Opening up the kiln after a glaze firing in one of those magical moments that never gets old, even after 27 years of teaching art!  4th graders did a wonderful job of constructing their pots with inventive use of coils.  They were REALLY excited when they saw the transformation from chalky looking glaze to fired glaze!

Collage with a Kick!

  

 This 4th grade collage project is based on an owl drawing with human eyes, created by the one and only Pablo Picasso.  Students had a great time dreaming up an object to draw, and giving it human features with magazine pictures they cut and glued on.  The moral of the story: artwork can be funny!

Going for the Gold with Gustav Klimt

 These Klimt inspired trees always turn out beautifully - my 2nd graders are amazing!   After some drawing practice, they created their trees with silver crayon, and had fun using hole punchers to create the gold leaves.  Students also learned about symmetry by printing the background with real leaves and printing ink. Bedazzling the trunks with sequins added that perfect finishing touch!