4th grade clay tiles

The 4th graders learned about the life and work of the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. We drew both Sunflowers and Starry Night, two of his most famous works of art. Van Gogh used a lot of paint which created rich colors and immense texture. To recreate this kind of texture, the students worked with clay. Clay is an easy medium to use when teaching about how to create texture. The students rolled out slabs if clay and used a paper square template to cut out a square. Using the painting as well as their drawing, they drew either Starry Night or Sunflowers into the clay When fired we glazed them and then they were fired again. The results were fantastic and the kids learned how clay can be used to recreate Van Gogh's use if texture.

3rd grade clay leaves

The third graders rolled out a slab of clay and then used a leaf template to carve out their leaf. They drew details on to the clay leaf using a pencil, then placed the leaf in a styrofoam bowl lined with a damp paper towel. We let the leaf dry for a few days and then I took them out of the bowl to fire in the kiln. The clay leaf took on the shape of the styrofoam bowl as they dried. Once fired we glazed them, applied clear glaze and fired them again.
A special thanks goes out to our principal Mr. Hoffman who fixed the kiln. It broke in the middle of this project leaving some half fired leaves. Thank goodness he is Mr.Fix- it!! These leaves are gorgeous!

1st grade Matisse paintings

The First graders are learning about the artist Henri Matisse. We learned about still life paintings and the use of pattern in his work. The students drew a vase with a pattern on it sitting on a table. They added a bowl of fruit and then added a striped background. We discussed how to draw the stripes so it looks like they are behind the vase and bowl.
The entire drawing was outlined in black Sharpie marker and then we used watercolors to paint our picture. We discussed the proper way to use watercolors in small and large spaces. We also used patterns with colors. They turned out great!!!

1st grade Mondrian

The first graders learned about the artist Piet Mondrian. We glued black strips of paper down on white paper to make vertical and horizontal lines. These overlapping lines created squares and rectangles. Like Mondrian, we used the primary colors to color in some if the squares. This project was a review on line direction and an introduction to Primary Colors.

1st grade pumpkins

The first graders painted paper using warm colors- red, orange and yellow. This was fun and messy! When our painted papers were dry, we cut out pumpkins and glued them to black paper. Stems, vines and leaves were added from cut construction paper. We even used painted paper scraps for leaves as well. These were very fun to do and the perfect fall project!

5th grade Statue of Liberty

The 5th graders have worked hard on these projects! We did a step by step drawing of the statue and then talked about form and perspective when drawing the pedestal. Even though the real background of the statue is not a cityscape we combined a city view with our statue. We discussed overlapping and the creative use of size and shape to make buildings of interest. We used black Sharpie marker to outline our drawing, watercolor for the statue's green patina and for the water, then marker for the buildings. Students were encouraged to think about what time of day it was in their picture. Crayon or oil pastel was used for the sky.
The use if my classroom iPad and projector made showing multiple pictures of the statue very easy! We also were able to discuss the statue's history and importance.

4th grade Picasso

The 4th graders learned about the artist Pablo Picasso. This was a deeper study in his work, after learning about Picasso in 3rd grade. This year we focused on Picasso's portraits that include the front AND side view of a face. This combining of viewpoints creates a rather odd and interesting portrait.
We drew a front and side view of a face. The side view was placed on top of the front view covering half of the front view. The side view was cut and glued on the front view. We traced it on a white piece if paper then colored abstractly with marker. A true Picasso look a like!!

2nd grade Kandinsky

The 2nd graders looked at the work of Wassily Kandinsky, an early 20th century artist who experimented with line and shape to create truly abstract works of art.
One of his pieces consists of circles within circles. We used this piece as the inspiration for our work. We reviewed primary, secondary, warm, cool and complementary (opposite) colors.
This was a painting done in tempera paint with oil pastel in the background.

Organizing/storing/ displaying artwork

Artwork will be coming home soon and so often projects are looked at and admired, maybe put on the fridge and then eventually tossed in the trash because the last thing you need is more "clutter."  (please don't actually admit to me that this is what happens to your child's art projects...I don't want to know! ha ha!) Oh sure, you may keep the occasional great masterpiece that comes home, but what about all the other projects? What do you do with them? Where do you keep them?  I too am now in the same situation with a daughter in Kindergarten and a son in preschool. SO much artwork and papers come home and as an art teacher I feel so bad throwing it all away, but its impossible to keep it all. Then all of the sudden, before you know it, 5 years go by and you have more artwork and papers than you know what to do with. Don't let this happen!
I present to you, my solutions to organizing, storing and displaying art work: (most from Pinterest...the best website ever!)

1.  The top picture shows mailing tubes labeled by grade. Brilliant! Roll up the work you want to keep, but not necessarily display or frame and put into a mailing tube.  Its organized and out of your way! This idea is from Martha Stewart. Yes, I know what you are thinking, Martha actually has an idea that doesn't have 37 steps. This is very easy, really!

 2. File artwork/papers - Create a filing system for each child in each grade. This mom even put her child's school picture on the outside!  Keep important papers and smaller drawings/projects together. This is from the blog: www.iheartorganizing.blogspot.com 
Her blog is a personal favorite of mine - SO, SO many great ideas -  not quite sure how anyone has this much time, but she does and it is amazing what she comes up with.

3.  Frame art work - this is the obvious one. Keep the art projects that you particularly love and frame them. I bought an inexpensive frame at Target that allows you to open the frame up like a door and replace artwork frequently.(sorry this link is so long!)
http://www.target.com/p/artwork-display-and-storage-frame-black-12x16/-/A-10871027?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=Google_PLA_df&LNM=|10871027&CPNG=home%20decor&ci_sku=10871027&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=

www.dynamicframes.com also sells these kind of frames. 

4.  Shutterfly - This is a personal favorite and one that I just did recently. My daughter loves to draw, paint, create, etc... I cannot possibly keep all the drawings she has done and now she is in Kindergarten and will certainly bring home more great things to add to the mountain of artwork from years past.  So...I created a Shutterfly photo book.  I took pictures of all her artwork from around age 2 until now, age 5 - drawings/ paintings she did at home, projects from the babysitter's and projects from preschool. It was easy, but yes, a bit time consuming - I took pictures with my phone and using the Shutterfly app, I directly uploaded them to Shutterfly's site. I then created an actual photo book using Shutterfly's format. You can pick what kind of book you want - hard or soft cover, page layout, backgrounds etc.. I couldn't be happier with the outcome!

5. Take pictures of your child's artwork, print and frame. This woman took pictures and made a grid collage in Photoshop (I have no idea how to do that, but many of you out there do..so there you go!!)
This is taken from www.jenthousandwords.com

www.simplycreatekids.com  Is a great website that will professionally shrink down, matte and frame your child's artwork. Just look at the example on the left, below - love, love this!!

6. Clothes line of sorts - This has been done many ways, but a great way is to nail a strip of painted wood to the wall and hot glue some painted wooden clothes pins to the wood as art holders. You could also find a metal, magnetic strip (Ikea and container store are great places for these) and use magnets to secure artwork. 

7. Clip boards. Love this idea! Put a few nails in the wall, hang a few clip boards and voila....an easy way to change out pictures and art work!!
www.ohdeedoh.com via Pinterest

8. Magnetic Chalkboard Wall - This has been all the rage lately and really it makes perfect sense.  You can display your child's artwork using magnets AND you can use chalk to draw "frames" around them or have your child doodle all around the artwork. Magnetic paint is like a primer - you paint it on and then paint chalkboard paint over it..or if you don't want the chalkboard aspect of it, just paint regular paint over it.Why haven't I done this yet? I love this!!
photo from New York Times via Pinterest

That's all for now - there are SO MANY ways to display your child's art and make it a stylish, colorful part of your home's decor! Take pride in what your child creates - they make some of the most amazing pieces of art! Now, go...pick at least one of these ideas and do it!

1st grade Picasso's

The first graders looked at Pablo Picasso's painting of hands holding a bouquet of flowers. We traced each other's right hand and arm then drew four stems, being careful to skip over the hand as we drew them. We drew flowers and then outlined it all in Sharpie. We used tempera paint to paint the flowers and stems. They are awesome!

1st grade snails

The first graders extended their knowledge of lines and patterns by creating these snails. They drew a large snail and filled the shell in using patterns of lines and shapes. Everything was outlined in black Sharpie marker and then crayons were used to color it all in using patterns with their colors. Additional spiral lines were drawn, outlined and colored in the background. One color of watercolor paint was chosen, then pained over the whole picture.
Lines, shapes and patterns were the focus of this project.

4th grade Tree of Life collage/painting

The 4th graders began the school year looking at and drawing "The Tree of Life" by artist Gustav Klimt (Austrian painter 1882-1918) we looked at a close up, cropped version of this painting which focused on the tree with many spiral lines.
We took a mixed media approach to this by using tissue paper in warm colors to fill the background. Liquid starch was used to make the tissue paper stick. Once dry, we painted our spiral tree in black. Looking closely at the painting we noticed small squares, rectangles, circles, ovals and triangles on the trunk and branches. We painted them with bronze, silver, white and goldish yellow. The result? A very creative Klimt inspired work of art!

Kindergarten!!

Yes, I now teach kindergarten!!! The first rotation I teach Mrs. Momeni's classes. We started with this caterpillar project. I pre-cut a circle of each color in the rainbow for each student. We talked about proper use of glue sticks as they glued each circle one at a time in rainbow order. We then talked about what a pattern is and they drew various patterns using a black Crayola marker. Eyes were made with white crayon and black marker and a nose, mouth and feet were also added one at a time. Super cute!!

2nd grade Radial Symmetry

The 2nd graders are finishing up these really cool rotational hex designs. We talked about how these were first created by the Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. They created hex designs for good luck and hung them on the outside of their barns. Our circles have 6 sections hence the name "hex" designs We discussed what geometric shapes are and how in rotational symmetry a design would repeat around in a circle. They were outlined in black Sharpie and colored in with markers. I love how they are turning out!

5th grade patterns

The 5th graders drew circles and ovals only. Some overlap and some don't. They needed to fill in each space with patterns and then color it in with patterns using markers. The challenge was drawing large and coloring neatly. Drawing too small and overlapping too much creates a confusing picture. When we draw large and clearly it is easier to color and looks better. Students were working on composition, pattern and design.

1st grade lines

The 1st graders learned about the direction in which lines can go: vertical, horizontal and diagonal. Then we talked about different kinds of lines like zig zag, curved,loopy,dotted and spiral. Students drew their lines neatly with crayons, even using white crayon to make some lines. Then they used watercolor paints to paint over everything. The white crayon "magically" appeared and the other crayons showed through the watercolor. Very cool!

3rd grade shapes

We started the school year with a drawing that had only geometric shapes. We learned that a geometric shape is a shape with a name like a triangle, square, star, rectangle etc.. Their geometric shapes should overlap in some aces and they were encouraged to draw big! Then, we cored in with markers using the "lawn mower" technique. This means their coloring is in a back and forth movement. Warm and cool colors should touch each other. These turned out fantastic do far!

2nd grade line sculptures

We started this school year with a review of different kinds of lines. We named the various kinds of lines like vertical, horizontal, diagonal, zig zag, loopy, curves and spiral.... Just to name a few. We then talked about sculptures and how it is a kind of art that is three dimensional and has form. The students made a paper sculpture by bending and folding paper to represent the various kinds of lines. They were glued down so they stuck off the page! Many students said they looked like roller coasters. Look for these to come home soon!!

Calling all smocks!!

I would love if all 1st and 2nd graders could bring a smock to school for art class.  What is a smock? Easy...it's an old t-shirt that you don't mind if your kid gets messy! It could be one of their old t-shirts or maybe one of yours. This way when they come to art class they come prepared in the event we get messy. This saves time for me as well as the kids so we don't have to spend time passing out smocks and making sure everyone has it on right. With their own smocks... They are ready when they arrive. So that's it.... Get your kid a smock.... Pretty please.  Thank you!!!

Welcome Back!

I am so excited to be back at Alcott full time teaching art this school year! Once again I will have the opportunity to work the best students and families around!!  Please check back to my little art blog to find out what we are doing in each grade level in art class.  I am going to try and update this as often as possible. As always, please feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions or concerns. I am so thrilled to teach the importance of art and help our children create fabulous pieces of art. Let the fun begin!!

1st grade Mondrian

The first graders learned about the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. Mondrian used primary colors plus black and white to create abstract pieces of art with vertical and horizontal lines. We used pre-cut pieces of paper and glued them to make our vertical and horizontal lines. In the process, squares and rectangles were created. ours looked just like Mondrian's work!