Happenings in the art room....

Collage Critter by first grader

Thanksgiving Turkey by Sarah grade 4

Sarah is working on this turkey at the collage center.

Cinderella and the Pumpkin Carriage by Brianna gr.3

How cute and clever is this?

Monoprinting on Tile

The students loved this lesson and had the option of coloring their paper prior to printing it. These are Sargent fluorescent oil pastels which are just so yummy looking!

Printmaking and other happenings

I have been taking lots of pictures in art but have not posted to my blog so this is long overdue. We have been busy with found object sculptures and starting some printmaking.
On the other hand, some things that have been running through my mind as I watch my classes: (I may begin to ramble here)
* the use of "safe" symbols like the heart, flower, names, etc. I think I am going to place a ban on using these images in class. I know it is censorship but I do not see growth in some of my students and it is so frustrating.


*students creating same art. I need to set up a chart like Bonnie that has the names of students with the centers they visit so they can see where they work and how they need to try other things.

*art idea sheet. I may create one of these that I can give to students when they look like they are not being productive. I've noticed some students not using their time well and by having them fill in a sheet that explains what they plan to do, it may help with their focus.

*messy classes. I have closed the collage center for two classes because they "trashed" it and did not clean it up. The classroom teachers say they are the same way in their room, but that is no excuse and I will not have it in the art room. It is messy enough due to its size (sharing with music) a students craeted mess is uncalled for.

Students are still creating some WONDERFUL STUFF so I will post some examples here.

Halloween Art

Students of all ages have a deep interest in creating holiday art and Halloween is one of their favorites.

Star Wars Collage by Trevor grade 2

Two collages based upon the ever popular Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Syth.

They finished it

This is the completed Star Wars ship that two third graders had been working on. You can see the work in progress here.

Collage and oil pastel sunset

Collage Creations

I am still putting magazine photos into the collage center and the ideas the students are coming up with are just wonderful. I know this is more work for me (cutting out the pictures) but sometimes the students won't take the time to find an image, carefully cut it out and then create something with it. Most of the time (last year) they would look through dog magazines and cut out a dog and glue it to a piece of paper and that would be it! I think showing them examples of other students' works can be quite inspiring.

Creative Uses with Magazine Photos

Dogs in Space by Curtis, grade 4

"Buckeye Misses You"

"I made this for my Mom because she had to give her dog Buckeye to an orphanage. She kept biting people."

Bounty Hunters by Ben and Billy, grade 4

"We made bounty hunters that hunt pants. They are on a hover craft. We made this at the collage center."

Fairy Godmother by Ana, grade 5

Dog Collages by grade 4 artists

Star Wars Spaceship

Two third grade boys are working on this spaceship from Star Wars. They are also making the roof to it and will finish next week. They are using techniques they learned from our paper sculpture lesson in grade two.

Kindies Building Structures

The foam blocks ("Why do these feel funny?"one girl asked) and Legos were pulled out in the middle of a kindergarten class when they got a bit "squirrely" and did not want to draw another picture. It was good to see them building together because this group of students desperately needs to work on their manners.
I need to go to some more yard sales and get some more stuff for my other school!

Can we come in at recess?

Two 4th graders asked if they could come in at recess to work on their drawings. My battery pack died before I could take the second drawing of a wrestler named John Cena. He brought in an action figure from home to draw. This is a portrait of Curt Schilling drawn from a photo. These guys worked so very hard on their drawings. They both have OT issues and I sat with them a bit during art class showing them how to draw the body using "sausage ovals." Their recess is my lunch time so I ate my turkey sandwich while I sat with "J" and helped him with the drawing of the wrestler. Side note: these boys have a history of getting into "mischief" i.e.trouble and having to lose their recess. The fact that they chose to work on their art during their play time says a lot about choice-based art education.

Collage Center

Grade 1, 2 and 3 students were treated to the collage center this week (their favorite). I showed them different examples of collage and introduced collage artist Claudine Hellmuth and her "poppets". Her poppets are made using photocopied heads and adding collaged bodies with arms, legs and details added with marker.
I am hoping that this year the students will take their collage work to a different level. Some students will still grab the precut paper shapes and glue them to a background paper without any though to changing the shape, etc. I am going to "hang around" the collage center and question the students as they work to (hopefully) make them think about the choices they make while they work.

Underwater at Night by Cody, grade 2

Fun Stuff to Draw

This is some of the stuff that the students can draw. Next week I am going to put them in a basket near the drawing center so they can use them again.