Finished Clay Pieces

We have finally glazed and painted some of our clay pieces.  The first pictures below are tiles that my Art Explorers' students made.  I'm so impressed by the texture and the way that they really made the petals 3-D. We are hoping to hang these up in the office of our school.

 Below are the clay castles that the 4th graders just finished this week.  This is our last project in our architecture unit.  Now we are starting to learn about Picasso.

And finally, the pillow pals below were made in Art Explorers.  For many students this was their first introduction to sewing. 

Monsters and Clay

The first graders have started a unit on imaginary creatures.  They just finished creating alien monster collages by cutting various shapes.  This was a great opportunity to use up some of the many paper scraps that we have been storing up in the art room. 

 Most of the art room has been an explosion of clay lately.  The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders have all made a clay piece in the last 2 weeks.  Let's just say that I'm quickly running out of storage space to dry everything!  Below are pictures of the pieces before they've been fired in the kiln.  The projects include frogs, castles, flowers, and food.  After the pieces are fired we will glaze them so that they are brightly colored and have a glassy surface.

Pumpkins...and Jungle Animals

Yes, even art teachers still love to carve pumpkins.  I had a pumpkin carving adventure this weekend with my family.  Check out our spooky, glowing creations.

 The third graders have been looking at the artwork of Henri Rousseau.  They drew and painted their own jungle animals and then created collages.  Here are some examples of their work:

Henri Rousseau's Suprised Tiger
Photo courtesy of www.obit-mag.com

Spooky Houses

The 4th graders just finished up their haunted house sculptures.  They used cardboard, popsicle sticks, foam, and other found objects to create these spooky structures.

3rd Grade Abstract Trees

The third graders have been working on a multistep project that has involved markers, watercolors, and lots of patterns.  First we read the book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynn Cherry and discussed the Amazon Rainforest.  We were also able to watch a short video that taught about the animals of the rainforest and why the rainforest is in danger.  Then the students drew several large trees with branches, added plants and animals, and then gave the artwork an abstract look by filling the trees in with patterns.  The results are beautiful...I seriously think I'd like to put some of these in my own house!  (This project was inspired by a lesson in SchoolArts magazine.)

An Explosion of Color!

We have been very busy in the art room, and all are projects recently seem to be exploding with color.  Below are pictures from our hexagon mural.  Most students in the school designed a hexagon with a various theme depending on the grade level.  We then taped up all the hexagons by the gym to create a giant tessellation.  Each hexagon is unique, but it is also an important part of the artwork.  In the same way, each student in our school is different but each plays and important part in working together to make our school an enjoyable place to come each week.  Students, can you find your hexagon?

Art Explorers
Our after school art club is in full swing.  Last week we finished up these beautiful crayon pictures.  (I wish I could claim this idea, but it came from my sister who found the directions on YouTube.)  You simply hot glue the crayons to canvas and then blow dry them to create these firework looking drips.  This project is so much fun that even I had to take a turn and make my own.

Kindergarten Color Mixing
The kindergarteners have been learning about primary colors and how to mix them to create secondary colors.  Today we took the paintings that they made and turned them into textured collages filled with all sorts of interesting objects.

The goodies used for collaging

International Day of Peace!

To celebrate International Day of Peace, yesterday we planted our pinwheels outside.  The 3rd and 4th graders were able to put up all our pinwheels outside that were filled with messages of peace.  Pinwheels for Peace is an international event that took place on Sept. 21 all over the world.  What a wonderful way for us to start out the school year and promote a school climate that encourages students to be peacemakers by spreading kindness to others. 

Look at all our peace attire!

We read, Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox to coincide with our peace events.  This book is about how we look different on the outside but inside we are the same.