American Gothic Redo

I really like how these came out, but wish I could have given them a few more class times to work. They could have done some really cool things with a little more time.  The idea was to create a 3D version of American Gothic with a twist.  The twist is they are the designer and a new client has come to you.  The task is the client has purchased the small home featured in the American Gothic painting near Stone City, Iowa and they want it remodelled to better match their taste.  Students had to decide, who the client was, what their style would be and who would stand with them in front of the house.  We used a basic pop up card design to get the basic house and then used marker and paper construction techniques to remodel the house.  Students were required to build at least one 3D item from paper. Finally they had to pose the client and one other character with them, holding something, similar to the American Gothic characters in front of the home.  Some are quite clever and others are just cute.

Square 1 Art Projects

I participate in the Square 1 Art program each year to raise money.  This year I have made almost $1800! I have tried to pick dynamic projects that not only fit my curriculum, but are big sellers for parents.  Here are some student samples of this years projects.

4th grade Loup Garou Paintings in tempera based on the Blue Dog series by George Rodrigue.

3rd grade cityscapes with intermediate colors in tempera.

5th grade- Background watercolor based on color field painters with a styrofoam print over the top made to appear to be Op art, printed in rotation.

1st grade owl drawings with simple patterns to create texture with construction paper crayons and marker.

Kindergarten tissue flowers painted on with watered down glue, outlined in permanent marker and finished with liquid watercolor.

2nd grade cats in permanent marker based on a study of ancient Egyptian cat art.

My MAEA Presentation and new adventure

The MAEA Spring Conference was held in St. Charles Missouri this weekend, and I presented for the first time.  I was talked into the presentation by a wonderful professor at UMSL.  So what was the presentation about, well art on a cart, of course.  I shared all of my tips and tricks for making art on cart successful.  My philosophy... master the cart so it doesn't master you.  In other words get organized, plan for pitfalls and get control of the situation or else the cart will drag you down and leave tracks on your back. I really enjoyed the presentation, talked to some very nice teachers, got a few new ideas myself and hopefully inspired someone else to try a new technique to make their cart experience more pleasant. If you would like to see my presentation just follow this link: http://prezi.com/qsnvkqeozo-n/mastering-art-on-a-cart/

On another note, I was recently elected (uncontested) as the District 8 representative on the MAEA Council.  I attended my first meeting this week and ran my first district meeting today.  Hopefully the deer in the headlights look I walk around with most of the day didn't leave the wrong impression with my fellow council members.  This looks to be an exciting venture with lots of rewards and plenty of work.  Once I gain my bearings, I hope to do some fun things with my fellow District 8 art teachers!  More to come later...

Zentangle like boxes

My 3rd graders love the idea of Zentangle.  We watched a few videos on Youtube and they were hooked.  now they add hints of Zentangle in all sorts of places.  We used our pictures to make origami boxes.The results were great.

Coil Clay Faces

This is a neat project I did with 5th grade to cover coil building with clay.  Next time I would make the coils thicker to avoid so much breakage.  Those that are about the thickness of an index finger were the best.  We used Picasso as inspiration and emhasized organic shapes.  I like them unpainted, but you could probably add color if you wanted.  Here they are displayed on top of the original sketches.

Central Office Display

I finally have a chance to display artwork at our Central Office.  We only get this opportunity once every other year.  So I brought some of my best work to show.

This is Mouse Paint by Kindergarten, I have about 4 versions of this and do it differently each year.

I love these collage snowmen with radial symmetry snowflakes by Kindergarten.

This Mondrian inspired artwork was inspired by one of my fellow teachers, Andy Rohde.  Kindergartener's loved making the faces.

These 1st grade snowmen are actually relief sculptures.  The shadows are cool colored chalk.

My first graders printed these robots with mat board scraps and tissue tubes, then colored them in with metalic crayon. 

My second graders made these great Scream pics with oil pastel and model magic for the screaming guy.

3rd grade created these porthole pics with oil pastel and tempra.  These used techniques for creating space. 

This was a quick 3rd grade filler.  We printed asymmetrical tree with mat board and added the thumbprint owl.  The whole lesson helped students understand how artists works as illustrators, having to think obout where text will fit with their pictures.  We used the Robert Frost poem, Stopping by the Woods on Snowy Evening.

These 4th grade masks inspired by Native American masks, cover up some fabulous student self portraits.

These other 4th grade projects are sandwiches made in relief with paper and center of interest snowmen done quilt style.

My 5th grade has really knocked it out of the park this year.  These pop out chairs in a room are inspired by Van Gogh's paintings of his room and the Renaissance artists.  They learned about basic 1 pt. perspective and really got it!

And these are the Monet oil pastel and baby oil pics I posted last week.  Again, pictures just don't do these justice.

Monet Projects

I am so thrilled with the results of my 5th grade Monet projects, based on the Agapanthus Tryptic on display at the St. Louis Art Museum until Jan 22nd.  These are done with several layers of oil pastel smeared with baby oil.  Some are amazing, unfortunately they don't photograph as well as they look in person.