5th Grade Optical Illusion Boxes

Optical Illusion Boxes

This project is one that has been cooking in my art teacher brain for a little while. Optical illusions are a good intro for students to practice with perspective. 6th grade is really when we focus on a perspective unit, but this project is a good introduction to thinking about making lines look like they are overlapping or moving back into space. Some students were able to apply different values (lights and dark areas) to their designs which was going above the project expectations. Our artists always are able to surprise me by rising to a challenge! 

After being introducted to the artist Bridget Riley (her artwork can hurt the eyes to look at, but really outstanding!), students were able to practice some different ways to draw lines in their journals before we started their final box design. 

Here is an example of the flat template students drew onto before the box was assembled: 

Once we were able to complete six different designs with colored pencil, we cut out the template and glued it into a 3-D box. Here are some of the fantastical designs the kiddos came up with! 

 Look at the complementary colors in this one!                              This reminds me of the 4th of July!

Some completed boxes...

         Boxes in one big box.... these are from Ms. Mayorska's class:

Overall success! Something I will be using in the future with other 5th grade classes in the coming years! 

Stay tuned because next week is our BIG art show!!! 

Happy New Year!

What have we been up to in the art room? 

Lots of good old fashion creative, messy, fun projects! 

Mexican Day of the Dead Clay Skulls 

Here are the final clay skulls made by 4th graders. We were able to paint them with acrylic paint after they came out of the kiln. The colors 4th graders mixed came out very well which is something we have been mastering in art this year! 

Native American Shields 

This is an integrated art project done with Ms. Mayorska's 

5th Grade class. We were able to take what students have been learning in Social Studies class and apply the art and history of Native American Shields by making our own! The goal was to add symbols with specific meanings to create a story on each shield. 

We used cereal boxes and oil pastels to add color and symbols. Watercolors were also another medium choice to add colors onto the shield. Feathers and yarn were added for  final details. 

6th Grade Hero Mirror Images

For the specialist integrated art project this year, we embarked on a theme based on heroes. In Library, each class brainstormed a list of character traits that represents a hero. Each class used their list of hero character traits to inspire the theme of their artwork. The goal of this project was to create a mirror image of the character trait students picked. Take a look, they came out very spectacular! 

 4th Grade Dia De Los Muertos Clay Sugar Skulls

In Spanish class, 4th grade students were able to learn about the history of the Mexican Day of the Dead and the celebrations that take place in Mexico on November 1st and 2nd each year. We looked at some fantastic examples of sugar skull designs and created a plan in journals. Here is one of the creative designs that was created in a journal... 

And now the skulls that were made are drying and going into the kiln to cook at 1,200 degrees (don't put grandma's cookies in the kiln, they won't be so tasty!) Next week we paint them....I just can't wait to get some color onto these guys (I bet the artist of these beautiful creations cannot wait either!). Look at the teeth/ mouths on these examples from Mr. Vitulli's class, I wish they could talk! 

Finished products to come...stay tuned! 

What have we been up to? 

5th Grade: Hero Radial Character Trait Designs

The integrated art unit the specialist have been focusing on this year is based on heroes! In library class students brainstormed different character traits that make up a hero and in art we created artwork based on those character traits we came up with. There are some examples from Mrs. Stone's 5th grade: 

The big idea was to fit the words into the space allowed in each section of the square and creating different patterns in-between the words so they would stand out. Markers and colored pencils were used for some fantastic colors and I have to say, WOW! 

Back to School!

Welcome Back to the 2014-2015 School year! 

I am assuming everyone had some excellent summer adventures, rested, read a good book, ate some pancakes, and played outside ALOT! I know I did!

My summer adventures can be summed up in one picture:

I am lucky enough to still go to summer camp each summer as an adult STILL and work with kiddos who have Type 1 Diabetes ( just like me!) and run the programs there. It was a rewarding summer in the woods for me and always excellent to go away for about a month. I think my dogs and husband missed me a bit too much though, so it is good to be back at home and back to the drawing board at school. When I came home these were the faces I was greeted with: 

How do I ever leave home? 

We have been in school for one week already and working on our summer adventure collages in each class. Now we are working on coming up with a snazzy cover for our art journals. Next, each grade level will start to work on different units. One of my favorite units coming up is the Andy Goldsworthy unit that sixth graders get to work on....stay tuned! 

Here is what the classroom looked like one week ago: 

It is a little more messy at this point, but still look pretty spiffy at this point in time. I look forward to making many more messes this year and getting into our units of creative learning... so stay tuned! 

Art Show 2014!

I have been meaning to post some pictures from the art show which took place a couple weeks ago so here they are!
Another great turn out from the community and as always it is a blast watching students show off their artwork to their families and friends. I know it is such a busy time of year with baseball,  school concerts, graduations but it is always nice to see various faces come by for just a few short minutes to say hello!
Having the art show always makes me excited for the end of the year and moving into next school year and starting fresh with new project ideas. I have many lessons which I will keep, but I always try to at least try a new lesson with each grade for the year. This past year I focused on creating more clay lessons with students and I was able to integrate three new lessons and change one of the older lessons I have done with 6th grade (Cubistic Faces). I am always looking for new inspiration and often find it while talking with colleagues and anyone who is willing to listen to little old me talk about art (my husband gets to listen to my ideas the most and my dogs, although they just wag their tails and go along with anything I say!)

Lots of tables this year with the many clay projects we were able to create. 

The mummy wall! 

Zentangle Mural! 

5th Grade Keith Haring Clay Figures from the beginning of the year

5th Clay Gargoyles are a 5th grade favorite project! 

4TH Grade African Masks= messy, colorful, and fun! 

Sarcophagus Designs: The largest (literally) 6th grade project. I would be safe to say this is something everyone looks forward to seeing up in the hallways!

April Vacation Adventures! 

April Vacation was full of working out (double sessions for three days, boy was I pooped!), walking my pups, catching up on graduate school work, making some delicious scrumptious food for the hubby and I, and....most importantly, working on finding some new artistic inspiration for myself as well as my students! What more could you ask for on a windy cooler than expected vacation? Seriously?

I was lucky enough to whisk my Mom and Aunt to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I have not been there since July, so it was way past my time to be there being inspired. We went to the quilt show that is currently on display. Honestly, I did not think it was going to be my cup of tea, but the second I walked in the gallery, WHAM! My eyes were lit with big beautiful colors and designs on this collection of quilts!

My camera does not do justice to the colors in these quilts...

Hello complementary colors! 6th grade just learned about these in their Egyptian Unit! 

My wonderful Mom and Aunt loving these    quilts. Pretty sure they were going to move into the gallery for the night. 

Ready for my favorite quilt? Drum roll please...

That is the one! My Mom mentioned it looks like it is from the era of the 60's (stuff I am always drawn towards), and it was...from the 1860's! 

The neat part about this exhibit are not only the complementary color connections that are made in these designs, but the composition of each quilt and how it was laid out. The craftsmanship was not too shabby as well. I have a new found respect for quilters everywhere and the amount of effort they place into creating these wonderful pieces of artwork that keep us warm all those cool nights in New England! 

So...this exhibit inspired me....and here is what I have been working on...

I am a bit involved with mandala like designs and bright watercolors! I could do this all day! 

Oh and here are my pups, Rigby on the left and Abby on the right. They are asking me to go for a run which we did a lot of this vacation! 

Now back to school and off for the last 7 weeks of creative energy!