We recently had artist Sabrina Ward Harrison visit our school to give an artist talk and workshop with the kids. Today I am going to introduce you to her artwork and life as an artist. In Part Two of this post, I will share with you some of the amazingly diverse mixed media collages that the students made in response to learning about her artwork. All of the artwork on this page was made by Sabrina. Her message to the … Read more…
To make these charming clay animal masks, we used plastic face molds (with a layer of plastic wrap in between) as a slump mold for the clay. Another option was to use the back side of a styrofoam bowl to shape the mask. The children added and secured the parts of the face. After firing, they were painted with clay glazes.
This month I participated in an Iron Pour event. This was put on by a group of iron artists in our community. My friend invited me to do this because she had done this last year and thought it was awesome. This is not something I would ever be able to do on my own because it involved an insane amount of set up, involving dangerous materials, smashing bathtubs, etc. First, we bought sand molds from the shop. Then, I … Read more…
My kindergartners recently made these pretty coffee filter snowflakes. The process is simple. First, color the coffee filter with Crayola washable markers. Then spray with water. The colors will run and blend together. Let dry. During the next class, fold the circle in half three times. Cut out shapes as you would a regular snowflake. Unfold and glue to a black piece of paper. Add designs with metallic paint markers or Crayola Metallic Markers.
I forgot to share these pictures of our display when I wrote the blog post about Talking Sticks. My co-worker Jayne taught the lesson behind these talking sticks which were Tree of Life acrylic paintings on canvas boards. They were done by middle school kids. Aren’t they gorgeous?
Here is a fun and beautiful Valentine’s project! I call it “Confetti Hearts” with a side of Matisse. This idea came to me after seeing these painted hearts on Pinterest. Start by tracing a heart template or free handing it if the kids are older. Then using one of my favorite products, Kwik Stix, add dashes and dabs of the “paint” all over the heart, like confetti. You can surely use oil pastels or paints, but Kwik Stix have the … Read more…
The talking stick is used in many Native American traditions. Whoever holds the stick has the right to talk. The talking stick is used to make sure that each person in a group has a chance to express his or her own thoughts. Everyone else has to show respect and remain silent. When the speaker is finished talking, he or she passes the stick. My 2nd graders created beautiful sticks with wire, chenille stems, beads, feathers and paint to be used as … Read more…
Little artists love digging into a big box of fabric scraps to find the perfect patterned piece that speaks to them. We have an upcoming Fine Arts Night with the theme of Animals. We are calling it “Wild about the Arts”, which someone suggested in the Facebook art teachers group. The 1st graders made these fun creature collages. First we read the book Zigzag by Robert Souci and looked at the illustrations of fabric dolls. The students made creature collages, either … Read more…
Here is a simple lesson to introduce your students to the primary colors. We started out by reading the book Mouse Paint, which is a fun story to teach about primary colors. My kindergartners, while I love them dearly, were having difficulties lately with classroom procedures. We needed to go back to the basics with simple materials until they understood how and why to clean up. I pulled out this idea that I got about 11 years ago when I first … Read more…
My students were treated to a visit by illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh. He is both Mexican and American. He grew up in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City. His images are inspired by ancient Mexican art, especially the Mixtec codex of the 14th and 15th centuries. Like the people and animals in the codex, the figures in his illustrations are always drawn in profile– their entire bodies are usually shown and their ears … Read more…
Another year has come and gone. Here are some of my favorite posts from 2016. Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year! My Top 6 Favorite Posts in 2016.. in no particular order. 1. Huge Printable List of “What Artists Do” The list is two pages long and can be printed and hung in your classroom as a reminder of all the things that artists do! Click on the image to find the downloadable pdfs. This goes along with a … Read more…
One type of art skill that I haven’t been the best at consistently teaching in my classroom is sewing. I was reminded of how you can sew on burlap after seeing some painted and stitched leaves at my daughter’s school. My third/fourth grade classes were often asking me if they could sew and I already had a lot of yarn and a roll of burlap at school. I wanted to share this idea with you quickly without a whole lot of … Read more…
Are you looking for a fun art project to try over winter break with your kids? Here is one that is sure to be festive, fun and creative! What you will need: watercolor paints pencil watercolor paper paint brush cup of water markers. For my own art, I prefer Micron markers, Sakura Koi markers, and Molotow White markers. stickers of your choice glue magazines assorted paper scraps of your choice 1. Begin by drawing a Christmas tree shape on a piece of … Read more…
My 3rd grade classes learned about African Korhogo Cloth paintings. They had been studying Africa in their Social Studies class. Here are some of the resources we used: information about the cloth paintings and a couple of YouTube videos– Take a Look at African Korhogo Cloth and Senufo Art (although I do caution you that there is some nudity at the beginning of this documentary in the intro, so start it after 20 seconds in). There is a really cool tribal dance portion … Read more…
On Friday, we had a visit to our school by author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh. See his artwork here. He is both Mexican and American. He grew up in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City. His artwork is inspired by Pre-Columbian art, particularly that of the Mixtec codex. His goal is to create images and stories that honor the past, but that are relevant to people, especially children, nowadays. His books are beautiful … Read more…
