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Category Archives: contemporary artists

Collaborative Mural Inspired by Tula Pink

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A colorful geometric art display featuring various patterned and brightly hued triangles on a green background, inspired by Tula Pink's designs.

I wanted to share our wonderful results of this collaborative mural project inspired by the artist Tula Pink‘s Tridazzler Quilt. This idea was created by Don Masse, of Shine Brite Zamorano. Check out his blog here to see the directions for this project. Here is the Tridazzler Quilt the project was inspired by. We precut squares and triangles for the kids. First, they glued the triangle to the square. Then they used a ruler to draw the lines and then … Read more… →

Art of the Brick: Nathan Sawaya Lego Exhibit

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A sculpture by Nathan Sawaya features a human figure made of yellow LEGO bricks, ripping open its chest with bricks spilling out. This piece is part of the "Art of the Brick" Lego exhibit.

Happy Spring! It is Spring Break for us and we took a little trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. We saw an awesome Lego exhibit at the museum by artist Nathan Sawaya. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend visiting the museum to see this exhibit. My favorite pieces were the ones in which he recreated famous works of art throughout art history. There were some impressive animal sculptures as well as a fantastic … Read more… →

Mr. Doodle Inspired Doodling Pictures

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A colorful, abstract drawing of a unicorn with a rainbow mane and hearts in the background, inspired by Mr. Doodle’s whimsical style.

My 4th/5th graders learned about the artist Mr. Doodle and watched several videos of him doodling. You can see his artwork on his Facebook page. We talked about emphasis and the focal point and how to make the main image the largest. All of the supporting doodles would be smaller and surrounding the image. Take a look at some of the doodle art my 4th/5th grade students made after being inspired by the work of Mr. Doodle.

Amy Sherald and Howard Gardner at NAEA ’19 Conference

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Portrait of a woman sitting and wearing a patterned dress against a light blue background.

The National Art Education Association conference this year had some thought-provoking and inspiring speakers, as usual! In this post, I will tell you about Amy Sherald and Howard Gardner. Next, I will share about Peter Reynolds! Amy Sherald, portrait artist The first speaker I went to see was Amy Sherald, who is best known as the portrait artist for Michelle Obama’s presidential portrait. Here is a video of her talking about this portrait. Amy Sherald creates large scale figurative paintings … Read more… →

Pop Art Snowmen Project

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Pop Art Snowmen Project

I have a new art lesson plan to show you! I wrote this for a substitute lesson, but you can make it as simple or complex as you want to. My students were very interested in watching me design my snowman picture and they were amazed at how detailed the background was, but also they felt confident they could create a Pop Art snowman picture of their own. This lesson is available for purchase in my shop and includes Snowman … Read more… →

Bucky Badger Designs by Kids

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A collage of colorful, hand-drawn Bucky Badger designs dressed in various themed costumes, featuring playful designs, displayed vertically.

This past summer, there were painted Bucky Badger sculptures all over our city.  The Badger is the mascot of the University of Wisconsin.  I wrote all about it in a previous blog post which you can read here. I shared already the large collaborative Bucky Badger puzzle designs we made.  After we made the large group Buckys, each student made their own smaller Bucky design.  They had the opportunity to design it however they wanted.  Take a look at some … Read more… →

Yayoi Kusama Dotted Pumpkins for Kids

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A stylized yellow pumpkin with dots and lines on a colorful, patterned background, inspired by Yayoi Kusama.

I love the results of this dotted pumpkin project inspired by the dotted pumpkins of Yayoi Kusama.  I did this art lesson with 3rd/4th grade. (Amazon Affiliate links have been used, at no extra cost to you.) I based our project after the lesson taught on the blog Plastiquem.  First, I read the book Yayoi Kusama, From Here to Infinity, which is an inspirational book about her artwork and life.  This is on my list of top 10 favorite books … Read more… →

Bucky on Parade- Group Puzzle Artworks

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Bucky on Parade- Group Puzzle Artworks

This summer, my kids and I had fun hunting for Buckys!  Bucky Badger is the mascot of the University of Wisconsin.  Bucky on Parade  was a community and public art event.  85 painted Bucky sculptures were placed all over the city and surrounding areas.   Kids (and adults) followed the maps to find the Buckys.  Prizes were awarded as kids checked them off their list.  The Buckys were auctioned off to raise money for charity. Here are some pictures of our … Read more… →

Whimsical Landscapes (Justin Vining artist study)

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A colorful abstract drawing featuring a mix of landscapes, cityscapes, and whimsical elements like waves and a rocket, inspired by Justin Vining's artist study.

I love this lesson!  I teach about contemporary artist Justin Vining and the kids explore the qualities of watercolor pencils to create their own whimsical landscapes. You can see artwork from another year at this blog post. You can read my interview with Justin Vining here. I even got this lesson published in a magazine! Here are some of my 4th/5th grade students’ artworks from the end of last year. When teaching this lesson, I show the students some YouTube … Read more… →

Zen Houses Workshop with Jodi Ohl

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Whimsical painting of a small, charming cottage with a stone chimney and colorful bunting. A sign reads "The Cozy Creative Cottage,".

I have been a fan of Jodi Ohl‘s artwork for many years.  She has a fun, whimsical style.  Last summer, I went to a workshop taught by her and had so much fun that I signed up for another weekend painting class with her.  The theme last summer was Zen Painting (in an abstract style).  This summer, the class I signed up for was Zen Houses, which uses similar techniques taught in the Zen Painting class.  I loved both of … Read more… →

Found Object Puppets

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Two colorful cardboard face masks with yarn hair, painted features, and button decorations on sticks make charming found object puppets.

My 1st graders had a blast making these found object puppets from recycled materials.  We read this book by Hanoch Piven. To get the full lesson plan with materials list, parental note, background info and student reflection sheet visit my Teachers Pay Teachers shop to download.

Cube Mural Inspired by Street Artist Thank YouX

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Two colorful, decorated cubes with drawings and patterns. One side features a goose, resembling the style of street artist Thank YouX.

Earlier this year, my co-worker Jayne found the idea to make a collaborative school-wide paper mural based on the artwork of Thank YouX.  The idea for a student mural originally came from Jenell Novello and you can see the lesson plan write-up on Artsonia.  She also so generously provided the lesson plan and templates on Google docs. Thank You X got his name by accident.  In 2009 Andy Warhol’s spray painted portrait was spotted on a city street in L.A..  … Read more… →

Zen Painting Workshop

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Zen Painting Workshop

I went to a really fun painting workshop last summer for a weekend which I never shared on my blog…. until now!  The workshop is called Zen Painting and it was taught by Jodi Ohl.  I have been following Jodi Ohl’s blog for many years.  When I was looking for some hands-on professional development for the soul, I noticed she was teaching at Shake Rag Alley, which is only 45 minutes away from my house.  My co-worker Martha, who teaches … Read more… →

Romero Britto Inspired Animals

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Romero Britto Inspired Animals

Romero Britto‘s colorful and bold style appeals to children and many people of all ages. Why do I love Romero Britto? Because he’s making things that are HAPPY and the world needs more of that. It works great to tie in with the study of patterns. His art is full of color. Kids can relate to it. His artwork has been made into many products, which shows ways artists can make a living as a contemporary artist and the potential … Read more… →

In Case You Missed It: Frank Stella Inspired Children’s Art Project

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Abstract artwork featuring intertwined red ribbons and geometric shapes on a dark background framed with a colorful border.

Two and a half years ago I posted this lesson about using Frank Stella’s artwork as inspiration for children’s drawings.  I love Frank Stella’s work.  After visiting an art museum and seeing an exhibit of the progression of his style, I was hooked.  It is so fascinating and there is a lot to look at.  The sheer size of these prints are stunning. In case you haven’t figure out by now, my favorite style of art is BUSY, abstract, super … Read more… →

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.