Zoo Field Trip Pictures!!

Jacob Lawrence Project!

I truly enjoyed this project!  This artist really is a conversation starter.  We discussed slavery, Harriet Tubman, and so much more.  The students learned that Jacob Lawrence enjoyed bold colors, angular figures, and drawing every day scenes (although we talked about his political pieces, as well).  Fifth grade did a great job!

* Note: The information about the artist is turned around due to testing.

Holton Rower Pour Paint Project

Holton Rower is a contemporary artist who uses many gallons of paint to create bright, colorful pieces.  His work reminds me of the early modern Color Field art style.  Sixth grade layered cardboard together to create height and then poured several colors on top of each other.  I love all the bands of color----what a fun, albeit messy lesson!!

To learn more about Holton Rower click on the link below:
http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/holton-rowers

Sixth Grade Playing Cards

 This was a long project, but the end results were totally worth it!  I love how creative some of the students got!  We discussed the proportions of the face and then used charcoal to make a print of our design.  The students chose a card character and then painted it in.  This one is Katie C's in Miss Kocher's class.  Nice work!

Moving on to ASIA!

 I am so excited to discuss Asian art!!!!  I have been excited to go here since the beginning of the year, but wanted to wait until the weather got nicer so we could make cherry blossoms!  More to come soon!

Why the Zoo?

The Pittsburgh Zoo is a great place to take our art club students for many reasons! 

Last year I did an animal unit with sixth grade and I was amazed at their enthusiasm and art work.  We borrowed animal books from the library and each student chose one animal to draw.  In addition, the students had to research three facts about their animal.  This research prepared my art club kids for their Zoo trip last year and it was fun to hear them talk about the animals at the Zoo.

Students can also bring digital cameras to the Zoo to take pictures of the animals.  Once the sixth graders get to high school, they may enter their photos in the Scholastic competition.  This year, one of our own students, Eli Porbin (seventh grade), won a gold key and a trip to New York for his animal picture.  Congratulations Eli!!!

Field Trip to the Zoo!!!

I just want to take a moment to thank all the parents, teachers, and staff for purchasing flowers off of the art club!!!  I am amazed at how well this fundraiser turned out to be and am so appreciative of all the support!  We sold 185 flower pots total, which enables the elementary art club to go to the Zoo this Spring!  Thank you all for helping out our art club!

Shape Mobiles!

 

This lesson involved several parts!  First, we discussed what a mobile was and looked at the artist, Alexander Calder.  Then, we talked about Jackson Pollock and his splatter paint method-which we recreated during a messy, but fun art class.  Lastly, we discussed geometric shapes and their properties.  Some students made hearts, though:)  What a project!

Always Rise Above!

I was searching butterfly pictures for a lesson and I came across this quote!  Always rise above and keep looking forward! 

Shape Sail Boats and Mardi Gras Masks

This board is a little random, but I like the way it turned out anyway!  First grade practiced shapes and created lovely sailboats on the ocean.  Second grade learned about Mardi Gras AND Carnaval, Brazils "Mardi Gras." 

Dress Up As Your Favorite Character From a Book!

 

Miss Songer, Miss Janet, and I dressed up as The Three Blind Mice on Friday:)  Next year more planning will go into our characters, but we got a lot of laughs from our attires:) 

The Lorax Bulletin Board!!!

Reading Week!!!

 

My sixth grade Art Club had a blast making this banner for Read Across America week!  What a fun week!

Art Club!!!!

Black History Month

 

 

 

Although we have celebrated the African American culture in other lessons, I love studying these two artists during this time of the year.  It is so important for our students to learn about other cultures and what better way to do that than learning through art?!  

Faith Ringgold is an African American artist and author.  We read her book, Tar Beach, in fourth grade and met the character, Cassie Louise Lightfoot.  Cassie dreamed of flying over New York and claiming structures and buildings as her own.  For this project, students are to think of a place they have never been, but would like to "fly over" and see for themselves.  They will draw this and then place squared paper around, re-creating a quilt look.  

To learn more about the artist Faith Ringgold, please click the link below:

 http://www.faithringgold.com/ringgold/default.htm

Jacob Lawrence was an artist from Harlem, New York.  He depicted every day life scenes of African Americans, as well as the historical struggles that African Americans have endured.  Lawrence liked to use the same colors and symbols throughout his different series.  His style is very expressive and abstract.  Fifth grade is going to use their imagination to think of an every day scene that they would like to depict.  They will be drawing African American figures for this project and will use similar colors throughout their work. 

To learn more about Jacob Lawrence, please click the link below:

http://www.biography.com/people/jacob-lawrence-9375562#!

Ted Harrison

 

Ted Harrison is a Canadian artist that loved making brightly colored landscapes.  In some of his work, Harrison often included an Inukshuk.  An Inukshuk was a rock marker that was used by natives to communicate.  Third grade used watercolors and wax-resist process to create their own landscape.  Well done Mrs. Maidment's class!!




To learn more about Ted Harrison please click the link below:
http://tedharrison.com/about/biography/
To learn more about Inukshuk's click here:
http://www.inukshukgallery.com/inukshuk.html

Valentine's Day Art and Display

Paul Klee Castles

Paul Klee is a very neat artist!  We took a look at his castles and examined all the shapes and colors that he used to create his work.  Fifth grade used watercolors to create their own architecture.  They turned out beautiful!

Let's Paint!!!

Sometimes we just need to get messy and paint!!!  We took a look at a few tropical fish and then I showed the students how to use simple shapes to create fish.  I enjoyed this project!

Primary and Secondary Clowns!!

 

Clowns are funny and colorful--just what we need during these cold, gray months!  Second grade learned about the three primary colors (red, blue and yellow) and the three secondary colors (purple, orange, and green) and used shapes to create a very unique clown!!!  These make me smile every day I walk into the elementary building:)

Sixth Grade Collagraphs

 

Collagraphs are a form of printmaking and consists of assembling different materials together.  The students had a variety of items to choose from for this project.  The overall theme was, "Winter."  I loved how these turned out.  The students also wrote a project reflection and I realized that a lot of the kids did not like how the print turned out different from the original collagraph.  Printmaking is tricky and does not show all of the details.  Overall, I believe they enjoyed the process.

Abstract Line Sculptures

Third grade learned about the art element, line.  We used straws covered with tissue paper to create a unique line sculpture.  Nice work third grade!!

Art Nouveau Mirrors

 

For this project we took a look at the art style, Art Nouveau.   Art Nouveau involved swirling lines, mythical creatures, and gold details.  The students created their own design and added gold touches with metallic paper.  They turned out amazing!  Great job fourth grade!

To learn more about Art Nouveau, please click the link below:

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-art-nouveau.htm

3D Projects

We finished these projects in December, but I never got the chance to post them!  The kids always amaze me with their work.  The airplane was a project a student came up with and the gingerbread houses were made from old shoe boxes!!  

Moroccan Flag

Moroccan Tile Project

What a cool project!!!  One of our fifth grade students has family from Morocco and her mom lend us some neat artifacts for us to look at.  We learned that Morocco architect has beautiful tile work and so each student created their very own, unique design.  We discussed symmetry and color--the students did an amazing job!!!