Dog Art

I like to show my students that I'm not just an art teacher. I share with them things I may be working on. The students enjoyed seeing me finish these paintings of my niece's and nephew's

dogs.

More Calder Sculptures

The students used all kinds of found materials for these wire sculptures. They had to make sure that they could stand up and stay together. Look for more sculpture in the case at school.

Light the Way

I went to "Light the Way: A Community Holiday Art Project" at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Indianapolis, Thursday, December 4, 2008. The luminary display of barrels idea was created by local artist Tom Torluemke in cooperation with the artists and residents of the King Park Area. The carved barrels were on display and carols were sung at the event. It was really cold but I was happy to see so many people turn out to support this cool event.

Calder Circus

Here are some of the very creative wire sculptures the fourth grade artists made.

We studied Alexander Calder,

we watched footage of the artist performing the circus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWS96nzFUks and looked at many of his works of art. We also read Roar! Calder Circus. Then the student artists got to work.

While we were on the field trip to the IMA the students were lucky enough to see three Calder pieces. If anyone is going to Chicago over the holidays I suggest you check out the Calder exhibit at the Contemporary Museum of Art.

Indianapolis Museum of Art

The fourth grade went to the IMA to visit the contemporary galleries. The trip was a success! The students were well prepared for their visit and had learned about many of the pieces we saw. The students especially likes Thorton Dial's flag and Calder's Mobile. If you have never been to the IMA please go. Visit their website www.imamuseum.org. It is free and has so much to offer. Make sure to Check out their family days.

Thorton Dial

IMA entrance

Thorton Dial

Alexander Calder

More architecture

flow

Flow



We love studio time to just create. The first grade artists used pastels and paint to make these big 18x24 paintings. They are given no guidelines and are encouraged to use their imaginations. This is when we achieve flow in the studio. (Flow is when the student is completely absorbed into the project.)

More Owls

Look whooo's painting.

The first grade artists read several books about owls. They studied the habits of owls then created these artworks using their painting and sequencing skills.

Drawing from life

These are the pastel drawings the third grade artists made. They first made many line drawings of the pumpkins. They had no idea that pumpkins could be so difficult to draw! Once they became pumpkin professionals they made these pastel drawings. The biggest discovery was how to draw the stems and the sections of the pumpkins behind the stems.

That time of year

The first grade finished these pieces of work this week. For these artworks the student artists studied trees (roots, trunk,bark, crown, branches and leaves). They studied hot and cold colors. They learned why leaves change color. They learned what happens when you paint on wet paper and then hold it upright. They also learned about silhouettes. The artists also enjoyed the joke "why didn't the cat go near the tree?....It was afraid of the BARK!"

Second Grade Architecture

This book is a perfect start to the second grade architecture unit. We also watched Bill Nye The Science Guy
talk about architecture. The second grade was amazed to see so many elements of architecture in our studio. We watch a power point on houses of the world and realized that not everyone lives in the same kind of structures. We discussed form+function in regards to our creations.

We started sketching our structures today. The students had to add seven elements of architecture to their creations. We are using books and booklets that are filled with different elements as resources.
Wow! I want to live in these houses.

Fouth Grade Still Life

Line Drawing

The fourth grade started a still life drawing. The artists started with blind contour line drawings, contour line drawings and line drawings. Many of the artists could not quite keep themselves from looking at their papers for the blind exercise so I had them make their drawing in a bag. The drawings were completed with oil pastels.