The Shamrock Studio

Mail as Art

2012-02-10T09:07:00.000-08:00

I have invited a few students to be part of the Shamrock Springs Afternoon Art Co-op, I think we could probably think of a better and shorter name. Our theme was mail as art. We used many different techniques to create artvelopes or art-envelopes. We were inspired by this book. The idea was to make the envelope a traveling piece of artwork. The co-op kids have some great ideas of who they would like to send them to.

Here are some of the envelopes we are going to send out to people.

Be on the look out for an artvelope in you mail box.

Under the Snow

2012-01-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade artists have been printing for the past few sessions. We were inspired to make these artworks after reading the book Over and Under the Snow. The lesson taught the young artist the many steps it takes to make print.

We also enjoyed looking at this print and many of the other prints from Banquet Atelier and Workshop

A quick still life before break

2012-01-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade had finished their architecture unit before winter break so they created these poinsettia still lifes. Pretty cool.

Creative Kinders

2012-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Texture collage with the Dadas

2012-01-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade artists made these collages while they were studying the Dada artists. We learned that this is one of the techniques the Dadaists used. There is also a lot of images on the web that celebrate this technique.

Click here for more information.

The Marshmallow Challenge

2011-08-25T05:12:00.000-07:00

It is great to be back in the Shamrock Art Studio. To start off the year third and fourth grade artists stretched their creative and team building skills with the Marshmallow Challenge. The class was split into 6 teams of 4 artists, they got 20 pieces of dried spaghetti, a yard of tape, a yard of string, one big marshmallow and 5 little marshmallows. The task was to build the tallest structure and top it with marshmallow, that was it, the rest was up to them.

Pictoscope

2011-05-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

The fourth grade has been exploring was of seeing. We created these pictoscopes with recycled cd holders and hole reinforcers. We added eyebrows to complete the efeect. Then the students set out to use their eyes.
Inpiration for this projects is found here:

I have caps yes I do, I have caps how bout' you?

2011-05-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

The cap collecting went over like gang busters, I have more caps than I do themes for panels. Thank you to all the students who brought in caps for the artwork. A special thanks goes to you that sent in cleaned caps. My room kind of smells of spoiled milk. Please, no more caps. I need my counter space back. But if you have extra yarn I sure could use that. Here are a few more of the panels we have made. The theme ties into what each of the grade studies throughout the year.

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

First Grade

Judith Scott

2011-05-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Judith Scott

The Third grade artists learn of the work of the artist Judith Scott. Judith Scott is a fiber artists who wrapped forms with strings and fabric to create unusual and beautiful sculptures. Judith was born with Downs Syndrome and lived most of her life in an institution until her twin sister took her to California to live with her. There Judith was enrolled in art classes and took off creating sculptures. The art world noticed Judith's work and art collectors and museums all over the world collect and exhibit her sculptures.
A short clip about Judith:
Judith Scott Clip

Judith's work

The third grade artists learned about Judith and her life, the learned about different materials to create a 3-d form and they created these objects, much in the manner of Judith.

The Rest is Up To You

2011-05-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

Like many kids, third grader Cohen Morano likes to watercolor. What's different about Cohen's paintings is that his father, Aye Jay, sends them out into the world to be embellished and altered by a stellar roster of artists and illustrators. The resulting collaborations between Cohen and a host of hip partners—including Gary Baseman, Shepard Fairey, Paul Frank, Barry McGee, Chris Ware, and Mark Ryden—form a striking and playful body of work. The Rest Is Up To You conveys a sincere message about the importance of making art with children. Families and art buffs alike will be inspired by what Cohen and his heroes have created.

The Rest is Up To You

That is exactly what the collaborative effort between the first and fourth grade artists was all about. First, the first grade artist learned about abstract and formalist artworks, then with water colors they created two different works that were abstract; just shapes, colors and lines. Then the fourth grade artists studied the work of Sandrine Estrade Boulet to work on ways of seeing. Then I gave the fourth grade two paintings from a first grader and the "rest was up to them". I will hand back to the first graders one piece and the fourth grade gets the other. Here are the results.

Not Starry Night

2011-04-27T17:16:00.000-07:00

Every year the second grade artists create their own version of Starry Night. Althought the elements of the painting my resemble Van Gogh's classic work, there is a cypress tree, a village and a horizon line, the time of day and the weather has to be change.

Sunny Evening

Silent Midnight

Stormy Day

Snowy Morning

More Modern Greek Gods, Goddesses and Monsters

2011-04-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

I love these, they make me crack up. I am constantly amazed at the cleverness of the art students.

The students had to pick a Greek God, Goddess or Monster and put him in 2011.

Great job third grade artists!

Poseidon on the swim team

Medusa playing Wii bowling

Artemis wins first prize

Hades plays for the Miami Heat

Hades at Boy Scouts

Harpies as cheerleaders (the H is for Hawks)

A young cyclops playing with his (human) puppets.

All star wrestling champ Zeus.

Greek Art

2011-03-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

Each year the students learn all about Greek vases, the classical order and the impact that ancient Greece has on our society- We make ceramic stamps to punch out Greek coins and decorate "black figure vases". But the favorite part is creating a portrait of a Greek God, Goddess or monster in 2011. The third grade comes up with some fantastic ideas - here are just a few examples:

Hades, unfinished

Medusa, at the beach

Zeus, playing for the Cubs (they could use him)

Cyclops family

A Harpie on Idol

Kindergarten Self Portraits

2011-03-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

The kindergarten artists looked at a lot of examples of self portraits. We discussed proportion, shape and color. We talked about how our heads are ovals not circles, our eyes are football shaped, not circles, we learned that we have irises and pupils. The kinder artists made collages on paper that we printed earlier with found objects. I love the hats, jewelry, hair and mustaches in the work!

Collaborative weaving

2011-03-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

The second grade artists are collaborating when they have free time. They are weaving with found objects. We looked at the art of a couple artists that weave with uncommon goods. I can't wait till the pieces are finished.

Student work

Dixon Stetler

Elizabeth Morristte

Even More Book Projects

2011-03-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

The book projects are still nearing completion. I am amazed at the students variety of creations.

Flower Ring

Anna's fashionable feathered hat

A trio if dogs a la Paste: http://pastesf.com/index.html

A crown

High seas collage

The jewelry collection

Alli's doll

This artwork is an homage to the artist's grandmother who had bug collections.

More Paper Art

2011-03-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

As the fourth grade artists finish up their work I was amazed at the artwork they created. Some of the work I never got a chance to see until they were finished, those students took the reins and worked independently. Other students needed technical direction on building, materials, and assembling. I manned the hot glue gun for anyone who needed it. This was such a fun project with exciting results. Everyone of the fourth grade artists created something really great.

Space, the Final Frontier

2011-03-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

Art teacher's log, star date: March 3, 2011

The first grade artists finished their space pictures, each step of the way they were amazed at what they created: Cool looking planets with pastels, deep dark flat space with black tempera that really made the planets pop out, super neat space crafts, and the piece de resistance- GLITTER STARS!!!
This is the one day a year I bust out the glitter and it is an all out celebration.

More Book Art

2011-03-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

Flowers

People Collage

The Capitol

Flowers

Mr. Owl

Globe

Flamingo

They are finally getting finished

2011-03-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade artists latest assignment was that they were presented with a medium and the artists had to think up an idea and create it. The medium I presented was books (great old books that were donated from a local library and parent donations). The students had to sketch, present and create their idea. We looked at many resources including blogs, artworks and museum shows to inspire us. There are so many great sights for book and paper art. There even is a great show on-line from the Museum of Art and Design.
http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/

http://frazierandwing.blogspot.com/

http://www.thurle.com/

http://collections.madmuseum.org/html/exhibitions/485.htm

lhttp://agoodideaonpaper.blogspot.com/

But one of our biggest resources was from the author and artist Jason Thompson and his book:

Playing with Books: The Art of Upcycling,

Deconstructin and Reimaginig the Book

http://ragandbone.com/blog/

The students work has been fantastic!

Mushrooms

London Sights

Winged Book

Radial Design using an old CD and magazines

Watch out for the tornado!

Wolf head

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Word Bird

Please keep checking back for more work. I will post it as it gets finished.

Kindergarten Ceramics

2011-03-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

The kindergarten artists made these tiles. They used a stamp with their initial and then decorated the rest of the piece with patterns. Then finished them with some color, wire and beads.

2011-02-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

How does that happen?

2011-01-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

Sometime in the art classroom things happen that crack me up. Well here is one of them-

Cooper was using glue and applying it to his work with a Q-tip. I guess he got pretty carried away. Paint in the face, marker on the nose, paint water in your lap..the kids are always good sports and laugh as much as I do at the mishaps. Good times.

Weaving Accomplished

2011-01-21T11:17:00.000-08:00

The second grade fiber artists have finished their circle weaving and they are very excited about the work. The artists could finish off their piece of work by coloring in the loom or taking their work off the loom and making a "nest". Either way they are super cool.

Art that raises awareness and helps others

2011-01-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

Craftivism is a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper & your quest for justice more infinite.

The long definition and background history:
http://craftivism.com/definition.html

Here a few examples of craftivism that the students here at Shamrock will be learning about. There are so many craft causes, what a great way to use our hands.

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project:
http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/hreef/index.html

Naomi's Tree:
http://yarnbombing.com/cheery-cherry-bombing

Just paint

2011-01-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

So often young students are told what they need to do, how they need to do it, what to do when they are done..everything is a directive. Being able to just create often gets swept aside with assignments and data collecting. In the art room, I like to be able to give the students amble time to just explore a material, no directions, just them and their brush (and Dave Brubeck on the stereo). The room fills with such great creative energy and the young artists are so engaged in their work they seem to lose track of time and distractions. They are also truly proud of their artistic choices.

More Collages

2011-01-18T12:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pieces of art by the third and fourth grade artists. For an explanation of the work scroll down to the previous posts. These works show me just how clever the young artists can get. I love the Klieg lights in the last piece!

Whooo's Painting Ceramic Owls?

2011-01-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

The first graders, that's who! After making some great owl paintings the first grade artists created clay owls. We were focusing on getting a lot of texture onto our owls and including all the owl parts. They get crazy excited about clay, the class is a riot. I love it.

More Collages

2011-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Here is more work by the third and fourth grade artists. Look at the post below to see the link to the artist whose work inspired the project.

Ryan Kapp's work

Grade 4

Grade 3

New Work

2011-01-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

Third and fourth grade are working on a great quick lesson I saw over the holidays. It came from a teacher in California :
http://zamoranoarts.blogspot.com/2010/12/making-things-brighter.html

and features an artists from Chicago:
http://ryankapp.com/prints/

I love the lesson because it packs a lot of punch for a collage. We worked on background, middle ground and foreground. We learned about analogous colors, revisited shape and balance. What was fun for the kids was to look at Ryan's prints, they were familiar with the silkscreen process and loved the cool factor of his skateboard decks.

I couldn't wait to get these up on the blog. I do not think that they are even finished with this work, so I will put up more work when it is completed.

Different but the Same

2011-01-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in art class we will do things a little bit different. The kindergarten is drawing pictures of peace, we learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr , they love to hear the stories of how "he was really nice to people" and "how he tried to help people". Part of the lesson includes talking about differences. To illustrate the same but different we look at a brown egg and a white egg and consider their sameness and differences. We discuss how they are like people and we then guess if the eggs will be the same on the inside even thought the are different on the outside. I love this lesson and it has such a strong visual element to it that the students always remember it.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

2011-01-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

Millions of Americans are expected to honor Dr. King and answer President Obama's call to service by volunteering on the January 19 King Holiday. More than 11,400 service projects are taking place across the country, more than double last year. Americans will make it "a day on, not a day off" by delivering meals, refurbishing schools, reading to children, signing up mentors, and much, much more.

Find a volunteer event in central Indiana.

The following events are scheduled for Monday, January 19th, in honor of Martin Luther King Day. See Indy Downtown Inc. for more events.

• 16th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Breakfast. This free event encourages youth to embrace Dr. King's non-violent principles of respect, dignity and stability, while highlighting the importance of education and youth leadership. At George Washington Community High School, 2215 W. Washington St. Breakfast is served from 8:30-9:30 a.m. and the program runs from 10-noon. Christamore House: 317-635-7211.

• The Children's Museum will offer free admission.

• The Indiana Historical Society - The society presents its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Day Celebration. Family activities and crafts, discussions, spoken word, storytelling, and dance and musical performances from the Asante Children's Theatre, Kenyetta Dance Company, Tasha Jones and the Write Me Project and The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. The Martin Luther King Community Center will present their annual "Living the Legacy" award in the afternoon. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St. Free admission. 317-232-1882.

• Indianapolis Museum of Art - Free programs and activities from noon-6 p.m., including art-making activities, guided tours and, at 6 p.m. in the Tobias Theater, a performance of The Music, Martin & Me. The presentation uses photographs, video, spoken word and a diverse stylistic mix of live music to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s impact. Free tickets are available the day of the performance. 317-923-1331.

• The Madame Walker Theatre Center presents "Keep the Dream Alive" at 12:15 p.m. The event follows the Freedom Walk, which begins at noon at the Indianapolis Urban League, down the street from the theatre at 777 Indiana Ave. A procession will make its way down the sidewalk to the theater. 317-236-2099.
• University of Indianapolis - Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration from noon to 1:30 pm at the Ransburg Auditorium. Patricia Russell-McCloud (former Federal Communications Commission attorney) is featured speaker. The free program will also include music by the campus Jazz Combo and Concert Choir. 317-788-3583.

• White River State Park - Free admission to park attractions with a canned good donation to Gleaners Food Bank, and free parking. Guests on MLK Day can register to win a trip for four to Washington, D.C.

Circle Weaving

2011-01-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

The Second graders have started circle weaving on cardboard rounds. I really do not like weaving myself, but I have found that the student artists think it's the bomb!

We will start to add more textural yarn and add-ons as we progress. The hardest part was getting the warp on the loom. I have to thank Mr. E for posting guidelines.

http://artwithmre.blogspot.com/2009/11/ends-outs-of-circle-weaving.html

Check back for the finished products.

The poem by my desk

2011-01-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

There is an old taped up piece of paper on my file cabinet by my desk. On that piece of paper is a poem I cup out five years ago. It reminds me of the wonder of children and why I love to teach, even on days when I might feel grumpy. Enjoy

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2006/09/25#

Winter Break is Here!!

2010-12-17T06:50:00.001-08:00

What a snowy week. The view out of the art classroom is a winter wonderland.

The fourth grade finished up the week with a bit of recycling. By folding two magazines and securing them together they created this repurposed tree sculpture. It was a fun and relaxing project for all of us.

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/how-to/how-to-make-a-magazine-christmas-tree-072467

Second Grade Architecture

2010-12-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Moyer's second grade artists were studying architecture. I already had three other second garde classes create painted houses using the elements of architecture that we had learned about. I was ready for a change. I had seen this lesson on the web and thought it might be fun to try out, I really liked the line characteristics.
The second grade studies suburban, urban and rural so we incorporated that into our lesson. The lines were created with pieces of cardboard. The background was made with tissue paper. The artist's really liked the way the color mixed when they glued the tissue down. I wish I could remember where is found this lesson- it is cool.

Even More Prints

2010-11-19T11:32:00.001-08:00

Turn that frown upside down!

Building Big

2010-11-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

The second grade artists have been working on architecture and finishing up paintings of houses that include some of the elements of architecture that they learned about. I decided we needed to take a beak from working on the paintings to BUILD BIG!

Even More Prints

2010-11-18T09:01:00.001-08:00

More Prints

2010-11-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

More Anthony Burrill

2010-11-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

English artists Anthony Burrill (whose prints we studied before the fourth grade made their own prints) created this poster for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. He uses the oil from the disaster to make the print. Please watch the video of the creation of this print below.

http://vimeo.com/15770806

Anthony Burrill

2010-11-15T11:22:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade artists studied the work of the English artist Anthony Burrill. He creates videos, installations, illustrations and these uplifting prints. After the fourth grade artists learned the process of printing they then begin the process of creating a clever poster.

http://www.anthonyburrill.com/purchase/make-your-mark.html

Silk Screen with a Message

2010-11-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade artists have been learning about silk screen printing. After an initial introduction to the process the students then viewed the work of artist Anthony Burrill

http://www.anthonyburrill.com/purchase/make-your-mark.html

The student artists then took some time to brain storm and come up with their own positive and clever prints. We also talked about changing the rules around school from negatives (no talking) to positive directives (mouths off).

Zip it

Think

Cutie pie

Put ups

(Instead of put downs)

Mouth Off

Third Grade Prints

2010-10-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

The third grade finished learning about Andy Warhol's prints. Using the themes from pop artist's the student artists used repetition, complementary colors and "popular" images to create these prints. Flash light

Eye Glasses

Shamrock

Tree

Silk screen prints

2010-10-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

The fourth grade continued with their exploration of the properties of the silkscreen. There were quite a few successes considering this is the first time the students used this medium and we are using finger paints instead of ink. For those struggling with the many variables of printmaking we will be continuing printing for a couple more weeks.

Fourth Grade Factory

2010-10-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Andy Warhol has a show up at the IMA. The show is fun and whimsical and highlights Andy's commercial side. There is a lot of familiar items to see in the show. Relating to that show I thought the students would like to know what materials Andy worked with. Today we busted out the silkscreens. I would have taking picture while the students worked but it was rather hectic, I think the next period the students have with the screens will be more successful. They will have a better understanding of the process.

ABC easy as 123

2010-10-13T07:31:00.001-07:00

Kindergarten is learning what it takes to make a "complete" painting. They also followed a lot of directions: Use your letters as designs, use different types of line, outlining, please do not cram your brush into the paint, no painting your neighbor, you get the idea. I think they turned out pretty cool.

First Grade Takes the Plunge(r)

2010-10-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

The first grade is studying the primary colors, the artist Mondrian and line. Here the young artists experiment with alternative methods of printmaking.

Want to know what artists do?

2010-10-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1qvPWW_dNA

Drawn to Abstraction

2010-10-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

The fourth grade made representational drawings from a still life of glass vases and bottles. They learned all about the circle in space- the ellipse- and then colored in the drawing to abstract the work.
The artist and illustrator James McMullan is writing a series about drawing for the the New York Times, it is published every Friday for the next twelve weeks. The First lesson talk about with what ease and gusto children draw and create. The second lesson Mr. McMullan discussed ellipses! I couldn't wait to show the kids that what they are doing in fourth grade art class an artist in New York is teaching his adult readers. We even e-mailed him out work. What a fun connection.
See the articles here:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/getting-back-to-the-phantom-skill/

Mr. McMullan's reply to our e-mail:

Hi Rebecca,
The work from your class looks great! I think they still have the phantom skill that everyone is trying to get back to.
Keep up the good work.

Works in Progress

2010-09-09T11:23:00.001-07:00

A lot of serious decisions were being made in the art classroom this week. Here are the starts to some of the paintings. Scroll down the blog to see some finished products.

Third Grade Paints

2010-09-09T10:08:00.001-07:00

After the third grade worked with symmetry and color theory we busted out the paints and big paper for studio time. The students got palettes with the primary colors and created an artwork of their own imagination. So, with the jazz on and minds open the artists started churning our some pretty cool work. a guitar.

I love the fez on this animals head!

Great shaped and colors on the birds!

This bug lights up the paper!

Manipulated by First Graders

2010-09-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

After we finish artwork and are in between work I always bust out the manipulatives. It is amazing to see what these little artists minds come up with.

Hardware and electrical supplies, this is usually a fan favorite.

Wooden blocks create robots.

Rough hewn tiles create mosaics or train tracks.

Vinyl scraps with sticky backs create masterpieces.

Our busy studio

The Fourth Grade Dadaists

2010-09-01T04:58:00.000-07:00

"Everybody can Dada"
—Dada-Fair, Berlin, poster, 1919

"Dada blasted onto the scene in 1916 with ear-splitting enthusiasm: rowdy, brazen, irreverent, and assaulting. Its sounds were clamorous, its visions were shocking, and its language was explosive. Yet Dada was not aimless anarchy. Rather, the artists were responding to the violence and trauma of World War I—and to the shock of modernity more generally—by developing shock tactics of their own. They critiqued traditional conceptions of the artist as master of his medium by using prefabricated materials or relegating aesthetic decisions to chance. They scoffed at the conventional definition of artistic media, expanding it to include the stuff of modern life—newspapers, magazines, ticket stubs, mechanical parts, food wrappers, pipes, advertisements, light bulbs, and so on. Through their performances, publicity stunts, and manipulation of mass media, they further altered perceptions of what constituted a work of art by blurring the boundaries between art and life.

The fourth grade artists studied the creations of the Dada artists and created their own Dada collages. The young artists had to use images that were very normal and arrange them in a new and unrealistic way. They were encouraged to use scale change and juxtaposition in their work.
As far as the collages went less was definitely more!"

We also created a Dada poem. Read about Dada poems here:

http://redstudio.moma.org/interactives/chance/

Mrs. Dubovich's class Dada poem:

A Fourth Grade DADA Poem

A monkey hit me! I forgot my free reading book, the jar floats in mid air.

The teacher said, “Keep the sentence simple.” The grass is green

and my school is big. Baseball is super fun!! The cat hissed at the big dog.

I don’t like homework. Why would somebody do that?

School is sometimes fun. I had soccer last night, sharks are cool.

Bob said hi to George, please pass the peas. I like globes,

I like my pets, then he got hit by a car. Bill’s tips on fishing,

the wolf ate the boar, this is a simple sentence.

There are many stars in the sky.

You can eat pancakes with syrup.

Good bye, see you later goodbye person.

I went to the store.

Bravo! Dada Artists!

We are back!!!

2010-08-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

We are back at it and the second grade artists are learning about the artist Kandinsky. We learned all about how he was a fauve artist and hung out with Der Blaue Reiter group. The student artists also learned that kandinsky painted what he thought music would look like. The students have learned the difference between a still life, abstract, portrait and a landscape painting. What a fun way to start the year. We made mono-prints and finished them with black pastels, all while listening to the cool sounds of Luis Bonfa.
http://vimeo.com/2096812

Kandinsky's work that the second grade studied

student mono-print

The red table finishing their work

Ben works on his piece

Nice work

Summer

2010-05-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

A book by Nikki McClure

2010-05-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Have a great summer...make lots of art! See you in August.

More Robin Rhode

2010-05-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

Check out his great video:
http://www.perryrubenstein.com/artists/robin-rhode/video/street-gym/

Artist Robin Rhode

2010-05-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

The fourth grade students learned about South African artist Robin Rhode. His work consists of his imagination and a piece of chalk.
http://www.perryrubenstein.com/artists/robin-rhode/

Then the students created their own pieces. So cool!!

The stubby pencils

2010-05-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

To drive the idea of re-purposing home I collected stubby pencils that are usually thrown away. Here is what you can do with garbage! So before you throw anything away, perhaps it can be made into cool artwork.

Check out this show this summer:

http://www.imamuseum.org/exhibition/tara-donovan-untitled

Lego Star Wars

2010-05-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

Lego Star Wars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0z_TU4Gw5o

More Greek Monsters, Gods and Godesses 2010

2010-05-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Minotaur

Centaur

Posidon God of the sea

Minotaur

Ares God of war

Greek Gods, Goddesses and Monsters

2010-05-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

The third grade artists are finishing up their Greek unit. They are creating a portrait of a Greek God, Goddess or monster. They have updated the portraits to 2010.

Cyclops: Giant one-eyed monster

Hephaestus was God of fire and the forge, although he made armor and weapons for the Gods, he loved peace.

Sphinx Had the head of a woman, the body of a lion and wings. The special power of Sphinx was a riddle. Answer incorrectly and you get eaten! Ready? "What walks on all four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs at night"?

Cyclops in formal attire

Lazlo and the Kindergarten Artists

2010-05-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

The kindergarten artists are studying the body and creating artwork on that subject. The artists made sketches of Lazlo the Skeleton, some artists even tried to draw all 206 bones! Keep posted for the finished product.

Wild Beast Self Portraits

2010-05-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

The second grade studied the Wild Beast artists in first grade. We revisited them while we made self portraits. Les Fauves (French for The Wild Beasts) were a short-lived and loose grouping of early 20th century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism. The example below is by the wild beast Andre Derain. The next three works are student creations.

Mehndi

2010-04-28T05:51:00.001-07:00

This week was Rishma's birthday. She had her hands decorated with henna for the occasion. I love the intricate designs. Happy birthday Rishma!

The Story of Bottled Water

2010-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

This is a little clip I showed some of the students for Earth Day. One student asked if I could post it on the blog, so I did. Great suggestion Daniel S!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0&feature=player_embedded

Third Grade Greek Vases

2010-03-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

The third grade artists learned the difference between an amphora, krater, kylix and hydria. If you do not know what we are talking about just ask a third grader. The student artists looked at the designs on Greek vases then created their own 2-d designs.

More "Little Clay Houses for You and Me..."

2010-03-31T05:49:00.000-07:00

The fourth grade artists wrapped up their architecture and design unit by creating little clay houses. The student artists created some wonderful structures. Some of the houses were in the round, some had satellite dishes and there was even a house that had a motorcycle.

Behind the clay houses you can see the section, plan and elevation drawings the students made.

Kindergarten Artists Paint the Alphabet

2010-03-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

The kindergarten artists are still working on tuning those fine motor skills and learning painting fundamentals. They created an artwork using the alphabet as design. First they created with pastels and then finished the work with tempera. I told the artists that they had to really "art-up" their creations!

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Chinese Calligraphy

2010-03-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

The second grade artists are in the middle of their Asian unit of study. The artists watch two short videos of the calligraphy artist Hiroazu Kosaka. Then they tried their hand at this ancient art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn9d__q91Xg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyOPtSjAV7g

More Wild Beasts

2010-03-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some more works by the first grade artists inspired by the wild beasts and the book Pink Lemons?.

Red Earth?

Orange Fire Truck?!

Green Bat?!

Red Pickle?!

First Grade and the Wild Beasts

2010-03-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

The First grade artists are studying the art group called the Fauves, known also as the Wild Beasts. The Wild Beasts broke away from traditional painting and wanted their work to express emotion through color. Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Gabrielle Munter are Wild Beasts that we studied. The first grade artists also read the book Pink Lemon by the author and illustrator Herve Tullet. He was known in France as the Prince of Preschool. Finally, the young artists had to brainstorm and think up four objects that are always the same color such as a lemon, a penguin, the street, cherries, water etc.... Then they had choose one of these objects to "wild beast". Here are the results:

Blue eggs?!

Pink lion?!

Blue monkey?!

Blue Banana?!

As you can see the first grade artists also learned about tints and shades. They used what they learned about color mixing to create these paintings. Way to go first graders!!!!!!

Little Clay Houses for You and Me...

2010-03-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade artists wrapped up their architecture and design unit by creating a house out of clay. The artists learned the terms armature, scoring, incising and hand building. The creations will be fired and then painted in next few weeks. The art room is the most quiet while the artists are working with the clay, more so than any other material. They are completely engaged. Here are some starts:

Pocket Pictoscope

2010-03-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

I found this neat little exercise by the way of Art is Everywhere

http://artiseverywhere.wordpress.com/

You can make your own pictoscope by following the directions here:

http://www.linosso.com/html/pop_making.html

What a creative way to see!!

The collaboration

2010-03-01T09:45:00.001-08:00

We are starting to build our Eames card houses!

Ray and Charles Eames

2010-02-23T07:04:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade has been studying design, architecture and modernist designers. They have been learning about the Ray and Charles Eames and the important contributions this husband and wife team made to the fields of architecture, film , photography, furniture design and toys. The Eames said "toys are not as innocent as they look. Toys and games are preludes to serious ideas".
Here is an example of one of their "toys".

Ray and Charles Eames

The fourth grade artists have created their own Eames cards. The student used the same elements as the artists; clean edges, colorful designs, repetition and whimsy.

Once all the cards are complete, we will finish with a collaborative sculpture as we will be putting the "house" together. Look for the work around the school.

Art is for the birds

2010-02-22T11:20:00.001-08:00

The third grade artists spent some time studying the artist John James Audubon. The artists learned about Audubon's discoveries including the important discovery of where birds go during the winter. If you have a third grader, ask him what some of the other scientists' theories were about where the birds went. Then the artists choose a bird, made several sketches of the bird and then made a painting.

Kindergarten Archi"texture"

2010-02-12T05:47:00.001-08:00

The Kindergarten artists worked really hard on these pieces of art. There were many skills and materials involved in this project; folding paper, texture rubbing, cutting rectangles, gluing, drawing with pastels and sharpies, also water colors. We discussed neighborhoods, architecture, texture and color. The student artists were really into their artwork.

First Grade textiles

2010-02-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

The first grade artists studied textiles of Africa. They read books by Maya Angelou that showed children from Western Africa. We discussed the uses of textiles and used various methods to create our own.
"Adire" Cloth

"Kente" Cloth

"Adinkra" Cloth

Bottle Village

2010-01-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

We have been talking so much about architecture in all the grades, I want to make sure I expose the students to all possible styles of architecture, not just what is familiar or popular. So we "visited" Grandma Prisbrey and her Bottle Village. I love to show the students artist who are untrained yet moved to create ( think Simon Rodia and the Watts Towers). The kids were transfixed by her creations. Many wanted to live in them and some want to create their own Bottle Village. Grandma Prisbrey was recycling before the term recycling was even used!

Please visit these websites for more information:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/offthemap/html/travelogue_artist_1.htm?true

http://home.roadrunner.com/~echomatic/bv/index.html

Westward Ho!

2010-01-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

Today was pioneer day for the fourth graders. They went to music and danced pioneer dances. In PE they played pioneer games, hoop and stick anyone? They came to my room to make thaumatropes- I called them the 1800's PSP. The students, staff and parents all dressed up. The students enjoyed their new pioneer names: Mert, Hortence, Rufus, Cletus, Edwina, Zebulon and Preshea to name a few. I had to include this young pioneer, his fur cap and coat were so great!!!!

More third grade artwork

2010-01-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

We have finally finish the artwork for the grant. It took a while but the students turned out great works in all the different mediums. Here is a "wood cut" a gouache painting and an acrylic painting.

Elevation, Section and Plan

2010-01-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade artists started their blue prints. After perusing Dwell magazines for modern ideas they had to create a blue print showing the three views: elevation (what the structure looks like) section ( a cross-section of the structure) and the plan (floor plan). They also used blue print symbols for their plans. Check out these cool abodes...

Maps

2010-01-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

The third grade looked at the work of the artists and illustrator SaraFanelli -http://www.sarafanelli.com

We studied her great maps from her book called My Map Book. It had all sorts of great maps. The third grade artist could choose anything to map. Here is a sampling:

A neighborhood map

A map of a
shoe
A map of bells

A map of a racetrack

...and a map of cake!

Guest Curator

2010-01-20T05:09:00.000-08:00

We have started having students curate a show of their own. The students have to apply to have their show and the theme is What do you collect? Our first show went up in the case yesterday, the guest curator was Garrett in fourth grade. He brought in his collection of Marvel comics. Garrett took great care in setting up his show and deciding which pieces get to be shown. That is what a curator does, after all.

The students and staff have been enjoying his show. Keep checking back for more guest curators.

The Grant

2010-01-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

The Media Specialist and I received a grant to teach the third grade students about Caldecott winning books. We showed the students the various media the artists used and let the students pick which appealed to them. The grant allowed us to order high quality materials for the students to work with. They used gouache, pastels, india ink, collage, conte crayon, printing, water colors and colored pencils. They created on canvases, media board and watercolor paper. The grant was mainly about introducing them to and experimenting with the materials used by the Caldecott award winners. The students could choose any subject matter for their work.

Pastels

Gouache

Water color (yes, it is George Washington)

Collage

Tempera

More Grant Work

2010-01-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

Here is more work from the third grade artists.

Watercolor

Gouache

Watercolor

Gouache

Watercolor

Art teachers meet and make

2010-01-15T11:00:00.001-08:00

We had a district wide staff meeting where all the teachers got together with their teams. All the elementary art teachers met in my room. We created three-legged pots out of ceramic clay. The point was to incorporate math into our lesson plan and this lesson included finding the radius of a circle, division and measuring.

Good Design

2010-01-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

While teaching the fourth grade about design I showed them how good design (from a simple idea) can make all the difference in the world. Tim Brown of IDEO say that to be an innovative designer you need to problem solve using 3 lenses: Empathy, intuition and inspiration. I showed the student a prime example of that thinking.

I asked the students how we could improve the water gathering system for these people. The students had so many great ideas (there are no bad ideas).
I then showed them a simple idea from Hippo Roller. http://www.hipporoller.org/

What a difference just an idea can makes!!! This was a strong illustration for the students to gain an understanding of the impact of a simple idea.

New Modernists

2010-01-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

The fourth grade is starting a unit on design. They will be learning about modernist designers and architects. They will learn about how "everyone deserves good design". They will study Eames, Girard and the Wrights. They will study architecture from Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe and Gropius. We started the day off with a little perusing of Dwell magazine. The students compared the homes and products in the magazine to their homes. It was eye opening.

Space..the final frontier

2009-12-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

This lesson was found at this great site- http://deepspacesparkle.blogspot.com/2009/02/rocket-and-space-art-collage-for-kids.html

The first grade artists had fun learning about the planets. They learned the order of the planets by remembering this simple phrase: My very excellent mother just served us noodles.
First they made the planets and colored them in with oil pastels, then they painted the back ground (space) black, then came GLITTER!!! After that the students created their own space ship.

The students made rockets, UFOs and spaceships.

Art Toys

2009-12-15T06:40:00.001-08:00

As the days near vacation I often get out all of my art toys and let the kids go at it. This class is always a big hit with the students. Here are some of the student's favorites. These toys just might make great holiday presents. Spiro-graph (now that is old school)

Legos, of course, the greatest toy ever!!!

Bobile, the balance toy

Dado cubes

Eames house of cards.

These toys can be found at these sites:

http://shop.themodern.org/modern-kids

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/

http://www.momastore.org

http://www.modernseed.com/

More Second Grade Leader Portraits

2009-11-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

George Washington Maya Lin

Georgia O'keffee

Amelia Earheart

Tim Tebow

Second Grade Leader Portraits

2009-11-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

The second grade artists studied leadership in their classrooms. Each student had to give a presentation on the leader of their choice. In the art room we studied portraiture and thought it was a good idea to make a formal portrait of their leader. Here are the results:

Martin Luther King Jr. Squanto

Rosa Parks

Einstein

Second Grade Leader Portraits

2009-11-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

Thurgood Marshall Rosa Parks

Martin Luther King

Neil Armstrong

Coach Caldwell

Theme and Variation

2009-10-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

The third grade artist made still life paintings this week. There were many interpretations of the subject. Enjoy

Leader Painting

2009-10-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

The second grade artists are doing a report on a leader of their choice in their classroom. We connected that learning to the art classroom by having them make a formal portrait of their leader. These are the starts. They will paint them in. I thought they were so great I had to post the drawings.

Thurgood Marshall

Albert Einstien

Amelia Earhart

Where are the spiders? All over the art room!!!!

2009-10-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Like with many new projects, problems soon present themselves. We knew we would make the spiders body from news paper and tape covered with plaster-o-paris fabric. The legs, however, posed a whole set of problems. We have used different gauges of wire, fine chicken wire, and aluminum foil. One class even made their spider bodies from ceramic clay. There are upwards of 100 spiders in my room, most of them upside down. It looks pretty creepy.

Show Posters

2009-10-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Preparing for the spider art installation, the fourth grade artists had to create show posters. I had shown the student artists old B movie posters for inspiration as well as modern art show posters. These posters are to peak the interest of the rest of the school. Everyone is anxiously awaiting the infestation.