End of the Year Clean Up & Getting Excited for Field Day!

In the Art room we are working on passing back all of our awesome Art and transporting it safely home. A huge thank you to the Knapps Crossings D&W for donating 400 paper bags! Your child will be coming home with their "Art portfolio bag" by the end of this week (if they haven't brought it home already).

We've also been working hard to clean and organize the Art room for the end of the year. I snapped this cleaning-inspired Art image when a group of 4th graders observed the beauty left in the trash can after emptying the paint trays. I'm so proud that they are beginning to find the "Art" all around them! 

We're not only cleaning the Art room but we're also cleaning rocks! Yes...rocks! Students are getting prepared and excited for Field Day Art coming up this Friday. Our inspiration is coming from the children's book of wisdom called "Only One You" by Linda Kranz.We will be designing our rocks to look like the unique fish in the story.   I can't wait to post our beautiful rock fish creations!

Spring Break Art Adventures!

I was SO excited to get several photos from my Art students who had traveled for Spring Break and found examples of Romero Britto Art! 4th graders just finished a unit on Britto and I'm so proud of them to be able to recognize and appreciate his Art in real life.

Alexa & Gibson in Dearborn MI

Evelyn, Kendall, & Mom in Miami, FL (Where Britto lives and works!)

Original work by Kendall

National Art Educators Association ~ National Conference in San Diego, CA

I wanted to recognize and thank all of you who supported my recent professional development trip to the NAEA national conference in San Diego, CA! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that reinvigorated me in my teaching practices. I was able to meet with Art teachers from all over the country, attend workshops and lectures about the new National Standards, as well as get tons of inspiration for new classroom projects. Thank you so much!

One thing that I am SUPER excited about is all the new technology integration possibilities in the Art room. I attended a session about creative ways to use QR codes in Art and will be experimenting with these codes at the upcoming district-wide Art show. Can't wait to see you all at the Show Opening Reception- Tuesday, May 6th from 5pm-6:30pm! Get a sneak peak at what we've been working on all year long at our Artsonia school website...

March is Reading Month!

Kindergarten art students looked at the delicious dessert paintings made by the famous painter Wayne Thiebaud. They used model magic clay, wrapper molds, and pinch pot techniques to create their own cupcakes. We even read a few cupcake books to help us brainstorm ways to decorate our Art. After our finishing touches on our sculptures,  they look good enough to eat! 

Haring Movement People!

Students in Mr. H's class viewed and discussed the simplistic, fun, cartoon style of the artist Keith Haring. They noticed that he liked to show gesture by using action lines and drawing people in action poses. We worked together in teams to pose and draw our own life-sized portraits that were inspired by Haring's style. Students then collaboratively painted their figures with bright colors and bold, black outlines.

Lego Sculpture Art

 
During our last "Friday Funday", 3rd & 4th grade Art students have been looking at the sculptor Nathan Sawaya and marveling at his figures made from Legos. Check out this amazing Lego portrait done by one of our North Oakview sculptors-Parker & Phoebe from Ms. Rysberg's class!

Kandinsky & Music - 1st Grade Abstract Paintings

First grade artists have been learning about Kandinsky and interpreting music into visual lines, shapes, and designs. We have also started talking about how certain colors make us feel different emotions. We are trying to match the emotions of how classical music makes us feel to the color it might make us think of. Very Abstract!