Love this upcycling!

The kids have done a great job on their weavings this week! I was so lucky to get materials from the Zero Landfill project in Nashville last spring, and we have been using some of it to make Native American style weavings! The students used some of the faux leather and wallpaper samples to make these awesome pieces:

Once again, a big shout out to ZeroLandfill Nashville. We are putting the materials to good use, and creating some awesome stuff!

Art at the Central Office

Our new superintendent wanted the art teachers to do a display at the central office, so I chose some of the kid's work from November to put up. We have been studying Native American artwork, so that is what I chose to highlight...

El Dia de los Muertos Masks

The kinders and first graders did an awesome job with the Day of the Dead masks they made from paper plates. They loved it! They were given the plates with the lines cut to make a skull shape, and then decorated them with construction paper eye sockets and magic marker designs. Adorable! We then added a popsicle stick so they could hold them up.

Our take on Picasso portraits

The kids had a great time working on their Picasso portraits...and I must admit, I enjoyed them quite a bit myself! I was inspired by the artwork on Artsonia along with the blog deepspacesparkle to have the kids create these.

Tribute to Van Gogh and his sunflowers...

Didn't the kids do a great job on these? I think so! We talked about Van Gogh and the children created their own sunflower pictures...I just love them!

Our take on the Zentangle!

The kids have done a wonderful job this week finishing up their Zentangles...Check them out!

I am really glad to have that project completed! The horse show is such a big part of our lives around here that I felt the kids needed to know how much it stimulates our economy. I was able to turn the lesson on line and pattern into even more- a lesson in economics!

Out for the Horse Show

I have been diligently working on ideas for this school year! I must admit, it is really a pain to go to school for 3 weeks, get into the groove, and then be out for 10 days for the Horse Show. I will have to retrain some of my little dearies, but it will be okay. Breaks are good. I am really excited about this year and all the ideas I have for allowing the children to get creative. My problem is where to start! Many times, my ADD kicks in and I want to move on before they are finished. I have to remember to slow down...I am wondering what my fellow art teachers do when you have those few that never seem to finish? I hate for them to take something home that isn't complete. :( I will be posting our latest creations next week, so stay tuned!

What a Monday!

It has been a really great day! Today we started our new project in grades 3, 4, and 5. Since we live in Walking Horse country, I adapted the Zentangle to be a HorseTangle. The kids are loving it! They were soooo well behaved today-almost hypnotized! This is definately a lesson to repeat year after year.
The grade 2's did another version-a circular zentangle. We discussed lines and shapes based on the 5 Basic Elements of shape from Mona Brooke's Drawing with Children. Here are some examples of the work from today:

Just to clairfy, the second horse is the demo I did... ;)
Didn't they do an awesome job! I can't wait for them to finish...

It's a brand new year!

Well, the new year is here! I have been so excited to get my lesson plans ready for this year...so many ideas, so many cool things to do!
I have been working on my room and getting my organization mojo on.
If you aren't on Pintrest, you should be. There are so many neat ideas on there, and it is such a great way to keep up with things you want to do. I get a bit lost in my favorites folder, so the pictures are a wonderful way for me to find what I am looking for.
I believe that the first lesson we are going to do this year is a monochromatic self portrait. I want to put them all together to make a huge mural. I am at home now, so when I get to school, I will take some pictures of the way I have things arranged. I love to check out everyone else's ideas, so I want to share mine!
See you soon, and I hope your school year is fabulous!

Getting ready for the new year!

I had my first In-service for the new school year. I taught several teachers about PSE 9, and some even enjoyed it! (Hopefully, they all did.)
Anyway, I found a video today of a reminder that I wanted to share. Sometimes kids don't take care of my supplies, and this video is adorable!

Art Show

Just wanted to post a couple of photos from my first art show. It was so hard to choose which pieces to put in with the limited space I had. I think next year I will attempt an art show just for our school.

School's Out for Summer!

Well, we are officially on vacation, but I will be (hopefully) posting some ideas that I come across to use in my art class next year. Check back- maybe you will see something that is useful to you! :)

Model Magic Snakes

Here are some of the snakes the DK, K and 1st graders did last week. The DK used markers on theirs, and the others painted. I thought they were adorable! They can't wait to take them home...

The Model Magic was great for the kids to use as far as being mess free and easy to mold. The only problem was that some of them broke apart after they dried. The consistency is like a marshmallow, but the kids said "This sure doesn't smell like a marshmallow!"
Here are some of the first graders works

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Stormy Days

We are out for the second day due to the horrible storms we had yesterday. Thank God that our town was spared for the most part, but others weren't so lucky. My heart goes out to them.
This week we have been working on Surreal Collages made from old magazines. I was hoping to post some of the creations the children have come up with, but that will have to wait until I am back at school tomorrow!

Annual Art Show

Last Sunday, we had our annual art show. We were thrilled with the attendance of over 1300 people! For a town this size, that is pretty impressive! The kids were so proud to have their artwork displayed for all to see.

I am very fortunate to be able to do what I love...teach art. It is so important for children to be able to be creative, and to explore. We have a wonderful group of art teachers in our county, and I consider myself very lucky to be a part of this group...

Crazy for Pysanky Eggs!

This week we have been learning about the beautiful Ukrainian Pysanky eggs. The children watched the Reading Rainbow episode featuring Rechenka's Eggs by Paticia Polacco. The younger students colored some geometric designed eggs, and the 4th and 5th graders created their own Pysanky egg designs. A wonderful parent of one of the children has loaned me her collection of eggs to display. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous that something would happen to these beautiful creations! A wonderful resource for this lesson was www.learnpysanky.com