Friday, April 3, 2009

Banquet Invite


I am also the assistant dance team coach at one of the area high schools and I thought while I'm going blog crazy I would share the invite I designed for their senior banquet. Oh and yes even though I did change the address it really is at a country club.

Logo/Monogram


So now it seems I'm going a bit blog crazy, but I do have today off and what better time to catch up on my blog. I know I said I was getting pooped out of wedding posts, but here is one I just couldn't help but share. I think I have finally decided on the 'logo' we are going to use. Of course I could change my mind between now and January, but for now it is my final choice. :)

Screen Printing Class


So my marvelous friend and I finally took that screen printing class I've been wanting to take. Here are the results. Of course now I just want to screen print everything.

Colored Pencil Jewelry


So I found these fabulous bracelets and necklaces on Etsy. How perfect for an art teacher!

Fifth Grade


And last, but not least 5th grade. I got this lesson idea from the KAEA (Kansas Arts Education Association) fall conference. I had the students do a graffiti tag of their name or a nickname using one point perspective to make it look 3D. They then cut out the platform and pop dotted it on their Jackson Pollock inspired, splatter painted background. Oh, the splatter paint background. What in the world was I thinking. I seriously let me students fling paint at paper in my art room. I think there may still be paint splatters on my floors, ceilings, cabinets, and everywhere else. My recommendation for myself next year, do this project when it is warm enough to splatter paint outside.

Fourth Grade


I had my fourth graders study the art of Laurel Burch. We looked at her style and subject matter. They then drew a pet portrait first using pencil and then going over their pencil lines with glue. Once it was dry we colored the glue lines with FX markers or metallic markers. I had them use chalk to add color to their drawings. It was cool to see all the different colors they came up with by mixing and blending the chalk together.

Third Grade


I did this project with my third graders back in the fall, but I was so pleased with how it turned out I just had to share. This was actually one of those time I went to school having no idea what I was going to do with my third graders that day. I had them go outside and collect three leaves all different sizes. We then painted the leaves white and then pressed them onto black paper. I had them use metallic paint and the koosh balls to fill in the background space. Then next class period we colored the leaves using oil pastels and blended the colors together. I also had cut out different kinds of leaves from cardstock. I had them place the leaves on a tan paper and using a sponge and the metallic paint sponge around the leaves to create a composition. We then talked about the black paper leaves being the positive space and the tan paper leaves being the negative space. I then had them weave the two papers together. I was afraid it would take them too long to weave the entire thing, so we just did the two ends. I had a parent tell me they got this piece custom framed (for $120 I might add) to hang in their home. 

Second Grade

I actually just finished this project with my second graders and I am so proud of how they turned out. We started by studying how to look in a mirror and proportionally draw our own faces. The we colored our clothes with oil pastel. We even mixed paint to create our own unique skin tone and hair color. In the background we brainstormed adjectives and nouns that describe things about them. They then chose 5-7 to write in their best handwriting on the black paper. For each word they wrote they had to draw a symbol to represent that word.

First Grade


Starry Night, one of my absolute favorites until one kid says "Is Van Gogh the guy that chopped off his own ear?" This project was really fun. The kids used koosh balls to paint the swirls of orange and yellow in the sky. Then they dipped their fingers in white and blue paint to make different tints of blue for the rest of the sky. We used a wet-in-wet watercolor technique for the land beneath the horizon line. I also had them brainstorm ideas of what kinds of things we would find in a community and then they cut out buildings to create a community of their own.

Kindergarten


I did this project to work on cutting with my kindergartners, as well as teaching them the neutral colors and how to mix white and black to get gray. We started with squares and they had to cut the corners off until they got circles. We then used sponges dipped in white and black paint to sponge paint the background to make gray. It was fun to see how each student's bear took on its own personality. 

New Direction

So I was really good for a while with posting, but as of late not so good. As much as I am loving wedding planning I am getting a little pooped out of wedding posts, so I have decided to switch it up a little. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this on here before, since I have had a bit of wedding tunnel vision, but I am an elementary art teacher. I am almost done with my first year and can't believe how fast the year has just flown by. I am loving being a teacher and love seeing the artwork my students produce, so I thought I would share some of my favorite projects on here.