Feeling Inspired...Art and Literacy Bags

This past weekend I went to my art associations annual conference.  I love going, and always come back with great ideas.  One of the classes I attended was on Family Art and Literacy Bags.  It was presented by Mrs. Berry, a Bay City art teacher.  Here blog can be found here.... http://berryart.wordpress.com/.  She has created themed bags with coordinating books and art lesson for each class at her elementary.  I love this idea! I am wondering if any other art teachers have given this a try????  It seems like a lot of work...but totally worth it.

Below are some pictures I took of some of the bags.  They each have a theme and tie in art.  According to Mrs. Berry, she funded this through Donors Choose.  I am wondering if there are grants out there that would work too.

On a side note... Sorry I haven't posted in a long while.  I have been busy with my new little man :)

Student Spotlight: Jonathan

   One of the most rewarding things as an art teacher is to have a student who takes art and runs with it.  I have had the pleasure of teaching Jonathan.  He is currently going into 8th grade and has a passion for “junk" art, experimenting and assemblages.  I have been so impressed by his work, I just had to share.  He has been updating me over the summer with his creations.  I hope you appreciate them as much as I do.

Above is one of his most recent pieces and my personal favorite!





Last summer at art camp students created junk assemblages. Above is one of Jonathan’s examples.  This is when I learned about his love for creating out of junk.

Below is a picture of Jonathan’s studio space in his basement…

Another great thing I love, is Jonathan documents his art on YouTube.  Check out/subscribe to his channel….
http://www.youtube.com/user/theartzyboy/videos

We did ATC’s in art club this year, check out some of his awesome creations…

Some of Jonathan’s Artist Trading Cards

Great work Jonathan, keep it up!

Britto Pyramids

My 2nd grade artists have been learning about Egypt. I was inspired by Megan, at The Elementary Art Room, who told be about a project she did on Britto's pyramid.  I have been wanting to do a project with the contemporary artist Romero Britto for a while, but I had no idea that he had created large scale pyramids for London's Tutankamen exhibit.  I was excited to try to tie together the old and the new.

Studnets began by drawing their pyramids on white tagboard.  We drew the simple pyramid shape together and then I told them they could pick what Egyptain symbols they wanted to add.   I had handouts of differnet Egyptain symbols for students to refer to.  I especially like Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book

I also showed students some of Britto's sketches...

 

 The studnets drew their designs, added sharpie then colored with flurescent markes.  When then finshed they cut out thier pyramid and glued it to black paper.  Finally they added hieroglyphics of their name with gel markers and me added some glitter. 

New iPad...any advice?

Today I got an iPad and am wondering if any of my fellow art teachers use their iPad for blogging? I just downloaded the app Blogsy and this is my first attempt. I am hoping to use it at school for photographing and then easy blogging. Any advice?

Installation Artists Pip & Pop?

This morning I was doing my daily rounds on Pinterest and came across this art game website.  After further exploration I stumbled upon the game for Pip & Pop.  I had never heard of Pip and Pop, but now I think I am in love!

Their website has a bunch of great images, along with this Flickr account. I love how some of the images show the process of them putting together the installation.  I definitely see an art lesson with my students in the future! What do you think?  Are you new to Pip & Pop too?  Or was it just me :)

Flower Still Lives with Glue and Chalk

    4th Grade students learned about different artists that painted still lives or flowers.  We studied Janet Fish, Matisse, Van Gogh, Renoir, and de Heem.  I wanted them to see a range of artists from Modern to the Baroque period.

    Next, students practiced a simple still life drawing in their sketchbook.  They were told that they would eventually be outlining their drawings with glue and had to avoid tiny details.  I gave them this handout for ideas, but told them they could draw their own as well. 

 

  Next, students drew their flowers on 12x18 black paper.  The vase was to be symmetrical and fill half the paper and then finish with flowers.  Once done drawing they outlined everything with glue.  Some students used little skewers to add glue to small areas.  Next class, when the glue was dry, they added the chalk. 

  This lesson was adapted from the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children (which is a great book).  In the lesson provided they suggest using a brayer with black tempera to roll over the glue.  I tried this, but was not thrlieed with the results.  I  found that it was best to have students use a small paint brush and black tempera and just paint the glue.  Added the paint really helped pop the flowers.

I was happy with the results and would do this project again.

 

James Rizzi...you will be missed.

I am very sad to find out of James Rizzi's passing.  He has been a huge inspiration to me and my students (and will continue to be).  I am blessed to have gotten the chance to collaborate with him the past few years.  Mr. Rizzi, you will be missed dearly!

Silly Monsters

I have been inspired by all the cute and colorful monsters that I have seen on Pinterest recently.  My 2nd grade students needed a  project for their our annual fundraiser through Art to Remember.  I think the monsters were a good choice, they all turned out so cute!

Skype Interview with James Rizzi

  As many of you know, I love the art of James Rizzi and so do my students.  I had the privilege of conducting a Skype Interview (along with my after school class) with James Rizzi.  My  after school students generated questions  and  got to personally ask Mr. Rizzi.

Her are my two YouTube videos...

Part 1

Part 2

Mr.Rizzi was very generous to spend this time with my class.  The kids loved him!  If you would like to learn more about this experience, I will be presenting at the Michigan Art Education conference in November.

Whimsical Trees

One of my favorite lessons I did this past school year was whimsical trees inspired by the story Willow.  (I know I saw this on another art education blog, so please let me know if it was you so I can give you credit).

After reading the story we looked at several tree pictures and discussed how we could come up with our own creative trees.  Each student received a piece of 12x36 paper (I think this size really contributed to the overall success of the project).   We began with tempera cakes and then used pre-mixed tempera paint. 

A few students even decided to add a background. 

The kids really seemed to enjoy the process.  I loved how they turned out!