Grateful, Thankful, Appreciative 

I am so very grateful for my amazing art students.  I tell my kiddos all the time that my job is the best and it is true.  I am so appreciative that I get to spend the day with my art family learning, creating, and enjoying each and every moment.  As you enjoy your holiday with your family, please know that I am so grateful for my art kids and their families.  Happy Thanksgiving!

In the art room this week:

Young Fives finished their Pete the Cat collage!  Our young five artists have been busy experimenting with lots of new art materials during their art sessions.  Together we read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin and looked at the illustrations by James Dean, creator of Pete the Cat.

Our artists experimented with the following techniques and materials to create their collage:

Cutting and gluing

Sharpie permanent markers

Tempera Paint

Oil Pastel

Chisel tip markers

Kwik Stix tempera paint sticks

Using line and shape to create images

 

Kindergarten artists explored the caves of Lascaux and looked at some of the very first forms of art created by humans.  We will continue to study cave paintings and work together to think and wonder about why humans created art so long ago, why we still create art, And then discover together how to use simple shapes to create animals inspired by the artwork of Lascaux.

First graders finished up their studies of geometric and organic shapes by creating a cut paper collage inspired by Henri Matisse.  

First graders are moving into creating a work of art that applies their knowledge of geometric shapes, organic shapes, straight, curvy and angle lines and will start working with pattern in their artwork.  

Second graders continue to create their self portraits inspired by NYC artist, James Rizzi.  We are currently focusing on coloring technique, blending colors, and experimenting with shading.

Third Grade artists continue applying their knowledge of proportion and detail to their nutcracker drawings.  

 Fourth Grade artists are finishing their artwork inspired by The Goldfish by Henri Matisse.  Students worked to create a focal point in their finished piece of art.  This project ended with time to celebrate student success with artist reflections and WOW! comments.  Students reflected on the struggles and successes they experienced while creating their work, then traveled around the room to write WOW! comments to their peers describing the successes they found in the artwork. 

Fifth Graders are working to complete their St. Joseph Great Wave paintings inspired by the print The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai.  Students are experimenting with using line, shape, color, texture, space, pattern, and movement in their paintings.  We even get to see how the artwork we study is used in everyday life... like imagery on our clothing!!!!  I love moments when my students come into the room with surprises for me like wearing our inspiration artwork.  

Thank you, amazing artists, for a fabulous week together!

Creative Students!

The Art room has been busy again this week, full of hard-working artists.

Here's a peek into our week...

Young Fives continue working on Pete the Cat

Kindergarten Students finish their artwork inspired by the book, The Rainbow Fish

First Graders are learning about GEOMETRIC and ORGANIC SHAPES.  They are working on a shape collage inspired by the artist, Henri Matisse.  We read Henri's Scissors together to learn some art history about the life of Matisse.

Second graders started studying work by NYC artist James Rizzi.  Students are learning how to draw people in the style of Rizzi using line and shape.

Third Grade artists are finishing abstract landscapes and moving into studying how to apply proportion and detail to a drawing.  Students are designing Nutcrackers to help them understand proportion and practice creating detail in their artwork.

Our fourth graders are finally completing their focal point projects inspired by Matisse's The Goldfish.

They are participating in artistic self-reflection and peer critiques as we celebrate their hard work and successful masterpieces!

Fifth grade artists have completed their name self portraits and are now learning about the Japanese printmaker, Hokusai.  They've studied his print The Great Wave of Kanagawa and are creating St. Jospeh inspired versions of the great wave.  Students are applying their knowledge of line, shape, color, rhythm, movement and emphasis in their work.

First Trimester Comes to an End

We have had a busy, productive first trimester to start our school year.  As report cards come home in the next week, I wanted to take a moment to remind my artists and families that we are just beginning our adventures this school year as budding artists.  It is very common during the first trimester for students to be developing in their art skills, which is a 2 on the report card.  This does NOT mean that our artists are not performing well, just that we are to continuing to work to grow to mastery, which is a 3 on the report card.  For most of our objectives this trimester, students are just being introduced to new media and techniques.  If there are areas of deep concern, I will contact parents directly.  We are having a fantastic start with hard working art students who are pushing through challenges and obstacles to continue to grow.  Please celebrate your young artists and continue to encourage them to do their very best as they learn and grow in the art room.

Gift Lists

As the holiday season approach, I have parents asking about good art supply ideas for their budding artists.  Here are some ideas for gifts for the artist in your family:

1.  Kwik Stix tempera paint sticks

2.  Prisma Color colored pencils and a good quality hand sharpener.  Prisma Color makes their own shapener too.  These are expensive colored pencils, but the quality is amazing.  Your older artists will love them.

3.  Drawing Pencil set 

4.  Sketchbook

5.  Modeling Clay (Crayola Model Magic is easy to use and can be colored or painted when it dries)

6.  Weaving Loom and yarn

7.  Liquid Watercolor paint or Watercolor sets

8.  Metallic Markers (Crayola makes a great set)

9.  Oil Pastels (These come in all sorts of fun sets; metallics, neon, etc..  We use Crayola brand in school, but there are several great brands available.  Students can use watercolor paint over the oil pastels to create a wax resist.)

10.  A box of sculpture items (pipe cleaners, wood sticks, wood scraps, cardboard, tape, glue)

11.  Colored tape or Washi tape

12.  Blank canvas for painting

Painting and Painting and Painting Galore

Brown and Lincoln Families, 

THANK YOU for sharing your students with me!  Our days this rotation have been filled with creating and lots of imagination!

Young Five students are finishing up their Pete the Cat collages where we experiment with and learn to use different art materials.  We have practiced cutting, drawing with Sharpie and markers, painting with tempera paint and Kwik Stix (These are tempera paint sticks.  If you're looking for a great way to allow your little ones to paint at home without the mess of brushes and water, these are a GREAT option!) and using glue sticks.  Look for Pete in our hallways early in November!

Tempera Paint Sticks **this would make a great gift for your artist

Pete The Cat by Maylin

Kindergarten artists started working on a painting inspired by the book, Rainbow Fish.  We are talking about the importance of kindness and sharing as we create stunning works of art.  Artists have created an underwater background using a wax resist and drew rainbow fish together from observation by looking at the lines and shapes used to build his body.  

First graders are working with the Element of Art, Shape.  They illustrated a tiny book using Geometric Shapes.  We will continue to work on identifying geometric and organic shapes throughout the next rotation and will end our shape unit by creating a collage inspired by Henri Matisse.

Second grade artists are finishing their overlapping pumpkin paintings where they have been experimenting with perspective, space, overlap, and shading.  Pumpkins are currently on display at Brown and will be up soon at Lincoln.

Third graders at both buildings are working on abstract landscapes inspired by Canadian artist Ted Harrison.  Students are working with line, shape, color and value to create these stunning landscapes.

Abstract Landscape by Abigail

Abstract Landscape by Colin

Fourth graders continue to work on creating a focal point in their artwork using Henri Matisse's painting, The Goldfish, as inspiration.  Lincoln artists have one more class session to finish, Brown artists are just starting to add paint to their backgrounds.

Our fifth grade artists are diligently finishing their name self portraits.  They are learning how to write an artist statement, how to reflect on their art making, and how to have conversations about their artwork with their peers.  Their work is spectacular!  I can't wait to display their masterpieces!

Enjoy your week with your amazing students!  I look forward to watching their artistic skills blossom this week!

Short Week, Big ART

Loving these artists wearing art to create!

It's been a quick week in the art room with late starts and half days.  Our kids have been working hard continuing their creating.  We are still focused on the projects from the previous blog post and both artwork and artists are blossoming!

I'm hearing that several 2nd grade parents were challenged to draw a realistic pumpkin this week!  Thank you for allowing your artist to challenge and teach you.  It is truly building their artistic confidence and makes them feel so very important!

5th grade parents, ask your artist about his or her name self portrait!  Our students are developing jaw-dropping images to describe their dreams, talents, hobbies, and character.  I am so impressed by their focus, dedication and creativity.  Allowing your student to discuss their project with you will help them through their next challenge of writing their Artist Statement.  Our 5th graders are really growing and have been so open to accepting and mastering new ideas, techniques, and processes!

Thank you for sharing your artist with me, I am so proud of their hard work!

Artists At Work

The art rooms at Brown & Lincoln are buzzing with creativity.

This has been another fast-paced, week full of learning and creating.

Y5's are entering into a unit where they are exposed to and experiment with several different art materials.  

K students are learning about Wassily Kandinsky and abstract art.  They will be creating a work of concentric circle art inspired by Kandinsky's work.  

Color Study; Squares with Concentric Circles by Wassily Kandinsky

1st graders are continuing their work with straight, curvy, and angle lines.

Fist Grade Artist matches her line painting!

2nd grade artists are using line, shape, texture, space and form to create a realistic work of art.

2nd grade overlapping pumpkins in progress

3rd graders are finishing sketchbook covers.  We also started comparing realistic and abstract landscapes, learning foreground, middle ground and background, and will create an abstract landscape inspired by Ted Harrison.

Working on sketchbook covers... and rainbow order.  💗

4th graders are working with focal point and learning to create artwork with an obvious focal point.  They are using Henri Matisse's painting The Goldfish as inspiration.

The Goldfish by Henri Matisse

4th grade start inspired by Matisse

5th graders are really pushing their artistic growth to create works of art that use symbols and images to create meaning.  These will become their name self portraits.  

5th grade name self portraits in progress

We've had another amazing rotation in our art rooms at Brown and Lincoln.  Students are mastering routines and we're getting into our art learning!

Y5 artists are working on identifying the parts of a paintbrush and experimenting with proper painting technique by keeping the brush happy and letting it paint on its tiptoes!

K artists completed their project learning the color spectrum.

1st grade artists are starting their work with the Elements of Art.  They are able to identify and create straight, curvy, and angle lines.  Next, they will review painting technique and apply paint to their line paintings.

2nd graders finished up their sketchbook covers and are now moving into working on drawing realistic pumpkins.  We're reviewing line, color, shape, form, and texture to create our masterpieces.

3rd graders are finishing sketchbook covers, then will be working on comparing realistic and abstract landscapes.

4th graders are finishing sketchbook covers and building on their academic art vocabulary knowledge.  They are working with focal points and creating a BIG work of art inspired by Henri Matisse's The Goldfish where their challenge will be to create a focal point.

5th grade artists are starting work on their name self portraits.  This is always a favorite project for both the students and for me.  Our 5th graders are learning to think very creatively and use images and symbols to create meaning in their art.  They are being challenged with the task of turning the letters of their name into images that describe who they are.  This process is tricky, but the results are amazing. 

Sketchbooks Galore!

Our 2nd-5th grade artists at both Lincoln and Brown have been busy this week working on their own unique designs for their sketchbook designs.

Second graders have been experimenting with EMPHASIS and trying to make their name the most BIG, BOLD, and IMPORTANT part of their composition.

Third graders have been studying the illustrations of artist Nate Williams and are using his work as inspiration for their self portrait sketchbook covers.

Fourth grade artists are experimenting with typography and using their imaginations to create new, inventive fonts for their covers.  Their compositions are a reflection of their identity and use words they feel best describe their gifts, talents, and positive character traits.

Fifth grade artists are applying their art knowledge this year to create a sketchbook cover illustration that reads as a page out of their personal story.  Some students are illustrating talents and hobbies,  while others have documented special memories, or dreams they have for themselves.  They have been challenged to apply artistic mediums that they enjoy using.  We are learning a lot about ourselves and one another through these amazing compositions.

Our Young 5 artists at Lincoln have been practicing their fine motor skills by tracing straight and curvy lines, coloring, and cutting.  Keep practicing scissor skills at home!  We will be moving into learning how to use tempera paint and brushes properly over the next rotation.

Lincoln's K artists are working on drawing straight and curvy lines, as well as cutting straight and curvy lines.  We discussed expression and practiced drawing different expressive eyes.  We will be working on learning the ROY G. BIV color spectrum over the next rotation to complete our current project!  We'll be saving the finished work as a surprise!  

First Graders at Lincoln are completing a 20 line challenge for dot day.  They each made a dot and created 20 DIFFERENT lines inside the dot.  Our compositions are being painted right now as we review proper painting technique.

The art rooms are busy and students are off to an amazing start! 

Amazing Art Start

The Art Rooms are full of creativity!

The students at Brown and Lincoln are doing an amazing job with art room routines and procedures.  We've been practicing being "Art Smart" by entering the room quietly, raising our hands to ask and share, following directions the first time, using kindness, working at appropriate volumes, cleaning up like a team, and lining up quickly.  When we're art smart together, we are able to use most of our 30 minutes together to CREATE, which is what we all want to do.

All SJPS Elementary art students are participating in International Dot Day this year.  This is a day created by author and illustrator, Peter Reynolds, to celebrate creativity and leaving your creative mark in the world.  Our students read The Dot and we discussed the main character, Vashti's, struggle with fixed mindset in her art room.  Our older students then worked on a symbolic self portrait sculpture inspired by The Dot,  younger artists created artwork using dots.

When you visit our schools for Back to School Night, be on the lookout for our dot day artwork!  We've been working VERY hard!

What's Next?

Y5's and K work with line, cutting, and glue

1st-5th graders are creating their sketchbooks to use throughout the year

September 4

Hello, My Amazing Art Students!

I am looking forward to another year of creating in the art room with you!  This year I will be creating with all the artists at Lincoln and 2nd-5th grade students at Brown.

Throughout the first two cycles of the school year, we will be working on learning and practicing important routines to make our art room run smoothly.  We will also be working on a work of art to introduce ourselves and get ready for International Dot Day on Saturday, September 15.  Dot Day is based on the book, The Dot, by Peter Reynolds.

International Dot Day

I am so excited to see you all again!