Why Do You Love Art?

That is the theme for my most recent hall display promoting our upcoming art show and Youth Art Month. Students across all grade levels helped make the giant flowers, leaves and lettering. They also provided some insightful answers to the question...why to you love art?

My Student Teacher!

I have a student teacher! Her name is Jill Luse and she has been great to work with. Jill loves making paper and wanted to share her knowledge with 1st grade. The kids loved the process from beginning to end and along the way, Jill and I figured out a pretty great technique for making paper with so many kids. Jill used cheap window screens from Lowes and used duct tape to divide them into 4 rectangles. The kids used a pouring technique rather than having them dip the screen into the vat of pulp. This was actually a "happy accident". We had to have a plan B since the screens wouldn't fit in my tubs. Pouring worked great and the kids could do it all by themselves. They used homemade molds (I made them from tooling metal and duct tape) to make valentines with a heart. Groups of 4 and 5 also made collaborative pulp paintings. This project was a huge success!

Jill is also doing a printmaking project with kindergarten that has turned out great. They experimented with stamping on day one using jars, old candy containers, and any other interesting shapes we could find around the room. The next day they made their own "stamp" using cereal box cardboard and foam. They were instructed to make a figure in motion. We set up printing stations on day 3 and they stamped their figures across their paper. On day 4 we hope to have them turn their printing plate into an independent piece of art.

Romare Bearden city scape progress....

Remember this project? Well, we have definitely made a lot of progress on our city scapes. The third grade students have used a variety of materials such as magazines, newspaper, fabric, construction paper, and painted paper to create these Bearden inspired city scapes.

Kimmy Cantrell inspired clay project

Fourth grade students learned about a contemporary African American Georgia artist named Kimmy Cantrall. They loved seeing his masks and busts and the creative titles that he gives his work. It is also fun for them to see and learn about current working artists.

The students used clay and an oil pastel and black paint resist technique to create their masks. I really love how these turned out. The kids were a little scared to put the black paint on at first but they loved the end result and I do too!