Greek Vases

These incredible Greek Vase designs were created by the third and fourth grade classes. In art class, the students studied the vases and amphoras of Ancient Greece paying close attention to the subject matter and patterns of design at the time. The class also learned about sgraffito, which is a painting technique that involves scratching away the top layer of color to expose a different color below.

These artists created colorful under-paintings with oil pastels, and then covered their pieces with black tempera paint. Once the vases were dry, the 3rd graders enjoyed using paper clips, stylus pens, pencils, etc to scratch away their creative designs. 

The students started by folding a 9" x 18" piece of paper to draw their amphora shape. Once they cut out their symmetrical vessel, they traced their design on tagboard. They then chose either warm or cool colors to create a colorful underpainting.

Next came the paint! We found that it is important to put on a think layer of acrylic paint and to have it be smooth. Uneven surface areas were hard to control when scratching away designs later in the process. 

Eric Carle Inspired Collage Book

Who doesn't love Eric Carle? This year, the 1st grade class made their own version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? for their teacher who was leaving on maternity leave. The results were impressive considering the task at hand. 

We started by reading the story and studying Eric Carle's technique. We then spent a very messy period creating our own collage paper with paint on tissue paper. 

Each student chose which animal they wanted to create, and I made templates for each student out of tagboard. They then used the templates to cut out the shapes they needed to make their animal. Finally, they used crayon and colored pencils to add backgrounds to their work. 

This is still a work in progress. Now that the illustrations are complete, the class will work with their classroom teacher to write the words for each page in their best handwriting. When this amazing book is complete, I will post some pictures of the finished product.

Here are just a few of their colorful creations:

Veteran's Day Poster Design

These beautiful poster designs and thoughtful letters were created by the fourth grade class. In Art class, the students studied how the Elements and Principles of Design can be used to create powerful and effective visuals. The class used what they had learned about line, shape, color, space, and texture to create these patriotic and celebratory posters to honor our veterans.

The students then learned about the craft of writing a friendly letter with their classroom teacher. They spent time studying the proper form of a letter, and then wrote a heartfelt thank you note to our veterans. The end result was an engaging and integrated project that gave our students the opportunity to express themselves through writing and through art.

Gel-ly Bowl

I found this great lesson on Dick Blick's site. It was time consuming and a struggle at times, but the end results were amazing. The Gel-ly Bowls are a dimensional collage piece made with wire mesh, acrylic gel medium, tissue paper, paint, and every other inspirational material we could find. The bowls are made in layers, and require great patience to create. Each artists was encouraged to choose a theme for the bowl, and challenged throughout the process to create a strong, unified composition using color, shape, texture, pattern, and symmetry. Once the design was complete and dry, the students trimmed their bowls and then sculpted them into these beautiful centerpieces. Our 5th grade and middle school artists did an incredible job, and I am so proud of their efforts!!

Veteran's Day

What better way to honor our veterans than to make eagles and flags! The Kindergarten class made beautiful heart shaped wreaths out of red, white, and blue stars. The 2nd and 3rd grade classes were set free to create some of our countries most patriotic symbols, and did so with glee. The students loved this project, and their inspirational creations helped make our Veteran’s Day celebration a great success.