January was a busy month in the art room! Many classes completed art projects and moved on to creating artwork that will be on display at this year's carnival! With this year's theme being "The Great State Fair" so many neat ideas came to mind for art project possibilities. You may be hearing your child talk about their "fair" themed project, but hopefully you will have a chance to see their artwork in person at the carnival on February 24th! If you are interested in helping hang artwork during the week leading up to the carnival, please email me! I am always looking for willing and helpful volunteers! 😄
In the meantime, take a look at what Westlawn students have been up to during the month of January!
5th grade took a break from their Elements and Principle Accordion projects to create beautiful snowflake projects! The students painted paper with two analogous watercolors using the "exploding color" technique. They then sprinkled salt on the wet watercolors to give the effect of ice crystals in winter. The students loved seen the change on their backgrounds with the interaction between the salt and the painted paper. So cool! (pardon the pun 😉). The students were then given the challenge of creating a minimum of four paper snowflakes, two of which needed to be their own design. Although there were some challenges and mistakes with the snowflake making, the students persevered and were pleased with the results! The 5th grade students are now beginning Fair Food Paintings in the style of artist Wayne Thiebaud.
4th grade spent the month of January working hard on their Realistic Self-Portraits! They have GROWN SO MUCH with their portrait drawing abilities and I am looking forward to showing off their final self portraits once they are completed. As we entered the month of February we paused our portrait unit to begin creating artwork for the "Great State Fair" themed carnival! The 4th graders are learning to paint fair animals in an Impressionistic style! Impressionism is my FAVORITE style of painting, so not only are the students in for a treat, but so am I! Currently, the students are completing their animal sketches that will be made into paintings.
2nd grade spent the month of January completing their Paper Mache Sea Creatures! They thoroughly enjoyed the painting process, in which they made their sea creatures appear to come to life! The students were encouraged to mix colors, add textures and other details to enhance the look of their creature. The students are now starting their "fair themed" projects which will be in the form of relief prints! I was impressed with the sketches the students made last art class in preparation for the prints. They did an excellent job drawing images that filled up the space and resembled the pictures they were looking at. Some students drew their images 3 or 4 times until they got it right!
1st grade completed their adorable Clay Snowmen during the month of January, and are now in the midst of their "fair" themed project! I read the book "When Pigasso Met Mootisse" to both the first grade and kindergarten classes. To give you an idea of what it's about... "Pigasso" (as you may have guessed) is a pig inspired by artist Pablo Picasso, and "Mootisse" is a bull inspired by artist "Henri Matisse." Although the pig and bull characters are fictional, the story is semi realistic with themes like an "art brawl" between the two artists. They became competitive and at first fought to top the other but eventually began to appreciate the other artist's style and point of view (a good lesson for our young artists, and people in general). So... first grade is now creating "Mootisse's" in the style of Henri Matisse!
Kindergarten completed their beautiful Catching Snowflake projects that are now on display in the front hallway! The students are becoming familiar with the art style of Pablo Picasso as they attempt to create Pig Paintings in Picasso's style! The students did a great job with our "draw along" in which I drew an example "Pigasso" and had them follow. I love how every pig is unique and that each artist added their own twist!
Also this month... Westlawn artwork is on display at the Cedarburg District Boardroom! No parents were notified about their child's artwork on display since I decided to make it a display rather than an "art show." I felt it was too difficult for families to view the artwork with having to arrange a time that did not conflict with the board room schedule. There will be, however, three upcoming art shows in 2018...The Cedarburg Art Museum (March), Cedarburg Cultural Center (March), and Ozaukee County Fair (August). If your child is chosen for one of these art shows they will be coming home with a special art letter!
