Hello and welcome back to the art blog!
There is a LOT packed into this month's art update, so the write ups will be a bit more brief and the format will be a bit different. Rather than being organized by grade level, this month's update will be sorted by art activities starting with the most recent.
Westlawn Art Club Pumpkin Carving
On October 11th, the Westlawn Art Club students had the privilege of learning to carve pumpkins from Jim Miller (no relation to Mrs. Miller the art teacher). Although not related, they are both from Waupaca, WI where Jim holds a giant carved pumpkin display every year in October. He has been carving elaborate pumpkins for over 20 years and his method makes the pumpkins look like glowing woodcuts!
Many things needed to happen to make this dream of having Jim visit a reality. We needed the pumpkins - Mrs. Schmidt's parents donated some from their pumpkin farm! We needed the funds for Mr. Miller to come - Westlawn PTO graciously supported the event. We needed the pumpkin designs selected, printed, cut, glued on, and traced with a tattoo gun - some parents and colleagues stepped up and helped with this! We needed tarps, buckets, hay bales, and more - all provided by generous Westlawn families. Then finally, we got to carve and display our pumpkins! Thank you to all who helped make this memorable event happen. I hope it's the first of many!
If you wish to see more pictures from the event, see the album HERE.
 |
| Pumpkins complete and all lit up! |
 |
| Westlawn Art Club 2024 |
 |
| All the carvers, including some family members, and the other two amazing elementary CSD art teachers! |
 |
| The pumpkin carving LEGEND and the "newbie." |
Sketchbooks
All of my art students at Westlawn, Thorson, and Parkview created their very own sketchbooks this month. THANK YOU PIGGLY WIGGLY for your generous donation of paper bags so all the students could create and use a sketchbook throughout the school year!
The students arranged and glued together the two cut pieces of paper bag. They then added three features to the inside: a handmade pocket, "golden checklist" of sketchbook inspiration, and a "blue cheat sheet" with five things the student must do for each entry (title, date, quality drawing, fill up the page, check it off the checklist). The students had a ton of fun creating the pocket by doing a texture rubbing using "naked" crayons and a textured item (such as a textured plate or bottom of their shoe).
The white pages and BONUS pages (colored and grid paper) were then added into the sketchbooks. Once they were assembled with the hole puncher and yarn (thank you to the amazing parents that helped with this!!!) we are able to complete our first sketchbook entries!
At Westlawn, the art room needed to be set up for the pumpkin carving event so we used that as an excuse to create our sketchbook entries OUTSIDE! It was fun and very inspiring :)
Westlawn Outdoor Sketchbook Entries
 |
| Kindergarten made their sketchbooks look like "cave walls" by crumpling up and stepping on them! |
 |
| The students learned the "who, what, where, why, and when" of pre-historic art. They then traced and overlapped their hands using chalk colors that resembled real cave art. |
Thorson and Parkview sketchbook making.
The students enjoyed doing some show and tell with our first sketchbook entries!
Westlawn Collaborative Puzzle Project
Every Westlawn artist was given the challenge of designing a puzzle piece that represented them as an individual! They were asked to do "3 C's" when making their puzzle piece: 1. Make their puzzle CREATIVE 2. CONNECT it to their unique personality and what makes them valued 3. Use their best CRAFTSMANSHIP in designing their puzzle piece.
In order to practice our puzzle piece designs the older students (grades 2-5) did some experimenting on a paper template and the younger students (grades K and 1) completed a practice grid with 6 sections, one for each art station that was set up. The goal was to have lots of creative freedom in what art materials to use, but HOW to use them required a little practice before completing our final artwork. After spending time playing around with the materials, students had a much better idea of what they wanted to use to express themselves in their puzzle piece. They all look SO COOL! We are ALMOST done putting them together to reveal the hidden word that fit's this year's school theme.
Please check out the album HERE if you would like to see individual pictures of the students with their puzzle piece! Since the puzzle pieces are going to be part of a permanent art installation at Westlawn, it will be nice to have a picture copy for each student.
 |
| Once all the puzzle pieces were created all the classes enjoyed "Musical Chairs Art Critique!" They had a chance to self reflect on their artwork AND give feedback on another student's work. VIDEO of Musical Chairs Art Critique! |
 |
| So many cool puzzle pieces! |
 |
| So creative! |
 |
| Art stations for puzzle piece practice. |
 |
| More stations! |
Thorson Collaborative Cube Project
Every Thorson student created a cube inspired by L.A. artist Thank You X. The name "Thank You X" is the artist's alias and was given to him by accident when he was spotted creating a spray paint stencil, dedicated to Andy Warhol, with "thank you x" underneath. The students studied the artist's style and identified themes in his work, such as: abstract designs, bright colors, rhythm, and large scale murals that required collaboration.
The challenge given to each Thorson artist was to design a cube that met the following criteria: make the top shape monochromatic with an assigned grade level color, incorporate your name on the left side, create some sort of pattern or optical illusion on the right side. The students enjoyed the creative freedom and using a variety of art materials to make their cube designs! They all look so awesome on the upper wall of the AMP hallway! Ms. Penkwitz spent a LOT of time hanging them all up! Bravo!
Parkview Collaborative Hand Project
All Parkview students are creating HAND designs that will be part of an all school collaborative project! Each student traced their hand and then added their name and a drawing of something that they liked onto the palm . The rest of the hand was filled up with TEXTURE!
Second grade students learned about invented texture and "Zen-Tangle." They had a lot of fun with this art style that is meant to be calming and freeing for the artist. We practiced the steps of Zen-Tangle with some "zen" music on. It was very relaxing and the students loved it!
Fifth grade artists practiced the art of simulated or implied texture, which is the most challenging way to make texture. They were asked to create at least 5 different textures on their hands that looked real. We achieved this by practicing making a range of values and also studying a variety of textures and methods to make them. Many of them surprised themselves with how realistic their textures appeared!
All About Me Art Sheets
Our first art project of the year was to create these fun "All About Me" sheets! Grade K-2 had a more simple version, and grade 3-5 had more spaces to fill in with a combination of words and drawings. The students loved when we used the All About Me art sheets for a game where we had to try and figure out which artist made which sheet. They learned a lot about their classmates from their answers! The All About Me sheets have been added into student sketchbooks as a fun new feature and memory of the student at this point in time.
 |
| Mrs. Miller's examples. It was helpful for the students to see a visual comparison between one sheet made with no drawings and no color, vs one that was created with much more color, creativity, and artistic skill. |
First Days of Art Board Game
Thanks to Ms. O'Reilly (the designer and creator of this original board game), my students love to start the year reviewing art room expectations by playing a fun and engaging board game. The game includes three types of cards, "Question," "Task," and "Draw it." For the younger students, they use a spinner and have only two types of cards, "find it" and "draw it." The goal is for the students to have fun reviewing art room expectations so they learn all they need to know without realizing it :)
