May/June Art Update!

Hello everyone!

Well... the 2017-2018 school year is a wrap. The students and teachers have worked hard all year and now we are all exhausted (well at least I am 😉). I was telling someone recently that the end of the year feels like you just hosted a big party... it's crazy and fun... and then everyone leaves and you are left exhausted with so much to clean up, haha! But... just like a great party, it's well worth it when you see the results and know how much everyone enjoyed it. So... I hope your kids truly enjoyed art this year and are proud of the artwork they brought home (in one piece I hope)!

A big highlight from May was the first Westlawn Family Paint Night! Mrs. Chivinski (a WL parent) was the real organizer and driving force behind the whole event. So thank you to Annie Chivinski for putting it together! It was a great success and we had so much fun painting! It was SO great to see parents and kids creating artwork together. Check out some pictures below!

Abstract Paint Pour!

Mountain Landscape!

Check out what WL students were up to during May and the start of June!

5th grade completed the highly anticipated Clay Cake Slices! Just as I expected, the students wowed me with their creativity with the cakes! More importantly, they seemed to enjoy the clay making process and also learned a lot along the way. The project involved many clay making techniques that the students have learned over the years. This project really ties a lot of those skills together (slab making, joining clay together with the 4 S's, coil making, shaping and pinching clay, etc. On top of all that the students were required to add their artistic flare and creativity by making their clay cake slice unique! Check out some of the Clay Cake Slices below!

4th grade glazed their clay coil projects after their initial bisque firing. Each of the projects were so unique, and like the 5th grade Clay Cake Slices, the coil projects involved a ton of clay making techniques (primarily coil making).
Following the Clay Coil Mugs and Vases, the 4th graders had some time to make Father's day cards! You may see some of these soon! If you do, act surprised!

3rd grade LOVED completing their Weavings on Clay Looms for their last art project of the year! Of all the times I have taught this project, this particular group of 3rd graders were the most natural in picking up the art of weaving. The greatest challenge for many was tying two strings together when switching colors. The ability to tie a knot may seem insignificant to some, but is a handy tool in life! If you are wondering how to display the finished weavings at home, I would thread a strong string (even fishing line) through two of the hold and hang it one a picture frames hook on the wall!

2nd grade completed their Kente Cloth Weavings at the end of May and then Mrs. Huber's class had a little time to create paintings inspired by Romero Britto (Ms. Ganz's class was a little behind on the weaving project and then missed a class due to an assembly. The weaving project ended up being one of my favorites from this year! I even had people commenting on how eye catching they were and wondering what fabric they were made out of! No fabric! The students created an illusion of fabric with colored construction paper and Kente Cloth inspired designs using permanent marker!

1st grade sadly ran out of time with their VanGogh Inspired Sunflowers, but will be completing the beautiful projects in 2nd grade! The complex art project involves a series of steps including, painting a background, painting/cutting/gluing a vase, painting/cutting/arranging/gluing flower features AND adding additional details with oil pastels, WHEW! We got to the point of cutting out the flower features. The goal of the project is to imitate Van Gogh's style of painting while creating a breathtaking arrangement of sunflowers! The students favorite word that they learned during the creation of the project is "Impasto" which means painting on thick (like VanGogh did).

Kindergarten created an artwork based on the children's book, My Brave Year of Firsts, written by Jamie Lee Curtis and illustrated by Caura Cornell. We are titling the projects, "My Brave Year of First Self-Portraits! I worked with the students to come up with three things they did for the first time this school year. The students then created a self-portrait with the goals to resemble their facial features, skin color, and hair color. They enjoyed picking out a hair style from the variety of templates I made!

4-K students finished up their last art class at the end of May! The students created butterflies in the style of artist, Piet Mondrian! The one day art lesson taught students about primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) since those are the colors Mondrian used in his paintings, types of lines (horizontal and vertical), and symmetry (like a butterfly has in it's wings)! The students enjoyed making the wings symmetrical by painting one side of the butterfly and then folding it in half to make a print. Even though it's a simple concept, it still amazes students how that can happen! Unfortunately, I was so busy working with students I forgot to take pictures!

Happy summer everyone! See you next school year!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Miller