January Art Update!

Hello artists and families! It was great to be united with all of the students when I returned to school on January 23rd! Of course I enjoyed my time at home with my now 3 month old and am missing her during the day, but it was also great to be back with the students and see how they have grown since I've been gone! I was pleased to hear that so many of them enjoyed their time with Mrs. Badeen and continued to be inspired in art class.

Take a look at each of the grade levels below to see what they have been up to!

Kindergarten artists completed their two part robot project! They had so much fun using their creativity with a variety of materials for their low relief sculpture! The robots were constructed with materials such as: cardboard, tin foil, foam, pipe cleaners, yarn, and more! After creating a watercolor resist in the background with oil pastels, wooden gears, and watercolor paint, the students wrapped shapes with tin foil and glued them on to construct the body. As they started to add extra features like the face, electronics, hands, feet and head they were encouraged to think about the function of their robot to inspire their design. They all had great stories to go with their robots! I just love hearing their clever ideas and wild imaginations!

Once the low relief sculptures were complete, we put a blank white piece of paper over top so the students could make a second robot by rubbing oil pastel over the shapes and textures underneath. It's so fun to see it appear like magic! We related it to taking an x-ray of the robot or digging up fossils like a paleontologist!

Soon we will be starting a mixed media winter themed project called Catching Snowflakes!

First grade artists paused their Henri Matisse inspired artwork to start their Clay Snowman, before winter passes us by! They enjoyed playing with playdough while I read them the book "Snowmen At Night." The opportunity to practice making pinch pots with the playdough helped the students to be more successful with their pinch pots when they started using the clay. They knew exactly what to do since we had just practiced it the class before! They created large, medium, and small pinch pots that were stacked together. They also learned how to join the clay together using the "4 S's (score, slip, stick, smooth) so the snowman would stay together. Next class, we will be starting to add features to the snow people that involve more clay making techniques AND gives the students a chance to be expressive and make their art piece one of a kind :)

Second grade artists did a FABULOUS job drawing and painting ocean creatures with Mrs. Badeen for their current project. The Mixed Media Ocean Creature Mosaics tie in nicely with the unit they study in 2nd grade! When I returned to school the students were ready to start on the mosaic part of the artwork... the best part! :) They watched TWO videos to inspire them and guide them in the understanding of mosaic art (a video about mosaic artist Mary Wells, and a video of mosaics all over the world). They learned WHO makes mosaics, WHAT a mosaic is, WHERE mosaics are made, WHY they are made, and WHEN they have been made. 

The 2nd grade artists were instructed to select materials that match the colors in their ocean creature, cut them into pieces no bigger than their thumbnail and no smaller than their pinky, and to glue them down close together with a spaghetti noodle space in between. I was curious to see how much patience the students would demonstrate during the art making process, and they honestly surprised me! They seem to be enjoying adding all of the little pieces and are understanding the art making process. The fact that they have a WIDE variety of materials to choose from (paint samples, newspaper, metallic paper, foam, etc.) makes it more FUN! :)

Third grade artists just finished up their Holiday Lights Painting. The artwork gave the students a great deal of practice with color mixing since they were expected to mix colors accurately where ever two lightbulbs overlap. The students did a great job taking on the challenge and even added details to their artwork like "glare" on the lightbulbs with oil pastel, a filament inside using drawing pen, and a shiny metallic base by showing a range of values with pencil. 

The background of the artwork was the biggest hit as students had fun deciding from two fun painting techniques: splatter painting and black watercolor with added salt! Some students were so captivated by the art techniques that they wanted to both!

We will now be starting a NEW art unit which is focused on fiber art! We're excited to show you more next month!

Fourth grade artist are doing a FABULOUS job creating Low Relief Landscapes! This is one of the most challenging projects I teach, but ends up having the coolest results! The artwork will be just one piece in a 3 part project, with the other two artworks being a print and texture rubbing that comes from the original landscape sculpture. 

The students began the project by selecting a landscape that interested them. They reviewed the parts of a landscape (background, middle ground, and foreground) and then were instructed to sketch out their landscape by simplifying it into basic shapes (nasic enough to cut). The real challenge came when needing to cut the cardboard and layer the pieces to show the illusion of depth. Once I returned to school, I showed the students how they could cut and layer materials other than cardboard which not only made the cutting easier but also gave the artwork more variety in texture! The color of the materials won't matter because the students will eventually be painting the landscape in monochromatic colors to show atmospheric perspective. 

I am PROUD of the 4th graders for being creative problem solvers and good helpers to fellow classmates as we work through this fun yet challenging project!

Fifth grade artists had just wrapped up their Found Object Sculptures when I had returned to school. Mrs Badeen did a great job presenting the project with a slideshow that included many sculptures as inspiration! The students had creative freedom to choose a theme for their own sculpture and did a lot of exploring and learning through the art making process. 

We spent time learning how to write an Artist Statement which allowed the students to share the WHAT, HOW, and WHY behind their artwork. This was especially enjoyable for me to witness as I was not there during the development stages of the project. The 5th grade artists then turned their Artist Statements into Seesaw presentations that will be accessible as QR codes later this spring at the 5th Grade Fine Arts Night! :) 

It was important that the students took time to demonstrate all of the art standards (create, present, respond, and connect) as they are all valuable steps that an artist experiences in the art making process. When the student takes time to reflect on their choice and look back on what went well and what they would change, it helps them to GROW so much more!

We also dedicated an art class to learning how to RESPOND to art by participating in four activities that taught the students to describe, analyze, interpret, and judge an artwork. We looked at a self portrait by artist Marc Chagall and it was SO fun to see and hear all of the students thoughts and observations. They learned that there is so much more to responding to an artwork than just simply deciding if you like it. You can learn so much by looking closely and naming what you see (describing), studying the elements that were used to make up the artwork (analyzing), considering the meaning and intent of the artwork (interpreting), and giving it your final thoughts and opinion (judging). Each of the activities were fun and engaging for the kids, promoted community and collaboration, and really got them thinking!

We are now moving into our next artwork that I anticipate being fun and challenging for the students. They will be selecting a famous artist and creating a self portrait inspired by their art style! Stay tuned to see which artists are chosen and how the students grow as artists as they create their masterpieces!