Art Show April 10th!

I am excited to share with everyone the information about our upcoming art show! I decided to do things a little differently this year and rather than doing an "art festival" type event I am going with a more sophisticated "museum" style exhibit. The art show this year is a group effort with a company called First Art Works. The students made some really lovely art in my class and I have sent the work to First Art Works for framing. On the night of the show, every student will have their matted and framed art on display. If parents would like to buy the frame that it is in, they can take the work off the wall and buy it that night. All art that is not bought in the frame that night will be returned to the students in several weeks. I have tried to explain to the students that they are not buying their art, but they are buying the frame that it is in. The art show is Thursday, April 10th and will follow the PTO meeting that starts at 5:00. It is a "drop in" event, so feel free to stay as long as you like. In addition to the framed work, there will also be hundreds of other student art diplayed all along the Library wing here at MCPS. Please make sure to come down and see additional work by your children. I am so excited about the show and I hope that everyone can make it out to the school on April 10th to celebrate the young artists of Morgan County Primary School!

Matisse Interiors

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Several classes in Second grade have been hard at work learning about Henri Matisse and creating art inspired by him. They looked at many of his paintings of room interiors as well as some of his still lifes. Their paintings incorporated a little of both. They were given the directions to paint a goldfish bowl in a room but they could have complete creative freedom to design their space. Some chose to paint bedrooms while others made family rooms and included aspects of their own homes. These turned out so beautifully! Here is sampling of some of the created work.

Picasso Portraits

Hello Pinterest friends! If you are viewing this blog via Pinterest....welcome! This is actually my old blog from my previous school. Feel free to look around and enjoy! I also have a NEW BLOG that I try to update frequently, so please visit my new blog at www.hsesartyparty.blogspot.com

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Some of my classes in First and Second grade have been learning about the art of Pablo Picasso. They were especially interested in his portraits and the students found his work very entertaining. We spent some time talking about how Picasso was very brave. He was not afraid to make art that was different and didn't care that people were critical of him. These classes are creating Picasso inspired portraits. They started with a brush and black paint that they used to "draw" their portrait. I demonstrated how they could hold their brush straight up and down with their elbow up to get a nice clean line. I love the appearance that this technique of painting creates. In the following weeks, the kids will add line designs with oil pastels and paint over them with a watercolor wash. I will post more pictures later! Enjoy the works in progress!

Do you remember Shrinky Dinks?

Some of my fondest memories as a child were making Shrinky Dinks at my grandmothers house. They were kind of pricey for our family budget, so we only got to make them at Grandmas. For those of you that aren't familiar with them, they were sheets of pliable plastic that you could color and put in the toaster oven. They would shrink to half their size and become hard, thick plastic. The "Smurfs" were my favorite Shrinky Dink characters to buy. Well, today in 2008, I can buy 9X12 sheets of the "Shrink Film" as they call it now. The students are amazed at what this stuff does. Several 2nd grade classes are learning about the artist, Pablo Picasso and his abstract art. We have been focusing mostly on his portraits and the unusual way that he painted them. The classes are making Picasso style portraits on the shrink film and we have been cooking them in my classroom toaster. I punched holes in them prior to shrinking them because these will soon be pendants for a Picasso style necklace. Bead making has also begun and I will post about those later. Here are some before and after pictures of their art and even one shrinking in the oven. This is so fun!

Presenting.....MCPS Kings and Queens!

The crowns are finished! These First grade classes had great fun learning about Kings and Queens. Their crowns turned out cute and are filled with a large amount of paint, oil pastels, jewels, glitter and some feathers. Enjoy!

Where has the time gone?

Wow! I definitely got swamped with the annual Holiday rush. Beautiful art continued to be created here in the art room....I was just too busy to share it! Well, I am back and refreshed and ready to share our progress. Here are some photos of some gorgeous ornaments that Second grade students made to decorate the large windows in the office. We used transparency film and the first day, they drew their designs with Sharpies and thickened their lines up with black acrylic paint. On day two, they painted their ornaments with red, green and white acrylics. We cut them out and displayed them all over the windows in the office. Everyone loved them and they reminded me of Dr. Seuss. I think this will be an annual project for the Christmas holidays each year. We may have to make some funky Valentine hearts for February too!

Spotlight on Caitie Sue!

Caitie Sue is a hard working First Grade artist here at MCPS. She is always on task and always follows directions. In this project, the students were thinking about themselves 25 years from now and what they want to be when they grow up. Caitie Sue wants to be a veterinarian and her picture expresses that very clearly. Like all of Caitie's work, it is full of fine details and excellent craftsmanship. I am proud of the artist that Caitie Sue has become and I know she will be successful in whatever she does. Congratulations Caitie Sue!