Happy Thanksgiving

As I reflect on my blessings, being an art teacher is high up on my list. I feel so fortunate to be a part of a wonderful school community that has incredible people (students, staff, PTO and families alike) to make each day uniquely special. In the art room, we are excited and busy exploring art making together. It's the greatest thing in the world. We challenge each other to think about things differently while learning about each other. I absolutely adore my students and am thankful to have such great ones. 

Anime style turkey drawn at home by Sylvia, Grade 5

I hope that you all have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday- see you next week!

Exploring Grounds for Sculpture

George Segal's "Depression Breadline" continues to be one of my favorite sculptures (on a long list) at Grounds for Sculpture. The depiction of the five men standing in line conveys the era so well. Our mood this week while visiting GFS was quite to opposite. My Art Enrichment students, who just visited GFS last year, were as happy as can be exploring the Grounds once again,,,this time with a different lens.

Here are the girls in the Johnson/Kopcow Fantastic Five group interacting with Segal's sculpture. 

This sculpture has changed little since I met it 14 years ago (a bit more oxidation) but each year as my students line up and pose with this sculpture I feel as though I am seeing it for the very first time along with them.

 Segal conveys the mood so well in bronze capturing the heaviness and sadness in their clothing and faces. The brick wall and closed door rounds out the mood of the installation.

 My artsy explorers amazed me during the trip figuring out some neat angles and perspectives in their photography. 

What I love so much about GFS is how the landscape is just as intriguing as the actual sculpture.

For the Tuesday trip, the weather allowed for short sleeves. The day felt more magical because of the weather. Later in the week, the temperature was quite chilly but we were warm in spirit and didn't feel the cold in the least bit.

A special surprise for my students was a private tour of Gyuri Hollosy's studio. He is a lovely, incredibly talented man that I have met a few times. I taught his talented daughter for an honors class in middle school. She is a chip off the block... intelligent, skilled and personable.

This tour was a true gift from a friend and Bear Tavern parent who is a phenonmenal Sculptor as well, Rory Mahon. 

We toured Hollosy's studio intrigued by his works -in- progress, collection of amazing sculptures, paintings and drawings. It was the kind of space that you could sit in and do nothing but stare around at the wonders of the inspiring space.

After autographs and pictures of Hollosy, my students and his ox "Augie" or "ArtToro", we wandered off better, more inspired people.

Grade 5: Finished Candy Paintings

It has been a truly Sweet Year and these candy paintings make the hallway at Bear Tavern all the more colorful and sweet. 

Earlier this month, I blogged about the candy paintings that my 5th graders were starting and the similar lesson that I taught during Art in the Park over the summer. Read more in the original post Click Here

Here are the delicious results that I hung in the hallway yesterday, Can you recognize the assorted wrappers?

Nice job Fifth Graders!

Art for a Rainy Day/ Long Weekend

Here's a durable, easy project that is a lot of fun to do on a rainy day like today (or at any point over this 4 day weekend)

MELTED CRAYON ART

In our art room, we have one by the sink. It has held up quite nicely over the years to touch, splashes, etc. My daughter and I used hot glue to secure the crayons to a board (you can reuse a piece of cardboard or any strong surface) and a hot blow dryer to melt the crayons. It will take close to a full minute before you see the crayons begin to melt and drip. 

Crayon projects have been quite popular recently. The original straight line-up of crayons, like the one we did 4 years ago, have now turned into pretty awesome designs. 

Very creative!

Try using a stencil and mask out the area you do not want coated in crayon for a cool result. You can use a piece of contact paper cutout of a letter or shape to help or a piece of reused cardboard taped down well.

 If you have an silicone muffin pan, you can cut up crayons to make new, shaped crayons as well! Google "melted crayons art" and have fun!!

Here are a few links:

http://www.kidskubby.com/melted-crayon-art-projects/

http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/17374/wax-crayon-art

Also of interest for this weekend is the annual ART ALL DAY. Art lovers can tour artists studios and have a fun artsy day this Saturday, November 8th. 

More info and a schedule of events:

http://artworkstrenton.org/art-all-day

Happy Creating!!

(All photos courtesy of the Internet.)

Grade 5 (and Art in the Park) Candy Paintings

Fifth graders are finishing up candy wrapper paintings right now. The focus on these has been...sweet! 

I will post the images as they are finished but wanted to share photographs from this past summer when I taught a similar lesson during Art in the Park.

We began by selecting a wrapper that had a composition that appealed to each student and had awesome colors. 

This summer at Art in the Park, we did not have access to computers so the kids worked from real wrappers vs. my 5th graders had time to use online resources to find a wrapper from present day or decades ago.

My 5th graders cropped their wrapper down and enlarged the image onto to their paper. 

We spent a full class period observing and drawing the enlarged design followed by fun times painting in the wrapper as realistically as possible. 

Yummy, candy wrappers drying in the summer air

Students hard at work carefully painting in their drawings

Stay tuned for more delicious results!