RUN..DON'T WALK TO "MY MESSY ART ROOM"

THIS IS SO FUNNY....YOU GOTTA GO READ IT!! 

Mr.R...you are wonderfully evil...your wife is blessed to have you!

MY MESSY ARTROOM

Collage Snowmen: Kindergarten

Now is the time I usually see my kindergarten students turning the corner!  It is exciting for me as an art teacher to witness such a transformation....often from nondescript markings to beautiful works of art.  They are doing so well at handling glue/scissors.  Well...most of them.  I heard yesterday I had an upset parent because their child has cut up their pants the past two times they've had art.  I'm assuming it was done in my room, but I did not see the "crime".  There are 21 students in the class...the tables are not made of see through glass....and they are required to stay in their seats.  So I did not see it happen..or the aftermath of.  I honestly can say I've not had a student do that in my 16 yrs of teaching.  I've had them cut themselves, trim their hair a little...but never cut up their pants/shirts.  Hopefully this will not happen anymore....I've been going over scissor safety/rules with every class.  

Oil Pastel Op Weavings: 2nd Grade

We've been working on our weaving skills with 2nd grade, and I didn't want to leave it quiet yet.  I decided to have my students create "op" weavings using oil pastels.  Some have turned out AMAZING.  Others...not so much.  Their is abstraction of sorts taking weaving from the tactile to the purely visual...and I think this is where I am losing some of the kiddos.  However....they are loving using oil pastels...so we'll press on with this experimental project.  

Yo Yo Yo for the Ho Ho Ho

I've been sharing my yo-yo making( never ending )with my Facebook friends...but many of them don't know what a yo-yo is ...other than a toy that goes up and down.   

You start with a circle of fabric.  The size depends on how big you want your end product.  I used a CD to trace my circles.  Personally I feel the tracing & cutting out of the circles was the most time consuming part of the process.  Oh...did I mention that I had never done this before....my wife decided it would be "fun" to have a hand made yo-yo garland for our Christmas tree this year.  She was busy making applique Thanksgiving, dance, Christmas shirts for our children & some friends...so the yo-yoin' was left up to me.

You then go around the edge of your yo-yo...making a drawstring of sorts.  After you go all the way around the circle...pull & knot.  

I probably don't do it complete right....but I do tack down the center through the back with a couple stitches.  Some fabric artist is probably rolling over in their grave...or screaming in their craft room as we speak.  Oh well...I taught myself..and it worked for me.  

Then I stitched/linked them together.

This was only half way through...I'm still not done, but I have most of it up on the tree.  At last count...it was 28 feet +.  OH MY GOSH!  AM I DONE YO-YOIN' YET?!?!?!!?

UPDATE:  32 FT LONG!!!

Art is COLD!!!!!

I AM NEVER EVER EVER EVER GOING WITH A COOL COLOR THEME FOR MY ROOM AGAIN!!!  I am in week 3 of coming into to a 62"ish" classroom!!!!  It does not heat up till 10. OH MY GOSH.  I resorted to turning on my kiln last week just to warm up the room.  I'm a large man..and am not cold natured...so if I'm cold...these poor kiddos!!?!!?!?!?  Our district keeps saying they are going to be out to fix it...but right now 1/3 of our school is " chillin' ".  NOT COOL!  Well..you know what I mean?!?!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Was getting board with cutting sweet potatoes...so the turkey was the first diversion. Then I got a bit more abstract and created SWEETPOTATOHENGE! ha ha ha  

I'm not sure how many pounds of sweet potato chunks I cut...but my hand hurts!! ha ha  I love Thanksgiving. It is my fav holiday!!  I hope you & yours have a blessed holiday...so much to be thankful for!!!

Winter Mural 2012: K - 4th Grade

Here the mural is completed!  

Winter Mural Parts Day 2: K-4th Grade

Kindergarten created more pine trees.  I am really amazed how much the struggled.  We may need to do more collage work to see if we can sharpen their skills a bit more!

1st Grade created collage snowmen!  I'm really happy with how they turned out...though I did have one student put the face on the butt side??!?!?!  

(2nd Grade created more winter paper weavings w/ construction paper crayons)

3rd grade made collage pine branches using markers & construction paper crayons to add more details to the needle portion.

4th grade created collage pine cones.  I'm not sure if you can see all the work in these, but they are really amazing in person.they cut out the "scales" and layered them onto the pine cone shape.  

CAN YOU PICTURE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE YET?  

STAY TUNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winter Mural Parts :K-4th

Every year... on these two odd days before Thanksgiving Break...I do a winter mural with my students. I don't want two days worth of students to be a week ahead of everyone else...so this is a fun solution to that issue.  Each grade level creates the "parts" that go into the finished mural. 

• Kindergarten created the collage pine trees..and used construction paper crayons to add "snow".
• 1st grade created the collage cardinals and used red & black Sharpies to add the details. 

• 2nd grade did fabric weaving last week...so I had them create paper weaving & add snow flakes using construction paper crayons.
• 3rd grade attempted shading winter branches with tempera paint (SOME did really well!) 

• 4th grade created winter trees in collage..and then shaded using tempera paint (once again..SOME did really well) 

CAN YOU PICTURE WHAT THE MURAL IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE?!?!?  

Stay tuned!!!! 

Monster Dolls / Soft Sculptures

Sculpture is part of our curriculum for 4th grade this nine weeks.  I started with a Nevelson/found object sculpture.  The students really loved it, and I wanted to continue on with sculpture.  I used Oldenburg as the focus artist, and the kids LOVED HIM!!!!!!!!!!!  It has been more of a challenge than I anticipated.  Kids today have almost NO experience when it comes to needles/thread/sewing.  I know my situation is extremely different...growing up in Appalachia with quilters EVERYWHERE.  But a majority of these kids had NO CLUE AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This has inspired me.  This year I'm going to do plastic needle point, and I am planning on doing a button lesson(something practical I'll make artistic). If nothing else..these kids will be able to sew on a button when they leave Mr. E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!