November 15, 2013

"Corn"dinsky Corn Ears



One of my practicum students did a mixed media lesson with oil pastels and collage to create corn ears.  They are only here two days a week, so I decided to change it up a little on the days I was teaching the lesson.  I showed the students an image of Kandinsky's Farbstudie Quadrate.  We used that as inspiration for the corn!!!  I think it is kind of a fun twist on Kandinsky's work! ha ha  



November 14, 2013

Green/Recycle Art Work Shop

I love this project!  You use paper towel rolls, and give your students (teachers in this case) the primary colors...plus black & white.  If you wanted to do it as a tints/shades lesson...I'm sure that would be amazing too!  Instruct them to use short lines when applying the paint to the surface(only painting half of the roll).  They can create patterns, line designs, faux weaving,....really...however you want to guide the lesson!  You then place a small dot of hot glue to the back and display them together.  You can glue them to the all...or even a piece of large posterboard/construction paper.  I love them grouped up!


Janet showed the group how to create paper pulp ornaments.  She uses the small scraps in the bottom of her scrap paper box for this.  She has students separate colors.  Next she soaks them over night.  Lastly she blends them in small amounts in her "art" blender.  Small amounts are key as not to burn the motor up!!!    
She uses bath towels & paper towels to suck out most of the excess water.  Then you just leave them out to dry!!  Kind of fun, and I imagine it being done in small groups while the rest of the class is working on another project.


These were large mixed media pieces they created on cardboard.  They had access to old tissue paper that we used to transfer color on an earlier project, scraps of fabric, yarn, and other materials.  They were also allowed to use paint we had used from a previous project.  Below a teacher included her weaving that we created out of plastic bags and cereal boxes.  For students, I'd plan on at least 3 class times for a project this size & involvement.  


We did a few other projects, but I did not get a chance to snap pictures of them :( boooo  What a great day we had.  Only around 10 teachers at this PD, but we had such a good time together!! (normally we have about 25 come)

November 13, 2013

GREEN ART LINKS & IDEAS


Janet ( Ms. Malone's Art Room ) & I are heading up a GREEN ART professional development day!  We were very tempted to just do art projects in the color green with no eco-friendly anything! :) HA HA  
Here are links & such I've found in my preparation for the day.  I hope you all find it useful/interesting.  



November 11, 2013

Day 2 of the Ugly Dolls: 4th Grade




Day 2 of our Ugly Doll project produced some great progress!!  I am allowing them to have one more day to finish adding face/arms/legs and hair (they'll sew the yarn hair in if time allows).  

November 09, 2013

The Start of Ugly Dolls: 4th Grade


Last year was the first time I tried having my 4th graders create "ugly" dolls.  I had used burlap, but this year switched to felt.  It is a little harder to sew through with the plastic needles, but doable & more attractive.  
Day one I have students draw what the want their finished doll to look like, create a pattern for the main basic shape, cut the felt out, and begin sewing.  Yep..busy jammed packed hour!!!!!!!  Can't wait to see how they end up!  Stay tuned!!  



November 08, 2013

Painted Monsters: Kindergarten

Today I read Glad Monster/Sad Monster to my kindergarten students. Fun book with super cute illustrations.  I then had my students create 12x18 monsters.  They were asked to use simple patterns.  The main focus of the lesson was the techniques of watercolor..and most did a great job!





November 07, 2013

Pumpkin Color Blending: 1st Grade


Sometimes I get a wild hair to push my younger students!  I really wanted to encourage them to think of objects as having more than one color.  Instead of grabbing just an orange to color a pumpkin...think about what colors could be used to make a pumpkin have more impact.  So I had them pull all their yellow - red colors out of their crayon box.  I showed them how to blend one color into another as not to get a stripe effect.   I think for 1st graders...they did an AMAZING job!! 





November 05, 2013

An Art Teacher Lost




Last week we lost an art teacher who taught at Nashville School of the Arts.  An amazing soul...the poster child of an eclectic art teacher....with an encourage word always on her lips.  We were not extremely close, but over the years enjoyed running into each other at our different functions.  I had just seen her a couple days before she died at the TAEA conference...and she quickly asked me how my babies were & how my wife was doing.  Ms. Laurie Poole...you will be missed!!!!

Here are my thoughts after the memorial service last night:

A life well lived is not about the awards & praise....but the impact one has on those who cross their path along the way. Legacy is so much more important than limelight.  - Mr. E

November 03, 2013

Kindergarten Fall Collages


Our kindergarten students this year are AMAZING!!!!!!!  I'm seeing some amazing stuff, and really am excited to work with them over the next 5 yrs!  I love their fearless attempts at creating leaves!!!  I showed them a number of ways to draw leaves before we got started, and asked them to at least try a few of them.  Not only did they attempt a number of different types of leaves...they successfully cut them out!  That is not an easy skill for the 5 yr old hands!!!  I loved how a few of their shapes & color choices reminded me of IKEA fabric! ha ha  




November 01, 2013

iPAD & ACCESSORIES: FINALLY!


So you may remember my EdBacker campaign...or maybe not?!?  I was blessed to have my campaign fulfilled in less than 3 weeks!!  However, because of my school district...things were delayed a bit for several reasons.  One of which being our 2 week fall break!  All that being said....I now have my iPad & accessories!  I LOVE IT!!!!!!  I've got much to learn, but I'll be sure to share as I do!!  We have a PD day coming up in Feb for iPad's in the art room....and I'm going to try to get into that!!!!  

THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART
OF ART WITH MR. E & UPGRADE IN THE ART ROOM!!!!

 Gretchen Borders
Janet Turner- McDonald
Keith Sherry
Chrystal Starbird
Emily Kajihara
Laura Maxwell
Margaret Hayes
Marion McIntyre
Bethany Johnson
James Myers
Grace Pfeiffer
Shanna and Hugh Piatt






Clay Masks: 3rd Grade




I do a clay "mask" project with my 3rd graders every year.  Usually I find a few gems in the mix, but this year they are AMAZING!!!!!  It is interesting how different years are like that.  
The previous week we created Echo Masks from construction paper.  We talked about the purpose/function of masks & looked at how different cultures created their masks(materials & design wise).  This week we reviewed vocab & information on clay.  They were given the inspiration of animal/human hybrid.  Some went more animal...some more human, but all are wonderful works of art!  







This is my teacher example...I had fun with him!!!