Our Little Piece of the Coral Reef in Wisconsin

Well we finally did it!  The multi-age kids (2nd-4th grade) finished their Coral Reef Sculptures!  We started by drawing our coral, seaweed, and ocean animals on cardboard.  Once all pieces were cut out, each child painted both sides using bright colors, patterns, and splatters.  The base was shaped by using an aluminum foil 'cup' each child shaped.  They formed the wire into an "egg-dipper" shape on one end and taped securely in their foil cup.  I pre-mixed Plaster of Paris (tinted blue) and poured over the wires.  It was then the exciting task of adding seashells and real coral pieces (which was generously donated by a community member who had these buried in a closet, so no coral was abused in this lesson:)  The very last task was adding a few beads for texture to the painted coral and attaching all the cardboard shapes to the wire.  I so wish we could have had these on display for the art show but they are now displayed in the elementary above the kids lockers.  They look amazing!

8th Grade Abstracted Cities in Perspective are Completed!!

Below I have given you some insight into the 8th grade city painting my exploratory group is working on.  They have completed drawing and transferring the image to the canvas boards.  Some are not liking the process of painting on an easel, because it makes their arm tired.  I find it kind of funny that its not even hard labor?!  Thankfully they are young and will adjust. As Enjoy:

Well we finished the Abstract Perspective Cities!  The results are stunning.  I think the 8th grade students surprised themselves as well.  I was so excited to see the different creative twists each individual brought to their canvas, but that's what I love about my job!  Below are some of  the finished products.  What do you think?  Feel free to comment:)

2012 Art Show A Success!

Last night kicked off the voting for this year's best of the best Lena's 2012 Art Show.  Below I have posted just a few pictures of some of the work on display.  It all looks so amazing up and the buzz from kids in grades Kindergarten all the way up to Twelfth grade is contagious.  Kids remarking just as much as the adults about how amazing the art work looks.  I love eaves' dropping on their conversations in the hall about their classmates art work.  It is so enjoyable to hear them compliment their peers and as well as younger/older students artistic talents.  Artwork will remain on display until Thursday, March 22nd.  Voting Ballots can be obtained in any of the school offices and turned into the ballot box in the cafeteria. I will be announcing the winners soon after the ballots are all collected.  Until then Enjoy!

Annual Art Show Starts Tomorrow!

WOOOOO HOOOOOO!  The art work is up and on display!  It looks so AWWWWEsome!  Every year at this time I panic and wonder will I have enough work, will the work look as wonderful as last year, and will all my students remember to bring stuff back for display?  And every year it comes together, with so much help from my middle/high school students hard work and assistance.  I wish dearly I could wait til this time of year to grade all the work.  It always looks so different when it is on display and not piled high on my desk or in the hand in box.  I just want to commend each and every one of my art students in K-12.  All are so talented and this is what its all about, seeing each and every one of my student's individual creativity shine.


I hear so many compliments and admiration for our kids work.  I always feel guilty when people say, "This is so wonderful to see!  You have some really nice stuff on display."  Honestly, its not my stuff.  The kids did all the hard work.  So with that said thank you to my students and job well done!  I also want to say "thank you" to our community members for supporting the Visual Arts, without your support and value of the Arts none of our kids could explore so many different avenues of learning and discovery.


So please don't forget to stop out and visit us starting tomorrow night, March 15th, at 4:30 to vote for your favorites.  Awards are based solely on "People's Choice", so every vote counts!  I will post pics very soon.

"Spring Art Show" Just Around the Corner!

Things are getting super busy in the Art Department and all my hoarding is beginning to pay off.  My students are beginning to select their best pieces for the Art Show.  March 15th is an important date for the Visual Arts in the Lena School District! This year the Lena Educator's are also hosting the Annual Spaghetti Supper, so I hope many will take a moment to enjoy our childrens' creative talents as well.  This evening kicks off the voting for People's Artistic Choice Awards.  Everyone has the opportunity to pick their favorite works of art that will be on display in grades K-12.  A total of 12 awards are given at grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12.  Ballots will be available in the school offices from March 15th thru March 22nd.  Hope to see you all there!

Now back to planning and hoping some of my talented artists get those last final pieces complete before March 15th!!!!

1st grade Get's Some Relief!

1st grade learned about relief sculpture and looking at Kandinsky's circles we did a spin off of his work in a 3-dimensional fashion! This was a great project for their "developing" fine motor skills.  However, I cannot take credit for this idea.  I saw it on Pinterest!  I have to say it looks amazing once up!  Great Job 1st Grade!

2nd Grade was busy in 3-D!

Today was a big day for my 2nd graders!  We finished off two 3-dimensional projects and selected "our" best works to display in this years 2012 Spring Art Show!  Below you will find our Kinetic Sculptures that we constructed out of toothpicks and Crayola Model Magic.  It was a tedious job but we finished them up and they look pretty cool!  Each student began by constructing one unit using 3 toothpicks and Model Magic to secure their pieces.  These multiple units were then assembled to create a kinetic sculpture.  Awesome job!

 

We also finished their Silly Clown Sculptures today. This was a fun project with lots of giggles, oo's, and ah's as their little characters began to evolve.  This was a great project to teach them how the human figure can bend, twist, and turn.  We started with 2 pieces of aluminum wire to create the body,  twisting with colored pipe cleaners after we gave each character a little color.  Next, we used Model Magic to sculpt our hands, feet, and a head (be sure to make a mouth by pressing the end of a paint brush into the material.)  Once everything was attached with a little dab of glue, we let it dry. The next class period was for  giving color to our faces.  This was accomplished by coloring with skin toned crayola markers. Coloring the feet and hands was optional since some were very fragile with fingers and toes. Lastly, feathers, puff balls, and wiggle eyes were attached to the face.  Final presentation was accomplished by attaching their figures to the base with help from an adult. We painted the bases prior to this class so everything was dry, bases were donated by our Tech Ed teacher. Thanks Mr. Maloney!  Hope you enjoy our Silly Clowns!

Artsonia Finalist!!!

Please be sure your voting everyday!!!!

I can't believe it, just got the notice!  We made it to the finalist round again, this time at Middle School Level!!! So everyone PLEASE PLEASE vote for Deszerae!!!! You can vote once DAILY from the same source (smartphone, workstation, iPad, etc...) Thanks for your support!!! Please share this with everyone you know:!

Click on the photo to vote!

Hearts of "WIre"

My 8th grade students constructed wire sculptures that can hang as garden/patio art.  Each sculpture was made using aluminum wire and beads to balance and create a sculpture that used the "heart" shape as inspiration.  Balance for this project was not only a physical element but a visual element as well.  Once they got sculpting with their hearts it was no stopping them!  Some just kept growing and growing...

Masks with Character!

At the high school level my beginning art students are creating ceramic mask sculptures.  Some of the criteria required is using slab, additive, and subtractive techniques.  I found this lesson from Arts and Activities latest issue.  I tweaked it to fit my group of students.  They were instructed on how the mask has played a role throughout history and some of its major influences.   Each student must develop a unique piece avoiding the temptation of 'copying' an already infamous mask.  In other words no Scream or Jigsaw versions!  I did however allow them to use resources for inspiration.  Each student will also utilize under-glazes and glazes to complete the finished piece.  I have posted below just a few of their works "in progress".  I will add more as they continue to work on these exciting projects.  Stay tuned...

These aren't for Oatmeal!

This year I did a fun project with my 4th grade students that made use of paper pulp, which most of the kids say, "Ewww...its like oatmeal!"  Most kids love projects that are messy, sticky, and have texture!  This project has all that, plus color.  We started with a plain Styrofoam bowl and they layer the outside of the bowl with tissue paper.  Spreading an even coat of water/glue mixture over the top.  They can add additional wrapping paper, magazines clippings, construction paper, newspaper, etc. to the outside.  Once there is about 4-5 layers of various papers, it is time to add the paper pulp.  Then each student receives a nice heaping of paper pulp (Celluclay) that I premix with water and Elmer's glue.  I use an oatmeal consistency for getting the mixture just right.  This is spread on evenly and smoothed out to remove any sharp edges when it dries.  Before it is left to dry they press scrap yarn and string into the pulp.  When the bowl is nearly dry the Styrofoam bowl is removed and I punch in holes with a needle tool so they may decorate with colored wire and beads.  Lastly its given a "dry-brushing" of paint on the outside.  The students were so proud of their creations, as well as excited to bring them home!