GWMS Week 2.6

GWMS Week 2.6

Tornados, butterflies and watercolors, oh my!  Last weekend there was severe weather in our area and tornados in Southern Illinois.  I love that in a choice-based classroom students can process their thoughts and experiences in their artmaking.

This week I showed students how to use a viewfinder to concentrate on a portion of an image.  I saw an oil pastel lesson on the Field Elementary Art Blog, which I introduced to my classes.  The previous teacher in my room left a boxed collection of animal cards that were perfect for this idea as well as everyday art inspiration.  Here are some examples:

I made viewfinders using cardstock and the old Ellison die-cut machine to cut out the "window".  I had them laminated so they will hopefully last!

GWMS Week 2.5

GWMS Week 2.5

Sewing and weaving continue and with these projects comes lost needles and tangles of yarn!  I spent some time brainstorming inexpensive ways to keep things under control in the classroom.  I gathered some shoeboxes from colleagues and put one skein of yarn in each box.  Most of the boxes had a hole through the side and lid of the box.  This made it easy to thread the yarn through.  If there wasn't a hole, I just used scissors to make one.  I taped the boxes shut and put a note on top " DO NOT OPEN THE BOX!  Pull out the yarn that you need, cut, and leave a tail."  So far, so good!

                                            

The next thing I had to tackle was the needles.  I posted sign-out sheets - one for the plastic weaving needles and one for the metal sewing needles.  I hot glued 14 clothespins to a posterboard for the plastic needles and glued 14 magnets to a posterboard for the metal needles.  The students must sign their name and put the number needle they are using on the sign-out sheet.  At the end of class I can quickly see if we are missing any needles.

To all of the art teachers out there - hope this can help you through the yarn mess!  The students have loved the fiber center and I am happy to have figured out a way to keep it organized.

GWMS Week 2.4

Week 2.4 Video

Students were very interested in printmaking.  I found a great foam reduction print lesson on Use Your Coloured Pencils Blog.  Several students tried this three-color reduction print technique with great results.

The fiber center opened this week, with lots of weaving and sewing happening in the room.  Weaving has been both fun and frustrating - just glad to see they are sticking with it!

GWMS Week 2.3

GWMS Week 2.3 Video

Painting and Printmaking

The students enjoyed seeing images of Wayne Thiebaud's dessert and cake paintings.  He seemed like a natural choice when we were talking about tints and shades of colors.  Some students chose to paint pictures of cake with tints and shades - they were very successful.

There is a great video about Wayne Thiebaud on CBS Sunday Morning.  You can watch it here:Wayne Thiebaud.

We opened the printmaking center this week and students learned about monoprints and relief prints.  I found a great video about a collograph mask that uses positive and negative spcae.  It can be viewed here: collograph mask

Examples of these ideas can been seen in the student artwork video above.  Enjoy!