ART

Over the last few weeks, the fourth-grade artists have been working on two projects simultaneously: First, students made flower sculptures out of clay. We reviewed how to roll out slabs of clay and cut them into different shapes, and how to make secure connections between two pieces with the scratch and attach method. While we waited for these sculptures to dry out and go into the kiln, we began a self-portrait project. Students were asked to create a self-portrait, but were invited to decide on the material, style, and composition based on what they wanted to create. I’m so excited to see how these portraits express their individual personalities!

For their clay project this year, third graders created two mini sculptures that represented two things that go together. The students were asked to focus on three-dimensional form vs. two-dimensional shape as they thought about how their sculptures would stand on their own and be viewed “in the round”, or from all sides. They finished these cute pairs with acrylic paint and paint pens to capture small details. Now, students are working on a project I call the “Real Me” self-portrait. We walked through the steps of drawing our faces, paying close attention to proportion, and now students are filling their portraits with things that are important to them as well as descriptions of themselves. We can’t wait to see the final result of these dynamic portraits!

Over the last few weeks, the first-grade artists have been learning about Surrealism, an art movement that was interested in dreams and imagination. Students created their own surreal animals, finding creative ways to alter or combine real animals to create something unique. They finished these colorful artworks with a mixture of sharpie, oil pastel, and sparkly watercolor paint. It’s wonderful to see how these multi-media skills have grown and progressed since the beginning of the school year! Next, they’ve been working on drawing surreal sandwiches. I think everyone will really enjoy seeing how much personality is in each of these drawings, since students were able to put anything they wanted on them!

Our pre-k artists have been working hard to create mixed-media vegetable gardens using a combination of drawing, cutting, gluing, and painting skills. Next, we plan on doing some painting and color explorations using primary colors and different texture tools to experiment, and then we’ll use these painted papers to create some exciting collages! In our art/outdoor education collaboration time, we’ve wrapped up our recycling unit and will start exploring shadows next.

It’s been wonderful welcoming the first grade artists back for the last quarter of art! As we reacquainted ourselves with the art studio and our routines, we drew some beautiful spring bouquets. Next, we learned how to make looms for paper weaving, which we’ll come back to later this quarter. To prepare for their grad- level performance, each class is creating painted paper animals to represent their class mascots. We’ll make a couple of other set decorations as well to contribute to this big event!

It’s been wonderful welcoming the third-grade artists back for the last quarter of art! We spent a few classes drawing beautiful spring bouquets as we reacquainted ourselves with the art studio and our routines. Next, we began a weaving project, using paper plates as our looms. Students have been diligently working on filling their looms with colorful yarn and will use paint pens to add patterns and details to the edges of their plates to finish. We’re looking forward to working on a ceramics project and a self-portrait to finish the school year!