A Sky Full Of Stars

Vincent Van Gogh said "what is done in love is done well".

Well I love Van Gogh and on his birthday I decided to take a look at some of my favorite lessons inspried by that love, and that were done very well...

Every spring my 1st and 2nd graders take on Sunflowers.

In 1st they create a paper collage made out of different colors and shapes of paper.

Once in 2nd grade we revisit the Sunflowers, and create a painting more in the style of Van Gogh, I usually send these home for Mother's Day.

Starry Night, which is most dear to my heart, has become what I'm know for as a teacher because I doodle it everywhere.

I have taught it from Kindergartners in the art room,

 to adults at a ceramic studio...

Happy Birthday V.V.G! I love thee...

A Little Something Sweet

In honor of President's Day, I though I'd share a look at 1st Grades finished clay treats!

Every year right after winter break in preparation of Valentines Day my 1st graders make cupcakes. It's a great way to practice proper pinching, flattening and attaching skills. 

Plus they're adorable!

YAM 2016: Painted Deserts and Missions

Every year my school districts hosts an Art Show. We as teachers have the very hard task of choosing a dozen plus pieces to represent our whole campus, and this year, my 3rd graders earned that honor!

With one week left before the shows closes, I thought I would share a few pics, and give ya'll a closer look at the painted desert project that accompanied their clay missions.

I took 12 paintings, and six 3D pieces.

The day of set up was a bit crazy, since I had my two year old with me!

Before the pieces moved over to the show, they had been transforming our school's walkways into a mini Big Bend.

The 3rd graders worked on these while we waited for their clay missions to dry and be fired.

The final results were equally as impressive as their clay sculpture!

Pulled from Pinterest: Totem Spoons

So I do what every art teacher does when I'm tired of all my lesson plans and fresh out of ideas, hit up Pinterest.

Usually within second my brain has kicked back into over drive and I'm filled fresh energy, becoming inspired by all the innovative art teachers, and the work their students are producing.

Most of the time I take the inspiration and remold it to meet my students interests.

But other times, I borrow straight from above! Taking a lesson meant for middle school or high school and give it to my little ones and see what they can do! 

Here's my 4th graders take on Totem Spoons.

We built them with recycled clay, hence the dual color.

And painted them with tempera cakes, water colors work too.

And as an extra incentive I let the kids "spray paint" their finished product with a fixative!

Nice for a first try! 

On a Mission

So my 3rd graders have spent the past month, or two haha, working on a super exciting project.  It was inspired by this ceramic mission project that I did when I was in 6th grade,

but I decided to combine it with the idea of a luminary for the holidays.

The students worked from slabs of clay, to create the walls and floors of the missions.  This took about 2 classes, with the front and back walls on day one, and the floor and sides on day two.

My 3rd graders are advanced this year, so they had no problem diving in and assembling on their own, I double checked the seams and reseals any cracks as they turned them in, but you may want to give an additional third day to focus on pure assembly if you feel the clay will hold up for that long, cause it was a bit crazy!

After Thanksgiving it was time to give them their first bake in the kiln.

They held up well! 

Then the students used Mayco Element glazes to paint for a natural coloring.

I was so excited to see the final results, I mis-set the timer on my kiln and they only half -baked!

But after round two, the glazes matured,

and the end results are so beautiful!!!!!