Marcia

Marcia

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

Memory Quilts and GIVEAWAY

A colorful grid showcasing various children's drawings, including geometric shapes, flowers, and figures.

These were some fun paper Memory Quilts that the kindergartners made!  Aren’t they cute? We read Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold and talked about her story quilts. The children received a square piece of white paper, which had 9 squares…

Collages– first grade

A first grade collage featuring various animals, a candle on a map, and a traditional figurine.

Sometimes I like to let the kids loose with a box of supplies and minimal instruction. I photocopied some pages from Lynda Barry’s book and showed them to the first graders. In the box were paper scraps, magazines, strips of…

Op Art

Bold pink and purple striped background with cut-out text "Girls Rule!!!" surrounded by hearts, stars, and an Op Art twist.

First, we looked at the art of Bridget Riley and the Op art movement.  We read a Scholastic Art issue which features this style of art.  If you don’t get these magazines, they are a great investment.  Each year, we…

Elmer the Elephant

A child's colorful drawing of Elmer the elephant with a red background and patterned borders.

These pictures are based on the book Elmer!  I love this book and the colorful elephants.  The kids drew their own elephants and colored them with fun patterns.  The borders were made by cutting up and gluing strips of wrapping…

Assemblages

A craft project resembling a robot made from a yellow mouse pad, small objects, and various household items.

This is a playground!  Do you see the mini-Coke cans for sale? Here are some of our finished assemblages. These were made by 4th and 5th graders. This is a town square, with a fountain, pool and snack shop. Ice…

Underwater Scene– 1st Grade

Hand-drawn underwater scene with an octopus, two fish, a whale, a shark, a jellyfish, and a snail.

The first graders learned about artists that make art about underwater life. Then, they used markers and water to create a watercolor effect.  They drew the fish with water soluble markers and then used a paintbrush and water to blend…

Buried in Bricks

People walking into a LEGO store with large yellow LEGO figures displayed on the front window.

My husband has hobbies too!  He is really into building Legos now and he even started his own lego blog.  I think the title of his blog is cute and I love the picture he put on his heading.  Let…

It’s here!

Open magazine with photos of people, one highlighted by an arrow saying "that's me!" Various texts and articles visible.

Finally!  My copy of the magazine has arrived. Featuring magazine was started by the lovely Marit in the Netherlands.  It is about art journaling, mixed media and other arts.   She had a call for submissions and applications to be…

Painting Fabrics

Colorful graffiti art with words like "Hope" and "Love," a sun, Earth, and various whimsical drawings and scribbles blend seamlessly with elements of fabric painting.

Here are some more of our painted fabrics.  They doodled on the muslin fabric with Sharpies… graffiti-style!  Then, we used liquid watercolor paints (with a little bit of water) in spray bottles and stencils to spray over them with color. …

Backyard Sushi

A glass plate with a bundle of sticks, a seed pod, chopped green herbs, and a bundle of straw wrapped in a leaf showcasing an artful presentation that could fit seamlessly into any backyard setting.

I was going through my old emails and I found this one from a parent.  He had told me about this at parent-teacher conferences.  His daughter had made some art using backyard materials.. all natural!  She is a fourth grade…

Pictures from the Art Room

Children painting colorful abstract designs and creating small robot sculptures with various art supplies in the art room.

Here are some scenes from the art room this week!  We are using appliance parts to build assemblages. We are painting on wet fabric and will later cut the fabrics and sew theme together for a fabric collage.