Clouds Watercolor Painting

A watercolor painting features green hills under a vibrant blue sky with clouds in shades of white and purple.

  I am taking a watercolor class this summer at the local recreation and parks department.  Our first real painting assignment was to paint a picture of clouds.  No, it couldn’t be just a white cloud on white paper.  This was a great assignment, because it is actually one that I do with my 5th and 6th grade students.  Now I will know some new tips and techniques to share with them.  You can see their beautiful pictures at this … Read more…

Pointillist Trees

A pointillist painting of people relaxing on a lawn near a river with trees; there are umbrellas and a black dog.

  The 3/4s painted Pointillist Trees.  They have studied trees in Science.  We learned about the artist Georges Seurat by reading Scholastic Art magazine.  Students identified and described Pointillist paintings.   They created a Pointillist painting of trees showing dimension and form by color mixing.  Tips:  use the back end of the paintbrush, a q-tip or a small brush.  Keep the size of the paper small (9×12″ is plenty).

Our Tiny Friends and Foes Exhibit

The exhibit, titled "Tiny Friends and Foes," showcases colorful abstract artworks resembling microscopic organisms on a gallery wall.

My students participated in a community art exhibit at the Overture Center in Madison, WI.  The exhibit was fiber representations of microorganisms.  The opening was this past Friday and it was amazing!  All of the kids’ artwork was displayed, alongside other community artists.  Here is a link to all of OUR microorganisms.  You can see my post about this process here.  Here are some pictures of the gallery opening night.  My students’ work (and my own microorganism) is mixed in … Read more…

Fabric and felt Microorganisms

A colorful, handcrafted felt microorganism with various circular patterns, decorations, and ribbons, set against a plain background.

The 5th/6th graders made fabric and fiber representations of microorganisms.  This is a great tie-in to Science class.  These are actually going to be displayed in a real art exhibition!  To make a fiber microorganism, the 5/6s are cutting a large piece of felt into a desired shape.  Then, they are layering other shapes of patterned fabric or solid color felt on top.  These shapes are glued together and were embellished with stitching, beading and sequins (if desired.)  The students … Read more…

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