Hello! Today I am going to catch up on some of the clay projects my students have been working on. The last few weeks we have been busy learning clay techniques, building and glazing. We weren’t able to use regular clay for the past year since the kiln was out of commission, so my students were itching to work with clay! The 5th/6th grade classes made Clay Castles. We connected a clay unit to their study of the Middle Ages. … Read more…
I have a fun creativity drawing project and excellent children’s book to share with you today. I came across this book called A World of Your Own by Laura Carlin and thought it looked intriguing, so I ordered it. I love the illustrations in the book and the story encourages children to think of how they would imagine a world of their own. On a day when I was out sick, I left this book for the substitute teacher to … Read more…
Vassily Kandinsky was one of the first pioneers of abstract art. Abstract art is art that does not attempt to show things realistically, but uses lines, shapes, colors and textures to show emotions and meaning. Kandinsky was from Russia and initially went to law school. He was always fascinated by color and in his thirties, he decided to go to art school. Kandinsky thought showing the inner beauty was most important. He believed that color could express … Read more…
Thank you to all who voted for my blog in the AOE Blog of the Year contest. While I did not win, I am still happy to have been a finalist. Congrats to all of the bloggers in the contest! Today I am going to show you a super fun project that my students worked on this week. This summer we planted a garden. My husband diligently set up a plastic fence to keep out the rabbits. We watered it … Read more…
Collage became a part of Modern art in the early 20th century. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were credited with naming this type of art. The word collage comes from the French word coller, which means to glue. Collages can be made of many materials. I have an assortment of student collages to show you. Collage art is unique because you take already existing materials and arrange them into a new art form. Collage is all about playing around with … Read more…
I am so thrilled to be a finalist in the Art of Ed Blog of the Year contest! What a honor! There are a lot of awesome blogs in the line-up and I know it will be stiff competition. I’m just happy to be included in the top 9 for elementary art. If you have found my blog valuable, please consider voting for ART IS BASIC at the voting page.
Paul Klee was an important painter in the history of modern art. I have always been drawn to his colorful, abstract pictures. Children can relate to the simple geometric shapes and bold colors. His art has been related to Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism. Swiss artist Paul Klee painted the Castle and Sun with simplified shapes, but viewers can easily see the way the shapes form a castle or city-like scene. For this lesson, we are going to paint colorful swatches … Read more…
