Pre-K Sun Gods

Pre-K loved this project and were so creative with their "sun gods". First I read Musicians of the Sun by Gerald Mc Dermott to the girls and we discussed the characters. We also discussed to some extent the Aztec Indians and their beliefs in many gods. Then the girls drew their own sun gods using metallic pencils on black paper.

First Grade Pumpkins--Drawing from Life

Every year the first grade classes go to a farm and get to pick a pumpkin to take home. They bring the pumpkins to art class and we look at the shape, color, highlights and shadows. They draw the pumpkins with oil pastels paying close attention to all details. They can do whatever they want to the background. They always turn out beautifully!

First Grade Monsters

Wild Thing Art

First grade had a blast creating their own monsters using construction paper crayons on black paper. First I read Where the Wild Things Are and we studied the prints of Maurice Sendack. We discussed how he appropriated several elements from many different animals to make his Wild Things.

Pre K Black Cats

This was a fun Halloween project but can be used any time of year. After discussing the difference between real and implied texture the girls painted these black cats. They used tempera paint over pencil drawings. Their paintings turned out very expressive!

Fall Trees, Fall Leaves

Fall Trees by Kindergarten

  For this project the girls learned about warm colors, and used a variety of paints. We discussed what I call "cotton ball" trees and how trees really consist of limbs, branches and a more random shape for the leaves. We went outside and observed the anatomy of a tree and the girls pointed out their findings. For this project the students used tempera cakes for the tree trunk, water color for the background and finger paints for the leaves.

Paul Klee prints

Third graders learned about Paul Klee and World War II during this art lesson. Paul Klee was a Swiss artist who was labeled as a "degenerate" by the Nazi party. He was targeted in a Nazi newspaper which led to his losing his job and his house being ransacked. He taught at the Bauhaus and was also a member of Die Blaue Vier with Kandinski.

We focused on his non-objective/abstract artworks for this project. First the girls drew a design on mat board and glued yarn over the design.

Next they used these plates to print their design onto heavy white paper. We discusses mood and viewer reaction before they chose their color scheme. Lastly they used chalk pastels to fill in around the black lines.

Great Architecture/Color Schemes

Fourth grade classes were given several famous structures to choose from to create these amazing paintings. After they chose a building, they used a window to crop the image and then redrew it on a large piece of paper (24X18). They then chose a color scheme and used tempra cakes to paint them.

Biltmore Estate

le Corbusier Chapel

le Corbusier Chapel

Sydney Opera House

Falling Water

James Audubon repousse'

Third grade learned about James Audubon and the repousse' technique before making these metal artworks. Each girl had a reference and was required to make a realistic bird. They worked from the back of the metal, then added details and textures from the front. They were able to use texture plates and other tools to create the details. Lastly, they colored the silver side of the metal with Sharpie. They looked beautiful all together on the wall, especially when they caught the light.

Mondrian Masterpieces

Second graders loved making these colorful Mondrian inspired artworks. After looking at many examples of Piet Mondrian's work, the girls made spaces by overlapping black strips of construction paper. They then used watercolor crayons to fill in primary colors.