7th Graders Are Wild!!

I had such a creative class of 7th graders last trimester. They did some really cool things with their collaged animals--I just had to share these fun little guys!

Dale Chihuly

My students will tell you....I'm obsessed with Dale Chihuly! Every time I make an example for an art history project I choose Chihuly. My Art Appreciation class sees Dale Chihuly Animotos, Prezi's, and Flipbooks. The 6th graders see a Dale Chihuly Facebook page and watch a movie showing his team blowing glass. I just love the eye-candy that comes out of his hot shop and enjoy sharing it my students. Here are a few examples of his work that was on display at the Toledo Museum of Art at my last visit.

A "Cool" Glass Demo

While at the Toledo Museum of Art we sat through a glass demonstrations. Each time I see someone work with glass it gets cooler and cooler and each time I learn something new. As a teacher, I would love to share this with students and most of you are thinking, "Just take a field trip"....not as easy as it sounds. Anyhow, here are some pics of a glass demo from Toledo (The Glass Capital of the World).

Landscape Collages

Recently, the 6th graders and I looked at work by an artist named Mischa Epstein. We spent most of our time looking at her work with landscapes. The kids each chose a picture from my stash of what used to be calendars. From there, they decided what was most important in their photo and what they wanted to get rid of. I tried to encourage them to use a large variety of materials on their own collages and when we looked at Mischa's work, we discussed the many different methods and materials that she used in her work. Posted here are some projects by the kids that turned out very good!

Toledo Museum of Art

I have a husband that doesn't really find the value in art that I do. However, on special occasions I can get him into an Art Museum. In our family, you get to do your favorite things on your birthday. Therefore, on my birthday, my hubby took me to the Toledo Museum of Art. Very few people know that Toldeo is the "Glass Capital of the World" and it is seen in their museum. While there, we saw some great works of art and even watched a glass blowing deomonstration. It was really cool and here are some pictures of, "My Day"

Art History Research

I'm one of those art teachers that feels it is really important to teach art history. The 6th graders spent 2 days this trimester researching an artist they chose. Then, they wirte a paragraph about what they learned about that artist. Next, they create a reproduction based on a work of art done by that artist and we hang them in the hallway with an example of the artist's original work. The students really gain an appreciation for all that goes into a masterpiece. Plus, its really fun to hear them telling each other about things they learned about their artist as they are all working on their projects. Here are a few of them as they hang in the hallway!

Creative Color Wheels

Each trimester I challenge my 7th graders with coming up with a creative way of creating a color wheel. The tough part is that they can use ANYTHING! The entire first day we spent on the computers, looking up some ideas that others from around the world had created. The vastness of ideas was simply amazing! Here are some of the color wheel my students created for this assignment.

Crazy Collaged Animals!

This trimester, when we began the animal collage project I really tried to stress to the kids using all of their paper (and then some) and trying some interesting paper techniques. I think this is one of the most creative examples I've seen in a while. These kids did a great job!

Colors, Tints, and Shades

What's the most important part about a color wheel?.....color, right? I walk the 6th graders through this project by teaching them step-by-step how to make each color. They know where to put the colors based on the color wheel we do with colored pencil as a warm-up to the project. I always like seeing how this project turns out. These kids did a really great job this trimester!

Strike a Pose! Make a Gesture!

Tell a class of 6th graders that they are about to do a project based on drawing people and you can actually see the panic in their faces. So, I teach human figure drawing through gestures. Gestures are quick sketches used to capture movement. The kids practice drawing gestures a few times before beginning the final project. I'm still working on the actual project that we do with the gestures. This one is just a little different from last trimester and next trimester's is going to be completely different.

Still-Life Drawings

Drawing: it's the ABC's of art. I would imagine that most of my students would say that they really don't enjoy drawing still-lifes. However, the many things I can teach through still-life drawings are priceless. We cover shape, value, space, gauging, highlights, color, blending, shadows, and craftsmanship. It's really amazing to see how far the kids come from their first drawing of the trimester to the last still-life they create. We only spend the first 3 1/2-5 weeks (of a 12 week grading period) on drawing, but to see how far they come in that time is awesome!

Gingerbread Houses

My first year teaching I remember thinking, "How will I ever get my kids to focus enough to work the day before Christmas break?" Then, my mother suggested that I create gingerbread houses with them. Well, 12 years later we are still making the houses. However, I never used gingerbread. Instead, we use graham crackers and royal icing. All the kids have to supply are the decorations for their homes. They each have a "property" (posterboard cut to 6"x6") that they build the house on and then can landscape around it. Once the houses are all built, they join "Gingerbread Village" on my countertop and the teachers all come in to judge them. I give extra credit to the winners and at the end of the day the kids take their houses home (if they make it that far before being devoured!). Here are some pictures of my 8th graders making their houses.