Wild Animals in the 7th Grade!

7th graders just finished their animal collages. They could choose any animal and had to put them into a believable habitat. These turned out really nice!

The 7th graders learned about creating a room in correct 1 point perspective. I just loved the way this one turned out! She picked a theme and really stuck to it! Nice job Paige!

2 Point Perspective

The 8th graders just learned about creating work using two vanishing points (known as 2 point perspective). The students can choose to create a city, a birdhouse community, or 3-D letters. We then watercolor them. Here are some of the results.

The Van Wert City Schools art department at the middle school and high school level have long felt that drawing is fundamental. Without a strong foundation in drawing, students really struggle to become successful in high school art classes. With that in mind, all middle school art classes start the trimester drawing still-lifes. I typically set up about 4 throughout the classroom and as long as the students can handle it, I let them choose which ones they draw and where they sit. This trimester I decided to set up some still-lifes that I haven't done before. Here are some of the results.

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).