An artful SPRING...

Fancy letters are always a hit with kids.....and we decided to honor spring by making the word artful.

For this lesson we first talked a bit about "Illuminated Lettering" - for great information about real illuminated lettering lessons visit TishaLou (yes, she and I have the same first name AND her married name is my maiden name!) and Amy Bruce's awesome lesson here.

Our version wasn't quite so illuminated (yep, little Mr. Time troll squinted his beady eyes at me while planning and said you're only going to have enough time to draw and color), but I think they turned out lovely, just the same.

Materials:

6x9" white construction paper

3x4" white construction paper

glue

colored pencils or markers

Step 1 - Draw a large "S" on the 3x4" white paper, then decorate with designs and colors. I showed students on the board how to make their decorations appear behind the "S" by jumping over the "S" when drawing their designs, instead of crossing in front of the "S". I also gave the students a few copies of fancy "S's" (ha, I've never typed "S's" before....took me a minute to figure it out) from this site that was shared by Kathy Barbro on her fabulous blog with amazing art lessons.

Step 2: Glue large "S" onto background paper, write the rest of the word, and decorate.

Thanks lots San Gabriel Elementary 4th and 3/4 combo class!!!!

Hello "good news" in the Mail!

What usually comes in the mail? Bills and junk, then more bills, and more junk. But, yesterday I was sent a review copy that my dvd "Painting a Butterfly" was given in Arts&Activities Magazine. Hellloo good news in the mail!

I loved this magazine already, and now even more. The reviewer clearly understood my intent, when creating this dvd, that art is a subject that can be integrated with other subject areas. She, or he, wrote, "...The presentation would be of equal value to art teachers and science teachers, as well as elementary classroom teachers responsible for their entire curriculum......The science lab tour explains how they grow vairious creatures to supply school science departments' requests. It is an interesting behind-the-scenes look at a very unusual niche business.....The painting project uses a butterfly from the lab as the subject matter for a painting project that is designed around the pointillism style of Georges Seurat....."

Here's the full review, on page 50.

Sharing!

Why I have fallen in love with the world of blogging....sharing! How wonderful to sit down and click away, jumping from one generous person to the next.
If you haven't visited Crafty Crow this month yet, be sure to click on over. I've so enjoyed the fact that Cassi did a theme for March, and it's "Around the World". Fun and interesting crafts from all different countries. And I'm grateful to Cassi for including my post on creating pastel Asian Koi Fish. All this sharing, just makes me smile. Thanks Cassi!

Do Bunnies Really Lay Eggs?

Spring has sprung in our neck of the woods! (And my allergies can prove it...)
Time for an art lesson with bird's nests and colorful eggs. And since we're making bird's nests, lets give 'em some texture.
Materials:
9x12 background construction paper
4x6" white construction paper (for the eggs)
crayons
scissors
white glue
pasta noodles, we used spaghetti because it's fun to break into pieces (When I told the kids the truth about the fact that these noodles had been sitting in a dirty cupboard in my garage for over a year, not one child put any in their mouths.)

Hey, who says an egg can't be in the shape of a football - (this little guy was so proud of his idea:)

Thanks to San Gabriel Elementary artists!!!!

Miro People

Image by kamikazecactus via Flickr

I finally got to teach this MIRO PEOPLE art lesson. Big thanks to Deep Space Sparkle and Miss Tabarcea for sharing their Miro art lesson examples.

We used black crayon to outline. (Sorry kids, no pencil first.....Can you teachers hear the audible "awwwww" right now?) Then painted with watercolors.

See the nifty little watercolor palette to the right of the artists above and below? These are so easy to store and something about their tiny round size makes me think the kids treat them a bit more carefully than the usual box sets they're used to. They're currently priced @ $1.29 and I got them here.

Thank you Santa Rosa Academic Academy students!!

M.C. Escher Quote

Image by Cayusa via Flickr

At moments of great enthusiasm it seems to me that no one in the world has ever made something this beautiful and important.
M.C. Escher, Netherlands, 1898-1972

I love this quote because I've seen the eyes and faces of children who've created their own art and they beam with pride and confidence similar to Escher's. At which point I feel so privileged to be in their presence.

Lines for Turtles and Fishies

Here we talked about lines and patterns and designs, then we drew some simple turtles and fish. Then it was time for the 1st graders to cut loose with their lines and designs to decorate their animals. This lesson was super fun and I want to thank Deep Space Sparkle for the inspiration. (I know I've seen similar lessons elsewhere too, so please pat yourself on the back if you're reading this and you have it on your blog too, thanks!)













Big Thanks to San Gabriel Elementary first graders!!!