Personal Symbols Printmaking

The 5th Graders looked at the traditional textile art of Adinkra Symbols from Ghana, Africa.  We talked about how symbols represent meaning and can often be very personal.  I encouraged the students to think of a symbol that represents themselves.  Some chose one of Adinkra symbols, while others chose symbols from our own American culture.  After they chose their symbol, each student carved the positive and negative out of EZ cut linoleum for printing.  They created their colorful borders with oil pastels. 

Snowflake Mosaics

The 4^th Grade students combined science, recycling and art into this wintry artwork.  They learned about the science behind snowflakes and how they are symmetrical, radial designs.  After cutting out the snowflake designs, the students learned about the ancient art form of Mosaic and used recycled CD pieces to add a reflective quality to their artwork.  These beautiful artworks are as unique as real snowflakes and the students themselves!  I want to thank my friend and colleague Zach Stoller from Thomas Elementary for the idea!

Magazine Color Collage

The 2nd Graders just finished these magazine collages in which they demonstrated Warm and Cool colors.  They had a lot of fun looking through different magazines and finding  the colorful images for their collage.  It was a difficult test, but they passed with flying COLORS!

Heart Maps

The 4th Graders went soul searching with this project.  They created these Heart Maps to represent things that are very important to them.  I encouraged them to think of things that are very important to them and they created lists and webs in their sketchbooks.  Afterwards, I demonstrated a few techniques and gave them open-media choices to create their work.  I love how different each of these artworks turned out and how well they represent the student that created them!

Comments

Well, I finally realized that I have had "Comments" enabled on any of my previous posts...

I fixed that.

So from here on out, I welcome you to comment!

Clay Owls

The 1st Graders made these colorful owls inspired by the simple sculptures of Henry Moore. If there is anything I've learned since becoming an art teacher 5 years ago, it's that kids-love-clay! They loved squishing and pinching and carving and poking and smooshing and pounding their clay into these totally unique owls. After they were fired, they painted them using Tempera. To seal in the paint and give them a sheen, they painted over their sculpture with Mod Podge.

Owl Moon

The 1st Graders created artworks based on the book, "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr. They worked on creating a collaged background of branches and the moon. Then they added the effect of snow with a toothbrush. Finally, each student created their wonderfully unique owl to perch on the branches.

Pop Art Wild Things

The 2nd Grade students used Maurice Sendak's children's book, "Where The Wild Things Are" as inspiration for this project. After reading the story and creating a list of animal characteristics they observed in the Wild Things, students began to create their own. Students sketched four different Wild Things of their own and chose their favorite for their final artwork. After learning about the printmaking technique, students transferred their drawing to a Styrofoam printing block and made four, color prints. They then created beautiful and colorful “frame” patterns using construction paper crayons. These artworks POP with color!

Ancient Egyptian Statues

The 3rd Grade students learned about the art and culture of Ancient Egyptians. They learned about different gods and goddesses from Egyptian culture and how they were often represented by animals like dogs (jackals)--Anubis, and cats--Bastet. Students created their Egyptian animal statues and enjoyed writing their names in (a loose) hieroglyphic translation as well as adding details that are characteristic of Egyptian artwork.

Perspective Cities

The 5th Grade students learned about drawing in Perspective to show depth and dimension. After practicing the technical drawing skills, students were encouraged to create their own city. Students were asked to draw at least 3 things in perspective (buildings, road, etc.). Afterwards, they traced their lines with Sharpies and used a variety of watercolor techniques to add color. Students then used colored pencils to enhance areas of their artwork and really make them stand out. I'm impressed with all of the different ideas the students came up with!