first grade garden friends

The first graders took a look at the art of Elsa Mora and were inspired by her book Blossom Buddies. We spent some lovely Spring mornings last week in the school garden using our naturalist and spatial intelligences. The first grade artists used natural materials to make their own imaginative characters and the results are sure to make you smile!

first grade spring flowers

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." Frank Lloyd Wright



Our theme in first grade Art this year combined the spatial and naturalist intelligences as we explored Art in Nature. Artists love to create but they also observe. The first grade artists sharpened their observation skills as they sketched branches, counted tree rings and flower petals, and found beautiful imperfections in natural objects. Nature is a wonderful source for curiosity and creativity as the first grade artists create and discover.



The first grade artists had a wonderful time learning to draw BIG! Our mentor artist was Georgia O'Keeffe and she helped to inspire us to make even the smallest details feel powerful. See more first grade flowers on newcityart's flickr!

fourth grade craft alliance field trip

The fourth graders recently had a wonderful opportunity to create and learn with artists from Craft Alliance. They used new materials and techniques that they might not get to experience in our art room at school. Check out the blow torches in glass making!



The fourth grade artists also worked with metals to make a textured cuff. They had to file, hammer, anneal, shape, stamp, and patina! Lots of hard work but the end results looked amazing.





And finally a group of artists worked in the textile studio. They did silk painting and even the messy paper towels ended up looking like art! This process is a magical one full of gorgeous color.



We spent an intensive and creative afternoon at Craft Alliance that I know will expand their experience, understanding, and appreciation of the arts.

fifth grade blind contour portraits

I have a fifth grade advisory every morning with a small group of wonderful students. Each morning is spent cultivating our interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences. While the advisory class itself is not an art class, we take full advantage of the art room! For example, we recently did a blind contour drawing portrait project. It was really lovely to see each of them handle the intimacy of drawing their classmate- staring and drawing/following every contour line of their facial features!

Because these are blind contour drawings it took the pressure off of trying to make their portrait look realistic and we had so much fun with the expressive and free lines. The rules are: no looking at the paper, do not lift the pencil and try to use one continuous line, follow the contour lines of your subject slowly as you draw along, and have no fear!

second grade NOTAN

NOTAN
Light and dark at play
Japanese design concept
Balance, shape, and space