10.12.2011

first grade faux bois



Each student was given a small wooden tree ring in pine, birch, cherry, honey locust, mulberry, or elm. They carefully observed the patterns of the tree rings and then created their own tree ring designs. The results ranged from beautifully abstract to carefully detailed copies of the original.





The students got to keep their tree rings and loved being able to hold the history of an entire tree in the palm of their hands!









We used a variety of techniques in colored pencil, collage, and watercolor.



















10 comments:

Chesterbrook Academy Elementary said...

Beautiful project.
The students did a fantastic job drawing the details, creating collages, and adding vibrant colors to complete their compositions.

Bravo to your talented students

Hope Hunter Knight said...

Hi Shannah - love these. May I ask where you got the rings from all the different trees, or are you just an ace witha chainsaw? I'd love to try it with printmaking as well!

Shannah said...

Thank you both:)

Hope, I get them from an etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHickoryTree
She puts a great custom order together for me each year (50 tree rings for about $20). I think she must sand them as well because they are really smooth.
No chainsaws for me!

Anonymous said...

These are AWESOME!!!!

Shannah said...

Hello Pat. Thanks and I like your blog... and hair!

Mary said...

These are wonderful! I love the variety of ways the students used their tree rings in compositions. Your 1st graders did a great job with their observational drawings!

Miss said...

So creative! I, too, was wondering where/how you got the wood from. Etsy- who knew!

Kate Eshelman said...

I just found your blog today; these paintings are beautiful! Thank you to you and your students for sharing!

Kate Eshelman
k-12 art
Galatia, IL

Pinkie said...

I'm just breathless - these are so beautiful! Great job!

Anonymous said...

This site is amazing. Im do glad uve posted all these projects. They are artistic and educational. Must be the best art program ive ever seen!