Library Show is One Of The BEST!!!

Tina and I have just returned from helping to set up the Annual Elementary Library Art Show at the Pablo Branch Library. As I stated in the post, below, it is always a difficult decision to choose the five 2-D pieces from so many excellent works of art by our students. We are lucky, however, with the 3-D work, as the Pablo Branch Library always makes a case available for our pieces. Chets Creek was able to get about 30 pieces of 3-D work into the show this year. What a wonderful representation of our young artists.

The whole show is quite impressive, at least at our branch. There are about seven schools in our area, represented at this Library. I am quite sure the at the 14 other Library Branches, the show is just as strong. If you live near the Pablo Branch, or any other participating Library, make sure to swing in and take a look at our Duval County Elementary Artwork. Then let me know what you think!!!!!! We have a very strong program as evidenced by the masterpieces on display.

Cultural Arts Week Celebration Almost Here

The dates are April 20th through the 24th for this year's Cultural Arts Celebration. We have a week of presentations and activities that will keep us saturated in the Arts and the excitement that they stir up. Each morning we will have a different event; A Violenist, A magician, The Battersby Duo, Fletcher Middle School Band, and Carribbean Sound Steel Band. During the evenings of the 20th, 21st, and 23rd, we will have student art shows on display where parents can purchase the work already matted and framed, ready for hanging. Of Course, on Friday Night, we will have our huge ARTS EXTRAVAGANZA, with many visiting artists, hands on activites, student art exhibits, PTA basket auction, and food and fun! This will run from 6:00 to 9:00 and all our families and friends are invited. Make sure to put these wonderful events on your calendar. We look forward to seeing you ALL there!

This Pics have been Picked!

It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.......Exciting as it is to get student artwork out in the community, it is one of the hardest things I have to do as an art teacher. The Annual Elementary Library Show is a wonderful venue to expose our students talents. Several Public Libraries display elementary artwork for about two weeks in the spring, showcasing some of the best works from each school. Why is it the worst of times? Because we are only allowed to submit 5 pieces of 2-D work. FIVE! How can I only choose 5 from 50 to 60 exceptional works of art by our students???? It is truly a vexing time for me, because the choices are impossible! But, after many excrutiating decisions, I have finally narrowed down to THE FIVE (one I am having trouble uploading....will try again so come back and visit).



Congratulations to all these artists!

In addition to these fabulous works, about 30 pieces of 3-D work was submitted to this show. Hopefully, they will all get in, but if not, they will be submitted to The Best In Elementary Exhibit.

Try to go by the Pablo Branch Library and see these pieces on display. The show will be installed on March 27th and should remain up for about 2 weeks.

Good Clean Fun

I had the opportunity to work with a few 4th grade classes making soap sculptures. This is probably one of my all time favorite lessons so far because they students get really into the project, and although the soap shavings get everywhere, the whole art room smells so clean and soapy!

I am waiting on the other two classes to finish their soap sculptures, but here are some images from the class that did complete the project.

We talked about abstract art, what makes something abstract and I showed them some examples of abstract sculpture. I also had the students identify positive and negative space. The students then drew out a plan that was to include at least one area of negative space, and they were to alter the soap to release an abstract form.

The project took patience, and often times the soap can break if students rush, so in those instances we had to really think creatively about either changing our plan or using some toothpicks to hold it together in a unique way.

The Sea Creatures

The 5th graders have been painting a lot of their clay projects which were sea creatures. Some classes are still waiting to paint theirs or need to finish up, but heres a sneak peak at some of the sea turtles and orcas. I am sure once the projects are complete Mrs. Snead will take a bunch more photos and post them because they are all turning out so well!

Proud of my Pointillists

I taught a lesson on pointillism to a 4th grade class for their Kids Art Fair project. I had the class 3 days in a row, which is rare, so I decided to start the project with them since it was going to be time consuming.

I showed the class a picture of Seurat's famous La Grande Jatte, and talked about the technique he used. The students then practiced drawing a still life with a vase and something overlapping the vase such as fruit or a cup. The students were to use the pointillism technique for the vase, however it was not required for the rest of the picture.

There were two students who just absolutely blew me away with their work. It was a difficult project that took patience, but I feel it is always worth it when students exceed your expectations. Take a look, I just cant believe these came from 4th graders! They are stunning!

3rd Grade Cartographers

This has been one of my favorite lessons to teach, I had some 3rd grade classes making maps in the art room. Mrs. Snead told me the students start learning about maps in 3rd grade, so I developed a lesson to reinforce what they learned.

I put together a PowerPoint to show the students different types of maps. The main focus of the lesson was what were the 3 things all maps should have. We discussed how maps needed a compass rose to tell us which direction to hold the map or to navigate the land. Maps needed a legend or map key so we could identify symbols or land features on the map. Finally, the maps had to include a map scale so we could measure distance.

I showed them weather maps and oceanography maps. I introduced vocabulary words such as cartography and we also discussed topographical maps and using contour lines. The students were to create an 'uncharted' island map that included the 3 things we discussed. The students were encouraged to name their island and were given the freedom to come up with some creative ideas for their maps, as long we were able to identify what they had drawn using the legend.

We had some really great islands, some students made islands they had actually been to such as Hawaii, others made candy island with chocolate rivers and peppermint beaches, and I had one interesting 'Kitty Island' with litter box beaches and furry hills.

All in all the maps turned out great, we kind of aged them by crumpling the maps and putting a watered down brown tempera wash over them. I had a great time teaching this lesson partly because of my interest in earth science and geography, I love being able to connect across disciplines to reinforce learning, its one of my favorite things about art, we can connect it to what students are learning in other classes.