Recognizing Our Student's Fabulous Differences

Inspired by the beautiful book, The Day You Begin written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael Lopez, I created this entry foyer board to remind our students how special they are. 

 

3-D Doodles

My 7th grade art students “Zen-Doodled” in the art room. They mindfully filled a paper with a variety of black and white patterns. Their abstract drawings were copied and cut into small rectangles. They rolled these rectangles into tubes which they glued onto a base to create an interesting sculpture. 

The PMS Art Club Spreads the Love

We took time from our individual project making to collaborate on a big mural. We experimented with ink bingo daubers, craypas, collage and printing to fill giant roll paper with many hearts. The mural hung in the Pelham Middle School library for February to spread LOVE.

CAN You Imagine

In Art Class, the 7th graders turned trash into treasure using repurposed aluminum cans. We looked at examples of artists work from smashed cans and other found objects for inspiration. The students chose a can and like Michelangelo staring at his marble from all angles, they got inspiration to transform their can into art. They used paint and collage supplies to make these whimsical pieces. 

6th Grade Car Drawings

In Art Class, the 6th graders learned about value, the scale from light dark. They first practiced drawing and shading wooden blocks. Then the students practiced drawing toy cars, taking the skills learned from the 3-d shape drawing because cars are just complex three dimensional shapes. Once they chose a favorite car, the students drew that car, added charcoal pencil shading and placed the car in an interesting setting. Finally, they added watercolor paint to the composition. 

Yayoi Kusama inspired Pumpkins

My 7th graders learned about the 90 year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Kusama is known for pumpkins, polka dots and infinity net patterns. First the students observed small pumpkins and drew them showing value in pencil. Then they observed larger, unusual shaped pumpkins  and drew them, adding Kusama inspired patterns. They created an infinity net background pattern by etching with combs on foil and put the compositions together. 

The Memory Project Refugee Portraits Part Two

This year my family and friends participated in The Memory Project portrait work. The organization sends photos of refuge children to paint portraits for the children as a one a few keepsakes from their very chaotic childhood. It's extremely gratifying to complete these and we are signed up for round three.