Hanoch Piven Collaged Biography Portraits

In the art room, the 3^rd graders were introduced to the Israeli artist and illustrator Hanoch Piven who creates awesome collage portraits with assorted ephemera that is often related to the person he is recreating inspired by his art and the research they did on their chosen character, the students created mixed media portraits of their character. They drew and painted parts of it and also used computer images and other collage items like fabric, foam, sequins, buttons. 

Dale Chihuly inspired Installation

The whole school participated in this Dale Chihuly inspired installation. We used recycled plastic water bottles and salad bowls with acrylic paint and permanent markers. All the students watched a video  about Dale Chihuly and his DARING new styles of glass blowing and display. The water bottles were cut open and assembled into Chihuly-like chandeliers.  Other students decorated recycled take-out bowls and the flower shaped bottoms of water bottles which were melted to resemble Chihuly's seaforms and rotollos which were strung together into an additional chandelier.

#CarmelRISE feathers to Wings

For this year’s opening art project, the student’s learned about the contemporary street artist Kelsey Montague. She paints Interactive Street Art, mostly wings, for people to photograph themselves between. Each student made a special feather in age appropriate media that were compiled into a beautiful set of wings. These wings represent the Carmel Academy Hawk and our goal of #RISE.

(Respect, Integrity, Safety, Effort)

New Year, New Mindset & Motivation

I was inspired to start 2017-2018 off with new inspirational Bulletin Boards based on the book THE GROWTH MINDSET COACH: A Teacher's Month-by-Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve and Thinking Like an Artist (and Carmel Academy's 20th Anniversary theme of DARING).
{thanks @CassieStephens for the cute paintbrush tutorial!}

Thinking like an artist means...
I will try.
Mistakes help me learn and improve.
What can I do to make it even better?
I'm going to train my brain and hands to do art.
This will take time and effort.
I'm going to figure out how s/he is doing it. 
This is going to take some time.
I'm going to be present.
I'm willing to listen to shared ideas.

We made stepping stones for the Greenwich Audubon Society

James Rizzi Inspired City Mural

The First graders studied community and went on school trips to all sorts of local establishments like the bank, bakery, supermarket, police station, library and more. In the Art Room we looked at James Rizzi's fun-filled cityscapes. The students drew and painted their own building shapes. Then they collaged funny faces and/or patterns and added black outlines. The students worked together to create some of buildings they visited and then all the buildings were put together to create a whimsical Rizzi-inspired town.

Textured Clay Weavings

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The 6^th graders made a clay radial loom. They textured a free form clay slab and then prepped it into a loom. After it was fired, they used oil pastels, watercolor paint and gloss to add color and sheen. Then the students used assorted yarns to create the warp and weave and optional pompoms.

Clay Groggers for Purim

The 3^rd graders made hamantaschen-shaped noisemakers out of clay. The process was similar to baking hamantashen---We rolled out the clay and cut a circle for the base.  They formed a smaller bowl-shape for the “filling,” added a few clay balls for the noisemakers, flipped it over and then folded up and pinched three edges to form the triangular cookie. In the next class the kids could either use ceramic glaze or watercolor paint to decorate their groggers.

7th Grade Recycled Can Art

--> The 7^th graders turned “trash into treasure” by transforming smashed soda cans into unique works of art. We looked at examples of artists’ work from smashed cans for inspiration. The students chose a can and like Michelangelo staring at his marble from all angles, they got inspiration to create. They used acrylic paint, sharpies and collage supplies to make these whimsical pieces.