Kindergarten Abstract Flowers

In Art Class, we read a book about the young life of American Abstract Expressionist and Colorist Helen Frankenthaler. Inspired by her art and the book’s illustrations, the students painted free form flowers and garden scenes using brightly colored watercolors.

8th Grade Legacy Project Silk Painting and More

Through a special grant this year, I had the opportunity to work with the 8th graders on a special project to revamp our chapel and make it more "user friendly." A student-led creative problem-solving process resulted in some great ideas. We spent many art classes painting eight 6x18 foot silk panels to create new curtains to fill the room with light and color. The students also painted a special bookshelf, ordered new lighting, and created a tablecover for the lecturn. 

Use this QR code to see a video if the curtain being installed and the 8th graders' reaction. 

  

Cactus Botanical Watercolor Studies

The 2nd and 3rd graders looked at a variety of cactus and flowering echinopsis. Check out  https://vimeo.com/echinopsisfreak

They traced a pot/bowl shape and then drew plants from observation. They went over their outlines with permanent markers and added spikes and patterns. Then they painted in watercolors.

Big Sky Desert Scapes

In conjunction with their Science focus on desert habitat, the 2nd/3rd grade students created these landscapes in the Art Studio. They painted vibrant suns in warm colors and then blended cool colors to make dramatic desert skies. They added sandy terrain using collaged wallpaper and chose to add other relevant flora, fauna, animals and more to the scene. 

Pop-art inspired cake sculptures

In Art Class, we looked at the art of American Pop Artist Wayne Thiebaud who liked to paint everyday objects, like cake. The students created a cardboard cake slice shape and then used a mix of paper pulp and plaster to give the cake texture. Then they painted their cakes and some chose to add model magic treats, while other dripped on icing and and added other details. They look delicious!!

4th grade Ceramic Masks

The Fourth graders explored masks from different cultures. They created a textured mask shape from a clay slab and added silly facial features. After the clay was fired, the students colored with oil pastels and then painted with black paint that they quickly rinsed to fill-in the textures. Finally, the students could add a gloss coating, yarn, wire and/or beads.

     

Painting on Snow!!

The Transitional-Kindergarten students had so much fun painting with liquid watercolors on snow. When the snow trays were filled with color, we printed on paper and saw magical results.