Collaborating with Nature

This is a great project to make use of whatever outdoor space you have. If you are able, have a look at some examples of Nature/Ephemeral Art and the art of Day Schildkret. 'Spring Awakening' - Day Schildkret, 2018

Process: Use a container to collect a number of natural items from the garden. Try to find items that have fallen, rather than picking anything from living plants. Make sure you have an adult o check that all of your items are safe to use. Project 1:Use you items to create an image. It could be a face, a landscape or just a pattern. Get an adult to take a photograph of your finished artwork. Project 2: Use the same items and glue them down with PVA glue onto a piece of paper or card (you could use the back of a cereal box. Use a pencil to draw extra details to incorporate your natural items into a finished picture.

Class Samples:

Falling into Perspective....re-visiting an old favourite!

This is one of those standby, can't fail projects that I do every couple of years, usually with my Grade 1's or 2's. These examples were done by one of my Grade 2 classes and I absolutely adore them!!

A whole heap of projects in one post!!!

Ok, here goes. I don't get around to posting projects as often as I would like. So, I am going to attempt to put up most of the projects I have done this term. I have a different focus each term and in Term 1, it is usually 'Skills and Processes'. Its a great way to see where kids are - especially my Year 1's and any new students to the school. Projects: - Dragon Eyes: Grade 3/4 - Handprint Peacocks: Grade 3 - Colour Theory Cupcakes: Pre-primary - Pop Art Hearts: Grade 3 - Sunsets and Silhouettes: Grade 4 - Patterned Treefrogs: Grade 3/4 - Diving Whales: Grade 3/4 - Air Dry Clay Penguins and Printed polar bears: Grade 1 - Endeavour Boats: Grade 4 - Underwater Divers: Grade 3

Warm Suns / Cool Moons

A lovely, easy projects for Year 1-3's. It fits in nicely between other, larger projects and is a great way to reinforce their knowledge of warm and cool colours. These samples come from two of my Year Two students.

Aika - Year 2

Josh - Year 2

Clay Pinch Pots with Melted Marbles

I was very nervous about trying this project, as I was worried about melting glass in my kiln. I had seen several sites online that talked about melting marbles onto clay but they didn't give very detailed info on how the whole process worked. But, we gave it a go....and it worked and has become one of my favourite projects this year! I worked with two Junior ESL classes and we made simple pinch pots. After they had dried, the kids 'drew' designs on with a toothpick and glazed them (including a clear glaze over the top. They then chose three marbles (make sure you use the proper glass ones) and put them into the bottom of their pot. Finally, we crossed our fingers as they went into the kiln!! I love all the results, but I especially like the ones where just the clear rather than the coloured marbles were used.

More Pinch Pot Animals....

Today, instead of being in the classroom, I got to play with clay ALL day with a group of other art and classroom teachers!
We started of by revisiting simple pinch pot ideas and having a go a creating some animals. Here are some of the results.

This was the process for getting the frog started:

Seasonal Trees with Marbled Leaves

This is a great project to do in between bigger and messier ones! Apart from some marbling, it's pretty easy and the finished artworks look great!

Lesson 1 - Draw the outlines and veins of 10-12 leaves, marble them and leave them to dry. Draw and colour a tree that touches the top and bottom of your piece of paper. To add a bit of texture, we also ripped up and glued on some strips of brown paper. 
                                                     

 Lesson 2: Use the tree to divide your paper into two halves. Colour one half as Summer/Spring and the other as Autumn/Winter. Finally, and this may need a third lesson, cut out and glue on your marbled leaves and mount the artwork onto a black background.

Van Gogh - Starry Nights

I did a lot of discussion before starting this project. We talked about how you could see the different swirls and lines of paint and how the painting created a sense of movement.
The students (year 1 and 2), then used blue, yellow, white and black acrylic paint on a sheet of A4 black paper. I asked them to cover the whole piece of paper and to not worry about the 'tree' or houses in the foreground.

The next week, we went back into the painting with black oil pastel to add to the extra details. 

I am still stunned by their amazing results!

Skye - Year 2

Humphrey - Year 2

Picasso Faces

Done a thousand times, I know.....but still fun and definitely an old favourite! 

 Lyla - Year 2

Cooper - Year 2