I've Moved

Trying something new. You can now find me here...

Ta Da!

 The Chihuly pieces are finished and I am in the process of displaying them at both McGee and Tibbott. I absolutely love how they turned out.

Landscapes - Creating Deep Space

How do we create a sense of depth or space on a flat surface? That's the question I asked my second graders recently. They have been learning about foreground, middle ground, and background, and how to use these three areas to create space.

For this project, you will use 3 pieces of construction paper: 1 12"x18" sky blue, 1 12"x9" light green, 1 6"x12" dark green.

On both the light and dark green paper, draw a line in the upper portion of the paper. These lines will be the tops of hills so they do not need to be straight.

Cut on the lines you have drawn. You will have 4 pieces. I have labeled the pieces so you can see how they will be used.

Layer the three pieces on top of one another, matching up the corners. The largest light green piece should be on the bottom, then the dark green piece, and finally the light green piece.

Glue the three layers together on top of the sky blue piece of paper. Again, match up the corners to make sure everything is straight.

Then add the details of the landscape, using construction paper crayons. Make sure to add drawings in the foreground, middle ground, and background. Objects in the background should be small, while objects in the foreground are large.

This project could be finished here, but we will be adding something interesting to the sky next class.

Chihuly in Progress

The second graders have colored and stiffened their Chihuly forms. I added one more coat of fabric stiffener today. They turned out so colorful. I was afraid the spray would weaken the color a bit, but as you can see they are very bright and vibrant. Next, I'll combine the forms into one installation.

Dale Chihuly - Persian Project

I love the glass work by the artist Dale Chihuly and I am always trying to find ways to incorporate or recreate his work in class. Of course, glass blowing is not an option. However, there are quite a few really cool materials out there to create projects similar to Chihuly's.

If you are not familiar with Chihuly watch the video from the Early Show below. They discuss and demonstrate his process and techniques.

With a fellow art teacher at Independence Elementary School, the 3rd graders used a paint from Blick Art called Pebeo Arti'Stick Window Color. The students made a frame out of armature wire. They set the frame on transparency film and filled the frame with the paint. When the paint dried it was peeled from the plastic and was easily manipulated. Each child's project was combined to create the final piece. They completed one in warm colors and one in cool colors.

I wanted to try a Chihuly project with my second grade students and found quite a bit of information and examples out there. We'll be using coffee filters and spray starch to recreate some of Chihuly's Persian pieces.

DALE CHIHULY

MALINA WINDOW, 1993

16 x 16'

LITTLE CAESAR ENTERPRISES, INC.,

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS

FOX OFFICE CENTER, DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Color a design on a coffee filter, leaving very little white space. For this project we are using 1 primary color and 1 secondary color to create intermediate colors.

The design should be large and simple. All details will be lost in the end.

Spray liquid starch onto the finished design. The colors will begin to bleed and the filter is very wet at this time. The primary and secondary color will blend together to create the new intermediate color. (Red & orange will mix and make red-organge.)

Place wet filter in a Styrofoam bowl to dry over night.

The form should look similar to Chihuly's Persian glass art.

Visit to the Art Institute

The 5th graders had the opportunity to visit The Art Institute of Chicago last week. The students really enjoyed spotting artwork that we have discussed in class. Especially the painting of Vincent Van Gogh's bedroom.



Van Gogh's Painting



Student Painting

See more student examples of Van Gogh's bedroom here.

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian and his artist friends created the movement, De Stijl. They wanted to paint in the simplest form, using the Primary Colors; red, yellow & blue and straight horizontal and vertical lines.


To begin learning about color the second grade used the Primary Colors as well as horizontal, and vertical lines just like Mondrian.

See more student Mondrian paintings here and here.