Four Weeks In Already

We just finished week four!  Time flies when you are having fun.  Everyone contributed to a collaborative Hand Art mural for my walls.  They look great, but next time I will have the students make them on tagboard, as the fingers are curling up in my humid room.  I staple a few of them open each day.  They are going to be a LOT of fun to take down.  I better get a good quality staple remover because it will definitely be a big job.

Right now I am really excited about the Negative Space Leaf Drawing that 4th Grade is doing.  I will post pictures soon.  They are turning out AMAZING!  Sixth grade has been learning about One Point Perspective.  We will begin a drawing this week.  Fifth grade made contour line drawings of their hands.  It is harder than it looks!  Third grade did some guided drawing practice, and 2nd grade learned how to do lettering with bubble letters.  First graders are currently working on an imagination drawing of what it would be like if the dinosaurs came back.  Kindergarten made scribble drawings this week.

Next week some classes will begin to make their Art Portfolios.  Then we can start to collect the art we have been making.

This is seriously the best job ever!

New Classroom

This week was my first week teaching elementary art.  My room was completely clean and well stocked, thank goodness!  However, I had to try to make the room look inviting and as a first year teacher, I don't have much to use for decoration.  This was my room before working on it:

I must have moved the tables around three or four times trying to find just the right arrangement.  I wanted to be able to move around freely, but group the students together somewhat so they could share supplies.  I finally decided on three tables of eight, and two tables of four that allowed for a demonstration/supply table up front.

I added some color here and there, but will add some student art work soon, when my students finish their first artwork, Hand Art.   Soon it will be warm and colorful with all of their hands on the walls.  

The kids have been amazing so far.  I can't wait to get to know each of them individually!  This is going to be a great year!!

Mark Jenkins Inspired Tape Sculpture Installations

The Sculpture I class studied the work of Mark Jenkins, an installation artist that makes sculptures out of tape, and installs them in public.  Our students divided into groups, and wrapped one student in plastic wrap, then added three layers of strapping tape.  They started with the legs, the next day they did the torso and arms, and finally they used a head form to make the head.  I don't think anyone would have liked getting their head taped!

They carefully cut the tape off the model, and stuffed the form with paper, before taping the cut seams back together.  When the entire sculpture was reassembled, they needed to dress the figure in real clothing and install it on campus.  This was one of our favorites.  The students cut a hole in the middle of their sculpture and wrapped it around a tree.  They did a great job hiding it, so that it looked like the tree was growing from the figure's abdomen.  Very creative!

Jane Kelsey-Mapel Head Cups

During my time student teaching, a guest artist was invited to come into our classroom to demonstrate how to make her head cups.   Jane Kelsey-Mapel is an Arizona artist who makes clay figures and portraits.  I love her style, because she doesn't try to hide the process, instead she emphasizes it.  She leaves her slab seams visible, and enhances them in the glazing stage. 

My high school students created their own head cups.  Some students made a portrait that resembled a real person, but most just allowed the head to develop on its own.

This is the green ware stage of the head cups.  I was a nervous wreck having all of these amazing art pieces on a rolling shelf to harden.  They look amazing at this stage, but once they came out of the kiln, and the students began to glaze them, WOW!

Each head cup was as unique as the student who created it.  I think Jane Kelsey-Mapel would have been really proud of the final results.  I know I was very proud of all the detail and hard work that went in to each one.

My Student Teaching at Perry High School

My student teaching experience felt like I had won the lottery.  I had the most amazing cooperating teacher.  Our teaching styles were very similar.  We also had the same twisted sense of humor and laughed almost as much as we taught.  I also lucked out getting the most amazing group of high school students.  they welcomed me into their classroom, and were so supportive while I learned their names and the daily routines of a Sculpture class.


The final project in the Sculpture II class was an Identity Totem.  They were to create a likeness of themselves, and use color and symbols to represent aspects of their lives, their interests and their personalities.  The results were unbelievable.



Some students chose to glaze their totems, while some used watercolor and/or acrylic paint.

New Job, New Blog

It's been a while since I have had anything to blog about.  No one wants to hear about my day in and day out boring work and school life.  

However, now that I have finished my Art Education Certification, and I have been hired as an elementary art teacher, it is time to dust off the old keyboard and begin sharing again.

I can't wait to post my adventures teaching art to small people.  I have enjoyed my time teaching art to junior high and high school students, and feel a little intimidated by the thought of teaching 5 year olds again.  I can do this, and I look forward to passing on my love of art to a new group of kiddos.  

Stay tuned.  It's going to be a wild ride!

Art Fair/Reveal

The Art Fair was a huge success. I was really impressed by the number of parents that came out to see the mural and the kids' art that was displayed around the school.

Mr. Landon introduced me, and probably thought he was doing me a favor by not handing my the mic, but I did wish I had gotten the opportunity to give a huge thanks to the kids and all of their hard work. They totally rocked it!

I also wanted to talk about the meaning of the six character words growing in the gardens. It was meant to represent the little ones who come into Kindergarten like little seeds. Just like a garden they grown when nourished, and they are nourished with knowledge while they are in school. Each year they get a little bigger, and their characters ripen, until they are ready to be plucked from the garden and sent off to junior high.

Pablo Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one, once he grows up." I wanted to tell the kids that if they enjoyed making art with me, to do it every day, and they will continue to grow as an artist.

I loved inspiring the kids, and they showed their appreciation each and every day when they would give me hugs, and make me pictures. Thank you, kids!