More Masks

Here are just a few of the plaster masks students made this spring. 
Those students who had time, added a background mat board and/or fun extras!

These mask molds come in a set of 5 available from SAX. 
They also sell the simple face mask molds.

 

I really like how these two turned out! 
The additions really finish the masks off nicely!





Just a few more of my favorites from the past few years...






You can see more masks from my art room here, here, and here.



Bugs of Spring

 I absolutely love how these colored pencil bugs turned out this semester! 

Students really did a great job with drawing, blending, and shading. 

 We drew half of a toy bug on a triangle piece of tracing paper, then laid that
paper bug side down in each quadrant and drew over the lines so that the
image transferred to the 12 by 12 inch paper.  The bug was then flipped and
lined up in order to transfer the other half. This was done with 4 different bugs.

   Students then chose 4 colored pencils, 2 warm, 2 cool, to color with.

We first colored each background with a different color, then rotated

the colors and colored the bodies, rotated again to color legs,

and rotated a 3rd time to color wings and extra parts. 

Before coloring, we practiced shading and blending with our 4 colors.
Then when students were ready, they applied this concept to their
bugs to make them more dimensional.

Bugs are a great subject for art because they are easy to draw and just

end up looking really cool!  Before we began with our bugs, we worked with

creating symmetrical shapes and talked about the different bug body parts,

so we were able to sneak in a little math and science too! 

You can see more bug are here.



Picasso's Three Musicians

Here is the latest in the 8th grade's collaborative painting project.  This year, I decided to use Picasso's Three Musicians.  I wanted a piece to hang in the art/music hallway that would represent both genres.  This was perfect!  I was a bit worried the squares would make it too confusing to read, since it is already a cubist work, but I think it is more fun...hopefully Picasso would be proud!

Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso, 1921



You can see more collaborative artwork here and here.

Earth without Art...

I am blessed with having a huge bulletin board in the hallway near my classroom.  I usually put up collaborative pieces or new artwork when I get the chance.  I decided this time to try a large scale idea incorporating both art and a bulletin board slogan.  I have seen this saying on Pinterest several times and knew I had to use it somewhere.  Then I came across a classroom bulletin board by fellow Kansas art teacher, Katie Morris, below, and just knew I had to try it! Thanks Katie for the awesome idea!

I collaged layers of tissue paper onto a bulletin board
paper base in the shape of the continents,
which was a fun lesson in geography for me!

I splatter painted "ART" and gathered and cut out other letters.

We just finished line landscapes drawings and printmaking with
7th grade, the perfect art to go with the earth!
You can see more of these here.

I just love how this turned out!

Make Art Your LIfe!

This is the new "art wing" bulletin board for this year. 
 I borrowed the idea from Pinterest and added
a bit of "collagee" flair to go along.  I wanted to incorporate
the music and art aspect into the board and this idea was perfect!

I painted a large background paper and then cut out
fun art and music shapes to collage on top.

This is the Pinterest idea that got me going.
Yay Pinterest! 
I love the idea in black and white too.
This is by Jody of Art for 1170.

a little bit altered

My Altered Artists Group decided to swap objects that we have been meaning to alter, but haven't yet. We each altered them and returned a finished piece to their owner.  This was fun to do because those that participated made and then received an awesome "gift" from their fellow "swapie." 

I altered a little wooden dollar store box for Scarlet.  After visiting her home for the first time, I was inspired to use my "tried and true" house, bird, and nest theme.  I used Tim Holtz distress crackle paint on the box, adding a chipboard house, paper, and charm to the front.  Inside I added a little nest and three little eggs which represent her three children. The eggs were collaged with word strips from book pages. I added a gemstone bird to the inside of the lid to complete the box.

My fellow group member Mary D. altered this clock for me.  It had a bird and a phrase on it already, that I didn't really like, but I liked the idea.  So she found a napkin that had a different bird, added stamped number tags and a new rub-on phrase.  I love the new colors and the improved artsy product!  Thanks Mary!

Jo altered this house shaped game tin that my friend Ruth gave me to alter.  I hadn't gotten around to the project yet, so Jo was up for the challenge!  She collaged the inside and outside with book papers and bird ephemera.  She and Mary went bird nest hunting and found the perfect REAL nest for the box.  She added some eggs and a charm that says "CHERISH".  I absolutely love the finished result!  Thanks, Jo, Mary and Ruth!

This is a paper mache hand that I altered for Jo.  I painted it with the Tim Holtz distress crackle paint, made a little nest with the word strips, added a sparkly heart, trims and a key.  Jo hasn't seen this yet, hope she likes it!

puzzled again?

It's that time of year again- altering puzzles with my Altered Artists group!  These are a few pieces I worked on for the other group members.  Each person had a different them.  Above is Andi's "Butterflies in Blues, Beiges and Blushes"

Mary D. chose "Wizard of Oz" for her theme.

Joyce's theme was "Birds, Eggs, Nest."

Jo chose the color black for her theme.

Elaine's theme was "Winter in White"

Yolanda's theme was "Dress Up"

Linda chose "Hats and Shoes" for her theme.

I chose "Alice in Wonderland" for my theme. 
This is the piece Elaine did for me.  Can't wait to get all my pieces back...
more to come...

You can see puzzle pieces from last year's swap here and here.