Seasonal Canvases

This time of year, I can't wait for summer to get here so that I can have lots of time for creating art!  A few years ago I created a series of canvases about the seasons and my different stages of art making that I go through during the year. Summer is for creating lots of artful stuff.  Fall is for inspiring all my new students.  Winter is for dreaming up all the fabulous ideas while hibernation sets in. Spring is for imagining all the great art I will be creating during summer!  This is my last post of this school year. Thank you to all of my loyal blog followers. I hope you found some inspiration here at my artful nest. See you in the fall with a bunch of new creations!

---ms art

Summer Canvas...Create



Each canvas has a layer of printed transparency,

a photo, and a vellum with a house cut out.



A wire word that goes along with each season

is attached, as well as the definition.



Each canvas has a stamped repeated image and an old key.

Fall Canvas...Inspire

Winter Canvas...Dream

Spring Canvas...Imagine

word collage

This is an assignment I use this time of the year with my 8th graders when they have the "don't wannas."  Searching through magazines to find collage image materials keeps students interested and entertained while their brains are going bonkers from testing and the inevitable 8th grade-itis!  

Students draw a word using bubble or block letters with each letter connecting to create the silhouette of the word.  They cut this from a double thick construction paper.  Students then cut out images and words that either relate to their word or just represent their interests.  We then glue the collage to a background paper to make the word graphically "pop!" 

Some of the words are easy to read like Art, Love, and Nike above.  Some of them you need to study a bit to find the word...can you guess what this one reads?

monsters...monsters...everywhere!

This time of the year, most middle schoolers turn into crazy monsters.  To go along with this, my 7th graders complete a monster themed unit!  After working a bit with cartooning, students practice drawing monsters from a drawing book called

How to Draw 101 Monsters by Dan Green. 

 

They also take what they have learned and create monsters of their own design.  They then take about seven of their monsters and create a flip book out of them (post to come at a later date). We also create a mini comic strip and a comic book cover design, developing at least one of their monsters further.   

Lastly, students "bring their monster to life" by creating a felt creature from their designs.  Students learn how to create a pattern, sew a few different stitches,

and how a 2-dimensional drawing can become a 3-dimensional object.

It is fun to see the variety of monsters that "hatch" each spring!



charmingly artful or artfully charming?

 My recent adventures in jewelry making...

Although i don't wear it often, I do enjoy making wearable art. These are just a few of my recent pieces.  It is fun to see some of the motifs I use in my other artworks show up in jewelry pieces.  I love to display them around my nest for inspiration!  

Metal house shape bracelet with butterfly transfers (class taught by Jo McQueen)

Charm exchange with my Altered Artist group

I created the fiber nest and the bliss and love drops

My necklace made at a "Mystery" class at Mrs. O'leary's

"Junk" bracelet made during a class at River City Rubber Works

Charm necklace designed and taught by Mrs. O'Leary's owner Joni Russell

8th grade 3-d Art

 Towards the end of each semester, in an attempt to keep the 8th grade classes challenged, I include some 3-d assignments.  Here are just a few.  The fiber coil pots start out a bit difficult, but once the students get the hang of the rhythm of the stitches, they tend to turn out beautifully.  We usually complete these before the holidays so they can take them home and use as gifts.

In the spring, students create a paper mache letter and a plaster mask. 

The letters are constructed from tag board with 3 layers of paper mache and then decoupaged with 3 colors of tissue paper.  The masks are created from plastic molds with two layers of plastercraft wrap and then painted and/or embellished. 

 Above is an attempt at using my new hallway display cases.  

I am lucky to have them, but I am still getting used to the not-so-secure shelves and the non-corked back wall...any suggestions on using the space better, especially from those of you that are veteran art displayers?