New Stand Alone Page

I figured out how to make a stand-alone page for the art teacher directory!  If you haven't added your's yet, you must!  It needs to be an art teacher blog, however. I will delete it if it is something else.  Find the art teacher blog directory here. 

Clouds Watercolor Painting

 

I am taking a watercolor class this summer at the local recreation and parks department.  Our first real painting assignment was to paint a picture of clouds.  No, it couldn't be just a white cloud on white paper.  This was a great assignment, because it is actually one that I do with my 5th and 6th grade students.  Now I will know some new tips and techniques to share with them. 

You can see their beautiful pictures at this blog post.

I'm pleased with how the clouds turned out, but I might go back in and define the tree/grass area.

Art Teacher Showcase Installment 4

The next Art Teacher Blog I will be showcasing is Jody Sebring's. 

1.  The name and URL of your blog   www.artfor1170.blogspot.com
2.  A brief description of your blog and why it is awesome.  Tell us where you live and work, what you do, etc.  Not sure I am at "Awesome" yet but it's new, since April and so much fun.  I teach in Clarkston Michigan for the Clarkston School District. I teach Pre K-5th grade art.
3.  An example of a tried and true art lesson favorite that you have taught. (could be in a workshop setting, school setting, or just with your own children or yourself, no exclusions here!)  Give me a link to a post about that lesson, so I can include a link and photo.  One of my favorites, and I say favorite a lot is the clay owls.  I usually do this project with fourth graders. I have the How to on my blog.

4.  A favorite, must-have art teacher or art technique book.  Any book on clay projects is a favorite. I have one in mind but I think it's packed in a box right now. It's by a Michigan art teacher and I think it's title is Clay Ideas.
5.  Your favorite product for the art room.  Just posted my favorite tool and it's my clay cutter!

Thanks for posting this idea. I love the idea of sharing

Jody

--
Jody Sebring
Art Educator
Pine Knob Elementary, Clarkston Elementary, North Sashabaw Elementary and the ECC

""Art is literacy of the heart"     Elliot Eisner

Here are some more pictures from her blog:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to be featured on my blog, then answer the following questions.  Please email them to me at marciadotcom@yahoo.com.  Don't comment on this post with your answers.  If you do email me your answers, you will give me permission to post a couple images from your blog to include in the blog post (with of course, a link to your blog).  If you only feel like answering a few questions, that is fine too.  I would also be happy to feature your own personal artwork.

1.  The name and URL of your blog
2.  A brief description of your blog and why it is awesome.  Tell us where you live and work, what you do, etc. 
3.  An example of a tried and true art lesson favorite that you have taught. (could be in a workshop setting, school setting, or just with your own children or yourself, no exclusions here!)  Give me a link to a post about that lesson, so I can include a link and photo.
4.  A favorite, must-have art teacher or art technique book.
5.  Your favorite product for the art room.

So, what are you waiting for? Email me today about your blog!!"

Ink Blowing with Straws

 Another fun activity we did at art summer camp was blowing ink with straws.  First, squirt out a bit of liquid watercolor (we did not dilute it at all).  Then, take a straw and hold it right above the ink and BLOW!  See what happens!  You can embellish them with writing, drawing or more paint.  We also used paint dabbers to add circles.  Fun Fun Fun!

 Some of the kids also worked with calligraphy pens and inks during this time.

 

Don't forget to send me YOUR favorite lesson plan for my ART TEACHER SHOWCASE!  It will be better if we have a lot of teachers participating!!

Daria's second art class

Daria's second preschool art class was all about gluing.  She had a blast thickly applying the glue stick to plastic containers and putting little bits and bobs on it.  She had fun sorting the pom-poms and coloring with oil pastels on the plastic.  I didn't know oil pastels showed up on plastic!

Personal Artwork

I've been busy making lots of personal artwork... Here are some journal pages and greeting cards:

If you want to see more of my artwork, check out my other blog.

Old School Lesson Plans

During the summer, I'm going to dig back to some of my old lesson plans that I had posted on artsonia.com to show to you.  Maybe I will revisit these again during the upcoming school year.  This was favorite of mine and I don't know why I stopped teaching it. The pictures all turned out gorgeous.

CUBIST CATS  for Second Grade
The kids learned about Picasso and his dynamic, fragmented Cubist artwork.

1.  First we did a step-by-step drawing of a cat.  I demonstrated, then they drew on their paper.  The cats all ended up having their own personality even though we followed the same steps.
2.  Next, take a ruler and draw diagonal lines through the cats.  Divide up the space to create the fragmented feeling.
3.  Go over the lines with a black marker.  Finally color in each of the sections with a different color colored pencil.

Teacher Tip:  Demonstrate how to color with colored pencils in an even and solid manner.
The artist books by Mike Venezia are awesome.

Art Teacher SHOWCASE!! Installment 3

"Summer months are slow in blogland for teachers.  Most art teachers are taking a break from teaching all day.  Some are doing art camps or personal travels, but I know that in the summer months, not as many teachers post ideas, since we're not teaching full time now.  However, summer free time is a perfect time to research ideas, look at art eye candy, experiment and have fun!  So, what I would like to do to help you out in this summer is to feature different blogs.  Maybe one per week (or more if more people respond).  This will be awesome in several ways.  First, you will be able to get a taste of everyone's favorite art projects and visit new and different blogs.  Second, YOUR BLOG could (and will, if you submit a response to me) be featured and more people will visit you and see all the wonderful things you are doing.  We all make new friends and get new ideas for next year!  Sounds great?  Well it will be!!  

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Installment 3 of the Art Teacher Showcase

Art Teacher: Marilena Linardatou

I am teaching art this summer at my school on Tuesday's and Thursday's.

I will also teach two art camps, one in June and one in August.    

The name of my school blog is http://explorationinart.blogspot.com/,

Art is an amazing way to explore and understand the world.

Studying and creating art is a way of communicating with others.

Through exploration students appreciate and understand the importance of art in our society.

Through exploration we are able to cultivate and develop skills in various artistic media.

Through exploration we can create an exciting and safe environment that allows our students to be inspired and inquisitive.

Through exploration we can design art based on one's own experiences, identity, environment, imagination and observations.

   

 I teach art at a private school  Chesterbrook Academy Elementary (K-5)  http://northraleigh.chesterbrookacademy.com/page.cfm?p=19859 where we emphasize Integration of 21st century skills in academic instruction. 

My students have art for 45 minutes twice a week.

I also teach art to our Pre-K students.

One of my favorites art lesson this year was " The concept of scale in art (The roses of Will Ryman)"

http://explorationinart.blogspot.com/2011/05/kgg2g3g4-concept-or-scale-in-art-roses.html

It was a collaborative project, where Kindergarten, Second and Third grade students worked together to complete this artwork.

The students loved this project because it gave them the opportunity to explore the difficulties and challenges involved in completing large scale artworks.  

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in the ART TEACHER SHOWCASE.

Here are some other images from lessons Marilena has taught:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to be featured on my blog, then answer the following questions.  Please email them to me at marciadotcom@yahoo.com.  Don't comment on this post with your answers.  If you do email me your answers, you will give me permission to post a couple images from your blog to include in the blog post (with of course, a link to your blog).  If you only feel like answering a few questions, that is fine too.  I would also be happy to feature your own personal artwork.

1.  The name and URL of your blog
2.  A brief description of your blog and why it is awesome.  Tell us where you live and work, what you do, etc. 
3.  An example of a tried and true art lesson favorite that you have taught. (could be in a workshop setting, school setting, or just with your own children or yourself, no exclusions here!)  Give me a link to a post about that lesson, so I can include a link and photo.
4.  A favorite, must-have art teacher or art technique book.
5.  Your favorite product for the art room.

So, what are you waiting for? Email me today about your blog!!"

Book Review 2

Linda Barry combines funny comics, drawings, and text in a book for adults about how to get your drawing juices flowing.  There's how tos are more for an adult who just wants to get started drawing.  Her own comics and art are what is really inspiring for me!  I also enjoy her commentary and questioning about the drawing process and creativity.  In one comic the dialogue says, "If you use coloring books past the age of ten, you will wreck your imagination forever.  Who says?  All the scientists.  Just warnin' ya."


"When you are little you will draw pictures for no reason.

What does a line do?  It's not something that you are good at or bad at.  It's something else.

You move your hand and you scribble all you want and it feels very good.  I can remember that feeling.

What makes us start drawing?

What makes us stop?"

I think this book is probably more for adults, as some of the pages have some adult-like things on them-- such as a monkey smoking cigarettes.  However, most of the pages you could show your children who are aspiring comic artists.

Here are some of the pages from her book Picture This.

Daria's first art class and Create With Me magazine

We had Daria's (my daughter) first art class today and she really enjoyed the water cup!  The kids painted on the floor and there was a big tarp protecting the floor.  Some kids used their hands, others brushes and others used their feet.  Some of the other objects the kids (aged 18 months-3 years old) used to paint with were

pinecones
rope
sponges
corks

Painting with a rope.. what does it do?

And here's something cool, the people over at Somerset Studio magazine just launched a new magazine called Create with Me.  I didn't submit anything to the magazine, but I sent them a couple pictures of Daria making art for their "launch party".  So if you look at this website and scroll all the way down to the bottom,  you can see 2 pictures of Daria (the little blonde hair girl) in the photo gallery.