Halloween Zentangles

Due to terrible, awful, horrible weather coming our way....Trick or Treating has been postponed until tomorrow evening. I usually don't interrupt my art lessons for the holidays but I thought it necessary today. My students will be abuzz anyway so I tried pumpkin zentangles with my 4th graders. I shared the history of the Jack-O-Lantern along with many photos of pumpkins that are truly sculptural art. I think they had a great time and they did a great job!

Halloween Zentangles

This Halloween has been a different Halloween for my community and the surrounding areas. We have the worst forecast ever! There is a chance of two inches of rain accumulation along with 60 mpr wind gusts with lightening, thunder, and the possibility of tornadoes. Needless to say, the children aren't Trick or Treating tonight. Everything has been postponed till tomorrow evening. I don't usually interrupt my art lessons for holidays but this year called for a new strategy since the kids have to postpone their activities for a day. I knew the art room would be buzzing so today I had my 4th graders make Halloween Zentangles. I shared the history of Jack-O-Lanterns along with numerous photos of carved pumpkins that have been elevated to a sculptural, art form. We cranked up the spooky music and they did a great job!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow....(Must be sung to the White Christmas tune!)

Today is the 4th day of unplanned snow days. I've been busy but I'm running low on projects. (I take pride in finishing things!) I love Sweedish clocks but have chosen not to spend my money on one. I have a small wall space outside of my bedroom door and it called for a wall clock. I also don't like noisy clocks. You know, ones that chime on the hour and click loudly so I came up with the perfect solution for me. I painted a Sweedish clock on my wall. Here is what I've been doing during all my snow days.

Wayne Thiebaud.....not Tim Tibow!

Hello! My third graders finished their Wayne Thiebaud lesson right before Christmas. It was a delicious lesson! Poor little things, they have art right before lunch and they all tell me this lesson makes them soooo hungry. They did a wonderful job! I demonstrate drawing what I see rather than what I know for them. I think it helps them so much for me to think out-loud when I'm drawing. I also show them how to draw a cake with a slice removed. Enjoy!

Bored with Boards!

My school has the BIGGEST BULLETIN BOARDS I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!! Instead of mounting the bulletin boards horisontally they mounted them side by side, vertically! They are 10 feet tall! I'm 5'3". Need I say more? I'm also 60 years old. I'm not climbing on 8'ladders anymore. Nada! My school is 8 years old this year and I have put color on top of color on my HUGE bulletin board y

ear after year. This year I decided it was time to put up fresh paper and get rid of all the old layers. After all, the gym teacher who originally helped me the first year we opened is a stay-at-home mom now and the mother of two! I called my PE partner and he helped me get rid of the old and hang all of the new. I dediced to add flourishes just for fun. I was happy with the results.

Henri ...snif.....snif.....Matisse, 2nd grade

Each year I teach Matisse at the end of the year to my second graders. I save it for the end of the year because the flowers are blooming in the spring and I have so many colored paper scraps that I need to use up! We talk about how Henri still contniued to cut paper even while he was in a wheel chair and how we can remain artists all of our lives. Last spring I attended a wo

rkshop at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the instructor shared with me that there would be an Matisse exhibit this fall. She said that children's artwork would be a part of the exhibit. When I told her my 2nd graders had just finished their Matisse lesson she asked me to save them for the museum's exhibit. I did and I was so excited for my students! They made such beautiful still life paper cuttings. Well, the information about the exhibit came this fall and the museum restricted the dimensions of the artwork so none of my student's work was submissable! Grrrrr! I was so disappointed. Thanfully my students knew nothing about my plan. I featured their work on the bulletin board outside of the art room and they were "happy campers". Live and learn.

Blue Dog by: George Rodrigue, 2nd grade

Have I told you how crazy I am over Blue Dog? He is so much fun to teach with his Cajun ways and his spooky stories. My second graders love this lesson and are so successful drawing their Blue Dogs using lines and basic shapes. Here are some of the best examples from this year. Check out the Blue Dog with the swimming goggles. What will they think of next!