Faculty Softball Game

Today we played softball against the faculty of Owen Valley Middle School and we won the pig trophy. Some of my students came out to cheer (more like heckle me). But, as you can see, I got on base. I hit both times up. My catching, well, that takes more practice. It was a beautiful day for a win. Let's hope my hammy feels better in the a.m. though!

Egyptian Clay Scarabs

A lesson I learned and altered back in student teaching was taught early in the semester. 6th graders begin at prehistory and cave art. The advance through utilitarian art of Neolithic Era and Ancient China with macrame key fobs. When we study ancient Egypt, we learn hieroglyphics and design cartouches. After that, we create the clay scarab beads and glaze. The fobs are combined with the beads and here is the result from the whole class.

Earth Day Endangered Animal Stamps

6th graders got to research endangered animals while learning about Realism and John James Audubon. They used watercolor a on watercolor paper and trimmed with scallops. The stamp designs were displayed in the 6th grade hallway on Earth Day with help from the Art Club.

Dream Catchers

Inspired by Native American Chippewa dream catchers, 7-8 art created their own based on the traits that matched up with an animal.

String Action Painting

Inspired by Jackson Pollack and Abstract Expression, 7-8 art did a quick two-day action painting. I find I have to jump around a lot from media to media and 2-D to 3-D or they get bored. Basically you dip a piece of yarn in watery black paint or ink, lay on paper with end out, put another paper over it, lay a light board on top, and pull out the yarn. Dry overnight and add color pencil on day 2 to one of the 2 mirror images. Pencil strokes should follow the strokes there and show shading. They kind of look like liquid. We also talk about ink blot tests. One that looks like a snail is included here.

Clubs in the Art Room

Art club meets every Thursday after school.

Yearbook meets as needed during the production. Two yearbook editors work on various projects each day 7th period.

Mechanical Animals

7-8 Drew and shaded a combo of one machine and one animal of their choice. Then we learned digital techniques using the Photoshop Mix iPad app.

Clay Gargoyles

Paper Mâché Ancient Greek Vases

Sean busy painting his pictorial scene.

Alexander Calder Shape Mobiles

7-8 graders hard at work painting, cutting wire, tying and balancing.