Back for a new school year!

I am so incredibly excited to be back for another awesome school year! We are rounding the end of the 4th week of school already! Man, time flies! My first big project for the year (and it was a biggie!) was to create a Dot Mural for the entire school! So the first week in art, we read the awesome book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, and it was just in time because International Dot Day was coming up fast on September 15th!.

After reading and discussing this wonderful story of bravery and creativity, each student created their very own dot, just like Vashti in the story! We hung up all of our Dots in the cafeteria, students and teachers, and boy! It was a bunch!

Here's to another great year! Talk to you soon!

~Ms. Carney

Picasso Number Face!

Right now at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, they have a WONDERFUL Picasso exhibit called "Picasso Black and White". It features a bunch of his monochromatic pieces over his career including paintings and sculptures. They do a wonderful night once a month called "Evening for Educators" where art teachers get to come to the exhibit, look around, go on guided tours, and listen to featured lectures! Its awesome! At one of the little break out sessions, they taught us how to draw the human face in the style of Picasso using numbers, and of course, I had to bring it back and try it with our kiddos!

So, here's how we get started!:

First, we have to draw in our numbers all connected together. Try to get up to 12!

Then, you can add in eyes, nostrils, eyelashes, eyebrows, whatever you want!

Here's a student example!

And of course, my favorite: COLOR!

Russian Matryoshka Dolls - 2nd Grade!

For the past couple of weeks, our 2nd graders have been creating mixed media paintings of Russian Matryoshka dolls! These are the fun dolls, usually made of wood, that have smaller versions of each one inside one another. I actually collect Matryoshka dolls myself, so this project was extra fun and special!

First, the students drew out their dolls and designed them with a bunch of beautiful patterns. Then, they created a background for the dolls with watercolor paints. Check out some of the wonderful projects below!

Piet Mondrian Collages - 1st Grade!

Our first graders created some fabulous collage paintings as an hommage to the great Piet Mondrian! We've been learning about primary and secondary colors and this was a great opportunity to put our knowledge to work to create an amazing piece of art!

First, the kiddos put in the black lines by cutting strips from black construction paper. Then, they filled in all of their spaces with red, yellow, and blue watercolors. Amazing work!

Angry Bird Pop Art Plushies - 5th Grade!

For the past couple of weeks, our 5th graders have been working on a very exciting project: Angry Bird Plushies!!!! There are so many awesome contemporary pop artists out there who create plushies, and so I thought it was about time that we made our own too! I found this amazing idea on an art educator's blog, but I couldnt find it again to give credit where credit is due! So if this was your idea, let me know and I will for sure give you all the credit! ;)

Our students started out by cutting their pieces from felt, then sewing them together. Then, they cut out all of the features from felt as well, glued them on, stuffed it with stuffing, and then finally sewed their plushie closed! Here's how they turned out:

Of course, the girls made there's fabulous and sassy with bows!!! They turned out just great! I just love sewing projects!!

Mixed Media Handprint Peacocks - 2nd Grade!

Our fabulous 2nd graders just finished up their wonderful peacock paintings! They started with they're handprint and then added in details after they dried! Check these out, they look absolutely wonderful!

Cat in the Hat - 1st Grade!

In preparation for our full week celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday, our first graders learned how to draw the Cat in the Hat from one of Dr. Seuss' most famous and beloved books! These turned out just wonderful!!! I can't wait to hang them in the hallway!

This is my teacher example!

And here is the magnificent student work!