2nd grade Special Event Artwork

One of my favorite prompts for a 2nd grade lesson is

VA:Cn10.1.2 I can create artwork about events in my life.

I give students choice of materials and we talk about adding details to artwork to help visually tell the story. When students are finished, they write a couple of sentences-a paragraph that we can display with their work.

 I love how these artworks turn out every year and this year I even chose one to represent the elementary school at the Kansas Youth Art Month exhibition! I just love the energy and enthusiasm evident in the artwork.

4th grade Calder Inspired Circus Sculptures

Each year my elementary school starts the year with a theme and this year the theme is circus! I like to use that theme as a starting point for each grade's first art classes of the year. This year my 4th graders looked at Alexander Calder's circus and then had choice of a whole bunch of materials to use for their own circus sculptures.

To begin the lesson, I read the book "Sandy's Circus" to the students. I borrowed it from my local library, but here's the Amazon link if you'd like to buy it. 

(If you purchase with my link I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

After reading the book, I showed the students part of the following video where Alexander Calder performs his circus!

I pulled out a tub of pipe cleaners to serve as our wires. In my cabinet I also found buttons, feathers, sequins, beads, other "crafty" materials that were donated, and found objects. I put the tubs out on the table and the students were able to take what they needed buffet style. 

I cut pieces of cardboard down for bases and showed how to attach things by poking holes, making slots, using buttons, etc. Of course students invented their own methods and some things required glue.

Feathers make for very fluffy lions.

While some of the sculptures are more abstract than others, I saw a lot of problem solving and experimentation, which I think is more important than perfectly polished artworks.

Here is the display. There is even someone on a flying trapeze hanging from a support!

2nd grade Chagall-Inspired Circus Art

My elementary school chooses a theme each year and this year the theme is Circus! Making art with a common theme or medium is a good way to kick off the school year while still giving students choices. We looked at the art of Marc Chagall who did a whole series of circus paintings. (Read about that here: https://www.christies.com/features/Marc-Chagall-Le-Cirque-series-8862-1.aspx) The students also brainstormed a bunch of different things you might see in the circus before beginning to work.

This poster helped show the students examples of Chagall's circus paintings and joined their artwork  when we put up the display in the hallway.

The students drew directly onto 9x12 inch drawing paper using oil pastels in the first class. I demonstrated by drawing and thinking out loud as I drew, even making a "mistake" so the students could see how I turned it into a happy accident. I talked about adding details and showed how to create textures by rubbing the oil pastel.

In the second class period the students had the option to add watercolor to create a resist effect. Most were excited to try it but some chose to keep their drawings as drawings.

I'll be sharing more circus lessons soon!

Story

I wanted to share some of the artwork my intro high school students created during our "Story" themed unit this year. You can see another post about this theme along with a slides presentation full of examples here: https://www.katiemorrisart.com/2017/11/story.html.

A couple students took on the challenge of altered books. This was a play on Rapunzel with the artist's friend serving as model.

The next 2 altered books were inspired by anatomy and by telling stories. The book on the left (in progress at the point of this photo) has a rib cage cover and the inside had sections of pages cut away to represent the organs. The book on the right is supposed to be a campfire where you could sit and tell stories. The student used tissue paper for fire and ash.

The next project was created by a student who loves fantasy and dragons. She made a hollow egg first and cut it apart so that it fit perfectly together. Then she sculpted a tiny baby dragon. She experimented with layered glazes and found a combination she liked.

The following project was made by a student who wanted to explore spray painting. He created a combination of stencils and masks that he used to make a phoenix.

This student used a mask mold as a starting point for a mermaid. She added some real shells in the end.

It's always fun to see the variety. I only wish I'd taken more photos!

Theme: Nature/Science

Last year I debated between choosing nature or science as a theme in my intro high school class. There was so much overlap that I put them together. I showed students how a bunch of different artists have approached the theme as a way to get them thinking about different possibilities. As I talked to students about their ideas, I showed some new techniques we hadn't covered yet that might be of interest. There was a ton of variety in the students' work and this was a good early theme- broad enough that it could go in many different directions but safe enough that it helped students get used to more freedom. It will be the first theme for this year's intro classes because it was so successful last year.

Wheel thrown and hand built teapot

 I did a needle felting demo and several students played with the technique

 The Northern Lights

Weaving that incorporated sticks

 Lidded vase

Illustrations of animals were a popular choice

This student made her own embroidery pattern 

 This is a drawing of neurons.

 This drawing went on to earn 1st place in the Kansas division of the State Fish Art Contest!

 Right across the hallway is the biology room with lots of live animals. This student photographed a salamander (I think) and then drew it.

 This student brought in her rock collection and explored with wet on wet watercolor techniques to illustrate a few.

This was an 11x14 inch stippling made with different colors of sharpie based off of a photo of soap film seen through a microscope. It took a long time but she never got in a hurry and somehow kept her patience!

Theme: Story

STORY was one of my favorite themes from last school year. We got some really cool artwork out of the theme and it was broad enough that there was lots of room for different interpretations and the students' interests.

After the introduction, I asked students to research a myth or legend that they were unfamiliar with and write a paragraph summary just to get them thinking about new possibilities. A few students used the research for their projects and the rest moved on with other ideas.

I didn't do a printmaking bootcamp but offered demos when students were trying to come up with something new to try. These two prints were both inspired by a myth or legend.

Clay was a popular choice during this unit. Some students fired and glazed and others added in different materials such as moss, stones, sticks, and glass.

This student made a hobbit hole.

This was kind of like a fairy cottage. It was super cool.

This was one of my advanced students last year. She found an old story she had written and created a box from the story. It even has her own language carved into the side.

These students chose stories that are movies but did a good job moving past copying a movie cover.

I love looking around and seeing all the variety in the classroom!

This student joined the class at semester so made basically her first painting for the project using water soluble oil paints- not a fan of the medium, by the way, regular oils are SO much better- and she worked to get lots of information from the story into one composition.

This was inspired by a song I think called Granddaddy's Gun or something like that. The student incorporated small copies of family pictures of them hunting together on the drawn mantle.