Showing posts with label pattern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pattern. Show all posts

Monday, March 6, 2017

In the Art Room: Collage Landscapes with First Grade

Hey, y'all! Please pardon my absence. I know some of y'all were with me at the NAEA convention in NYC. I had all of these big plans to have blog posts and videos ready to roll while I was gone and then...time slipped away from me. Or maybe I just procrastinated my pants off as that is my nature. Regardless, I missed chatting with you here. I'm back now and, hopefully, back into the swing of things. If you'd like to see what my NAEA trip looked like, I don't plan to blog about it because I shared so much of it here. 

So let's kick things off with this fun collage landscape project I just wrapped up with my firsties! 
What I love about this project are all of the wonderful tie ins: we learned about pattern and how to create them, we worked with watercolor and tempra paint, we explored texture, went on a "cloud hunt" outside, learned origami and collage...and landscape. All while chatting out folk artist Kerri Ambrosino. Whew! That's a whole lotta artin'. 
Kerri Ambrosino is a Mexican folk artist. This is not the only project the kids are doing that is inspired by here. We are also creating these still life pieces. I love this artist's colorful work and I really thought she'd be a great way to introduce my students to pattern. 
Another reason this project was so successful was because of the supplies we used. Let me tell you what we used and the steps we followed to create these happy landscapes:

Supplies:
Day 1 and 2

* Gallery oil pastels in florescent by Sargent 
* Crayola Mixing Colors watercolor paint
* 18" X 6" sheets of white paper
Here's a collection of the painted pattern papers drying. I loved them just like this!
I have 30 minute art classes, twice a week. On our first day, I had folded the paper lengthwise in 8 equal sections. The kids used their pastels to draw a line down each one of the paper creases. From there, they drew a different pattern inside each section. The following art class, we had a reminder on how to use watercolor paint properly and used yellow, turquoise and magenta paint to explore oil pastel resist. 
Supplies:
Day 3 and 4

* 12" X 18" construction paper, any color
* Blue and white tempra
* Bristle brushes
* Texture tools. We use random things found at the Dollar Tree: dusters, sponges, scrub brushes, you name it.

On Day 3, the students were exploring tints and textures. We went "shopping" for a sheet of 12" X 18" construction paper in any color the kids liked. They applied white paint first in good sized globs on their paper. Then they added smaller paint puddles of blue. From there, they used their texture tool to blend the color, create tints and texture. This kind of painting is always a blast for the kids. 
On the following day, the kids were instructed to TEAR their pattern paper lengthwise. This was to create hills and valleys for their landscape. I had a handful of kids use scissors instead of tearing and the results were just as beautiful. 
When gluing, I tell the kids to put glue on the bottom straight line of their landscape and have that edge align with the bottom of their paper. From there, they add glue to the long edge of the other paper, pull back their front hills like a giant and place the other torn sheet behind the front one. This is a great way to introduce kids to foreground and background.

Then we went on a Cloud Hunt! This was so simple, short and effective. I simply marched the kids outside chanting "going on a cloud hunt!" We looked up at the sky and spent no more than a hot minute or two tracing clouds with our fingers. When we popped back inside, drew clouds in white oil pastels and traced them in the colors of our choice. 
Early finishers could create patterned suns and sun rays. I love a good spike-y sun, not even gonna lie. 
On our final day, we did some origami! I did directed origami and in five minutes, we had our houses created. The kids then returned to their seats and used paper scraps for the doors and windows. Polka dots were added with paint and Q-tips. 
Their sweet little origami houses drying. 
Today the kids added their houses and any other details they might want. They are just the sweetest thing ever and they put me in such a happy spring mood. Love to hear about your favorite landscape lessons!
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Monday, February 20, 2017

DIY: Patterned Planters

So my new project of late has been painting what I've dubbed my Patterned Planters. I found these three wooden planters up at Target recently in their arts and crafts isle. YES, they now have an arts and crafts isle...and YES you will buy silly little somethings that you don't need but must have. Please tell me I'm not alone in my thinking that Target pumps some sort of magical air into their stores that acts as a shopping aphrodisiac. I see you Target! I know what you are up to and yet I just can't quit you! 

Refocus. Planters. 
I mean, look at them. How could I turn away from their mid-century mod adorableness? It would be like leaving behind a platter of puppies at a buffet (I have no idea...I saw a Golden Corral commercial today at the dentist and now I'm obsessed with the idea of unlimited proportions). When I saw these, it was like a knee-jerk reaction, immediately grabbing them and tossing them into my cart (fun Southern fact: shopping carts are often referred to as buggies. As in, "Ima fixin to go on down to The Pig {that would be the Piggly Wiggly} and fill my buggie up with Pabst. Ya need anythang?")
I had no idea what I was going to do with these planters and so they sat for a good month doing a bang up job collecting dust and taking up space. After painting this wooden jewelry and really enjoying it, I decided to attack one of the planters one evening.  
I dunno if you are like me, but sometimes I will talk myself out of creating because of the following excuses:

* I don't have time. Which is usually true...but c'mon, those dirty dishes, lesson plans (hahahahaha, what lesson plans?!) and laundry can wait!

* I don't have the right supplies. Then use what you got!

* I don't have an idea. Which, I have found, can often lead to THE BEST ideas. It's having an idea that can be crippling. Letting go is the best way to open your mind.

...and, this one's THE WORST...

* I might mess up. Ugh! Who cares?! I remember one time I had this unpleasant teacher who produced the plays at my high school. When she was trying to decide who to give the lead role in the play to, me or my friend, she wrote us each a "heartfelt" letter. In it she told us both, "it really doesn't matter who I pick. It's not like either of you are going to end up doing anything with your talent." Side note: my friend is an EXTREMELY talented artist, art teacher and public speaker. Thank you very much. I don't know what that has to do with "messing up" but it just came to me and I felt like sharing. You're welcome!
To start each planter, I kinda grabbed a handful of paints from my stash and established that as the planter's color palette. I then painted each flat surface a color, allowed to dry and then attacked each with a variety of pattern. 
 I love to create "after hours"... I usually start around 8pm while watching some mindless something on Netflix that I only half need to pay attention to (I kinda love The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt right now) and work until, well, way past my bad time. This creative outlet is a great way for me to unwind unlike something like sewing...where I have to focus or my relaxing time becomes a marathon of seam ripping and creative cussing. It's an Olympic sport.
Because I happen to be a serial plant killer, I decided to opt out of the real deal and use these fun beaded flowers I recently scored at an estate sale. They are handmade. The woman had a beautiful window sill full of them and how-to books in her basement. Y'all better believe I scooped up both.
I went with a more retro colored palette for this planter. Of course, I am always heavily influenced by Mary Blair. I have a couple books of her work and I was constantly flipping through them for ideas. 
Nothing says 1970's Tupperware like this color scheme. Hello, avocado green!
This isn't my first time down pattern planter road. 'Member these cat liter container planters? (okay...trust me, follow the link. They are much cuter than they sound, y'all).

So now I kinda wanna attack everything with patterns. I mean, I even wanna glue these three together, run some wires through them and make it into the stand for a lamp. I know, right?!
 Then again, I also wanna frame my palette. So there's that. 
Awright. Thanks for letting me share. Now if you'll excuse me, that buggie of Pabst ain't gonna drink itself. 
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