Thursday, December 20, 2012

Self Portraits in Gray Scale


Students in Mrs. Self's Art One class are working on self portraits in grayscale.  The backgrounds are the choice of the artist and can be figurative or more true-to-life based on the photograph they are working from.  Students are concentrating on improving their technical skill and matching corresponding values.  I love watching them progress!  See more under the Art tab!

Friday, December 14, 2012

The most wonderful time of the year!


With a lot going on in the art room and in the Perry Art Department in general, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with the blog with everything else that is going on!  Next week is our last week of school for 2012 and then we are on to Christmas Break!  The picture above is of our mural mosaic project in progress.  We are still cutting tiles out of clay and the ones that have been fired are now being painted.  We can't wait to see how it all comes together next spring!  Stay tuned...

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

It has been in the low sixties this week in Ohio but typically we have some fierce weather this time of year!  In order to keep with the spirit of the season, we created these snowmen with the phrase, "Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but Edison is so delightful!"



Friday, November 30, 2012

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Coming back from Thanksgiving Break proved to be a still highly productive week.  Students in all classes are working hard and working in a variety of materials.  Here are a few pictures to spotlight what is taking place!





Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Installation art and thankfulness!


This past week Mrs. Self, Mr. Lashaway and myself began a cross curricular project that will eventually become and large installation piece in the entrance of Edison Middle School.  So far Mr. Lashaway's students have cut out these large letters to spell out EDISON and our students have begun painting them.  In the coming weeks and months we will be adding texture to handmade clay circles with the goal if eventually completing a mosaic.  More on this later.... but for now most of our students seem to have turkey, football and time away form school on the brain.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!  I know I am thankful to be a part of such an excellent district.






Friday, November 16, 2012

Adding a little art to our space!

Teaching at Pfeiffer Intmediate has been a great experience and the classroom space is beautiful.  But with the big hallway windows, we sometimes feel like fish in a bowl:)  Painting the windows this past week has been a great way to add color and use them as a learning tool.  So far I have painted a Klimt inspired tree with Kandinsky inspired circles and am in the process of adding a Don Drumm sun.  Students love seeing their art teacher paint.  And I love adding to it everyday.  "The earth without 'art' is just 'eh'."


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

What's all the buzz about?


It's conference week at Edison and Pfeiffer and so we have been working hard to try and get everything in order to have some beautiful displays for parents to admire as they wander throughout the building.  I love mid semester when students are gaining confidence and diving into some of the messier media.  Here are some pictures of our current displays as well as some finished products.  You can read more about these projects on our Art Explorations and Art 1 tabs.







Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Congratulations!


It has been such a busy week at Edison and Pfeiffer with so much creation in a variety of art media taking place.  Above is Mrs. Self's current Art One project inspired by Andy Warhol and self portraiture.  Below is the showcase right outside the art room.  It is so much fun to see all the color and interesting products students are creating!  Check out our whole blog! :)  And lastly..... Congratulations to April Porter, Mrs. Self's student who recently had her work judged in Ohio School Bus Safety Poster  Contest held by The Ohio Department of Education.  You can view her poster and other winners by clicking on the link-- here.  Once the page loads, click on 2012 contest.




Friday, October 5, 2012

Dale Chihuly Inspired Sculptures!


Now that these are hung at Pfeiffer Intermediate, I had to post some pictures of how cool the hallway looks.  These pictures really do not justice to the space.  For more on this lesson click on the Fifth Grade link here.




Friday, September 28, 2012

Happy Friday!

Looking back on this last week of September it was quite exciting to see all of the different media our students were working in and the knowledge they gained through various processes.  Here are a few highlights of their current work.  Click on each to tab to read further about their lessons.





Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Check out what's new in Art Explorations

You can read more about our recent realistic animal study in our Art Explorations class under that specific tab but here are just a few.  Soon they will be displayed all throughout our building.  I love when art is everywhere!





Thursday, September 13, 2012

What's Happening in our Halls!

Perry Panthers unite!  It is very exciting to be apart of such a spirited school system and community.  Students in our Art Explorations classes recently worked collaboratively to create this large positive and negative painting.  Working in the style of the artist Chuck Close each student was responsible for creating one individual block working solely on the enlarging and representing the lines, shapes and text of their square.
       This is very much like the style of portrait artist Chuck Close who creates his paintings using a part-to-whole approach.  This lesson lent itself to math integration (using a grid and measurement) and also allowed for retrospective self-assessment on each student’s part to see how their piece became such an important part of the puzzle.   Students were quickly able to assess their individual strengths and weaknesses as well what was successful as a whole.
This was also challenging because students had no idea what they were painting as they were working on each individual square.  Keeping their piece the right direction when painting it, addressing placement, proportion and size all were very vital to the painting also.  In the end we feel the panther recreation turned out quite well and the process that took place was valuable for the art students involved. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Getting Started....

I must admit it could not be more strange to me right now to call Perry Local Schools my new home after working seven years in another district.  I used to blog all of my classroom adventures at www.facaartroom.blogspot.com, my previous classroom where I taught.  So I am not new to blogging or to teaching but simply to my surroundings and my students.  Four weeks into this school year I am loving it and so eager to see what I can do in my new position at Edison Middle School where I teach an Art Explorations class to seventh and eighth graders and Pfeiffer Intermediate where I teach fifth and sixth grade.

The students, staff and community here are energetic and have so much to give and share!  We have started off strong with paint and ink and marker and mess!  Just the way I like it!:)  Please feel free to follow our blog this school year where I will also add what is happening in Mrs. Self's classroom at Edison (a space she is so kind to share with me).  I can't wait to see what new things my students and I will explore....