Laurel Burch Cats

I think this is one of my current favorite projects. The final piece is so colorful and vibrant, just like Burch's work. Students began by watching an interview with Burch that was held by 30 minutes, Bay Area and viewing some of her work. We focused on her Fantastic Felines and flowers. I pointed out her use on one single line to create the top of each eye and the nose, blended color, use of pattern, and gold accents. Students then began by painting the flowers they designed in Burch's style. 

Note: I have a different Laurel Burch cat lesson that uses chalk and oil pastels that is also lovely.

CREDIT: This project is adapted from a pin I found that took me back to Deep Space Sparkle.

  Here is her lesson. 

Frank Stella

My fifth graders are just beginning this lesson about Frank Stella. After a quick pre-assessment and an introduction to Stella's work they began the project this week. Next week they will begin mixing colors and will use four different color groups. They will be using the hue, tints, tones, and shades.

Note: This project was inspired by a pin from Kids Artists which leads back to this blog post.

Molas

I received a generous donation to my art department last year. Part of the money was invested in the video editing software, Camtasia. I have been having fun learning the software and creating demo videos for my students. I love it because I can be sure that I am giving all the classes the same instruction (let's face it, by the sixth presentation I'm sure to forget stuff!), and I save on supplies by only making one sample instead of seven! Plus, our district is a Google district, so we have our own YouTube channels through the district which saves the videos in case I want to use them in future years. Here is a video I created for a fourth grade project making Molas out of felt after introducing them to where Panama and the San Blas Islands are and telling them a rated G version of the Kuna Indians history.

I feel I should mention that I pause and fast forward the videos based on student interest.