Matisse Masterpieces

The Toledo Museum of Art, our local museum, has a beautiful Matisse mural called Apollo. Third graders used that piece as inspiration to create their cut paper designs!

 

Dhurrie Rugs/Magic Carpets

Third graders have also been learning about art from India. They looked at examples of dhurrie rugs and created their own with cut paper and yarn.

-Dhurries are flat, woven rugs used as floor coverings.


-They've been made for centuries in India.
-They are made with bright colors, simple designs like stripes, geometric shapes.


-They are woven out of camel and goat hair.


-Royal families would use dhurri rugs to decorate the floors of their palaces.

Van Gogh Sunflowers

I loved this project. It may become one of my new favorites. Once again I was inspired by Patty's awesome website, Deep Space Sparkle. In particular, this lesson was the basis for our project : http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2012/02/06/van-gogh-flowers-art-lesson/. I made copies of her handout after I bought the PDF version of this lesson. It was a great handout and it was especially helpful to certain special needs children who tried this lesson. The step by step approach on the handout was the reason one child with autism was able to find so much success for this project! I highly recommend purchasing her PDF.

After students learned about Vincent Van Gogh, they drew their vases and flowers. They use tints and shades of yellow to paint the petals. During the next art class, they used colored pastels to decorate their flowers and table cloths. The results were stunning. It was a true success!

Gertrude McFuzz

Gertrude McFuzz

“The feathers popped out! With a zang! With a zing!

They blossomed like flowers that bloom in the spring.

All fit for a queen! What a sight to behold!

They sparkled like diamonds and gumdrops and gold!

Like silk! Like spaghetti! Like satin! Like lace!

They burst out like rockets all over the place!

They waved in the air and they swished in the breeze!

And some were as long as the branches of trees!

And still they kept growing! They popped and they popped

Until, ‘long about sundown when, finally, they stopped.

-Gertrude McFuzz

By Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss Creations: Tizzled Topped Tufted Mazurkas

“ I’ll go to the African island of Yerka

And bring back a

tizzle-topped Tufted Mazurka

A kind of canary with quite a tall throat.

His neck is so long, if he swallows an oat

For breakfast the first day of April, they say

It has to go down such a very long way

That it gets to his stomach the fifteenth of May.”

-Dr. Seuss

If I Ran the Zoo

 

Greek Vases

Third graders made these awesome Greek vases and columns. We began by looking at many examples of pottery from Ancient Greece. Many of the pictures on the pots and vessels told stories about life in Ancient Greece. They also had beautiful patterns and designs. Third graders made styrofoam prints of their vases and finished their work with a Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian column.

Whoville

Third graders have really enjoyed making "Whoville" in Art class. Each student has a long piece of paper to fill with Who houses and trees. We even made the grinch peeking over the town. This has been a great project to inspire the third graders during these long school days before break!

Clay Creations: Oceans

Third graders each made a clay octopus and underwater scene with Ms. Wanamaker after reading Tickly Octopus by Ruth Galloway.

They loved this project!

Romero Britto Pop Art Pyramids

Third graders just learned completed a project that combined Math and Art! We began by looking at the art of Pop artist, Romero Britto, and his Pyramid Project in London.

http://www.pyramidproject.co.uk/overview.php

Students sketched four sides (faces) for their own pyramids, incorporating Egyptian symbols into each side as Britto did in his art. They also combined patterns and either warm or cool colors with black outlines.

Finally, we cut out our pyramid patterns and assembled them. We were able to count and discuss vertices, edges, and faces in our 3D shapes-a concept third grade teachers asked me to incorporate!

Jim Dine Hearts



I love teaching about Cincinnati Pop Artist, Jim Dine. His colorful and expressive hearts are the perfect subjects for January and February! Collaborating with other wonderful art teachers, here are a few ideas we've tried.

Second and third graders used crayon resist, model magic, and wire to create these colorful heart collages.

Students used a combination of marker and paint (oil pastel is another great possibility) to create these hearts. They layered warm and cool colors and used glitter to finish.

Kindergartners made their hearts by smearing plasticine clay!

These hearts were made by cutting and gluing pieces of painted paper and using oil pastel to add additonal designs!

Painted Paper Robots

Third graders had a great time using colored, painted, and metallic papers to create these little robots! We painted papers for our first 55-minute class period and spent the next two class periods cutting shapes for our robots.

African Masks

Here are some African mask projects my students have created through the years. We usually read the book Who's In Rabbit's House and look at a variety of wooden masks from Africa. I was lucky enough to have been given these my first year of teaching! 5 beautiful wooden masks were brought to me from a parent who found them in a box out for garbage! My students love looking at them and drawing from them. Our museum also offers a lending program where teachers can borrow objects, such as masks, and return them after a few weeks. I have built my own curriculum box for African Art, complete with music, handouts, coloring pages, books, stamps, and the treasured masks. It's been a great teaching tool!

This mask was made by a fourth grader using sand, colored yarn, and beads.

This mask was made using yarn, noodles, and beads. Then we dabbed gold and bronze paint over our masks!

These masks were styrofoam prints embellished with gold paint and oil pastels.

Knights and Dragons!

Third graders recently looked at several versions of the painting St. George and the Dragon as well as read  the story The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie DePaola. We compared how the knight and dragon from the painting were so different from the characters in the silly story!

They completed these colorful works of art using watercolor paints! After their artwork was complete they each wrote a story about their scene, making a twist on the story of St. George and the Dragon!

Tar Beach

I love incorporating literature into my art projects whenever possible. Here is a great and easy project third graders created after reading Tar Beach by Faith Ringold. We used painted paper, pastels, and fabric scraps for the borders. The results were stunning!

Paul Klee Pumpkins

Second graders are learning all about Paul Klee in Art class. His child-like, playful drawings and paintings are the perfect subjects for young artists. We decided to use his portrait style to create some Halloween jack-o-lanterns. We used warm and cool colors of tempera paints to create our bright designs!

Giraffes!

Second graders loved making these fanciful giraffes! We talked about drawing simple shapes for the head and face and adding a long neck poking into the page. We practiced printmaking to make the leaves surrounding our colorful giraffes!

Mexican Bark Paintings



Mexican Bark Paintings
by Third Grade Artists

I love teaching children about different cultures. This project was one of my most successful! After viewing many examples of Mexican Folk Art and bark paintings, children used oil pastel and paint on brown paper to create their masterpieces!