Dandelions

Dandelion Fields by Walker in Kindergarten

I don't often teach projects that can be done in one day. Usually, I choose projects that take several weeks to complete. The benefits are that the students' persistence, attention span, and their ability to conceptualize are strengthened.
But, at the end of the year, it's nice to have quick and uncomplicated projects.
Using a variety of green crayons, fingers tips, and yellow paint students made a field of dandelions.

Coloring the grass, and using restraint in painting dandelions was harder than you might think. I really press my students to do their best work, and in the end they are proud of their efforts.

While walking around praising and giving suggestions to students I over heard a quiet student named Walker remark to his table mate, "My mom is going to love this." As soon as he had finished saying these words he noticed that I was listening to him. I said, "Your right!" which caused Walker to get a big smile on his face.

I love that he was able to identify that his work was done well, that he was certain it would be appreciated by others, and that he felt pride in his work.
*Sigh,* another example of the transformative powers of art.

Positive and Negative Tulips

The positive and negative concept was a challenging concept for the kindergartners to grasp. However, many were amazingly skilled at drawing a tulip, cutting it out and reversing the image.
The students' work was used to demonstrate the concept, and more than a few adults said, "I learned something."
For those of you that are unclear about the distinction between positive and negative space, well, generally positive space depicts recognizable objects. Negative spaces are unoccupied areas. Color has nothing to do with "space."

Made by Teacher

At a workshop we made the cutest tiles of ourselves. I finally got around to painting mine with water color. All the kids like my art.

Another Testimonial

The mom and me project made quite an impression on at least one student. Remember the girl who thought recycling was another word for making art? Well, Kayle's dad commented to me that since the Mom and Me project he could tell that how Kayle draws people has changed dramatically. Awwww!

One of my student's mom came in the art room and saw the pictures hanging and asked, "Who made that one? That's nice!" Can you believe it was her own child's work.

Mom and Me

With the Guyton visit behind us I have turned my students attention towards Mother's Day. Student's were told about Whistler's Mother, and about various works by Mary Cassatt who painted beautiful images of mothers doing daily tasks with their children.
My students created portraits of "Mom and Me." Done in a caricature style, students used pencil, colored pencil, paint, markers, and chalk to color a bright and cheerful picture.
The picture layout began with a U, one small and one large. When all the details were laid in place the coloring began.
Students were motivated to do well for their mother. For me the results are so sweet and charming they make me a little teary eyed. The three above were done by students in kindergarten.

Harvest

I call myself "Art Gardener," because I am busy sowing the seeds of inspiration. This time of year I am harvesting what has grown out of my "art sprouts."
The weekend of April 18th was the all school art show. We had a wonderful show! Afterwards much of the work went right to the Stair Library for the Community Art Show, which was established to welcome internationally recognixed artist Tyree Guyton. Guyton is the artist responsible for the Heidelberg Project in Detroit. The project is a neighborhood embraced in symbolism and art. Intended to draw attention to the problem of urban blight, the neighborhood is thoughtfully clothed in discarded objects and paint.

For Guyton's visit I conceptualized a sculpture and with the help of many students, in middle school and elementary, constructed it out of cardboard, paint, brads, photos, markers, colored pencils, rubber cement, hot glue, and plastic caps. A photo of each student and staff member was taken and colored with markers, cut, and placed in a milk cap.

It was an honor to have the sculpture placed by Tyree while he spoke at the library about his art.

Guyton is an eloquent speaker with a big soul. It is heartwarming to know there are people aggressively working to make out world a better place through their art. We need more people to follow in Guyton's example.