Salon Des Enfants 2013

This was my last Salon Show because by this time I had decided to retire. I had such a great time with my junior high elective classes and watching them improve their skills. I was so proud of the work they did for the show. I will certainly miss that part of teaching, where I can mentor students who are exploring their personal creativity in art. (See Animoto below)

From Ordinary to Extraordinary Drawing

One of the things an art teacher tries to do is have students look at things from a different perspective. It may be a different viewpoint or just to put things together that they didn't think of. Students were handed a brand new #2 pencil to study and then were able to choose a bird that would be made out of pencils. These are the work of my Holy Family students from Whitefish Bay, WI. 

Getting to Know You Jr. High Wordles

As a getting to know you activity for my Jr. High Digital Art elective, I had the students make a list of their favorite things as a WORD document and then copy that into WORDLE. They were supposed to emphasize their name, use the snipping tool, and save to their folders. Additionally, they were to edit the color palette in WORDLE and place the design in their PowerPoint portfolio. (See Animoto below)

Jr. High Needlework

The last embroidery projects were butterflies that included cross-stitch, satin stitch, chain stitch, daisy stitch, and French knots. Quite a few were done by 8th grade boys and they used very good craftsmanship. I liked these iron-on patterns so much that I did many myself. In addition to the sewing skill, students learned that this was a relaxing activity to de-stress at the end of a school day. (See Animoto below)

Painted Color Wheel Designs

Students showed mastery of color theory by painting color wheel designs. They got the primary colors, white, and black to create all 12 colors in the color wheel plus tints and shades of those colors. They used acrylic paint on heavy hot press watercolor paper. When done with great craftsmanship, these are artworks that make wonderful keepsakes. (See Animoto below)

Jr. High Zentangle Pattern Designs

Repetition, pattern, and texture have been components of artwork for decades and teachers have given various design assignments using them just as long. In the past few years, pattern has evolved into a cottage industry called "Zentangle." What I like about it is the complexity of some of the patterns which fit nicely into problem solving activities for students. They are more challenging and I certainly enjoy raising the bar when it comes to making kids think. I also love that there are so many wonderful online resources providing students with more choices than they could possibly imagine. (See Animoto below)

Salon Des Enfants 2012

Every spring, Phoenix Elementary art students exhibit at the Alwun House. I was lucky enough to teach a middle school elective geared towards creating finished pieces using methods chosen by me but using whatever subject matter they wanted. One of the techniques we all did was stippling. We watched a video called "Hero" on Vimeo which showed an artist stippling a portrait. (See Animoto below)

Stippled Drawing Work

Students were introduced to the technique of stippling this week. I played the video Hero using the Vimeo website. It shows a teenage boy drawing a picture of his father using this drawing technique. We also looked at a Frayer model of the word and samples of stippled artwork using SMART Notebook & the document camera. Students completed a stippled value scale and worked on an exercise using a teapot as subject matter. After doing the exercise, students chose their own subject matter and drew a light sketch they can follow for their stippled drawing. I will add pictures to this Animoto as the students work. (See Animoto below)

Needlework in Progress

Students moved on from samplers to floral and animal designs. Some of the kids just didn't have the patience to complete the work with good craftsmanship but several students completed more than one piece in the time given. When I decided to retire in 2013, I made sure those more dedicated students were given hoops, fabric, iron on designs, embroidery floss and needles as a lovely parting gift. (See Animoto below)

Low Fat/Sugar Free Edible Color Wheels

Color Theory usually involves colored pencils, paint, and other traditional art materials. I had known about an edible cell project for many years but the other art teacher at my school did this with her students and I decided that it sounded like a good way to teach tints. I did a demonstration and then each group used white sugar free frosting and food coloring to mix the colors in the color wheel. Low Fat Vanilla Wafers were frosted and arranged in color wheel order. This class will be painting color wheel designs soon so this is great practice mixing colors.(See Animoto below)

Jr. High Blended Shading Designs

Junior High students spent some time learning a value scale and had to complete a multi-gray scale done in ebony or 4B pencil before starting a design. Many of the students at this age are not used to keeping their hands out of the way when they are working, and they didn't quite get into the habit of laying down a scrap sheet to protect areas previously worked. We had no windows, nor could students leave the room to go outside, so spraying was not feasible. They did their best and most did grasp the idea of value and blending, though mastery wasn't gained in their initial pieces. (See Animoto below)