Pumpkins!

These adorable pumpkins were made by Mrs. Hughes's class in honor of the arrival of Autumn.  We're going to embellish them a bit more in our next session, but so far they are looking good!  They are simple enough to create.  Here's how we did it. 

1. Open up a brown paper lunch bag and sit it flat on a surface in front of you.
2. Stuff the inside of the bag with two pieces of newspaper that have been slightly crumpled into a ball. 
3. Grab and twist the top portion of the bag, using a piece of masking tape to keep it closed.
4. Paint the outside of the bag using tempera or acrylics. 

Stay tuned to see how we finish these with some vines and leaves.....

Colorful Weavings

These beautiful pieces were created by the students from Mrs. Hughes's class.  We began with a 12X18" piece of white paper that the students completely covered with watercolor paints.  Then they used texture tools to "roll on" tracks of black paint in various patterns.  During our next class we cut these paintings to allow black strips of construction paper to be woven through.  This kind of art requires patience and the use of fine motor skills. We all agree that they turned out beautifully!  

Welcome to a New School Year!

Welcome back, Nelson artists!  I hope that you have all had a wonderfully relaxing summer and that you had some time to do creative things with your families.  We're already hard at work in the art room.  Younger artists and learning about line, shape, and color while our older artists are brushing up their drawing skills and using some exciting new materials.  For the next several weeks, we are lucky to have a teacher candidate from Old Dominion University working with us in the art room.  Mrs. Bouthillet is training to be an art teacher and will be working closely with our Nelson artists until October 19th.  She has some awesome projects in the works so stay tuned for more updates and pictures!  

Have an ART-FULL summer!!!  Take time to sit outside and paint or draw.  Use sidewalk chalk and make a masterpiece on concrete.  Put on a play with your friends.  Write and illustrate a poem.  Use your imagination every day and it will continue to grow and grow....  :)  See you in September....

4th Grade Op Art

Our 4th grade artists studied Optical Art...a style of art that is mean to fool your eyes.  Check out the simple illusions that they were able to create using only line, shape, and colors.

Can you see the illusion of "tunnels" in the two pieces above?

The second piece that we worked on uses a "bull's eye" design and alternating pattern to create the illusion of movement on the page.  

3rd Grade Cupcakes...finished!

First we painted our cupcakes with watercolor paints.  

Then we added a good helping of glitter glue to add a bit of "sprinkles" on top.  These are now keepsake, lidded boxes that look good enough to eat!

5th Grade Clay Gargoyles

Our 5th graders worked hard to create these cute little creatures.  The basic form starts with a pinch pot and then the students used their imaginations to add eyes, tongues, claws, wings, etc...  A good glazing really makes them pop with color.  

Gargoyle...or alien?

Look at those wings!

A trio of cuties!