5th Grade Huichol Nearikas

Fifth grade artists have been studying the art of the Huichol people of Mexico. They are well known for their "yarn paintings," also called Nearikas in the native language. Our drawn version of a yarn painting contains images similar to those favored by the Huichol: plants, animals, suns, and moons, for example.

2nd Grade Creepy Crawlies

These terrifyingly cute critters were made during several sessions of art class. First the students drew pencil lines to show their web pattern. These lines were then traced over with glue. Once the glue dried, a raised, relief web was left on the page. Our artists then filled the spaces between the glue lines with colored chalk pastels. Lastly, they created an 8-legged friend to live in their webs.

Texture Rubbing Collages--- 1st Grade

Our first graders have been working with one of the Elements of Design: TEXTURE. We looked at many examples of items that have different kinds of textures like fur, sand, and wood. The students have fun coming up with words that describe the texture of these these items, such as furry, rough, and hard. To create these Texture Collages, our artists used plastic texture plates under construction paper shapes and rubbed their crayons over the paper to create the patterns you see here. We glued some of our shapes flat onto the black background paper, but save a few to apply with 3D sticky buttons. This made the shapes stand out from the background, giving the collages a fun multi-dimensional look.

"Repurposed" Magazine Bowls-- 5th Grade

Our fifth grade artists are creating these "repurposed" (or recycled) bowls from magazine pages that have been rolled tightly together. It's a great project for exploring the possibilities of unusual materials and for teaching us to be frugal with out waste! We looked at artworks from several artists who use recyclables or "found objects" as their artistic medium.

Shadow and Light...Finished Works

Using oil pastels and their fingers (for blending colors), our fourth grade artists completed these realistic drawings of simple 3D shapes.

Shadow and Light--4th Grade

Our fourth grade artists have been studying the way that artists use shadow and light to create realistic looking objects in their work. These are a few of the practice sketches that were made. Students learned how to vary their pressure upon the crayons to create dark areas and light areas. Vocabulary for this lesson: cast shadow, light source, highlight.

First Grade Pattern Fish in Progress...

First grade artists reviewed LINE and PATTERN to create these whimsical fish. The background is collaged pattern that represents the waves in the water. During our next art class we will do some stamping to create seaweed and bubbles....

Fifth Grade Paper Sculptures in Progress...

This is a fun way to get students to think 3-Dimensionally. Using scrap strips of paper they have to create an interesting sculptural work that incorporates some of the Principles of Design: Movement, Unity, and Balance. Simple elements like zig-zags, waves, and curly-cues take on a new life in 3 dimensions.

Welcome to a New School Year!

Well, it's that time again! A new school year is upon us. That means a new year of art classes and a year full of creative adventures awaits our Nelson artists. This year we will place an emphasis on practicing "Habits of Good Artists." The sign pictured here is hanging in the art room to encourage our artists to use these habits, not just in the art room, but in all of their academic endeavors. I expect great things from our Nelson students this year and can't wait to get stARTed!

Fifth Grade's Glazed Coil Pots

Here are some finished pots made by our 5th grade artists. Using the coil method of construction and a little imagination...it's amazing how unique each one is. The brightly colored glazed make them beautiful and safe for food or drink. We hope that these pots will be a nice memento to remind our fifth grade artists of their time at Nelson Elementary.

Painted Wild Things

Here are the Wild Things after they have been painted with watercolors. Notice all of the details added to the creatures such as scales, claws, horns, and teeth. They look friendly and frightening all at the same time!

First Grade's Wild Things

After watching a video read-aloud of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" our first grade artists created their own "wild things" with pattern and texture. We will be watercolor painting over the crayon images to finish them up. Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

Kindergarten Bird Nests

These little beauties were made by our kindergarten artists. The nest are made by rolling a ball of clay, making a hole with our thumbs and pinching the clay into the shape we wanted. We used forks to add texture to the nests, giving an illusion of grass or twigs. The eggs were made by rolling balls of clay and forming them into egg-shaped ovals. Blue and brown glazes finish them off with a lovely shine.

5th Grade Functional Coil Pots

Fifth graders are working hard on their clay unit, creating these functional vessels using the coil method of handbuilding. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished pieces, painted or glazed.

Recycled Art Contest At Nelson!

Nelson’s Recycled Art Contest:

To help celebrate Earth Day this year, Nelson will be hosting a Recycled Art Contest for all interested students. The artworks must be created from recyclable goods and materials that would otherwise be considered “trash.” There will be three grade-level categories: K-1st, 2nd -3rd, and 4th-5th. A first, second, and third place prize will be awarded in each of the three grade-level groups.

In order for an artwork to qualify, the following criteria must be met:
1. All artwork should be student-made.
2. All artwork should contain at least one aluminum can.
3. All artwork must be no larger than 36” in any direction.
4. All artwork must be turned in on time and be labeled with student’s name, grade level, and teacher’s name.

We encourage our young artists to be as creative as possible. Our judges will be looking for evidence of originality, good craftsmanship, and creative use of materials.

*** All entries should be turned in to Mrs. Velilla by Monday, April 19th. Winners will be announced on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22nd, during the Nelson Morning Show.

If you have any questions feel free to call Mrs. Velilla at the school or email her at chelsey.velilla@nn.k12.va.us

First Grade Paper Weavings

A great way to reinforce fine motor skills and the use of patterning. Our first grade artists did a wonderful job with these artworks.

5th Grade Silhouettes

There were many elements to this lesson. First we spent a day learning to create tints by mixing various amounts of a chosen paint hue with white. Students worked with a partner to do this, both painting their tints onto their own papers in order from lightest tint to darkest tint, creating a tint scale. During our next session we looked a variety of silhouettes and talked about the contours (outlines) of objects. As students were searching through books and magazines to find inspiration for their silhouettes we were able to discuss what kinds of images would make good silhouettes and which ones would not.

2nd Grade Egyptian Cartouches

Our golden cartouches now bear the hieroglyph initials of the artists who created them, as well as some multicolored "jewels" around the edges.

Colonial Houses

Fourth grade artists finish up their colonial house tiles with layers of watercolor paint. We think the effect that the watercolors create help to make our houses look antiqued...just like old bricks from Colonial Williamsburg. Be on the lookout for these beauties at Nelson's Fine Arts Night coming up on April 20th!

Oceans for our Fish

Using blue and green paint blended together, our kindergarten artists created "oceans" for their fish to swim in. Scraping a popsicle stick across the surface helped to create the effect of waves.