Tissue Paper Collage

We started up art club this quarter with some lovely tissue paper collages! We talked about abstract and realistic images and practiced layering the tissue pieces using special foam brushes and high-gloss Mod Podge.

Olivia focuses on placement of her pieces:

A beautiful composition by Sophia:

Shannon does some abstract drawing once her collage is complete:

Myla works diligently on her rainbow collage:

Katy Bryn picked out her favorite pieces - silver and gold:

Eleanor's completed collage had many many layers:

Clothespin Doll Kits

At the end of last quarter, I made each of the art club kids a tiny clay animal as a goodbye gift. I was thinking maybe this time I would give them each a couple art supplies or a mini journal to use during summer break. After some thinking I decided to make them each a little clothespin doll kit, with supplies for them to make their own little set of peg people over the summer.

 Each kit contains two clothespins (every clothespin doll needs a friend), a tuft of wool roving (this is my favorite material for hair), a length of wool yarn...

Plus a pile of assorted fabric and ribbon scraps (and a pre-cut bow-tie/hair-bow, just for fun):

To package them up, I decorated mini kraft paper bags with fingerprints...

 then added details...

 plus names...

and stuffed them each with a set of the clothespin doll supplies.

(P.S. here's a bowl-full of clothespin dolls I made)

Clay Creations

Here are some of the clay creations from the last couple weeks!

Still life drawings

Today the students in art club pulled from an assortment of random items to set up their own still life scenes. What sort of scene would you create with the following objects?

• a lime
• a hawk feather
• a small ceramic pitcher
• a globe
• a wooden rabbit
• a glass bottle
• an assortment of bracelets
• tubes of paint
• two cactus plants
• a wooden scooping spoon
• an alarm clock
• a candlestick
• a spool of thread
• a plush felt crow
• a twig

Meet the Puppets!

We finished up our puppets in art club today and watch out, they're dangerously cute!

 Here is our fancy unicorn:

And here we have an adorable blue-eyed panda bear:

And this is not just any bird, it is very specifically a Cedar Waxwing (this kindergartener knows his birds!):

These friends are joined by a fearsome fire-breathing dragon:

And a lovable rainbow-colored dog:

And last but not least, an elegant yet sassy woodland deer:

This project involved many types of art-making. We used sculptural techniques to build the armatures for our puppets, then we used paper mache to make them solid. The following week, once they were fully dry, we used several layers of paint, and also did some simple sewing to create their "clothing". Once the puppets were dry and clothed, they quickly found their voices and became friends with one other (which was truly fun to see)!

Paper Mache Puppets, Part 1

We worked long and hard on our puppets in art club today. First, the kids did sketches of their ideas. Then we balled up some newspaper and used masking tape to attach it to sticks from the playground:

 Then we made ears and other features (also with newspaper and tape):

This kindergartener initially sketched a short-beaked bird, but decided to go with a more exaggerated beak once he started putting it all together:

Here are some kiddos working on building their puppets' heads:

After we made armatures out of newspaper and tape, we got out the paper mache. Here is a dog puppet with a couple layers of paper mache:

 And a stoic deer:

 And a happy panda bear:

 And a precious unicorn:

And a mythical dragon:

And a long-beaked bird:

Next week we'll paint them. I kind of can't wait.

P.S. Check out Ellen's super cool t-shirt!

Mosaic Madness

 Check out some of our torn paper creations! Here is a girl walking at night among the stars:

A cardinal on a tree branch on a sunny day:

Several students made mosaics with their name or initials:

A note

(note from a first grader)