Spooooooooky Hooouuusessss

More than one grade level will be getting in on this Halloween Fun! What might just look like some sort of decoration... there are some great concepts behind this one.

Architecture and Structures: What does balance mean?
Value: What is a silhouette?  Where is the light source?

Shape: Geometric Vs. Organic... which one makes better building blocks?

Color: How do the cool colors create a spooky atmosphere?

Learning + Creativity = FUN!

Weaving 2 Ways

Fourth grade has been crazy busy weaving! Basket weaving it where we started.  So many great discussions about what weaving is, why it exists, and how it came to be.  All 4th graders were delighted to find out that they were going to be making a functional piece of art... meaning something they can actually use!  They all cut out a template as we discussed a weaving pattern.  Some of them could recall weaving from second grade, but the vast majority forgot how to problem solve their way through the pattern.  Also, to weave the bowl they were working around a circle, not just back and fourth.

A pile of bowls awaiting to be finished and taken home.

I meant to get a picture of the weavers in progress, but I ended up cutting yarn, helping problem solve knots, and a plethora of other things that popped up.  So after the yarn created strong walls and got about an inch away from the edge, all of the yarn was neatly trimmed and the bowls were finished off with a bit of paint on the tips and the base.

As weavers were finishing up with the bowls, others started creating a paper weaving.  4th grade measured and cut a loom to weave on top of.  Next they picked up a few colored strips of paper.  They wove using an ABAB pattern.  All hands were on deck to staple these weavings into cylindrical tubes.  They will look like lanterns hanging from the Art room ceiling. 

Weavings ready to be be tubes or cylindrical

Totally Tubular!

"Value"able Pumpkins

Do you know what Value is?  Most of the time we think of money or worth... but in the art room it is all about showing the differences between light and dark.  Why is important? Well, with out it our drawings would always look very flat.  Value helps add depth and make things look three-dimensional.  We learned about value scales, highlights, and shadows.

So-What do you think perspective is? and how do we use it in the Art Room?  Take a look at the amazing pumpkin drawings and see if you can spot how we used perspective.

Our perspective a.k.a point of view shows depth by how near or far we are from the pumpkins and how they are overlapping.  The perspective is also shown with the different views or angles of the pumpkins.

The beauty of these pumpkins is better seen in person.  The artists worked very well with all of these ideas and different mediums- color pencil, chalk pastel, and a hint of whimsical metallic paint.

Blackberry's Bountiful Beautiful Baskets - how is that for alliteration!

Woven and painted in Mrs. Berth's Art class, by Mrs. Bateman's 4th grade.  Almost everyone finished theirs today to take home, only 6 or so are still painting.

Baskets!

4th grade has been incredibly motivated to finish these baskets before our holiday break.

Concentration and problem solving play huge roles when weaving.  Not only do you need to pay attention to the ABAB pattern, you need to keep the yarn tight, problem solve when something doesn't look quite right and not to mention you have to tie each piece of yarn to the next one.  It is neat to see how well the classes worked together and to hear the conversations about their projects. Lots of patience and lots of teamwork.