Sunday, August 25, 2013

"Merman O."

I keep a jar full of drawing ideas for students to use during free drawing time if they are stuck for a subject or just feel like taking a chance and seeing what they pull out.  This summer, I had my very creative daughter, Sarah, supplementing the jar with some of her own subject ideas.  I didn't realize until one of the students drew this...
 
 
...that one of Sarah's drawing ideas was "draw Mr. O as a merman."  Yikes.  (Artwork by 5th grader Irma N.)
 

HES Art on TV!



 TV clip art
 

I received an email this week from WNCN Meteorologist Bill Reh informing me that he will be highlighting artwork from this blog, as well as HES in general, on the station's "Cool School of the Day" segment!  I'll be sure to let you know more specifics when I find them out, but for now, set your DVRs to catch the segment at around 6:18AM on Tuesday, September 10!

Fundraiser Time


Students have begun creating their artwork for our annual Square One Art fundraiser.  For those new to the school, this is the Art Room's primary means of funding for all the supplies we need to carry out an enriching art program at HES.  Students create art that can be professionally and permanently printed on a huge variety of gift items, and a portion of the price charged to parents goes back to the Art Room budget.  Many parents have found these items to be great stocking stuffers for relatives and even the students themselves.   



The hard part for me, aside from using lesson time for this kind of art creation, is convincing the students to create art that will appeal to their parent and grandparents, not just to them.  I usually have to explain that while they may like to draw graphic war battles or video game characters, this doesn't necessarily mean that Mom and Dad would appreciate a coffee mug, holiday ornament, or tote bag with explosions or Minecraft on it!  Start looking in early October for more information on ordering, and thanks in advance for your support of this important fundraiser.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Did You Know...

That HES is a Great Place to Teach and Learn?
Click the link to find out why...

Legos as Fine Art: "The Art of the Brick" at the Alamance County Arts Council

 
 
This weekend I traveled to Graham and the museum of the Alamance County Arts Council to see the traveling exhibit, The Art of the Brick, featuring the "Lego artistry" of Nathan Sawaya.  I highly recommend this free exhibit for your dolphin, especially if they already have an interest in creating with Legos!  The exhibit and others like it are currently showing up in art museums around the globe, and Mr. Sawaya and his art have appeared on many national television shows, making this is a rare opportunity to see the work of a popular contemporary artist in our own backyard. Not to mention, he works in a medium that nearly every child can appreciate!
 
 
 
 
 


Sunday, August 11, 2013

3rd Grade Silhouettes

Artwork by Rowan P.
 
    Third graders spent some time the past couple sessions learning about how the negative space (often the area of an artwork surrounding the main subject) in an artwork can often be just as important as the positive space (ofen the subject itself).  After also learning how silhouettes must be recognizable from their shape alone, they created these collages of black construction paper silhouettes against a vivid watercolor sunset as examples of this principle of equal emphasis on both positive and negative space.  Some of them got extremely creative with their silhouette subjects!

Artwork by Jack P.

Artwork by Maddie W.
 
Artwork by Isaac A.
 
Artwork by Sarah F.
 
 Artwork by Shannon D.