The Importance of Art

I know that there are a lot of art teachers struggling with their schools to keep their art programs. I pray for all those teachers and support their efforts.

Cute Video!

I watched this video that was posted on the "art is the best part of the day" blog posted and loved it. I just had to spread it around and post it on my blog as well. Enjoy!

5th Grade Metal Repousse's

Though my class is way past this project I wanted to showcase some of the Repouse's. 5th grade projects always take a lot of time, especially this project. The great thing about the Metal Repousse's are that we get two projects out of one. Student start with a pencil drawing and trace over the pencil with black pen which creates an imprint on the sheet of metal. I know there several teacher's who attempt this project and the key is to use a thicker gauge of sheet aluminum. After tracing their drawings, students lift the paper and use a clay tool to press the lines deeper into the metal. Student will flip the metal piece over to the back and press inside the lines so that shapes will pop out, creating more of a relief effect. At times students will need to flip back to the front and and repress the lines. The last step is to cover the entire front with indian ink, let it dry in the sun for a few minutes and then rub off high areas of the metal with a piece of steel wool.

I will be posting some images showing the process soon. While you are waiting, please enjoy a short video showcasing the projects.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

They Run on Brains, Not Batteries

So I was reading another blog and was watching the video clip on how crayola crayons were made. While looking around I found this classic crayon commercial and thought it was cute and very realistic. I know that I spent many hours drawing and trying to think up names and create stories for my characters. This video really shows you that not much changes over the years when you hand a pack of crayons to a child.

In Full Swing

This year is already flying by. School is in full swing and so are all my art projects.

Kindergarten is doing Overlapping Hands.

1st grade is almost finished with the Jungle Collage.

2nd grade just finished the Still-Life Drawing.

3rd grade just started Landscape Watercolor Resist.

4th grade also just started the Still-Life Oil Pastel.

5th is really close to finishing the Metal Repousse.

and 6th grade is struggling through Straight-Ahead and 3/4 Viewpoint portrait drawings.

K-5th projects are going well and are very familiar at this point. However, 6th grade life drawing is a struggle each year. I try and change it a little each time I teach it to make lesson a little easier for the students to understand and apply. The students quickly get bored and lose motivation. I believe they are not feeling successful enough. When ever I see a the "light bulb" go off and the student understands the techniques I am teaching them are able apply those techniques to their drawing. They become much more enthusiastic about their work and want to keep going. I am following a curriculum that was set up by the current middle school/high school art teacher. I respect him so much but there are times I struggle with one or two of the projects. Sometimes it is hard to remember that this is my classroom and I have to do things that work for me and my students.

"An Artist's View" Bulletin Board

So, blogging is quite a new experience and I want to share all my experiences from teaching as much as possible. However, I may be a little slow posting until I can get into the swing of things. I apologize for the delay and hope to do better.

Last year I was given a large bulletin board that was hung up in the hallway by my door to display art and more. I love creating fun board designs and I enjoy seeing what other art teachers do for their boards. So I am posting a picture of my recent board design in hopes to inspire others. I hope you all enjoy.


I made different types of frames and put a painting by different artists inside each frame. Under each picture is a art quote from that artist.

Man Ray's Rayographs

So I was reading on another blog about Man Ray and his Rayographs and decided to google some images. I think his work is really interesting and is a great inspiration for some art projects.