mrspicasso's art room

More photos here: http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=72021 This is a slightly altered project from an Usborne book that I have. I do this one with second grade. We read the book "Roberto The Insect Architect" by Nina Laden which has some fabulous collages in it. If you look closely at the projects, they are made of three separate sections (or strips) that are then stapled to a piece of railroad board.I give each student a piece of 4 1/2" X 12" white tag to work with for the first strip, 6" X 12" for the second, and the last strip (the skyscrapers) are made on a slightly taller piece (sometimes I even give them the entire 9" X 12" piece). They are then given a scrap box filled with lots of cool patterned papers (remember, I LOVE paper!). The first strip must have a front yard and a row of houses. The second row must have a street, yard, and row of houses. The last row gets skyscrapers and all the cool metallic papers are brought ou…

Third Grade Project, as seen in this gallery: http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=69851



The color palette comes from the traditional Molas in that the dominant colors are red, black, and orange with hints of every color of the rainbow thrown in.We started by drawing a leaf pattern on paper (or tag) and then drew it on the top layer. They cut this out and then also cut out some "french fry" shapes around the leaf shape to make "windows" for other colors to show through.



They worked from the top down. To create the second layer, they put their first layer on top and traced the leaf shape, but made it slightly smaller. This was cut out. The last layer was left whole. They then glued scraps of felt (from the leaf shapes that were saved) behind the "french fry window shapes" to add color. Use tacky glue for this.


Sewing is next and I pinned their molas together, but did not glue them at this point because it would make it hard to get the needle th…

I LOVE PAPER! I have a habit of ordering all types of beautifully decorated paper; glittered, pearl, screen-printed, and metallics. So, it was inevitable that I created an art lesson in which to use all of these cool finds. I have donethis lesson with first graders for the past five years, but it is easily adaptable to all grades levels. I do some prep on this lesson by punching a hole in the end of the paper "flags" and putting them into envelopes and then attaching them to 9" X 12" piece of construction paper with a paper clip. Students then choose which color they would like to paint on. I have my students make a heart template and trace it on to their paper. Paint colors are chosen, by the students, based upon their "flags". They also outline their hearts in either black or white. Sparkle is added by putting on brushstrokes of glitter paint. Background frame color is chosen based upon whether they used black or white to outline their hearts. I punch hol…

Some "cookies" ready to go in the oven:

This is a very quick and easy project that I use with my 2nd graders. Forming the clay "cookies" takes one 40 minute class and decorating them takes another 40 minute class. We use Sculpey white clay to form these hearts on plastic placemats and I bake them at home in my oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. I actually post the "recipe" for these hearts on the board for the class to follow (notes added in parenthesis for your benefit):

Clay Bakery Hearts Recipe
1. Knead the dough (clay) to soften it
2. Remove part of the dough and flatten the rest to form a "pancake"
3. Cut out the heart shape (you could use a cookie cutter, but we use a cardboard heart template approximately 4 inches in diameter. Also, students use large, blunt tapestry needles to cut the clay)
4. Roll up the edges to form the "crust" (like a pizza)
5. Make the "sticky buns" ~ Roll out a snake ~ Smash the snake so it looks like a…