It's high time I write another blog post. Happy new year 2015! I was amazed yesterday at Libertyville Elementary where all the staff signed a birthday card and two classes, third and kindergarten, sang to me. Thank you! You are amazing! When the kindergartners gave me a group hug it was quite a surprise! What a nice day!

Time for a new school year

Welcome back to school for a new year of learning and creating in art classes! I am looking forward to meeting new students and seeing returning students again. Get ready for art day by not wearing your very best clothes on art day as we may get messy in art class.  Everyone has art class once a week. My advice for you is to make a note and put it where you will see it, something like "Don't wear your best clothes on art day! My art day is ______"

How about a lesson on drawing a box?

Here is a fun video by Mark Kistler on youtube. Would you like to be able to draw three dimensional looking box? Mr. Kistler has been doing drawing lessons for many years. (He may even be older than Mrs. Finney. Imagine that?) Enjoy this lesson and you can learn a lot! Also, you can make your box contain something different than his box contains. How about a baby dragon or a puppy coming out? You get to decide. Have fun with your artwork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhKnbnOdRU

More Web Art Fun: Bomomo

Here is an amazingly fun site that enables you to do some special electronic "art": Bomomo. I never know quite what it is going to look like, but you might get really good at it, if you have the time. You click below the frame on a paint effect and then click in the picture where you want it to go. Move your mouse around and prepare to be amazed! Poof! You are the master artist and you don't have any clean up! If you want to you can erase and restart, save, or you can even just change the sort of effect you are doing and pile one on another. You can work until your old art work is covered up, or combine effects to make strange wonderful creations. You can create with this and have a lot of fun! Happy computer painting, from Mrs. Finney. Click on the link below

    http://bomomo.com/

http://snowdays.me/

One of my favorites for winter is this snowdays page where you can create a snowflake and then watch it fall. Happy winter, everybody!

Fun and Art Games on the Web

http://www.colorwithleo.com/game_MayanQuest.php

I have had time to show this site to some of my classes, but here is a link to the fun site I found. It is colorwithleo.com. I find the Mayan Quest to be a real challenge, but I am sure some of my game experienced students will find it to be a breeze. The clay monsters get me every time! The paint drip catch is also a challenge, in fact I am no good at it at all, but it is still fun to see Leo running and trying to catch the drips. The puzzles are made from famous works of art, and it seems to always give you another chance.

http://www.drawastickman.com/

Draw a stick man is another fun site we went to some last year. The kids know the drill, but it is such a riot to see the stick man or woman you drew with the mouse act out the stories in both episodes. Have fun!

THANK YOU to all who helped with the 2012 Elementary Art Show! It was a great time and you all make us smile with happy memories! 811 people came according to our guest book and it was a lot of fun! Thanks to all who attended! Our newest photo opportunities were spoofs of  "Whistler's Mother" and "The Scream" which brought laughs and funny faces. Of course my own mother as "Whistler's Mother" was so much fun for me! At 78 she is a great sport and a huge inspiration to me becoming a teacher! So this is "Mrs. Finney's Mother"! Thanks, Mom! Also, here is Mona Mom and  your local elementary art teachers as "American Gothic", Mrs. Carradus and myself.

Pictures from the 2012 Art Show

Getting ready for the Elementary Art Show!

These imaginary characters are part of the alphabet coming to life, created in the mind of kindergartner artist Deklan, from Libertyville Elementary! This fun creative expression and hundreds more elementary art creations are to be in the Elementary Art Show! Doors of Pence Elementary will be open Sat. and Sun., May 12 and 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mark your calendar now to spend part of your Mother's Day weekend with us! This show will include works by all elementary students in the school district from Libertyville, Pence and Washington Elementary centers.

March is Youth Art Month!

Youth Art Month was celebrated on Sunday, March 11, in Des Moines at the Iowa Historical Building with winners from throughout the state! This included two of my students - Jade and Leone! Leone is pictured in the group photo in the blue shirt next to me. Others in the group picture also represent Fairfield Community Schools. Congratulations to all of our winners of this honor!  They were given a medallion and a certificate by representatives of Art Educators of Iowa! Jade is in the separate picture with me. The art work of all the state winners will be on display for the month of March at the State Historical Building, next to the state capitol.

Ceramic Sculptures Coming Along

Ceramic sculptures by the students are coming along nicely. Like this one from last year (pictured) they will be glazed and then fired a second time. The finished products will be on display at the Elementary Art Show on May 12 and 13 this spring. For this event the gym and halls of Pence turn into a gallery featuring art by every student in every building K-4 for FCSD. Mark your calendars and plan to come!

Reverse Symmetry

Reverse symmetry has been the focus of second graders lately!
Their reverse symmetry faces look awesome! Way to go, second graders!

January Art Walk Promises Youth Art

The January Art Walk on Fri., Jan. 6, will feature a display of youth art work from various schools. The work above by Jacy, a first grader at Libertyville Elementary, is one example of a piece of artwork that will be on display. There will be a reception with refreshments from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Fairfield Public Library. Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy seeing examples of what fine art is produced by students from kindergarten through 12th grade. This is a great time to come and enjoy seeing the wonderful creations by some of our students. This January show is a sampling of some of the fine art already produced this fall by some of our students.Of course we could not include every single student in this sampling. That will be accomplished in the spring with the Elementary Art Show in May. Every student K-4 will have work on display for the May event. 

Sculpting Continues

'Tis the season... to get messy, for us! It's that time in the art room. Time to get our clay projects done and drying so that later this winter they can be ready for the kiln. It's a tricky process. Above is a story teller doll from last year's show all finished. Students try to build a project that will make it through the kiln process twice, with glazing later this winter between the kiln firings. The results can be beautiful! It's fun to see our projects reach completion and make it to the spring art show! 
Kindergartners are making pinch pots. First graders are making simple sculptures like a single animal or person. Second graders are making their own version of a story teller doll (Pueblo tradition). Third graders are making an animal with a sphere like center. Fourth graders are making a relief sculpture of their self portrait. Good work, kids, becoming ceramic artists and sculptors!

Drawing and shading lessons on web

http://www.draw3d.com/schoolofimagination/school.html


The School of Imagination is a fun website which shows step by step a way to draw and shade several things. Once you master these you can try your own varieties and create more ideas. Some of the items are completely free, including the fish, jellyfish, pencil, and treasure chest.  If anyone is looking for a fun practice with a great teaching tool, here it is. Have fun! You do not need to join to try the free items. Check out the work by student art by students of all ages!

Thank you, Veterans!

Happy Veteran's Day and thank you to all our Veterans for all you have sacrificed to keep us safe and to preserve and protect our country! We cannot say thank you enough!

Two of my favorite Veterans, my father, David Noble, on the right, and his buddy Gordon Faught of Douds on the left.

The Joys of Creativity (and being messy)

As we start to get involved in painting and clay and various other art materials, I would like to remind students to not wear their Sunday best on art day. We do try to put on paint shirts, and keep as clean as we can, but art is messy by nature. We will be working with clay, paint, and glazes, etc. We will get messy. I can always use a few extra t-shirts for paint shirts, if anyone wants to get rid of some for us to have in the art room for cover-ups. Remembering to not wear really good special clothes on art day can also really help.

Vincent van Gogh

Maybe some of you saw the amazing report on Vincent van Gogh on Sixty Minutes last Sunday night. If not, you can go on line to see it. Use the link below, or google Sixty Minutes report on van Gogh. The program showed many of Vincent's works and revealed many things that were not as originally thought. Some of it will change what has been taught in art history for many years. As you can see by the accompanying art work by a young child in my class, Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night is one of the master works of about about which we learn. He was an amazingly talented painter, and I think you will enjoy seeing this report.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7384904n&tag=fdEmbedTooEarly

Looking at manikins

Over the years I have learned that even first graders are able to look at a manikin and think about how to observe people, their proportions, and the way people move. They are also able to work through emotions and feelings and events through their art. As children create, they often have a story to tell, something that happened in their life that they are drawing and/or painting about. The picture that accompanies this post is a great example from last year. First grader Carter said this was his father waving goodbye as the bus leaves for school. I love how in this picture Carter was able to capture the feeling of that moment, the point of view of his dad as the bus leaves,

and even the perspective of the bus getting smaller as it gets further away. Art class enables students to create and learn, and also to think deeply and to communicate important ideas.

Radial Symmetry from Nature

Radial Symmetry From Nature on PhotoPeach