Scarecrow Contest

Our Bradley scarecrow is complete and has been entered into a contest. The winning school will win a $500 grant. The scarecrow with the most votes will win the grant!  Miller Orthodontics is hosting the contest. Please vote for our scarecrow by going to the Miller Orthodontics Facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151988713221675&set=a.10151982660226675.1073741842.117244956674&type=1&theater

 Write "Vote" in the comment section. Voting will run for 2 weeks.

Week 11 - Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures...

The Great Pumpkin Contest has some very creative pumpkins on display. If you haven't been to Bradley this week to see all the pumpkins, no worries!! I will be posting pictures on next weeks blog. Pictures will include group pumpkin pictures and individual pumpkin winner pictures (pictures of just the pumpkins, not students). We have  50+ pumpkins on display! It is going to be very hard to select the winners!

1st graders have been learning about the past, present, and  future in their homeroom classes... so I decided to have students draw what they wanted to be when they get older (future self portrait). Each first grader drew his or herself  in the future doing their "dream job". We have teachers, art teachers, dancers, singers, stay at home moms, police officers, fire fighters, McDonald workers, Dollar Store employees, princesses, scientist,... the list goes on!

A Flower Shop Worker...

A Dancer and Cox Farm Employee

Fish Market, Singer, and Art Teacher (My favorite) 

2nd graders are learning a new art techniques this week called "Masking". Stay tuned for more details and pictures of this project that should be completed early next week.

3rd graders finished their 1 point perspective art this week. Students created some very creative aquariums with some very interesting creatures. This lesson took us about 4 weeks - lots of hard work went into these amazing art pieces!

4th graders completed their Vincent Van Gogh inspired sunflowers this week. We viewed and discussed 3 of Van Gogh's Sunflower paintings and added a fun twist to this project by making it pop-up art. The checkered background makes the flowers "pop" even more.

5th graders did an amazing job on their Amedeo Modigliani inspired self portraits. Modigliani is know for his elongated face (people) paintings. 5th graders had fun making their faces and necks look elongated. Students first sketched their self portraits and then colored them using oil pastels. These have a awesome cartoon appearance!

Week 10 Update

1st graders started (and many completed) their "Pumpkin Still Life" drawing. While students were drawing these, many said it reminded them of Charlie Browns Great Pumpkin. I have to agree, the night sky in these make this look like a scene from The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. We created these still life drawings with colored pencils.

1st graders....more students completed their amazing "Seascapes" this week. The below photos show more details (compared to week 9 photo).

2nd graders started a new project this week. They are learning a new art technique called "masking". Students will be using watercolor paint and masking tape to create "Winter Birch Trees".

3rd graders are putting the finishing touches on their 1 point perspective pictures. Pictures next week, promise!

4th graders are assembling their Van Gogh "pop-up sunflowers". Pictures next week, promise!

5th graders are finishing their self portraits. Pictures next week, promise!

Week 9: Late, but still posting...

I am delighted to report that we have surpassed our fundraiser goal for Art to Remember this year!! Many, many thanks to all! The Bradley art department raised a little over $2000 this year to be used to purchase art room supplies!!!

With no School last Monday, and Field Day this past Friday... we did not get to finish as many projects as I wanted, but here is week 9 update....

1st graders completed their seascapes and they turned out fantastic. The painted "sunset" and ocean look amazing and the sailboats make me want to sail away to a tropical Island. These mixed media artworks are beautiful! Sorry for the dark picture, I will try to get better ones and post them tomorrow.

2nd graders - no 2nd graders this week (Last Monday Holiday, Last Thursday Field Trip, and Friday Field Day)

3rd graders have been working super hard on their 1 point perspective "Aquariums" for the past few weeks and the assignment was much harder than they expected, but they will all say that the hard work was well worth it... almost done!

4th graders are finishing their Van Gogh inspired sunflowers this week. Vincent Van Gogh would be proud of these pop-up sunflowers!

5th graders are working hard on their Modigliani inspired self portraits this week and they are having a fun time with them. For many of them, this is their first time using oil pastels (some love them and others dislike them). The biggest complaint I get about oil pastels is that they are messy, this is true, but I like that they are exploring new art mediums. This lesson should be completed during week 10.

Kindergarten students have been catching up on assignments this week. We completed our "Fall" torn paper trees and some students got a chance to finish their Laurel Birch inspired cats.  We also created "Funny Face pumpkins" (practicing cutting and making shapes)

Week 8 - Art is Messy...

Sorry, not so many pictures to share this week, but here are a few updates....
1. Art to Remember went home this week and is due back to school no later then next Friday, October 18th.
2. I am looking forward to all the pumpkins that will be entered into the pumpkin decorating contest hosted by the art room. I have some great prizes for the winners!
3. Thank you to everyone who has sent me emails this week. They all have been amazing, thank you for the super wonderful compliments and being so supportive. Since many of you have asked about the art room wish list and are interested in donating, please check the "Wish List" blog page - I've added more items! Thank you for supporting the art program at Bradley!

Here are art project updates (and some pictures)
1st graders have been busy for the past two weeks making some incredible seascapes. This was a fun project (messy), lots of work, but well worth it! Day 1: We started off by painting an entire sheet of paper blue, next we used texture tools to give the paint texture. Then we painted another sheet off paper, but this one was painted half orange and half yellow, then once again we added texture. Then we waited... until the paper dried. Day 2: I told students that we would be tearing our paper today and they looked at me with fear! "Why do you want us to tear our artwork" were the words I heard over and over. I explained that we would be tearing our paper into long  strips and then glue them in overlapping layers (to give the appearance of waves and depth). I told them to trust me (and they did)! Next we glued our  paper down, we made cute sail boats and also layered those into our seascape. The sunset on these turned out so amazing!!! It makes me want to sail away.... pictures next week (Still need to get them hung).

2nd graders loved creating "Wise Owls" this week. When I showed them the paper that we would be using to draw on - they had a look of fear on their cute faces (like the 1st graders did). I decided that we would use old book pages for this project and explained to students that I did not destroy our library books. We talked about recycled art and I also told them this could only be done with old books and not their good books at home :) Look how cute these "Wise Owls" turned out...

3rd graders started a new project. They are learning about 1 point perspective drawings. This project will take 2-3 class periods to complete

4th graders are still working on their Van Gogh pop-up sunflowers. I hope to have these done by the end of next week (fingers crossed)

5th graders are starting their self portraits this week. We are learning about artist Amedeo Modigliani and we will be drawing our self portraits in the same style that Modigliani painted his in - elongated faces/figures. Students will be using oil pastels for this project. As with all the self portraits that we will do in art, students will be drawing their self portraits using colors that represent them. Even though these self portraits will have a cartoon appearance, students will still color their eyes and hair color to match their hair and eye color. This project will take us 2-3 classes.

This week Kindergarten students have been creating "fall" themed art projects. We practiced tearing paper (which is a challenge for some students) and created "Fall Trees". Another messy art project... the art room floor looked liked confetti had exploded all over it.

Another group of "Artist of the Week"....

Week 7: Awesomeness in The Art Room

3rd graders created some terrific art this week! They completed their "Colored Pencils" and they turned out so amazing.  The photos do not do this artwork justice. They look even better in person. After I hung them up today, I kept catching myself going back out in the hallway and standing in front of the art... admiring it! Within 10 minutes of the art being hung, the artwork received numerous "awesome" comments. They really have the appearance of dimension. (as if they were cut out and glued to paper, which they weren't). These were drawn on gray paper with oil pastels and we then glued our art to black paper - for a nice finishing touch.

Here are some of the "Colored Pencils" that were done using oil pastels.... 

2nd graders also finished their "Blue Dog" art this week. We learned about George Rodrigue and looked at some of his famous Blue Dog paintings. After we talked about George Rodrigue's painting style , we then created our own "Blue Dog" art... so cute!

1st graders learned new art vocabulary this week: Geometric and Organic shapes. I started our discussion asking students if they knew what organic meant, most of them answered with one simple word "food" :) After we talked about shapes, students got to practice their fine motor skills and cut out their geometric and organic shapes (that they drew) and then make a collage with their shapes - very creative!

Kindergarten students had the chance to create their first "Fall" art today. We created trees by tracing our hands/arms and then colored green leaves around the tree (our hand). Next we got to finger paint (they loved this part). We used red, orange, and yellow (fall colors), we dipped our fingers in the paint to make the leaves :) I love the way these trees turned out - fall is my favorite time of the year. If i could find a place that had fall all year long, I would be there in a heartbeat.

5th graders are finishing up their "Tropical Birds" this week. The Art to Remember art will go home on October 11th and will be due back at school on October 18th.

4th graders are still working hard on their Van Gogh Sunflowers and we hope to have them completed by next week... pictures soon! The wait will be well worth it :)

Here is a picture of this weeks "Artist of the Week" students...