Chocolate Art Coming soon!

5th graders will be making their own chocolate art using modeling clay, a food safe mold, and of course chocolate. Thank you for making with possible with your financial contribution. The supply order has been placed and we are eagerly awaiting its arrival. After spring break we will be busy working on projects for the Aztec Market. We will be working on chocolate art two days, April 26 and May 3. Please contact Miss Forrest if you are interested in helping or just visiting to learn about this fun project.

Painted Gardens

Watercolor Landscapes with Printed Lines

Clay Pencil Holders

We created pencil holders from slabs of clay. We created textured in the clay by rolling it on a texture slab mold. These pencil holders look very artsy with their organic shapes. Some lean and have cracks, and we think that gives them character. We'll paint them with liquid watercolors after they are fired in the kiln.

Relief Prints using Presto Foam with Oil Pastel Border

The idea for this project came from this blog entry.

Famous Portraits...in progress

Abstract Landscapes in Chalk

The idea for this project came from here.

Sheep

Festival of the Arts Contest - Due April 16

I received information regarding an art contest for the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts, June 4-6, 2010. They are asking for submissions of designs of collector's postage stamps for the festival. The design should capture the essense of the Festival. There are cash prizes and t-shirts to be awarded to the top three winners.

It must include:

-Post Office Name: Festival Station

-City: Grand Rapids MI

-State: MI or Michigan

-Zip Code: 49501

Date-month, day and year (need a separate one for each date - three entries with the same design, one with each date of festival)

-Dimensions: all three must be less than 4 inches horizontal x 2 inches vertical

-Please include only one larger copy, no bigger than 8.5x11 sheet of paper, for judging purposes only

Feel free to contact me or the Lora Grabow (The Festival of the Arts contact person) for more information. (eforrest@egrps.org or lgrabow1@att.net)

I recieved an enrollment form which needs to be submitted with the entry.

I think it might be a great activity for students on Spring Break...

Egyptian Cats in Tempera

We talked about the significance of cats in Ancient Egypt. They were believed to have special powers and were worshipped by the Egyptians. We created our own cats and included a typical Egyptian border. We also wrote our names in hieroglyphics. We used metallic gold paint for the background and used any colors of our choice to paint our cats.

Jackson Pollock - Splatter Painting

We tried out Jackson Pollock's splatter paint technique. Here are some of the results. The process was more the focus on this artwork than the product.

Try out his style online here.

Alphabet Soup

We learned about complementary colors - colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel and make each other look brighter. We used stencils to add letter like alphabet noodles. We hid a message in our letters and used our complementary colors to make the messages stand out. We colors our letters with crayon and used a watercolor resist technique.

Pearlescent Watercolor Fish

The students are practicing drawing from observation. They have several options of fish to draw.

Faith Ringgold Quilts

We read Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. In the story, a girl flies over different buildings, and when she does, they magically become hers. We created pictures of places or things we would like to fly over and make our own. This artist paints on fabric and sewing them into quilts. Each student received a square and used collage to create a quilt- like border. The squares will be arranged in a quilt format on the wall.

Photos coming soon...

Watercolor Pandas

Watercolor Trees with a Straw

Paper Bag Trees

We created trees using paper lunch bags. Images coming soon...

Check out this video to make your own at home.