Owls, Owls and More Owls – Part 2

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..after printing several owls each child had to choose one for the library wall and another for their chalk pastel tree

From the beginning of this assignment I told the children that they had to have at least two good owls; one for the Forest of Reading wall in front of the library and another one to glue to another piece of art.

I wanted each student to experience using chalk pastels. After a quick lesson on how to blend the colours and how to draw a somewhat realistic branch I gave the children a choice of black or dark blue construction paper. The concept of creating a realistic looking branch was a little foreign to some students and I had to encourage them to look out the window and study the trees outside.

A few students decided to have a family of owls sitting in their tree. One student accidentally glued his owl upside down on the branch and decided to call him an owl bat. I love the variety of owls that were created, from very realistic to very whimsical. Enjoy!

Owls, Owls and More Owls (part 1)

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..a real ‘hoot’ of an art lesson

About a month ago I introduced a print making lesson using styrofoam boards. The grades 2 and 3 classes were introduced to a variety of owls and were instructed to sketch several different styles of owl. Then they had to choose their favourite sketch and transfer the pattern onto the styrofoam plate. Once the design was impressed into the foam the children were given water based markers and they filled in the owl shape with lots of colour.

I showed the students a variety of owl prints that I had done using the same pattern but different colours and different papers. Here are some of my examples:

When the students finished colouring their plates they brought them to me and selected the paper they wanted to print on. I sprayed the paper and wiped off the excess water and then laid the plate on the paper. We used a roller to press the paper down onto the plate and finished off by using our fingers to push on the details like the eyes, beaks and feet to transfer the marker onto the paper.

There was a lot of trial and error but we quickly figured out what worked and what didn’t. Too much water and the colours all ran together, not enough and the print was too faint. A plain solid colour worked better than a busy print but newsprint with text on it was quite effective. The paper that worked best was card stock and water colour paper.

In front of the library I put up a forest of birch trees for our Forest of Reading Book Club and the leaves represent all the books that have been read by the members of the club. I asked each student in my art classes to donate one of their owls to place on the trees.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this lesson. I’ll post that in a day or two.

Kindergarteners Rock When Painting to Music

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….painting to music is energizing and allows you to be loose and free with your lines and application of paint

Last week’s assignment for the http://www.carlasonheim.com/yearofthespark/ was presented by Lynn Whipple. We were instructed to draw and paint a floral arrangement using a variety of pens, pencils, markers and watercolour paints while listening to music. Here is my finished piece after listening to Astor Piazzola’s El Tango.

I decided to try and re-created this assignment for my kindergarten class. I chose five varied pieces of music and did up a quick sample before heading to the kindergarten class. I had a stuffed rabbit in the library so I did a quick drawing to music and left some of the painting to do later with the children. Here is my finished sample:

In class I reminded the children how colour can affect our moods and that music does the same. I demonstrated how music can affect how you draw and make marks on paper. I told them that they could draw anything that they wanted (there were flowers in the centre of each table) or they could simply make marks and shapes to the music they heard. They were given pencils, coloured pencils, crayons, chalk pastels and markers.

They each chose one tool and when the music started they began drawing. After one minute I changed the music and told them to change their tool. We did this for five different pieces of music. When they were happy with their drawing we added watercolour to the mix. Some of the children saw shapes and animals in their pictures and added colour accordingly. I put on a quieter piece of music for this last part. It was fascinating to watch them. Some children clearly picked up on the concept and moved their brushes to the beat of the music and some actually stopped when there was a pause in the music and continued when the music started again.

There was so much joy in the room. Not one student wanted to stop early and many of them wanted to experiment with the dripping paint. I love these pieces so much that I am going to frame them and put them up in the main foyer of the school. Here is a sizeable sample of work done by four and five year olds.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I sincerely hope that some of the parents will mat and frame these pieces of art. If any piece of art work is worthy of saving this is it.

Architects Do Design Cities and Curvy Buildings

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..the book, Young Frank, Architect, inspired our art lesson in Kindergarten

Two weeks ago I reminded my kindergarten class of the book we read in the library. The book was Young Frank, Architect by Frank Viva and published by MOMA.

The story is about a young boy named Frank and his grandfather, also named Frank. Both Franks are architects. Young Frank builds chairs, curvy buildings and models of entire cities. His grandfather tells him that architects don’t design chairs, buildings should be straight and architects design one building at a time and cities take a hundred years to develop. Young Frank is discouraged and he doesn’t want to be an architect any longer. Old Frank decides to take Young Frank to the museum, the MOMA, so that he can show his grandson the buildings that architects design. In the end it is Old Frank who learns that he was mistaken and he apologizes to Young Frank. The book ends with briefs bios about Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry.

The art lesson introduced the kindergarteners to collage and city landscapes. They were reminded about foreground and background and were taught how to create a night sky with stars and a moon. Students were encouraged to cut out at least three high rise buildings and make windows and doors in different shapes. It was up to them whether they wanted to create straight or curvy ‘Frank’ buildings. The shapes of some of the buildings are delightful. It’s amazing how much their scissor skills have improved since last September. Enjoy!

Put a Beak on it!

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..another great art idea from Carla Sonheim that I introduced to my kindergarten art class

You may recall a post where I shared some art that I did with scraps of paper. By simply adding a beak, eyes and feet you can make fun bird shapes. I turned them into cards and small framed gifts that I gave to friends and family.

A couple of weeks ago I introduced this concept to my kindergarten art class. They made a very simple tree shape with 5 to 6 branches and then on each branch they glued a scrap piece of paper and then drew on the details to create their birds. Here are some of their creations.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sticks and Stones

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..make wonderful art

Last week I was assigned a project that involved gathering up bits of nature to create a temporary work of art. After we finished creating we could photograph our masterpieces and then return the bits back to the environment or leave our creations somewhere outside where others could enjoy what we made. This idea came from Lynn Whipple who is one of the artists from Year of the Spark. This is a year long on-line art class brought to us by Carla Sonheim and Lynn. Every month they take turns coming up with wonderful and innovative assignments that bring out our inner spark. Every two weeks we get a new assignment.

I was really inspired by this project and came up with my own ‘Learning Stick’ and a composition of stones and dried foliage and grasses that I turned into a card.

I’m hoping to make more but in the meantime I offered this assignment to my kindergarten class and they ate it up.

Before I arrived for our regular weekly art class, the children took a walk around the school yard and gathered up as many bits of nature that they could find. Between me and the ECE teacher and what the children gathered we had a very nice collection of materials to work with.

I told the children that we weren’t gluing anything down and when their picture was done I would come around and photograph it and then we would take it apart and if they wanted they could make another picture. When we finished with the materials we would return them to nature.

I printed the photographs on my printer at home onto regular sized photocopy paper and then I made one 4 x 6 glossy print to mount onto a card. Here’s what mine looked like.

After we mounted all the photographs onto a black background they were put up outside the kindergarten class for all to enjoy. Today they were moved to a more central part of the school so that more people would see them. The cards that I made will be given to the parents as a special gift on Earth Day.

A Visiti to the Aquarium Inspires This Art Class

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….a watercolour wash, crayon resist, and playing with salt

The kindergarten classes made a trip to the new Ripley’s Aquarium here in Toronto. They researched marine life before going on the trip and I brought library books to the class to use as a reference for their fish drawings.

We started with a crayon line drawing of the fish and surrounding sea plants. I showed the class how to make a wash for the background and while the paint was still wet we sprinkled it with salt to give the water an interesting texture. We also used white crayon to create bubbles in the water and some of the children wrote their names with the this crayon. The last step was to add colour to the fish themselves and the plants. I think they did a wonderful job.

Happy Penguins

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….tell kindergarteners that they can dress up their penguins and they instantly become ‘happy’ penguins

We started our project by painting our background with ribbons of watercolour. The only restriction was ‘no’ black or brown paint. While the paint was drying they drew and then cut out their penguin bodies, eyes, beaks and feet. This pretty much took up the entire first class.

In the second class I showed the class how to draw an ice flow so that it had some dimension and then I instructed the students on how to put everything together. When the penguin was glued into place with all parts intact the students then had the option of making hats, scarves and sweater from some scrapbook paper that I had.

The inspiration for this assignment came from Deep Space Sparkle.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 12

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….some unusual questions this week

When was the last time you sat on a park or garden bench for more than ten minutes? Describe the occasion.

The last time I sat on a garden bench was two summers ago. My cottage neighbour had built a bench on the beach for anyone to use. I used to love going down to the beach early in the day to have my morning coffee. Unfortunately the powers that be decided that all things left on this ‘public’ beach had to be removed. When we returned last summer the bench was gone.

Would you ever be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse brings out the needle?

When I attended university I had thought about being a doctor but teaching became my chosen profession. I actually contemplated about taking a gross human anatomy class where I would dissect a human body. A 400 level floral design class won out. I used to watch live surgeries on TV but I do turn away when the needle to draw blood comes out.

Where’s your favorite place to take out-of-town guests?

If people are coming from another country I like to take them to Niagara Falls. For my Canadian out-of-town quests I like to take them to the AGO (art gallery) and treat them to any special exhibitions that are featured during their visit. Luckily most of my friends like art.

If my guest come in the summer and they like a rustic setting I might suggest that we go to the cottage for a few days.

If you had an unlimited shopping spree at only one store, which one would you choose? Why?

It might seem strange that I would choose a discount store but Marshall’s has it all for me. Beautiful designer clothes that fit me and suit me, shoes, purses, kitchenware, gourmet food, dishes, and children’s and men’s wear. What could be better?

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful for being treated to a trip to the new Aga Khan Museum, here in Toronto. My friend, D, is a member and we spent the morning walking through the galleries. I really enjoyed looking at the old Persian vessels, art and tapestries. When so many artefacts are being destroyed in the Middle East because of war and acts of terrorism I was grateful that these treasures have been preserved for all to enjoy.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After exploring the entire museum and checking out the gift shop we had a very nice lunch at the restaurant located in the museum. The space was decorated with beautifully carved wall panels and mirrors and the food was attractively presented and very tasty.

I’m also grateful for slightly warmer weather and sunny days. On Sunday we had the family over Sunday lunch and game day. My husband made an incredible Irish meal in honour of St. Patrick’s Day (only a week late) and A and J brought Zeppole for dessert in honour of St Joseph’s Day.

This week I’m looking forward to doing more art, not only my own personal art but also art with my students. I’ve already started some interesting projects with the kids and today my kindergarten class made wonderful art with objects from nature (last 4 photos). The first six photos are mine. The owls are samples I created for my older students. They are designing their own owls and then transferring the design onto a foam plate and then colouring it and pressing it onto paper. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the kids can do.