March & April 2024
We started the month off by working on "Huichol Yarn Paintings". This was a fun project that required the artists to make 'paintings' only by using strands of yarn! This was a real test of patience for some of the students who like to rush through every project and required them to take their time and slow down. I told them they needed to have at least half the page covered in yarn (and not by slapping a tangle of yarn on the page - although some of them DID try).
This was also a test of restraint to help the students understand how much glue is too much. If they used a pool of glue the yarn wouldn't be fun to touch when it dried but if they used a thin line then the yarn would still be soft when the glued dried.
We made Calder inspired paper sculptures! This was good challenge in listening to directions because if you didn't fold the paper right, you would end up with a centipede friend (which were still very fun) but if the paper was folded correctly you could get really cool standing sculptures.
We met Larry the Line! "Larry the Line" is a book written and illustrated by real art teacher, Cassie Stephens!
Larry taught us all about the Element of Art, Line! We took what we learned about lines and used that to make zentangles inside of a leaf shape! Finally, we went over our drawn lines with crayon and painted with watercolor to make a watercolor resist painting!
February 2024
We've done quite a few different things this month! The final peguins were painted and sent home (with one mystery of a penguin going missing but luckily I had my example penguin made so everyone had a penguin to take home).
We have finished our Batik project and they look so amazing altogether!
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I would love to do another project like this in the future for a fundraiser!
This was not my intention but we just finished a sea creature project and a project featuring our names and our next two projects are a sea creature project and a project featuring our names... Again...
I loved these projects but I will space them out differently in the future.
Our 1st Graders learned about the history of Gyotaku Fish Printing, in a time before camera existed but fishermen still needed to document proof of their prize-winning catches. Fishermen would take their caught fish, put Sumi ink on them (after the ink was applied the fish would not be consumed as the ink is not toxic free), and print them on rice paper.
The Kiddos were very curious if we were going to use actual fish for this project and I may have played a trick on them... I pulled the box on my desk closer to me, slowly peeked inside but then shut it as quick as possible. The only warning the kids got from me was, "They're alive" before I started tossing the silicone fish out at them!
So if your child came home one day saying that "Ms. Penkwitz threw a fish at me today"... That's what that was about! 😂 (No 1st Graders were hurt in the making of this art project)
Modern day versions of this printing technique exist but by using rubber fish replica molds. I can not tell you how excited I was when I found these silicone fish in my supply closet!
The prints turned out amazing and the kids were so excited to use the printing ink and pick one of the two fish I had set out for the project. (Named Jordan and Persephone)
Finally we wrapped the month up with a design project called a "Tughra". This is an Islamic artform that makes a design from a name or signature. I asked the artists to take the letters of their names and create a design that is similar to a puzzle, they needed to try and stump me to find all the letters from their names in their design.
Some of the designs were very well thought out and I needed help to find all the letters! Afterwards the students could outline their designs and add colorful designs if they chose.
I will make sure our next project does not feature a single fish or their name (Unless they make that choice themselves).
January 2024
This month we finished up our clay penguins! My poor Day 3 kids had to wait so long due to the snow days!
We worked on a sea creature pencil drawing that challenged your students to complete a drawing using only a pencil and giving it shading! I dug out some of my own still life compositions from college to demonstrate what shading can do in a drawing.
This was also the project where we talked about light sources! I used my phone’s flashlight to demonstrate on my own FACE! Your artists thought this was so funny but they caught on extra quick!
Our current project is something that I am super excited for! We are learning about the art of Batik! This is a collaborative fiber art project that we will be turning into a “class quilt”! I put that in quotes because we won’t actually be sewing the squares together, this way the students can still take them home, but I will be displaying their quilt squares together with their class and we have even invited their teachers to participate in this project!
So something annoying that happened was when I tried to order more Elmer’s Blue Gel Glue for this project online, instead of the 3 bottles I ordered I received a 12 pack of hand sharpeners from the dollar store??? Yeah, I returned that and got a refund so fast! So if anyone knows what store I can find Elmer’s Blue Gel Glue, sending an email my way with the details would be very much appreciated! Amazon was out and Walmart betrayed me!
December 2023
We spent the month making our ceramic penguin project! I was so impressed with your students and their willingness to try new techniques, and the penguins turned out so cute!
The last day for them to work with wet clay was the Friday before break and luckily we hit that deadline! I was starting to worry that they would dry out too much over the break if we didn’t end up finishing them in time but we did it!
We spent time working on putting our sketchbooks together and I promised Mrs. Staffaroni's class that I would plan something special for them as they were the last class I had before break started. (I also knew that there was no way I was going to get them to sit and work like normal).
I handed out sketchbooks, dug out materials to decorate the covers, turned on some lo-fi music and let them get to work! Halfway through the class I surprised them by turning off the front half of the classroom lights and handed everyone a glowstick for our glow party! This was definitely a much needed celebration.
The first week back I was able to put them into the kiln and Friday we started painting! Mrs. Papke’s class was also cashing in their Free Choice Seating reward that day so we got to spend the whole class painting, talking with friends, and listening to some 70’s music. All in all a great way to end the last class of the week!
After we finish painting our penguins we are going to start a sea creature drawing project with a focus on shading!
November 2023
This month we finished up a BIG project! When I planned this project I honestly didn’t think it would take as long as it did but I still loved doing this project with your students and I hope they had fun as well. Our wooden bugs turned out so much better than I could have imagined!
Last month we were still in the planning phase and just started collecting our pieces. We spent this month trimming our pieces, painting each piece, adding different textures on each piece, and then finally gluing everything together and adding a magnet!
I was trying to decide if it would have been better to glue the pieces together first before painting but I think they were more successful because the students got to individually decorate each piece and they turned out SO COOL. I am so proud of your students for going above and beyond my expectations and giving me a better understanding of what they are capable of doing at their age.
We learned about the Fauvist art style, it uses BOLD and ACIDIC colors that you wouldn’t normally see in nature. I tasked the students to draw a farm animal on black paper and we used oil pastels to color! I even let them use a toothpick to scratch in some patterns. I can’t wait to hang these up in my hallway!
Our next project that we will be starting is our clay project! We actually started it today (December 1st) and it was just in time for the snow we got as we are making penguins!
See you next month!
October 2023
We had so much fun in art this month doing so many different projects!
We ended September and began October with our blot paintings. The artists were tasked with thinking about symmetry with this MONOPRINT printmaking project. Monoprints are unique prints that can be made only ONCE and can not be recreated or reproduced exactly the same.
This can be similarly compared to the look of an ink blot test where we paint on only one side of the paper and then fold the paper in half to create an identical print on the blank side of the paper. They all turned out amazing!
I was lucky enough to have some of your artists on our early release day and we did a fun mini project of chalk marbled paper. This is a fun project you can do at home with some cardstock, a container of water, and sidewalk chalk! The chalk dust floats on the water and then you just dip the paper in! After the paper dries it can be used as normal!
1st grade got spooky with their paper and oil pastel pumpkins!
We all earned a class reward this month and each class voted for a free choice art activity, it was a blast and I even turned on some Halloween music!
Our last project of the month that we will be continuing through November are our abstract wooden bugs! Everyone got to design a bug, whether that was from a reference book or from their imagination, and I tasked them to recreate their bug using wood pieces so we can make fridge magnets!
I am once again amazed by all the creativity I’ve seen in my art room this last month and so extremely proud of how well everyone has been willing to try new forms and styles of art. Turning 2D art 3D is a difficult task for anyone and your artists took my challenge and each came up with their own unique solution!
I can’t wait to share more with you next month!
September 2023
We had sooooo much fun in art class this first month of school and we did so many things that I hope you've gotten to hear about from your artists!
We started this month off by coloring an "About the Artist" sheet and everyone drew a picture of themselves before getting to color in the rest of the worksheet. I hung everyone's up in the hallway!
Our second mini project of the month was a collaborative effort between every student in the school! The art teachers at Westlawn and Parkview (and Thorson, of course) came up with the idea to create a "Where's Waldo" type of project that was themed around our school's own mascots. Our students were tasked with drawing themselves as an animal and then attaching it to a BIG sheet of paper for Mr. PAWsitive to move around and hide every day.
We started our first long term project, a group project called "Neighborhood Squares". We read the book, "Maybe Something Beautiful", a true story about a little girl named Mira who helps her neighborhood turn from gray to beautiful color!
Our 1st graders talked about things in their own neighborhoods that are important to them and then we split off into table groups and made our own versions of these key features! We learned about teamwork in an artist setting and had to think of solutions when our ideas didn't all match with each other. Our final challenge was figuring out how to make our ideas 3D with paper that pops off the bases!
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