April 27 ... Mother's Day Card Project

STRING ART 

String Art is traditionally the weaving of coloured string, wool or yarn around hammered nails to make geometric patterns and various desirable shapes. This organic idea to use thread and nails to form angles has grown from an educational tool to an art form like no other. 

Using this same technique, string art cards have become a popular way to create meaningful DIY cards. Spirelli is where you stitch thread through holes, which is good for card-making and scrap-booking. 

It is refreshing to reuse older forms of art to make cool new ones. Take a look!

 If you have any questions, or photos to share, please contact me at:

mspsartroomatsms@gmail.com

Maybe you've seen this one on one of your neighbourhood walks?!

In Memory of the Animals Lost in the Australian Bush Fires by Team Purple

As I mentioned in my previous blogs, I decided to have ALL 6/7 Art students at SMS explore Australia in light of the bush fires. Each team had a different theme and project. The PURPLE team would research the varied land animals common to Australia. We used the chrome books for research, then did some sketching. We then created our SKY-scapes using  analogous watercolours and tempera paint on a 14x22" sulphite paper. Next, they chose between a variety of sun, sun & moon or Aboriginal symbols for the second layer. We used Pearlescent paint and a traditional dot painting technique that was introduced in the 1970s and is widely used by the indigenous people of Australia. Finally, we selected our unique animal and drew 5 different sized silhouette shapes which we decorated with our neon dots and glued them on to the skyscape. Our Australian Animal Collage was sealed with Mod Podge. 

Zander

Alyvia

In the end, SMS Art students had a chance to research Australia and then learn skills in composition & collage, line, colour, repetition and to use a variety of paints and try their hand at the dot painting technique . Thanks to Patty at DSS for the inspiration. 

I hope you enjoy Purple team's slideshow. The students worked hard to complete these wonderful skyscapes!

Cameron

If you have any questions about our project, please contact me at:

mspsartroomatsms@gmail.com

If you wish to comment on the student work, leave your comments below.

Sit back and experience a taste of our Australia! 

https://youtu.be/XXVwrebf--U

Walk a Mile in MY Shoes ... Art8 SLIDESHOW

A few weeks before Spring Break, the Art 8 classes started a Cardboard Sculpture project. They were to choose a shoe or a particular footwear item that held meaning for them. We sketched. Measured. Then explored cardboard characteristics and methods of joining. My choice of shoe was my flip flops. The kids can attest to the fact that I wear my flip flops everywhere, including school in the winter (with tanned feet and painted toes, of course). They have been to Mexico several times.  I WAS wearing them when I wiped out and split my head open in the classroom! Eh, it was only 7 stitches!!

Anyway, a few worked very hard (and on-task) to get the major construction part completed before Spring Break deadline. Some, would need more time. But then COVID 19 hit! School was suspended and projects lay in the cubby long forgotten. When Mrs Woodhurst organized the retrieval of student belongings in the gym, I decided to photograph and pack up their shoes and deliver them to their 'bag' to go home. It was a very disquieting morning in the art room remembering each student's struggles, successes and visions for their project as I photographed each one. 

that's me!

Hopefully many of the shoes made it home, but what happened then? Would they be completed? Trashed? Or simply forgotten? I think for some students, like Victoria, who was building a figure skate,  the meaningfulness of her project would be a poignant memory, as our world seemed to change overnight. 

Victoria M

For those ART8 students who did complete their 'shoe', I would 💖 to post pictures of the completed item. Take a handful of 📷 from different angles, so everyone can appreciate your design, textures and finishing details. Then send to: mspsartroomatsms@gmail.com  I will add them to my Student Gallery for my June Farewell slideshow.

I hope you enjoy the show and tunes!

https://youtu.be/W233nDW8htI

Brook K

Jasmine C

Jack R

The Illustrated Dictionary ... ART 8 SLIDESHOW

                                                                                                                       January 2020

Illustrated Dictionary Project

Students were given a page from the dictionary which corresponded to the letter in their name. They then selected a word from the page to illustrate. 

Materials used in this Mixed Media project included:

Coffee

InkTense ink pencils

Watercolours

India Ink

Oil Pastels

Pencil Crayons

Wax crayons

We hope you enjoy the Art show!

https://youtu.be/J9ZazMxD4xE

Tell us how you liked the video.

 Email:

mspsartroomatsms@gmail.com

Or leave a comment on the blog!

Throw Back Thursday's POP QUIZ for team RED

POP QUIZ on Chalk Pastel Techniques

Well, it's a little over a month since RED completed their Famous Landmarks using chalk pastels. 

Do you remember the techniques used? 

To help you, I've listed all 9 technique descriptors below. 

Let's test your memory with a MATCHING POP QUIZ.

Find the technique (above)  and MATCH with the #sample below.

Want to know how you did?

Email your answers to:

mspsartroomatsms@gmail.com

Bonus Question:

How many techniques can you find on MsP's Boab Prison Tree? 

Can you identify any new techniques? How would you describe them?

Happy Earth Day!

Apr 21 ... POP ART: MAGNIFICATION

Andy Warhol, Pop Artist

The art movement called POP ART started in the UK, then USA in the late 1950s. Pop Art or 'popular' art took their ideas from comic books, advertising and household objects. Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans were created in a painting series of 32 soup cans. 

Asked why he chose Tomato soup, his simple answer was that he liked soup!! 

He also coined the expression "15 minutes of fame". 

POP ART MAGNIFICATION project

Here's a favourite project that students have enjoyed creating over the years. Mrs B has set up this 'zoom in' project step-by-step. We chose this project as everyone will have some form of labels at home to choose from: candy wrappers, drink boxes, crackers, cereal, coffee, KD, pizza sauce, a tin of pineapple, etc. You get the idea! Choose your fav' and get started. 

pencil crayon samples

Painted Samples from 2016 SMS Art 8 Students

If you have any questions, or photos to share, please contact me at:

mspsartroomatsms@gmail.com

Apr 17 ... Australian Landmarks ... RED Team SLIDESHOW

Buenos tardes, todo el mundo!

A rainy day! Computer issues! Light at the end of the tunnel, finally!! Have been trying to put together the RED team slideshow today. I think my computer is on its last legs. As they say, that's 6 hours I'll never get back. Anyway, happy to report that I persevered and with a little techie help (ok, lots),  finally got my video built.

A little background first ... with the wild fires in Australia earlier this year,  I decided to have ALL Art 6/7 students at SMS explore Australia. Each team would have a different theme and project. The RED team would research famous landmarks or historical sites in the land down under. We used the chrome books for research, then did some sketching, explored different techniques in chalk pastels, and then did some practice landscapes to go with our landmark and, finally, explored the differences between tempera and acrylic metallics (all in the sketchbook).

The last twist, we would take inspiration for our project from Australian artist Heather Duff. She is famous for her desert landscape and seascape paintings. Her glowing red Uluru is often set against a black and white background.

This lesson will provide students with skills in composition, collage, paint and chalk pastels. The sample above (by Mrs B) was used to demonstrate those skills and show the importance of object placement to create depth. I'll let the students explain the story, or the myth, behind my Boab Prison Tree below.


I hope you enjoy the artwork created by RED team! Just click on the link below. Crank up the sound!

https://youtu.be/WyHyrVcuJdc