In the Art Room: Collage Paris

A collage montage. Brought to you by some hard-workin', Parisian-lovin' second grade artists.

 As you know, the kids in my art room have been spending some time in Paris. So you'll have to bear with me as every upcoming project I feature for my "In the Art Room" series, is gonna be something Parisian. You might recall last week was the third graders Printed Paris Project. This week, I present to you the second graders Collage Paris. I'm bringing these to you fresh off the drying rack...be careful, the glue is still wet.

 Paris, day and night.

We began this project shortly after completing our suitcase portfolios and our passports. Interested in creating a collaged landscape (it doesn't have to be Parisian, check out our Egyptian version from last year)? It's a whole lotta fun. You'll need the following:

•  12" X 18" paper
•  12" X 6" paper
•  washable tempra paint (I prefer Crayola because the other stuff is junk. Trust me, I've tried it all.)
•  texture combs 
•  construction paper
•  glue cups and glue brushes (I gave up on glue bottles long ago. They clog and the kids stab 'em with pencils and scissors. Give them a little cup with glue and a small paint brush and you'll never go back to the bottle. The GLUE bottle, that is.)

 We began this project with a lesson on with color and value. The 12" X 18" piece of paper that the kids were given was folded into six sections: three at the top and bottom. On the first day we chatted about creating shades and a gradation. We began right above the middle fold, painting the first section blue and adding a bit of black. Each section above that was to be a darker value. 

The following art class, we chatted about tints. Each section below the middle was to be a lighter value of blue. And, viola! A gradated paper.

 On our third art class, we learned how to mix green and created a textured  piece of paper with our texture comb. Don't have texture combs? You can make them by cutting notches into pieces of cardboard. I did that for years. Then I caved and purchased these plastic doohickeys. And I was like, where have these been all of my life?! I love 'em so much, they tend to make an appearance in just about every one of our art projects.

You know my art classes are 1/2 an hour, right? You've heard me belly-ache about that before. I'm an expert belly-ache-r, if you didn't know. So if it seems like my project is broken down into teeny-tiny bite-sized bits, now you know why.

 The following art class, we chatted about collage which is like French for paper and glue. How perfect! The kids were given the choice of having an evening or day time sky by either having the dark value or the light at the top of their paper.. Most opted for the Midnight in Paris vibe. Once that was decided, they were to tear their green paper diagonally, position the torn part on their paper so it created the River Seine and glue down. 

After a chat about painting clouds (if they are near the horizon line, they should be small and grow larger in size as they approach the top of the page) and stars/moon (with a glance at Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night for a ring-lit look) and the sun (all I ask is no sunglasses, puh-lease!), the wee artists were permitted to make their masterpiece their own.

 Before: plain landscape. After: Parisian Paradise!

 After the completion of our collage landscape, we began our study of the famous structures of Paris. After learning the history behind the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame, we learned how to create them. We chatted about how each was symmetrical and could easily be created with a folded piece of paper. The above and below bulletin boards were on display at the front of the room. This allowed the kids to work on each structure at their own pace.

 As we worked on our structures, we kept them safe in an envelope until each was complete.

 Do you remember that groovy group of college kids I had hanging in my art room earlier this school year? Well, I've got a new group and one of them created this awesome bulletin board to help introduce symmetry and the famous Parisian structures to the kids.

 Of course, no introduction is complete without the help of Jes, our school mascot! A kind French friend snapped these photos of Jes around Paris. Thank you so much, Sophie. This has been a wonderful way to excite the kids about exploring the world.

Gotta love an innovative thinker. One of my students wanted his buildings to "pop out". Recalling our paper collages from kindergarten, he folded feet onto the bottom of his houses and glued it so his structures would stand up. Genius!

Love that crooked row of buildings!

Thanks for joining us on our Collage-Landscape Fantasticness! I hope you enjoyed these masterpieces as much as these artists did creating them. Next up: First Grade Hot Air Balloons over Paris. Stay tuned!

What the Art Teacher Wore #42

Full of Hot Air Monday: Because my first graders are learning all about hot air balloons, I decided to dedicate some of my wardrobe to this theme. I was thrilled when I found these hot air balloon tights on etsy...and even happier when I discovered they were made in Nashville! top: anthro, gift from a friend; skirt: vintage, picked up in an antique shop in Germany; tights: Carousel Ink; boots: vintage, thrifted

 Greetings from Slacker-land. Apart from the loooong hike hubs and I took today (eight miles! total keister-kicker!), this week has found me doin' a whole lotta nuthin. Which I blame entirely on a book I've had my nose stuck in. Because we don't know each other that well, I'm embarrassed to tell you what I've been reading (I swear it's not 50 Shades!). What I will tell you is that I'm not allowing myself to read the next book until I complete some unfinished DIY bidness. But enough about that.

Have you met Jim Flora? I've loved his cartoon-y kitsch style of paintings, drawings and prints for some time and I thought I'd share them with you this week. I love how his work is so energized that is seems to wiggle around the canvas. I hope you enjoy seeing his work as much as I do.

The artist and a self-portrait. James "Jim" Flora is an American artist born in 1914. He's best known for the album covers he created for RCA Victor and Columbia records during the height of awesome design: the 1940's and 50's. What I find more interesting is his personal work that often had some biazzro overtones.

Florals and Balloons Tuesday: When I'm attempting to mix and match patterns, as I tried to here in the above ensemble, I hold garment after garment side by side until a sudden "ooohh, that works" happens. Later, I often think, "what in the world was I thinking?!" but today, I think I'm okay. dress and belt: sale, Anthro; sweater: Ann Taylor, thrifted; fishnets and tights: Target; boots: Frye

Mambo for Cats, 1955 I mean really. How great is this? I love the Picasso-style face one the middle cat as well as the mustaches. You can listen to this album here if you are interested. And you should be because it's fantastic. Apparently, Flora was a huge lover of music, calling it his muse, and I think this album cover shows that love.

The Panic is On, 1954 I noticed that in many of Mr. Flora's work, he'll either use a solid white or black background. No interference from the background for his imagery in the foreground. Simply awesome.

Dirty Looks Wednesday: So I'm at the bookstore buying that paperback I haven't been able to put down, when I turn around to see an older gentleman nudging his wife and pointing at me. She looks at me and makes this flinch-y face at my outfit, particularly my blue-fishnet-over-green-tights legs. By the time she finally looks up at my face, I made sure to give her the biggest I-just-caught-you-staring-at-me smile I could muster. Despite my annoyance. I mean, it's one thing to not like what someone is wearing, but do you really have to be rude about it? Me thinks not. still on our hot air balloon kick top: Anthro; tights and skirt: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

I can't seem to find the title of this work, but it looks very similar to one titled The Big Bank Robbery. You know my love for It's A Small World artist Mary Blair. This work reminds me of a wonky Small World. Both artists worked during the same era but it's apparent that Mr. Flora had a different wacky flair.

Manahattan. Not only did Mr. Flora design album covers, he's also the author/illustrator of 17 children's books. I'm dying to get my mitts on them. While he worked on books and album covers, he also worked on his personal art which is often described as playful, erotic and macabre. And subtle. Apparently during one of his last exhibits, his body of work had a nautical theme. Inside the tiny boat images where naughty little scenes that could only be made out by magnifying glass.

Pencil Perfect Thursday: My goal for Thursday was to have completed my DIY Hot Air Balloon dress...but that book! I couldn't stop reading! So, it still hangs in my sewing room, mocking me. So I went all pencil-y instead. sweater: Urban Outfitters, on sale now!; skirt: DIY by me here; shoes: another DIY, look here; pencil hairclip: yeah, that's by me too. As if you couldn't tell.

Would you just look at that tiny wood cut?! Amazing. I spent last weekend at an art teacher conference where we carved into linoleum blocks. And I thought mine was at least kinda sorta detailed. Mr. Flora put mine to shame. I'll share my block and what I did with it in an upcoming post.

This print reminds me of another of my favorite artists, Thomas Hart Benton. I love the crooked street lamp.

Tiger Run Friday: It was our school's third annual Tiger Run! I think I ended up going a good four miles around the track with the kids. It was the perfect day for it. tie-dyed shirt: tie-dyed in art class, DIY'ed at home with ribbons and scissors; skirt and black top: Target; tiger tights and tiger ears: amazon; shoes: Earth Shoes

Connecticut Shore, 1954. Jim Flora lived a long life that ended in 1998. His artwork seems so familiar to me mostly because of how many other artists have since been strongly influenced by his style. His style is so popular that when googling around, I found that you can even purchase Jim Flora wallpaper. Pure awesomeness.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

In the Art Room: Printed Paris

Goin' out with a bang! We are slowly wrapping up our unit on Paris, France and what better way to say goodbye than with fireworks.

As my third grade students were finishing up these printed and chalked Parisian pictures, I was so impressed, I thought I'd share them with you. They were mighty proud of them too which lead to the following back and forth:

Kids: Can we PLEASE take these home today?

Evil Art Teacher: No! I must keep all of these masterpieces for the end-of-the-school-year art show!

OTL Kid [OTL = Out To Lunch]: When's the end-of-the-school-year art show?

EAT: The end-of-the-school-year art show is next week. 

OTL Kid: Yay! What time?

The Rest of Us: face palm.

Once we got OTL straightened out, I convinced the kids that this kind of art activity is one they could easily do at home. All that is needed is the following:

• cardboard cut into 1" X 2" rectangles. Be sure to cut it so that the wiggly corrugated cardboard line is visible on the 1" side. This will keep the cardboard sturdy enough for printing.
• tempra paint
• paper

I know, I know, paint on the floor? Really? I never claimed to be the Smartest Artist Teacher.

Group of finished third grade prints.

Want to make some printed Eiffel Towers of your own? Well, it's super easy. I thought I'd share with you the steps I had on display for the kids to follow.

1. We began by folding our paper in half both vertically and horizontally. After unfolding the paper completely, we brought the bottom of the paper up to the middle line and created another fold.
2. From there, we printed a vertical line from the top of the paper to the first horizontal crease. We added two diagonal lines and an intersecting horizontal line at the top.

3. We chatted about parallel lines and created two parallel lines from the ends of the diagonal lines. These were both the same length of the initial vertical line.

4. We crossed the initial vertical lines with intersecting horizontal lines. These were filled with diagonal lines that created X's.

5. All along we are learning factoids about the Eiffel Tower and it's creator Gustave Eiffel. We used the Eiffel Tower bulletin board and my windows as a helpful reminder. The second level of the tower was created with a printed rectangle shape.

6.  A triangle shape was created underneath that as were the long diagonal lines of the side of the towers legs.

7. From there, we created the arch and filled the legs of the tower with horizontal, vertical and intersecting diagonal lines.

And while I loved the end results of the prints, I wanted the kids to experience working in another medium and add their own personal flair to the project. Hence the chalking of their prints. I created the display of directions shown above to allow the kids to work independently on this portion of the project.

We also chatted about some of the famous structures in Paris that could be included in our chalked landscape like Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triumph and Notre Dame.

The key is not to let your paper move as you smudge the chalk upwards. If this happens, you might lose image in your design.

The kids had great fun with this project. I've already received a couple "I did this at home!" versions of both the prints and the chalk. Nothing makes this Evil Art Teacher happier. You'll have to let me know if you decide to give this a go. Just don't let me get my hands on your masterpiece...it's likely you won't get it back. That is until the end-of-the-year...which I could only dream was next week (just kidding...we have entirely too much fun in store!).

What the Art Teacher Wore #41

Batty Monday: Try to ignore the nappy hair and the messy background and focus on that batty dress. Holy guacamole, I love it so. I picked it up at Audrey K's while on vacation in Cali. tights: Target; shoes: Softt

Happy-Belated-Wardrobe post, friends! I'm just in and recovering from an art teacher conference held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. What does an "art teacher conference" entail, you ask? Well, lemme tell you, it involves catching up with friends, making new ones and creating lots of stuff. And I'm totally an art conference junkie, so my weekend was just artsy-fartsy perfection. In fact, I got so involved in the fun that I completely forgot to snap a photo of Friday's outfit. Me so sorry! However, I do hope that this little bit of history on one of my favorite portrait artists, Vladimir Tretchikoff, will make up for it. Enjoy and I'll catch up with you later this week.

I have to tell you, Vladimir Tretchikoff's life reads like some sort of long-winded romance/adventure novel. The artist was born on December 13, 1913 (apparently the number 13 played a big part in his life) in Pertropavlovsk, Russia. I had no idea where Pertropavlovsk was but after some googling, I found that it's a peninsula on the far eastern side of Russia. Interestingly, it's the second largest city in the world that is unreachable by road.

Miss Wong. During the Vladimir's childhood, the Russian Revolution broke out causing his parents and eight siblings to move to an area in China that was Russian-ruled. It was there that Vladie discovered his flair for art. His talent eventually led him to Shanghai where he met his wife Natalie and fathered a daughter Mimi.

Day of the Dead Tuesday: On this day, kindergarten and I were talking Roy G. Biv. When we got to the "v", I asked the students if they could tell me the name of the color that looks like purple but starts with a "v". Surprisingly, they got it right! But soon after, one boy said,"My mom says I'm not allowed to watch violet movies. Violet movies are bad for little kids." They are so stinkin' cute. dress: made by me; tights and flowers: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina; sweater: Anthro

Balinese Girl. Eventually, Vladie and his fam moved to Singapore where, in 1941, the Japanese invaded and took his wife and daughter. He was not to see or hear from them for five years. Vladie managed to escape by boat that was torpedoed. He eventually found himself with several others, struggling to stay alive on a small life boat.

Happy Halloween, Wednesday! Full outfit details here.

Chinese Girl. This painting is probably Vladimir Tretchikoff's most famous. But you want to know if he got off of that life boat, doncha? He did, arriving in Java, only to find that the Japanese had already invaded there. He was captured and thrown into solitary confinement for three months. His artistic abilities were actually what set him free. Impressed by his talent, his captors released him.

Art Conference Thursday: I never thought I'd buy polyester but this dress is just so awesomely cut. And I love the over-the-top pattern. What surprised me about polyester was how warm it is! I was perfectly comfy in my flammable frock. dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; belt: Anthro; boots: Seychelle's; double layer fishnet and tights: Target

Balinese Dancer. Once freed, Vladimir couldn't work fast enough. It seemed word got out in Java of his amazing portraits and he had clients out the wazoo. One such client, Leonora Moltema, became a muse of Vladimir's. She's the one featured in many of this portraits of Asian women. It was Leonora that took him to a seance that revealed the whereabouts of his wife and daughter.

Lady from Orient. Eventually, Vladimir found international success. His painting, Chinese Girl, has sold almost as many prints as Leonardo's Mona Lisa. Many write off Vladimir's portraits as kitsch but I find them absolutely beautiful. The artist, who lived to the age of 92, said near the end of his life: Express your passion. Do what you love. No matter what. Gotta love that.

In the Artroom: Happy Halloween from Madeline!

Because I dress pretty outrageous most days, the kids seemed to be more surprised by my hair than anything else. I think I heard an equal amount of "Did you cut your hair?!" and "Hey, it's a giant Madeline!" hat and Madeline book: thrifted; dress: DearCreatures; tights and skirt: Target; shoes: Clarks; big red bow: added by me

 Bonjour, Trick or Treaters! Despite the fact that we have a no-costume rule at school, I decided to dress as Madeline today. It's educational, fun and gave me an excuse to pick up this super sweet dress. Which I wore as a tunic because, well, I didn't want to turn my lesson into the Madeline Peep-Show, if you know what I mean.

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”

 I had so much fun reading Madeline to the kids especially since we are still on our Parisian kick. I used this amazing bulletin board created by one of my practicum students. Under each leaf, there were facts all about the Eiffel Tower that the kids enjoyed learning about. I added my own fun facts. For example, we learned that the Tower is 59 giraffes tall and as heavy as 1,341 elephants. That's one big Iron Lady.

 I adore the illustrations in this book. They are the perfect mix of messy and retro. I did some research on the author behind the Madeline books that I thought I'd share with you.

Above is the author, his daughter Barbara (said to be who Madeline is modeled after) and his wife Madeline or Mimi. Born in Austria in 1898, Ludwig (best name ever) Bemelmans spent the early years of his life in the hotel business. He became a US citizen sometime in his thirties. Ludwig always had a passion for art but not so much for writing. It was at the suggestion of a friend that he write a children's book. His first was written in 1934.

Love this image of Notre Dame. Another one my practicum kids created a bulletin board featuring it and we used it today as well.

Poor little Madeline's appendix burst! But she ends up with that super sweet scar to show for it.

 The author wrote seven Madeline books (the last one was not discovered until after his death) and other children and adult books. Although Ludwig became famous for his Madeline books, he always considered himself more an artist than a writer. In fact, he has works of art on display in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Museé National d'Art of Paris.

 I still love Madeline the best. Especially if it means a big read bow and a sweet sailor dress. Merci, Madeline! Au revoir and Happy Halloween!