In the Art Room: Rizzi City by Third Grade

 A while back, I had two third grade classes that were a head of the pack (I see my third and fourth grade classes combined, meaning I have two classes at once. It's how I am able to get an hour with my older kids). I didn't want them to jump ahead to the next project so I got a WILD hair (I get many, it turns out) and decided that they should learn about James Rizzi and create a giant Rizzi City...in one class period. Crazy is as crazy does, whatever that means. 

 I allowed the kids to pick their Rizzi City Building Teams with groups of 4 kids. I had a mountain of large painted papers for the kids to pick from as the base for their building. Smaller papers were used for the roof tops. 

I often have a stockpile of such papers because when my students finish early, one of the options for them is to go paint some pattern papers. I'll lay sheets of bulletin board paper out, paint a pattern on it and they are to repeat the pattern. These papers are then used for large projects such as this. 

 After the teams picked their building paper and roof, they set to work with scissors, glue and mountains of papers for windows, doors and faces. We'd spent some time going through a prezi I had created on the artist, so we were feeling all sorts of inspired. 

Once the pieces were glued down, the kids were allowed to use white and/or black paint to add details. The kids really loved working together to create their building and they turned out so fun and happy. A fellow teacher said they reminded them of PeeWee's Playhouse which you know is a HUGE compliment!

 For our art show next week, I thought I'd get these bad boys up! There is a cork strip behind the buildings. With the help of my P.E. buddy, I got the buildings pinned in place and just added a couple of lines of hot glue to the tops of the buildings. They'll stay up until the start of the new school year. OR when the Fire Marshall says to take 'em down. 

Then I got ANOTHER wild hair and decided that the buildings needed some clouds above them. This was totally a pinterest idea, y'all. I picked up a set of 6 light up lanterns at the local craft place and, with the help of my other P.E. buddy (what would I do without my specials team?!), we hot glued cotton batting to the lanterns. They won't stay up for long, just until the art show. 

The fact that they light up pretty much makes my world go round. 

 If I had all the time in the world, I would have had the kids then create a Rizzi-inspired cityscape. But, alas, this was just a go-between project to slow down a group that was speeding ahead. 

This has gotten a lot of giggles from the kiddos (and adults!). These buildings are as fun as Rizzi's paintings, says me. 

So much to do until the art show next Tuesday...but I can scratch this off the list!

We had more buildings than we did space...which meant that some of the buildings had to flank our It's Okay mural from last year. I can't bear to take it down, I love the message! 

 Um, yes. 

I can't wait to give y'all a tour of the art show...until then, have a fun Friday! 

In the Art Room: Rizzi Meets van Gogh Cities (Sub Plans!)

 The other day, I had to take a day from school. I created a sub plan video for my sub to use with my first through fourth grade classes. My younger kids worked on 9" X 12" paper because they have 30 minute art classes. My older students worked on 12" X 18" pieces of paper since they have an hour. I created this video and a simple handout. When I had returned, the students had gotten as far as tracing their designs in Sharpie. They were SO EXCITED to continue working on these that I put their current projects aside to let them finish. Here are a handful of fourth grader's pieces that have been finished and are in process. 

I'm loving each and every one! Since this was such an engaging lesson for the kids, I thought I'd share it with y'all. If you are going to NAEA this coming week and in need of a lesson, you might consider using this!

In addition to the video I created for my sub, I also made these handouts. That way the kiddos would recall a simple breakdown of the lesson. Feel free to reproduce for your art teacherin' world. 

I also had a production of a James Rizzi cityscape as well as some images of the Nashville skyline. The kids were told they could create ANY city they wanted: real or imagined. Many of my students are interested in the buildings of Nashville since we live so close so that's why I included that visual.

My students were also allowed to use my how to draw books which is why you'll see some recognizable cartoon characters on the buildings. Several of them also used my mirrors so they could create self-portrait buildings or simply see how to portray different emotions. 

I did notice that some students got a little lazy when it came time to create doors and windows. So I reproduced a doors and windows idea sheet from line drawings printed from the internet. This really helped encourage more creativity.

So many of them just went wild with this lesson and they really loved it!

 When I returned, I introduced them to Vincent van Gogh and we spent a lot of time learning about him, looking at his paintings and chatting about his brushstrokes. Then we looked at The Starry Night and used that as our inspiration for our skies.

 For that we used both oil pastels and markers. Once our skies were full of dashed lines, we simply added water!

 From there, we used the warm colors (ahem, well, some of us did) to add color to the sides and top of the buildings. Afterward, water was added. This was a super non-mess way to create a vibrant and creative masterpiece. 

 Unfortunately, my kiddos are in various stages of finishing. Why have we not been able to invent a All Finished At The Same Time Machine yet?! Ugh, the worst. So here as some spectacular almost-finished masterpieces.

This is easily a lesson that ALL of my students adored, from first grade all the way up to fourth. 

 And certainly one that a sub, even if not an "art" sub, could handle.

I know a James Rizzi lesson isn't anything new...but I thought this was a fun and SIMPLE take on it that even a sub (or us...when we are nearing spring break and need that easy project that also keeps them engaged!) could use. 

 Speaking of sub days...who is going to NAEA?! I'm so excited, I've never been to Seattle before.

I won't be leading any sessions but I will be doing TWO meet-ups and I'd love to see you. 

You can join me on Friday in the Activa booth where you can make and take one of these cuties! Or just hang out and chat. 

Or come hang out on Saturday with me and the podcastin' gang from AOE! Tim will be there along with the AOE team so it will be super fun. 

DIY: A Quilted and Embroidered Amsterdam

Tell me if this has ever happened to you:

You're perusing your fave teaching, sewing, art-making blogs and you start to feel a little, I dunno, crappy. Because, well, look at all the amazing stuff those bloggers taught/stitched/created! How did they get all that taught, when I'm still reminding kids not to double stack artwork on the drying rack?! When did they have time to stitch that skirt when I'm still suckin' at putting in a decent zipper?! Wait, someone above the age of 10 made art?! I don't even have a single idea in my head to create from!

If this has ever happened to you, then you and I are in the very same boat, friend. And that boat has a name. I like to call it (not The Love Boat, you goober) The Big Blog Illusion. Which I realize is a crappy name for a boat but bear with me.

 Have you heard of The Big Blog Illusion? I didn't think so because I just now made it up. Lemme tell you why I coined this phrase. As blog reader, I often feel overwhelmed and totes slack-tastic when I read my fave blogs. Sometimes it's inspiring and I'll actually get up off the couch and attack that DIY...but sometimes, it's disheartening. 

However, as a blogger, let me fill you in on a wee secret: The Big Blog Illusion is just that, an illusion. Most of the time, the DIYs you see on this blog were made over the course of weeks if not months. That's the trick. Nothing that I ever share with ya'll was made overnight or over a fortnight (do you even know how long I've wanted to use that word on this blog?!). I'm a starter/work on-and-off for a while/put it to the side/pick it back up again/finally finish it weeks later kinda gal. So when I finally get around to sharing my project, it looks like this Big Fat Hairy Thang that I magically completed in a blink. Not so. Take this Quilted and Embroidered Amsterdam DIY for 'zample.

Hubs and I ventured to Amsterdam two summers ago. You'd know this if you could see my hubs now, his beard is down to his chest and his hair is to his shoulders, hence the nickname Ginger Jesus. When we returned I started looking through photos from our vacay and really loved this cityscape...

But really, what's not to love?

So when I saw this illustration in The Usborne Book of Art Ideas, I was all, hey! That's Amsterdam! Ooooh, I wanna make that right now!

And, here we are, Two. Years. Later.

(Ya'll need to get your Kitten Mittens on these Usborne Books for your art room, they're amazingness, no lie.)

But, since this is a DIY post, Ima gonna digress for uno momento. Just in case you wanna make your very own Two Year Long Quilted and Embroidered Amsterdam (which won't take you two years unless you are totes slacktastic like me). 

From my stash, I picked out gingham, striped and solid fabrics that I thought looked nice together. After cutting these into 2" X 3" shapes, I stitched them together vertically to create buildings and then stitched those buildings together to complete the cityscape. This was then stitched to some yellow background fabric and I began to embroider the buildings. Not being one of my fave things in the world, I only worked on the embroidery when traveling as it's my only craft that travels well. Which is one of the reasons it too me so stinking long.

 Now, lemme address that feeling of never having any ideas. I am not a pull-anything-outta-the-air-and-make-it-amazing kind of person. Are you? If so, I envy you and secretly hate your face. I struggle coming up with an original idea. Knowing this, my ideas usually grow out of whatever I'm currently working on. Like these planters, ya'll. I made them at a workshop (DIY here) right after I had started my embroidered Amsterdam. 

(Have ya'll ever tried satin glazes? I use Stroke and Coat by Mayco with the kids...but for me I love using these pastel color that have a lot less shine.)

So, where am I going with all this jibber-jabber? I guess what I'm trying to say is this: if you ever start to feel down like you never ever get anything accomplished after perusing those blog faves of yours,  just think of me. And my Two Year Long Embroidered Amsterdam Adventure and think, "Shoot! Ida at least had that embroidery done in a fortnight, ya'll!"

Chat with ya soonish!

DIY: WPA-Inspired Smoky Mountain Paintings

When I first moved down to Tennessee from Indiana, I didn't have any intentions of staying. I mean, I was fresh outta college and was looking for a job and an adventure. When I got a job offer in Tennessee I was all, "huh, why not?" with plans to move away in a coupla years (as a kid, I had this crazy notion that I'd live in each state, one year at a time). After settling into Tennessee and meeting my hubs, we realized we just love this place too much to move. And now it's home.

Over the last coupla years, I've been Tennessee-izing our house. You can see my first attempts at TN decor here and a painting dedicated to Nashville made from maps of TN here. Recently, I decided I needed a coupla new paintings for a sad little area at the top of our stairs and was inspired by some WPA paintings of the Smoky Mountains. 

So the WPA program (aka the Works Progress [or Projects] Administration) was established during the Great Depression to give jobs to millions of unemployed Americans. Their job was to work on public works projects like public roads and buildings. Many schools, libraries and government buildings were constructed during this time. An offshoot of this program also employed artists, musicians and actors to do works for the public.

Incredibly talented artists were employed such as Romare Bearden, Thomas Hart Benton (one of my personal faves), The Soyer Brothers (also a fave of mine), Stuart Davis, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, just to name a few. Without this program, millions of people and their families would have been left destitute during this difficult time in our history.

Some of my favorite work created by WPA artists are the national parks posters. I love the almost paint-by-numbers/propaganda style of these works. They are ab fab. In fact, these paintings here are my SECOND time to copy a WPA painting; you can see my first one here. Now, on to the latest ones...

 I started by adding that yellow ochre color to the top and creating texture by scrapping the wet paint with a chopped up plastic card (I have a mountain of hotel key cards just for this reason). Then I began sketching out my plan in chalk.

And then I really went at it paint-by-numbers style. I love painting this way! Y'all, it's so easy and I personally dig the flat look to the painting. Side note: I use our glass dinner plates as palettes. If you ever dine at mi casa, kindly check your plates for paint before eating.

This painting was pretty basic so it came together quickly. I work with acrylic which dries super fast. I like that because I could move on to the next portions of the painting without waiting forever (ahem, oil paint).

 I added a lil bit of texture to the ground by using a super crappy, paint-dried-on-the-bristles brush. Sometimes those brushes have their purpose too.

And last came the trees. Since this painting was super basic (and is going to hang next to one that is uber busy), I decided to add the lettering to the top and bottom. 

Y'all. I hate lettering. It involves measuring and math and both make my abnormally small sized brain hurt. But what's the worst is painting lettering as I always screw up with letters that gradually get bigger and bigger as the painting goes on. So! My solution are Sharpie brand paint pens. I loves them! They work great and create a clean even line. 

The neighbor to my first painting started much the same. Chalk outline (ahem) and color blocking. Cake.

 Howevertown, this painting has a whole lot more details. Which were super fun to paint but did take me a while. So I power watched old episodes of Project Runway and just blasted through.

 (One of these days, my dining room table will be used for...dining.)

 Although it's super busy, I do love how this painting turned out. The colors are my fave part. But I also love how it does remind me of the Smokies. 

Now to get 'em up on the wall! I'll have to share that snap with you when I get to it. Later, kids!