Glaze Firing!

I absolutely LOVE opening the kiln after a glaze fire!  At times, I feel more excited than the kids!  I recently opened up the kiln to reveal the glazing from my seventh grade students.  I am loving the way these mugs are turning out!  They really got creative with how they applied the glaze.  So many students were asking, "What will happen if I put this color on top of this color?" or "What will it look like if I splatter the glaze?".  I love taking the opportunity to tell students to "give it a try"!  I am so happy with out they turned out and even more impressed with the creative risks students were willing to take!

Op Art Paper-Cutting

Forme Evolutive, Victor Vasarely

Eighth grade students have been learning about the style of Op Art. Students looked at works created by the Father of Op Art, Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley as well as multiple optical illusions to show how certain creations can trick the human eye to see movement, different colors and implied form.

Bridget Riley

Students were challenged to create optical designs combined with the art of paper-cutting.  Students were asked to create at least two separate designs (one on each paper) that when placed on top of one another create the optical design.  Students spent a good amount of time coming up with designs that would hold together during the paper-cutting process - trial and error was a method that students became very familiar with.

Once students have the two designs cut from their papers, they will place them together with a third paper in the background.  Many students have created three or four paper-cutting designs to enhance the optical illusion design of their work.

Here's a glance at the process so far...

Perspective Drawing

Seventh grade students have been busy learning about and practicing linear perspective drawing techniques, specifically two-point perspective drawing.  We spent a few class periods working on practice drawings - drawing the horizon line, using the right and left vanishing points to draw sidewalks, buildings, windows, etc.  Once students finish their pencil drawings they begin outlining with a black permanent marker.  Some students are moving on to adding color. The medium for this drawing project is colored pencil. An emphasis on value is the focus for this step. Students are identifying a light source and will add highlights, tints, shades and shadows according to the placement of the light source. This group is loving the linear perspective drawing process so far and I am truly enjoying the progress they are making!  Take a look below😀

                              

Southeast MN Art Show

Byron Middle School students are ecstatic to have been given the opportunity to showcase their work at the Southeast MN Art Show at the Rochester Art Center!  Five students in seventh and eighth grade will have their work displayed at the art center throughout the duration of this show.  The art show will run from Saturday, February 13th through Sunday, February 21st.  Information is included below if you would like to attend the show and view all of the fabulous works from Southeast MN school districts (grades 7-12).

Great job BMS student artists - I am so proud of you!

From left: John Kemp (8), Grace Haugen (8), Ava Leigh (7), Alyssa Bale (8), Chloe Hauber (8)

Projects: Op Art Paper-Cutting, Two-Point Perspective, Printmaking and Self-Portrait

Rochester Art Center

Rochester Art Center Hours: 

Wednesday, Friday, Saturday | 10 am – 5 pm

Thursday | 10 am – 9 pm

Sunday | 12 noon – 5 pm

Closed Monday and Tuesday (RAC is working to be open for this event)

Admission Rates:

Free to the public during run of the show 

(patrons please tell person at the front desk you are here for the Southeast Minnesota Art Show only) Donations are encouraged

Monsters!

My seventh grade BEARS Enrichment groups are hard at work this year with their Monster Machine project - and we are all loving it! Monster Mayhem Inc. (aka 7th grade students) request drawings from the kinder's in our district. What kind of drawings, you ask? Well, MoNsTeRs, of course!! Kindergarten students create a drawing of a monster, including all details possible (tails, spikes, wings, etc). We also ask for kindergarten students to write a couple of sentences to introduce their monsters (they are simply adorable!).  Monster Mayhem Inc. take the drawings and put them through one of our many handmade monster machines. Monsters are created with clay and colored with glaze. Our first two classes have been completed and we're onto another three! Check out the results below -

Fabulous work Monster Mayhem Inc.!

Art in the Sky!

I am so honored to have been given the opportunity to showcase Byron Middle School student work in The Art in the Sky display!  Various art displays from area schools can be seen in the skyway near the Rochester Public Library.

Our current display showcases artworks created by our Byron Middle School 6th Grade students.  Students have been hard at work in the BMS Art Room.  Students began this unit by learning about value in art and how it can be used to create contrast, form, texture and variation.  Students practiced creating various values first by making multiple value scales using pencil and applying value to complete multiple textural designs. 

After practicing various value studies, students began working on their animal portraits. Sixth graders used the grid drawing method to enlarge small photos of animals onto larger drawing paper; animals were drawn four or five times larger than their original pictures. The grid drawing process helped students to maintain correct proportion in their animal portraits. Value was then used to create contrast, form, texture and variation in their drawings. Students also had the option to add a splash of color to their works, creating a strong focal point in their animal portrait drawing.

The pictures below show the artwork in the skyway; individual photos of each work will be added soon.

Thank you for viewing!

Personal Mandalas

I love getting to know my students!  I really love when an art project helps me to know my students better, both in and out of the school walls! The Personal Mandala Class Project that I have my sixth grade students work on does just that.

At the beginning of each new quarter, I teach the Personal Mandala project to my sixth grade students. This helps me to get to know them better (which is great, when I can see up to 84 sixth graders a quarter!).  I love that I can use this project to allow my students to get to know me better as well - we can all learn so much about one another with the personal symbols we share in a work of art.

Communication is the main idea behind this project. I ask my students to think about what symbols they would use to communicate to their audience about who they are as individuals.  Symbols that represent our past, present and future are used to design the personal mandalas.  Students are tasked with thinking of and creating symbols for their favorites - hobbies, subjects, books, music, movies, food, color, etc. I also ask them to think about what they are thankful for and incorporate that into their designs as well. Some students look to their future and add symbols for where they want to go to college or what career they want as an adult. The possibilities are endless and the results are so personal, individual and unique!

Recently, I have tried to make this a more collaborative project by only giving students a quarter of a circle to design their mandala piece (rather than creating the whole mandala on their own). The mandalas are displayed together in groups of four and are stunning! Examples from multiple classes can be seen below. Enjoy!