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!

Good Minion, Bad Minion

My seventh grade BEARS group did a fabulous job creating our pumpkin for the BMS student council 'pumpkin patch contest'!! So proud of all the hard work they have done!

Eighth Grade Prints!

And the show is up!! Please check out the BMS eighth grade prints in the Rochester skyway display near the public library! Thank you!

State Printmaking

Eighth grade students have been working extremely hard on a printmaking project in the BMS Art Room!  Each student chose a state and conducted research to find interesting facts about their chosen state.  They designed a drawing to represent their state and went through multiple steps to create a linoleum block print.

Once the linoleum printing blocks were carved using various sizes of carving tools, students were ready to print!  Brayers were used to apply printing ink to the surface of the linoleum block.  Students completed their prints by pressing them onto white paper.  Each student made a limited edition of their prints by signing and numbering them and matted them onto a construction paper background.  Artist statements were written to complete the project.

And We're Off!

The 2015-16 school year has gotten off to a great start...and as I find myself nine days away from the end of quarter one, I am realizing how fast the days and weeks are flying by!  This year I am again teaching students in grades 5-8 and we have been busy in the BMS Art Room!

Fifth grade students are learning about using personal symbols in art, applying value in compositions, perspective drawing techniques, ceramic building techniques, color theory, and watercolor painting techniques.

Sixth grade students are learning about personal symbols in art, Aboriginal art, totem animals, ceramic building techniques, grid drawing techniques, and value.

Seventh grade students are learning about 3D construction, personal symbols in art, perspective drawing techniques, ceramic building techniques, photography, artist statement writing and various artistic styles.

Eighth grade students are learning about portrait drawing techniques, micrography, ceramic building techniques, pop art, printmaking, artist statement writing ad paper cutting techniques.

This year I also have the pleasure of working with 7th grade students for my BEARS group - a community group I see a few days a week.  For our enrichment project this year we are bringing back the "Monster Machine" project in conjunction with the kindergarten students in our district.  We are having a blast with this project so far, and we are just at the beginning!

There will be so much more to come in the next days and weeks!  Thank you for viewing :-)

Brooke