Lesson 1-B

There is no way for me to know if any of this is useful...except for the great video sent from a student yesterday....but I guess, no surprise to me, I love teaching art.
Doing this makes me feel normal.
send pics - nhelmsworth@pps.net

Well with school being closed for awhile longer - I wonder if we teachers will be directed to provide online learning - so the technology part no doubt, will be improving on this end.

In the meantime.
Be inspired by this:
2 assignments/options- 
CALLING ALL 5th graders - for the "perspective drawing of your room" - keep reading below



Lets look at Vincent Van Gogh's  painting of his room.
How can you:

• Use it as a guide and make it out of legos?
• Use it as a guide and draw it with markers
• Use it as a guide and make a 3-D model with paper (3rd graders remember your paper sculpture skills from last fall) - printer paper and tape, crease long paper for strength, roll paper into little straws for strength 
• Use your play pieces - Barbie -other figures, washcloth, stuff to make a model (I really want a picture of this set up)
• Other creative ideas  

Okay - 5th Graders - especially for you. Draw your room! 
OR draw Van Gogh's room using 1-point perspective. (of course-anyone else is welcome to try, and you may surprise yourself)
If you don't have a ruler - use the straight edge of a book - OR just free-hand draw. It's okay.

Here are 2 refresher tutorials to get you started.
You might want to do BOTH as practice, then take the skills you learned and APPLY them to drawing your own room. 
2 YouTube videos below:
basics of drawing a room 
this one is a bedroom with bed to one side like Van Gogh 

Extra credit - try drawing the kitchen! 

Get busy - this will take awhile - but should be quite fun! 

Keep learning - Ms. H.

whoo-hooo - You students always amaze me!

Yay - for this brilliant interpretation (from a 4th grader) of Alma Thomas's style going from this:
 

To THIS:

 

Yay for this creative interpretation of Alma Thomas' work in LEGOS
Love it!

Lesson 1-A

 3/17/20

Again - slow and steady...enjoy the process. :)

Okay - If you did Lesson 1 or want more challenge, here is the next step.

Alma Thomas was an art teacher and artist - (one of the many reasons I think she was so special). Alma Thomas link to review if needed
So as an art teacher, she probably was very familiar with "Starry Night" by Van Gogh.

If you take a few minutes you can see how her paintings were inspired by Van Gogh and the Impressionists. 

Impressionism is a style of painting that focuses on the effects of light and atmosphere on  colors and forms. Impressionist artists often used broken brush strokes rather than smooth and unnoticeable ones and also used many colors to paint scenes of every day life.

Impression - Sunrise - Claude Monet 1872 - a rougher brush style compared to below

Sunday Afternoon... by George Seurat 1886

You can also notice how her work is quite different - though she was interested in capturing some of the same concepts - glowing stars, beauty of night sky, wind, clouds....nature

Look at this slide show with your next assignment.
Alma Thomas- Van Gogh Challenge 
If you send me pictures of what you create, I will add them to the slideshow as examples.

nhelmsworth@pps.net

Have fun.

 

New way of thinking

Hi Everyone - parents and kids alike,

Parents understand how we need to have distance to keep everyone as healthy as possible and this is going to be our reality for the next few weeks.

I miss seeing the students already...and know families are going to be having a hard time keeping the kids busy.

So - while I am not completely up to speed on how to do online art assignments - and am unsure if this is the correct venue...I will begin here with some links that can get you/the kids (of any age) started.

So this is my rough start:
REMEMBER - doing any of these lessons fast defeats the purpose. It is the PROCESS that is enjoyable...so slow down and enjoy the thinking and making.

Many of these lessons could be linked sequentially - as that is the way I think....so I'll number the lessons - though I think they could work stand-alone as well.

I would like you to send me any pictures of your completed work. Please!
nhelmsworth@pps.net

To keep this simple - here is a video used with the 2nd graders last week. 

Lesson 1- 3/16/20

Alma Thomas- African American artist
https://youtu.be/Ek3msO7GJ6w

Not everyone has art supplies at home. Ohhh fun - let's see how this can be done with other materials! That in itself is a creativity challenge. All Right, bring it on!

pebbles
leaves
twigs
legos
paper clips
???? 
Take a picture and send it to me! 
nhelmsworth@pps.net

Below it will be additional links for broader thinking.
Alma Thomas slide show 

Alan Bean - real astronaut who walked on the moon, and became an artist 
6 minute video

Stories read from the International Space Station 
34 minutes, but can be broken into sections.

New lesson posted tomorrow! 

Love to you all in this unsettling time!

Ms. H.

So much is happening....

Winter is the busiest and most fun part of the year in the art room because all classes are in full-swing.

Here are some pictures of what is happening at different levels.
Incredible work - if I do say so myself!

Kindergarten -Winter themes

1st grade - Family Portraits

2nd grade - Birds

3rd grade - Munter Paintings

4th grade- Plant Paintings

5th grade Action Self-Portrait Sculptures - in process

It's that time of year....

Well we have successfully completed the first couple months of school and are looking towards conference time.
Time to update what has been happening in each art classroom. Please check each tab to read what the students have been learning.

We were lucky enough to hire Ms. Havner to share the teaching in Kindergarten and 1st grade. I am enjoying working with her and learning from her perspective. The other days of the week she is an art teacher at Sitton School, another PPS elementary. Ms. Havner is at Capitol Hill on Tuesdays and tells me she is delighted with the interest and engagement of our students.

Start to the year

Greetings!

We are off to a start of another school year.
The art schedule is quite herky-jerky now, but that will be remedied in the next few weeks, I expect. Some of your children have probably mentioned that at home.

I am optimistic and we are doing lots of new projects at various grade levels. Here is one for 4th grade. I came across this video as I want the students to know more about Lois Elhert - the wildly successful artist illustrator, as we used her book "Cuckoo" as a jumping off point.





Students made "articulated" birds that are now flying in the hallway. This is a fun lead-in to the next artist we learn about - Charlie Harper. (In teaching terms that is called "scaffolding" -  specific incremental skill/concept building).

BUT - back to the video- this is personal for me. Lois Elhert talks about the importance of having a work space as a child. Many of my students have told me about how they too have a space to make art at home. That is SO important for their development as healthy humans.
https://youtu.be/GVJpfUdWFXE

The personal truth in this is that I had a workspace during my childhood too - and it was an emotional refuge, as art continues to be for me today. My childhood was rocky, with divorce and unsettled parents - but my work area was a waiting place for me, a place of mental engagement and a place of peace. Making art (stuff) can be so soothing.
I know that is why I truly LOVE art, (as sappy as that sounds) it has been my best friend, my companion through many upsetting times.
(I have more stories, of art keeping me afloat during rough times, but enough for now).

Even if you don't want your children to grow up to be artists (or cowboys - I do have a son who is a cowboy!...) teaching them self-calming skills and practices are a life long gift.

I honor my role as your child's art teacher. Thank you for the opportunity.

Sincerely-
Nancy Helmsworth