Saguaro Cactus Dwellers

 Ella, 2nd grade

 Delaney, 5th grade

 Raya, kindergarten

Her first art class with her big sister - what fun!

 Mia, 2nd grade

Fiona, 2nd grade

Sydney, 3rd grade

The theme for my September/October class is Animals and Their Habitats. For our first project we learned about the sagauro cactus of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico. We learned that the Gila woodpecker will make a nest and wait for it to dry before moving in for a stay. And almost like a hotel, it will leave and another inhabitant, the tiny Elf Owl will seek shelter in the cavity.

We created glue line cactus and simple horizon lines on roofing felt. I reminded them to make sure to create a hole for their woodpecker or owl to inhabit. These were put up to dry and we created our birds using chalk pastels. The following week, the children used pastels to add color to their cactus and backgrounds and glued their cut birds to their saguaro.

Update: Be sure to use Natural roofing felt, Not synthetic, which can contain fiber glass. 

Looking back on the past 6 years of art projects.....apparently, I Love Owls!
They do make a Great subject for an autumn art lesson.

                           Next up, coral reefs and sea turtles.....

Summer at a Glance

Here's a quick look at a sampling of our summer projects. A Big thanks to all my students for making this a Fun and Creative 9 weeks. I appreciate each and every one of you! :)

- Miss Mary

Mixed Media Pelicans

I always marvel at how pelicans can spot a fish as they fly above the sea, swooping down into the water, grabbing them in their large bills and gulping them down. Seagulls on the other hand are notorious opportunists, hanging around beach-goers, waiting for dropped remnants of lunch. I once had one fly away with a an entire corn dog while I went to grab some napkins at a place in Santa Monica. This is not meant to be a seagull bashing post - just an observation.  :)

This project was inspired by a gorgeous award-winning piece by a 1st grader in the Coastal Art and Poetry Contest. My students created their birds using their choice of chalk or oil pastels following a basic direct line drawing lesson. Wings were done with the scratch art technique using oil pastel and acrylic paint. Many of my young students took this as an opportunity to carve their initials, names and doodles. (Funny I hadn't anticipated that.) Backgrounds were created on a separate board using acrylics and watercolors. (Hindsight - I would have offered a wider variety of colors for their skies to yield more diverse results.) These are big poster sized pieces by kindergarten through 5th graders.

my experiment

Yesterday was the last class of my summer art series. I intend to do a little pelican (and seagull) watching and soak up the last gasps of summer before my fall classes begin.

Alley Cat Collages

This project was inspired by the art of Ezra Jack Keats, (one of my favorite children's book authors/illustrators) and more specifically his book, "Hi Cat" seen here. I love his expressive, painterly brushstrokes and use of collage to portray an urban landscape. So my students used cut painted paper placemats full of brushstrokes, spills and even doodles, just as they did with these Mixed Media Cityscapes. They could add more paint, stamped letters, or scribbles to their backgrounds to make them their own. Stray kitties could be done in a choice of media on black or white paper. The kids created the top of a trash can using scraps of roofing felt and silver paint. Some of my students really embraced the messy, expressive aspect of this project

(Artwork by k-5th graders)

Moonlit Fireflies

If you catch a firefly and keep it in a jar

you may find you have lost a tiny star

If you let it go then, back into the night,

You may see it once again, Star bright

- Lillian Moore

My Draw, Paint, Print, Collage classes revisited this lesson I did in 2011. Summer seemed like the perfect time to try it again. Although we don't have fireflies where we live, some of my students have seen them in their travels east. I was thrilled the first time I spotted hundreds of little flickers of light, one summer evening while living in Atlanta.

Children had the option of creating a cartoon firefly or a more realistic one by following a basic direct line drawing lesson. Our branches were illuminated with a silver metallic marker - a great tip from Natalie at smART Class, who did her own great version of this lesson here. I added floral wire antennae to the cut fireflies before they were glued to their moonlit painted backgrounds.
(Artwork by children ages 5-11)

In Honor of Cecil

Acrylic and tempera paintings (from 2013 and 2011) inspired by the art of Leroy Neiman

Newspaper Cityscapes with Fireworks

 Jackson Pollock fireworks show (by Calvin)

This fun and "everything but the kitchen sink" lesson is a take on this mixed media cityscape project I did a few months ago. "Miss Mary, the 4th of July is over." I told my classes, "There is a fireworks show at Disneyland every night at 9:35. You can even hear it from where we live!" (about 15 miles away) Each child created a cityscape outline using cardboard pieces and black acrylic, using the edges to make prints. After these were dry, they painted them with watercolors. Windows were created with circle or square prints in bright colored acrylics. They glued company names from magazines to personalize their cities. Fireworks were done on a separate piece of construction paper with small brushes and acrylics, with a final flicking of paint. And last, we located out cities on water and created reflections using oil pastels with a watercolor wash. There is a lot going on with these, clearly evident on our tables (and even floors) at the end of this project. But what Fun!