Printed Rainbow Serpents as inspired by Aboriginal folktales

The fantastic First-graders concluded their year with a literature and art study that combined traditional folktales of Australian Aborigines with color theory, printmaking, and basic composition themes. The results are whimsical and wonderful. Well done!

International Music

1) Gajah Mina from Tyler Yamin on Vimeo.


I'm not sure if you've heard, but our World Music Program has been stellar this trimester, with Brazilian rhythm, dance, and song teacher Stefanie Schmitz and Balinese Gamelan musician Tyler Yamin welcoming our young musicians to encounter unique instruments and traditions.

Our PTA, through the Center for World Music, has arranged for a complete Gamelan orchestra to be hosted on our campus for our students' use. As students enter they remove their shoes and take their positions. Within minutes they are creating fascinating, mesmerizing music. Examples of two Gamelan pieces are found above.



 

Celebrating Art Together

Student-designed art show programs (I have one or two left if you'd like a copy)

Thank you for attending our annual Del Mar Heights Art Show! The media and innovations center was transformed with vibrant, thoughtful work representing every child in the school on exhibit. Thank you for supporting the creative work of our students and taking your time to enjoy the evening with me.

Castles of Character

First grade is very close to my heart, as you know. As all of us who have taught first grade know, September is a time of growth and challenge for the new first-grader. With this in mind we are integrating a lesson about citizenship, responsibility, and good character with fundamental line work and depth of understanding about the coloration of the great Paul Klee. We started by reading a Klee-inspired book, "The Cat and the Bird". We observed analogous color and strong linear form in contrast and took a strong liking to the castles in the book. After discussing what developing good character means we decided we would make castles of character- strong, determined, brave, responsible, and interesting. Drawings were done using guided-line technique with rulers and meeting three guidelines: varied height, overlapping buildings, and planning space for color. Later, wax resistance formed guidelines for this challenging watercolor work. Waterproof marker provided the final layer of markings and defined the castles well. Well done first-graders!

Magical Moments with a Teacher: Negative Space Sea scene

For this year’s Magical Moments with a Teacher afternoon I welcomed some eager artists into the art studio. We first sipped on self-created smoothies while setting our cerulean backgrounds to canvas. Next, we created negative-space stencils to guide our compositions. Finally we used on-the-brush paint mixing techniques to create surrounding colors that highlight the shapes of our stencils. They are wonderfully cheery little creations of which our little artists can be proud.

Rainbow Serpent Prints and Assemblages: Inspired by Australian Aboriginal Traditions

Rainbow Serpent Prints and Assemblages: Inspired by Australian Aboriginal Traditions

Through our Del Mar Heights Global Village theme, first grade studies the continent and culture of Australia. Students are able to encounter animals, geography, and history as they learn about “The Land Down Under”. They also learn about the storytelling traditions of the Aborigines, including their fascinating Dreamtime tales.

Many of these tales involve a serpent of many colors, typically called The Rainbow Serpent. In some stories it is a peaceful being- a rainbow. In others the serpent takes on dangerous or mischievous qualities.

The first graders represented this mythical character in print and assemblage with great success. We began by visiting several Rainbow Serpent Tales, noting characteristics we might include in our artwork. Then we learned about print block creation and the use of  printmaking tools. We crafted our own patterned print  blocks to give the serpents’ skins their designs. The print blocks were inked and printed on large sheets of paper which were later cut, using math considerations to determine the cut points. These strips were layered and formed the serpents in one of two assemblage techniques: stacked or coiled. Finally, a head and tail were drawn using simple shapes with telling details. Bold black outlines complete the pieces.

Well done, First Grade!

Every Snowflake is Unique

These oil pastel drawings by the first grade students are part of a school-wide series of self portraits in the works. For the piece we discussed perspective from below as a follow up to our work with aerial perspective in our snowmen from above project. Then we learned about portraits as a way to think about a representation of oneself. We determined the hair and a special shirt (you know, the one that the first grader just must wear today) would be paramount in showing who is the subject of the drawing. Oh, and how about a few missing teeth to indicate the very first grade artist? After a guided drawing we learned to use oil pastels and revisited work with rulers to create straight lines and flat crayon technique to provide background texture.

In all, we have a nice piece that will be a fond reminder of a first grade point in time for years to come that just happens to be rich with learning through the visual arts standards.

I really love these.

Aerial Perspective Snowmen

First Grade

    The ideas of perspective and sight lines are slippery to the youngest of our students. They struggle with placing characters’ feet on the ground while a horizon line falls behind them or with seeing that when a side of a face is drawn then only one eye can be seen. However, this struggle presents an opportunity to create a dramatic effect in composition to help draw attention to the idea of perspective.

These snowmen were created using multiple-step directions and some careful compass work. Yes, even first-graders can successfully use compasses in drawing. The layers of depth help students to see that distance is created with scale and proximity and that layers must be clearly delineated- in this case with the snowman arms and scarves between the snowballs.

The background designs were self-generated but fell within the guidelines of using a grid pattern to create a formal feel to a snowfall effect. Simply using the rulers to create the grid offered a way to discuss math concepts as we moved through the project.

Enjoy these fun and festive snowmen!

Bat's that!

Our first grade artists have completed their multi-media bats. Issues of contrast, texture, patterning, watercolor technique, cartooning, and line choice settled nicely alongside classroom studies of these fascinating flying mammals. Well done, first graders!