February Mystery Artist

Thank you to all the students that did research and learned about the January Mystery Artist and designer of the Vietnam Memorial, Maya Lin.  

(The winning guess will be announced tomorrow morning)

Didn't submit a guess?

Don't worry, you can participate in the February Mystery Artist.  

Be sure to submit your guess by the end of the month.

February Mystery Artist Facts:

I was an African American painter.

I lived from 1917 to 2000.

My art showed stories of African American life.

                                                                          

One of my most famous works was called the Migration Series, which consisted of 60 paintings!

Art Teachers Make Art Too!

This past Monday we gathered together as a Tri-Town for a professional development day.  I'm sure that many people have questions about what happens on such a day.

Well, what doesn't happen!

We discussed assessment measures and shared techniques for measurable goals.  We reviewed our report card standards to ensure that there is consistency across the towns.  We discussed the latest trends in art education.

And....We made art!!

Take a look at the Tri-Town art teachers exploring and creating. 

Middleton's Mrs. Smullin exploring her own version of a tunnel book. 

 It has been so wonderful to have such an experienced teacher filling in for Mrs. Winchell

Boxford's Ms. Dalton testing and trying out watercolor techniques and brushes.

Topsfield's Mrs. Lang working in mixed media.

And here's what I did...

I learned a new printmaking technique from Mrs. Lang. Its a monoprint process (makes just 1 image) that allows you to use pencil and pressure to transfer your image or drawing to your paper.

This is my finished piece - I love working with maps in my art!

I loved this technique and I can't wait to bring it to my classes at Howe Manning.

What a great day!

Gong Hey Fat Choy!

We're celebrating Chinese New Year in Kindergarten Art! 

Kindergarten artists are learning about the upcoming Chinese New Year.  Students compared and contrasted Chinese New Year to how we celebrate the New Year in our culture.  This year is the year of the monkey.  Most students also discovered that they born in the year of the Tiger...Roar!  Click on the monkey image to learn more about the Chinese zodiac signs.

Kindergartners are spreading good fortune and luck with festive coin trees.  They traced hands and then crumbled paper to add bark texture.  Hands were then painted to create trunks of gold and fortune.  

During week 2 students cut and glued their hand branches.  

Printmaking techniques (stamping different round shapes) were then used to add coins of all sizes.  

Have a prosperous and good year!

Contour Lines in Complementary Colors!

How can we use planning or drafts in art to influence our final work?

Second grade artists are building on their contour line skills to create bicycle drawings from observations.  

In the process, they discovered it all starts with a plan! 

Their challenge was to zoom in on a section of the bicycle and draw that using contour lines.  View finders were a huge help for this task.  

These budding artists honed in on their observation skills - it was so fun to watch!

Students also learned to use planning sheets as a tool to brainstorm their ideas and practice sketching first.  

These thumbnail sketches then were developed into their final drawings.  

Its visual brainstorming at its best! 

Finally, these 2nd graders had a lesson in complementary colors as they had to choose 1 pair to use for their final artwork.  It was tricky creating different values of their two colors to make sure their paintings had interest. I think they did great!

What do you think of their final work?

January Mystery Artist

Happy New Year Everyone!

The January Mystery Artist is up and ready to go.   Make sure to do your research and enter your guess:

I am a Chinese American Sculpture and Landscape Artist. 
At 21 years old, I designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Landscape is the main inspiration for my work. 
I design my art with the goal to “make people aware of their surroundings”. 

2nd Grade Contour Line Drawings

How can we use line to capture the basic details of an object?

Mrs. LaVangie's second grade class is exploring contour lines, or the outline of an object. They watched a fun video from art teacher Tricia Fugelstad to truly discover what a contour line is.

2nd grade artists then learned that practice makes perfect. They experimented with drawing many different objects in the art room; scissors, glue bottles, ink brayers, paint brushes, and more. I was so impressed with how they were able to capture the objects with simple lines. Take a look! 

December Mystery Artist and Why Children Should Participate!

I am so excited to announce that there were 57 guesses for the November Mystery Artist, Eric Carle. This is by far the most we've had to date.

Enter a guess for December, you might need to do a little research to get this one!

December Mystery Artist Facts: 

I was born in 1894, in New York.

I was an American Painter and Illustrator.

I lived in Stockbridge, MA where I have a museum named after me.

My artwork appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post for almost 5 decades!

I’m most known for these magazine covers that showed everyday American life. 

 * Why should our students participate in the Mystery Artist? *

Researching art from the past and the artists who create it gives a snapshot into what life was like. Art history provides a history lesson in a unique way.  So many of our students are visual learners. What better way to learn about history than to view works of art. This article from the Metropolitan Museum of Art talks about the importance of this! Click on the icon below to read the article.

 Going to a museum offers a an opportunity to view these mini history lessons.  If you can't get there then the Mystery Artist could be the next best thing!  

Massachusetts Visual Arts Frameworks PreK–12 STANDARD 10: Interdisciplinary Connections Students will use knowledge of the arts and cultural resources in the study of the arts, English language arts, foreign languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering.