Marc Chagall Inspired Art

I'm going through a ton of old pictures and trying to catch up on posting lessons. Here's a Marc Chagall inspired lesson. 

This lesson idea comes from The Incredible Art Department

It was done with oil pastels. I've found that students get tired when they have to color in such large areas with oil pastels, and have to really be encouraged to finish it. Even though these turned out  pretty, it's not a project I've ever repeated because they students seem to really complain about the process.

I think the student's favorite thing about this project was telling their "story". When everyone completed their art, I gave each student a chance to tell their story and they really loved that.

I think this would be a great home school supplement for a vacation or field trip, even on a smaller scale as a journal entry. 

Am I a hoarder?

So my husband has called me a hoarder; others have referred to me as a pack rat. But I just can't help it... I can't throw things away. I realize maybe it's gotten out of control when I can't throw away dried up paint. There's something about it-it's shiny on one side, stretchy and beautiful, pure color.

So yes, I admit it, I peel them off the plates and palettes and keep them in a bowl, just waiting for some sort of inspiration to hit me on how to use them.  I saw a Robert Burridge post where he had painted some really cool abstract "circus birds" and used paint chips. Well, as I was decorating the outside of an old book that I'm making into a journal, it finally hit me.  I needed something to cover the binding and was so glad I had collected my little bowl of dried paint chips.

I just used some gel medium to glue the paint circles down the side. I think it added a really cool dimension to it. Any other ideas of something else I could use them for? I'm trying to come up with a lesson that incorporates them.

Artistic Gifts

I love getting hand made gifts, do you? I also love giving them, but never seems like I have enough time to create enough to give to everyone I want. I usually do a better job of posting my Christmas creations during the holidays, but this year I took a break from the computer so I could focus on more on my family. So... I hope you're not too tired of Christmas to read a quick post highlighting some of the crafts and artistic gifts I created during the holidays. 

 We made some of the above burlap Christmas tree door hangers to give to friends and teachers.

 I did a lot of Santa paintings this year, both to give and for others to give.

We went with all hand made ornaments on our real tree this year-first time ever! Here's a cute ornament  I made from a jar lid. Got this idea from Better Homes and Gardens. 

I painted some abstract collage crosses for some of my special friends.

I had to recreate some cute hand painted ornaments I'd seen at the local Hallmark Store-the $22 price tag was a little too high for me. I did these by first pouring acrylic paint into a clear glass ornament and then embellished with metallic paint and puff paint.

Helped one of my little bits paint a picture for Grandma (actually she did this all on her own!)

I had so many students this year who created paintings to give to their relatives for Christmas that it inspired me to have my kids do the same. What a great gift anytime of the year!

Top Art Lesson Posts for 2011

I wanted to thank all my readers for your comments and visits to my blog. If you are a blogger yourself, you know the time it takes to write a post, edit pictures, create links, create a tutorial, etc... Sometimes I wonder why I do it;  but then I remember how inspired I've been by other art blogs out there and how excited my students get when they see their art online. I also love getting comments from my readers and knowing that I've helped them in some way-that really makes posting my lessons and student artwork worthwhile!

 If you are new to my blog, or a maybe a first time visitor, or even a regular.... I'm so glad you are here!  I'd like to take a few minutes and highlight some of my top/favorite posts from 2011. If you aren't a follower yet, will you PLEASE FOLLOW ME on blogger or on Facebook. There are lots of options for receiving my feeds in the right sidebar. My goal for 2012 is to revamp my blog, so bear with me while I try to figure out ways to offer my readers more creative content, in a more organized fashion. And as always, I'd love to have your feedback or suggestions. Here's a sampling of my favorites from the year-just click on the title to take you directly to the post.

Art Journals for Kids

Tips for Acrylic Painting with Kids

Mixed Media Bird Cages

Painting Peacocks with Acrylics

Folk Art Neighborhood Paintings

Expressing Yourself with Clay

Drawing and Painting Pumpkins

Potato Stamping Family Portraits

Thanks for visiting and comeback in 2012!!!!!!

A Thank You to my Top Referring Art Lesson Blogs

I wanted to wrap up 2011 by thanking all the wonderful art blogs who not only inspire, challenge and help me, but send me new readers my way each day.

Thanks so much to my top referring blog buddies!  Here's my countdown (drum roll, please). Be sure to check out these great blogs if you haven't yet, or if it's been awhile:


6) Deep Space Sparkle Art Lessons for Kids. This blog has wonderful pictures, tons of lessons and great PDF lesson tutorials you can purchase for a minimal price-believe me they are worth it. I love her art and literature lessons!

5) Lines, Dots and Doodles  has a variety of creative lessons ideas from elementary students.

4)Mary Making features highlights from Mary's elementary art classes, and is one of my favorites with innovative and original lesson ideas.

3)Painted Paper In The Art Room has fun, colorful and original painted paper projects, art and literature lessons and more!

2) Teach Kids Art gives great photos and instructions with almost every project post! Great site with a variety of lesson ideas for parents, art teachers and home schoolers.

1) And my TOP referring blog friend is....... Art Projects for Kids has class tested lessons for K5 and beyond. Kathy's blog is organized, easy to navigate, packed with lesson ideas and she has wonderful mural PDFs you can purchase.

Thank You again soooo much! I am so honored that each of you would list me in your side bar and send your readers my way.  My best wishes for a wonderfully artistic year in 2012!

Painting Christmas Trees

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It's so simple to learn how to paint a beautiful Christmas tree. I did a mommy and me post a couple years ago, and we used the same technique here, just deleted the stencil part and drew a triangle for our tree. These are painted in acrylic paints on a 16 x 20 canvas. Students were 1st through 4th grade and completed them in a 1-1/2 hour workshop.

We used Metallic gold and copper paint for the background.

Three colors of green and sea sponges to do the texture on the Christmas trees.

 

Then they have a blast adorning their tree!

I have more Painting Santa workshops too-here's some more awesome Santas!