Bamboozled!

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          Thoughts:  One of my most successful projects with first and second graders was leaf prints.  As I hope you’ll see from the art work I’ve posted, the results can be stunning. I began looking into doing leaf prints different ways, trying many kinds of leaves along the way.  I finally…

Hola Mola!

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  Thought:  While teaching art I came across some beautifully colored textiles from the Kuna Indians, who live on some islands off the coasts of Panama and the northern part of South America.  For years, teachers have been using mola art to inspire children to create their own wonderful designs.  Many of the original mola…

A New Leaf, Part 2: Final Draft

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    Thought:  In this project we will use our sketch from Part 1 to create a finished work of art. Project: We will use oil pastels to create a portrait of a tree in the early part of spring. Age:  Grade 2 up to adult.  This project can be done in the art classroom…

New Year’s Revolution

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Well, I recently discovered what life is like without a working computer. It took us six weeks, including three trips, to get it fixed. Other than falling behind with my music and the JMG for Kids blog, I discovered that, all of a sudden, I was getting a lot more done. There’s a lesson in…

A New Leaf, Part 1: Sketching

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  Thought: Here in Texas it won’t be long until new leaves start sprouting from trees and shrubs. There’s always a certain healing magic about the grayish brown structures of trees and shrubs showing those first green leaf buds. It’s all about renewal and another step in the cycle of seasons. Project: I’d like us…

Thanks, Part 2.

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Thoughts:  It occurred to me, as an afterthought, that designing a thank you card  would be a terrific idea, not only for this holiday season, but for the whole year.  Maybe some of you could design a card you can take to the printers and have copies made up that would fit into standard-size envelopes.…

Thanks.

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  Thoughts:  I love this time of year.  Everything is changing.  There is a certain unpredictability that doesn’t happen much in the summers here in east-central Texas, where you can be reasonably sure you’re getting a long string of days with strong sunshine, temps in the high 90’s or 100’s, along with humidity.  Luckily, though, we…

Sweet Harvest

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  Thoughts: This is my favorite time of year. The weather is getting cooler, which makes it more fun to be outside. My garden is going strong. I’ve put a greenhouse on one side of our house, and I’ve replaced some old raised beds in our garden. My favorite holidays are in the fall as…

Hold That Line

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  Thoughts:  This time I wanted to suggest something very simple (as far as materials go, anyway). Contour drawing is an exercise to develop eye, hand, brain coordination while carefully observing your subject.  Today we’ll do a modified version so that more students can experience some success.  This goes back to a project I wrote…

A Little Henri

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Thought: This time around I wanted to get away from paints, pencils, crayons, etc. I also wanted to a closer look at the work of Henri Matisse. (Born in 1869 and died in 1954.) His principal interests were form and color, so he developed a series of colorful paper collages. Project:  We will produce a…
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