This week in art! May 19-23

6th Grade Art:



This week in art, we finished up our letter sculptures! Next week, we'll photograph them for Artsonia and get them graded so that they can go home.

Today, we started our final project for art - a class comic book! Our theme this term is "If I was the teacher..." and students will each create one page for our book. The end result should be pretty awesome! We looked at the work of some other comic artists/cartoonists for inspiration.

Also today, we turned in our second sketchbook drawing: a room design in 1-point perspective.

7th Grade Art:


Today was the start of our pop can drawing assignment! Students brought in a can of pop and were allowed to drink it in class while working on an observational drawing of the can. These pictures will be colored using oil pastels. We will work on them all through next week, and they will be due next Friday, May 30th.

The beginning of the week was spent finishing up our monochromatic self-portrait paintings. Those will be graded and uploaded to Artsonia soon! We also have a sketchbook drawing (black and white hand/contour drawing) due next week on Wednesday, May 28th.

8th Grade Art:


This week, we brought our ceramic mugs home! Today, we drank lemonade out of our mugs to celebrate the conclusion of the unit, and took our work with us at the end of class.

We spent the earlier part of the week finishing up our 8-Bit/Excel art unit, and catching up on any other missing work. Students took screenshots of their Excel designs and uploaded the images to Artsonia using "classroom mode" on our laptops. They also wrote short artist statements about their work, explaining the choices that they made in their designs. You can check out our gallery of designs on Artsonia here.

In other art news...


I have some SUPER EXCITING news to share! One of our seventh graders, Jack R, was selected to be a part of the IAEA (Illinois Art Education Association) Student Art Show!

Sixty-two art teachers throughout the state of Illinois submitted over 725 artwork entries for selection, and only 40 pieces are ultimately chosen to be a part of the show. Jack’s observational colored pencil drawing of an aluminum can in various stages of crush was one of only two artworks created by seventh graders in the collection. This show will be on display at the IAEA conference this fall, and at various other locations throughout the state as the show travels from October 2014 through June 2015.

Jack’s work will be professionally matted and framed for the duration of the show, and there will be a reception honoring the winners, their parents, teachers, and administrators on November 8th, 2014 at the IAEA fall conference in Lisle, IL.

Congratulations Jack! What a great honor!

Thanks for another great week!
- Mrs. L.

This Week in Art: Oct 14-18!

6th Grade Art:


We've been making a BIG MESS in the art room - applying paper mache to our cardboard letterforms!  We will finish this up next week, and start painting & decorating our sculptures after that.



We also began our second sketchbook assignment this week, which is a drawing of a dream room!  It will be due on Monday, October 28th.  You can see past examples of this project on our Artsonia gallery here.

7th Grade Art:


Seventh grade students only had ONE day of art this week due to Outdoor Ed!  It was a double-period and we worked on our sketchbook #2 assignment, which is a black and white drawing inspired by Op Art and zentangles.  This drawing will be due on Monday, October 28th.



Next week, we will go back to working on our monochromatic portrait paintings.

8th Grade Art:


Today was the last day of 8th grade art for quarter 2!  We ended our 8-Bit/Pixel art unit by creating our 8-bit Excel designs in perler beads!  Students who finished early also photographed and uploaded their creations to Artsonia.

It's always a little sad to see students go - I hope that everyone signs up for art classes at York High School next year!



In other news...

Sandburg students will have their portrait artwork on display at the Elmhurst Art Museum’s Education Center from October 21^st to January 10, 2014!  Here's a preview:

These artworks can be viewed during normal museum hours.  Fridays are FREE days at the museum, and it is open late – until 8 pm!  For full details on museum hours and admission, please visit the EAM website at www.elmhurstartmuseum.org

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

Weekly Update: April 15-19

Wow what an exciting week!  It was the first week of art for Term F classes, 6th & 7th grades.  That means it's the last term of the school year!  Then, to top it off, school was cancelled on Thursday (April 18) due to massive rains and flooding in the area!  Thankfully, our school wasn't hit too bad... but the art room did have a little bit of water in it.  I came in to school with some re-arranged furniture, but the floor was mopped up and dry.  No technology was affected, and no supplies or equipment were damaged.  Phew!

6th Grade Art:


During our first week of classes, we began our first sketchbook drawing assignment.  We're drawing our names in block letters, and using 1-point perspective lines to make our names look 3-D. Then, we get to decorate our designs and be as colorful and creative as possible!  These finished drawings will be due next week on Friday.


7th Grade Art:



During our first week of classes, we also began our first sketchbook drawing assignment.  We learned how to draw 3-dimensional box shapes from different points of view using 2-point perspective. These boxes will be incorporated into landscape compositions in a surrealist style. The more weird and crazy, the better! These finished drawings will be due next week on Thursday.


8th Grade Art:



This week, we began a new project: faux taxidermy animal heads made out of plaster. (Our clay is currently air-drying and awaiting kiln firing in the meantime.) We discussed the plaster-building process, and wrote raps, cheers, or jingles about it to re-teach the concept to the class!  It was really funny.

Then, we researched animal images on the internet and printed them out.  We used the pictures to help sketch out our plan for our final pieces.  Today, we begin the armature-building process, which is the underlying structure built from newspaper and tape that the plaster will be applied to.  This will continue on into next week.

We are also in the middle of our second sketchbook assignment, which is a master copy.  Students found and printed out a famous painting that they will attempt to copy (via observation) in colored pencil.  This drawing will be due at the end of next week.


In other news...



Last Friday was our reception for the student art exhibition at Elmhurst Art Museum!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by to view the work.  Here's the section of the exhibition that showcased all of the work from our Sandburg artists!  Congratulations everyone!

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

Functional Glazed Mugs by Eighth Grade

In Eighth grade this year, we made mugs - functional mugs that can be used to actually drink out of here at school!  The idea is that students can use them in their Language Arts classes during SSR (sustained silent reading) in the library while they drink hot chocolate.  This is a tradition that's gone on in our school for several years now, but typically with styrofoam cups or store-bought mugs brought in from home.

I thought to myself, "How fun would it be to promote reading, visual arts, and being environmentally-friendly all in one project?!"  And the mug project was born.  This is our first glaze firing of the year, and my first glaze firing with students, EVER.  I used Teacher's Palette glazes from Amaco.  I think the final projects turned out really cute!

The theme of the mug design is your favorite book or book genre.  We built these mugs by hand, from slab construction.  We rolled a cylinder, gave it a bottom, and added a handle.  The decorating was entirely up to the students!

I used my Hipstamatic iPhone app to take these photos, which give them a bit of a vintage feel.  I started using my iPhone more frequently for photography since last weekend, when Mr. Leban and I went on a family vacation to the Milwaukee Art Museum.  But more about that soon...

Art Makes Any Classroom Nicer!

Mr. Burgett, our Industrial Technology teacher, hung up some Pop Art prints made by art students a few years ago.  We studied hand tools, and drew them up close before making foam printing plates and printing our images in bright colors.  One of each print was saved and given to Mr. Burgett (you know, since they work with hand tools in that class and all...).

I love how the images make a bright and cheerful border around the CAD lab!  When I came in to photograph the final display, he told me that he was going to LEAVE them up, since they make his room look so nice!

Yayy!  I say there should be art for every classroom!

The first firing of the school year.

Seventh and eighth grade students are nearing the completion of their first clay constructions of the year, which means it's time for the first firing of the year!

Seventh grade is working on tiny clay cupcake sculptures that double as keepsake boxes.  This is a project we did in seventh grade last year, too.

Eighth grade is completing an entirely NEW project.  They're making functional mugs that will be glazed (and food safe for drinking), so that they can use their mugs in the library for hot chocolate during silent reading classes!  To keep with the "reading" theme, mugs have been decorated with designs and symbols relating to a favorite book or book genre.

Sandburg at 60!

I'd like to thank everyone involved with this year's end-of-year art exhibition and birthday celebration for Sandburg's 60th!  Special thanks to everyone (students, families, friends, faculty, staff, and community members) who attended the event!

Unfortunately, my photographer never showed up, so all I had was my camera phone to snap a few quick shots. If you have any photos from the event, please please please email me with them!

Above, students work on decorating cardboard pieces of a "universal" puzzle that will become a mural, which will be installed on the walls of Sandburg Middle School next year!  I can't wait to see how huge it ends up becoming!

The crew at Blick Art Materials in Wheaton ran a demonstration table all about fish printing!  It was super fun to paint these squishy fish shapes with bright colors and press paper onto them.  After peeling away to reveal the results, we added eyes and other fun details.  My brother made me a fish print, and it is currently hanging up outside the art room.  Have you spotted it yet?

Mrs. Draganowski does face painting and body art.  All night she made incredible designs on the faces of students and visitors!  I had fun with the stencils she had out for us to try.  I made a pink and blue unicorn on my arm, and added glitter!

Did you come to the show?  What fun things did you see and do?

Graduation Program Design Contest

Congratulations to Maria, the winner of our 8th grade Graduation Program Cover Design contest!  All 8th grade students are welcome to submit designs, and I choose the finalists.  The winner is chosen by vote from the 8th grade teachers.  This year, there were eight finalists.  You can see all of the finalists' designs on our Artsonia gallery.

CONGRATULATIONS MARIA!!!

Please come to our art show!

"Sandburg at 60" is this year's culminating fine arts event, with dual purposes: 

1. To celebrate the 60th birthday of Sandburg Middle School
2. To showcase student achievement and talent in the fine arts

Please come if you can!  Students, families, community members, and alumni are all welcome!  There will be refreshments, art demonstrations, face painting, a community mural that you can participate in, and more!  Festivities will begin at 6:30 pm and continue until 8:30 pm. 

There will be a special performance of the choir, band, and orchestra in the auditorium.  There will also be art exhibits in the cafeteria, library, and hallways.  The crochet coral reef club will be working on their crochet projects in the library, and tours of the building will be available that evening.

Fun for all!

Clay Days!

This week and last week, we had pottery wheel days in 8th grade.  We had to work in shifts, since we only have 8 wheels total, but each student gets to have a whole class period to work on the wheel. 

Working on the pottery wheel is hard!  I tell students that it's okay to NOT end up with a finished pot!  If they end up making a little something, that's fine, but it's not a requirement.  I am not a trained ceramicist, so I had a bit of a struggle to learn how to properly use the wheel.  In fact, it took me the whole school year to get the hang of it!  I made sure to share this fact with students, so they would not feel bad if they struggled, too.

Once you DO get the hang of it, it's really fun.  Mr. Gail and Ms. Read even joined us last Friday to try to throw some clay!  It was pretty cool to see them get their hands dirty with us!

another reason to love teaching art

Every once in a while I'm grading papers, head down, chugging away at my work... not much going on.  Then it happens.  I spot something on a student artwork that makes me smile and giggle.  I can't help but have to share it with others.  This is one of those instances.

I was grading the sixth grade "Where the Wild Things Are" paintings and I spotted this crazy little guy cannon-balling off of a diving board in the background of Gillian's artwork.  I've circled it and pointed it out in the image below:

...and here's a close-up:

This little guy looks so happy in this picture, like "Whoopee!" as he hurls himself into the pale blue water below.  I love spotting little details like this.  It makes me smile, and it makes my day a little brighter.  I'm reminded what it's like to have the imagination of a sixth grader.

Thanks, Gillian.

p.s. A very special thank-you to everyone who voted in the Oak Park education referendum on April 5th.  Mr. Leban and I are very excited that he'll have a job next year, and that Oak Park K-8 schools will continue to have art classes!

Student Art Show!

Today was the artist's reception for the Elmhurst Art Museum K-8 Art Exhibition.  We had lots of parents and families that came to see the artwork!  Check out these crowds!

I approve of this artwork!  Thanks to Ms. Liang, the art teacher from Bryan, for taking this photo of me.

More of our awesome student art on display.

Above, these are a couple of our star lanterns from 8th grade students.  Below, some more shots of the exhibit artwork.

The art show will be on display between now and April 9th, 2011.  I'm going to put all of our Sandburg artwork into a special display at our "Sandburg at 60" birthday celebration and fine arts exhibition on May 25th.  More on that show coming up soon!

Have a great Spring Break everyone!  See you all in a week!

Plaster Hands

Eighth grade students recently completed a plaster sculpture unit where they used their hands as molds to wrap plaster to form a cast.  They then had to use their plaster cast as part of a sculpture with a theme.  The pose of the hand, paint colors chosen, and additional items added (including the base) all had to tie in to the student's chosen theme. 

The final part of this project was a presentation to the class all about their sculpture.  Each student wrote up an index card with what they were going to say.  These index cards also serve as informational placards when hung next to the student's work in the display cases.

I was sad that I didn't have enough room to put EVERYONE'S work up - they all turned out really nice!  Some students were excited to take their project home right away.  You can see photos of all the individual sculptures on our Artsonia gallery.  I even added artist statements with the information from their index cards on the Artsonia gallery for those students who typed theirs up and saved it for me.

(Yeah, I like the display case photos better without the glare, too.  Unfortunately, not all display cases give me that option...!)