Happy Accidents

A great side effect of any art project involving cut paper are the scraps.  This week, my center had a door decorating contest, and my class created a literacy-themed autumn scene using all manner of paper products.  I might have gone a little too far in a few places, but it was worth it:

My favorite part of creating the door was making finger-painted leaves, as seen below:

 In order to get the desired effect we drew leaf outlines on one side of the paper and let our kids finger paint as a group on the opposite side.  

Once the paint was dry I cut out the leaves and found myself with a giant pile of beautiful scraps.  

I decided to put the scraps to good use and give my kids the opportunity to make some Matisse-inspired paper collages.  

The finished product will be displayed at our deck party, along with fall-themed work from various classes.  There will be follow-up pictures soon!

Mosaics

There's nothing super-original about mosaics, but it's always fun, and Philadelphia happens to be home to Isaiah Zagar, a fantastic local artists who creates beautiful mosaic murals all over the city.  Here's his Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Zagar  

and here are some examples of his work:

                                        

After a brief discussion about mosaics and how they are made, Preschool and Pre-K experimented with a variety of objects to make their own mosaic tile...

I used a pretty standard airdry clay, it worked really well.  I would not recommend playdough, because it tends to crack as it dries, and it will stick to the table.  I gave them an assortment of beads, clear plastic pieces, tiles and buttons, but really anything you have laying around will work.

...I would also recommend flouring the table first, or working on something that can be removed after the project is complete, because I did have a little trouble getting the tiles off of the table.  

...It was also fun to teach them how to make patterns and imprints in the clay using either clay tools or some of the textured beads.  One of my students actually worked almost entirely with imprints.

These were the final pieces, and I am very excited about them.  The kids had a really great time with this project, and I think we are going to try to work with clay more often.

OWLS!

I have seen a few variations of this project and wanted to try it out with my kids.  I am always looking for new, creative projects involving toilet paper rolls because they are EVERYWHERE and they seem to have a million applications.  I helped create the shape of the owl by bending the center of the TP rolls in to form the classic owl "ears", and I also cut out feet and a tail (older kids can do this step themselves with teacher help).  We used brown and white tempera paint and some natural feathers to decorate our owls.

They're a little creepy without eyes... 

...Once students were finished painting their owls I helped them attach eyes and a beak.  

...I included the owls in the city we just created, either flying in the sky...

...or perched on top of buildings...

This was a great project idea, I'm glad I got a chance to give it a shot.  Check out these websites for great examples of this project:  http://naturalkidsteam.com/wordpress/2010/11/kid-craft-owls/

http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/2011/08/soup-can-owl.html
http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2010/11/owl-crafts-for-kids.html

Recent Sketches and Whatnot...

So, I'm brainstorming ideas for this show I will be having in a few months at a cafe called Chhaya in lovely South Philly.  I haven't really fleshed out what I want to do yet, but I've been trying to sketch out some thoughts, and this is the stuff I've been working on: 

These are all pen, ink & gesso on paper.  Some are inspired by old and strange photos I've dug up in local curio shops and the great big interweb, some are just images that come out of my hands when I'm not looking...

...this one was based on a Mexican bingo board...

...this one is based on an episode of the X-Files involving Agent Scully's long lost daughter who turns out to be a government experiment.  Long story...

...I found a photograph of my dad posed with a pantless mannequin, and it obviously needed to become a drawing (R).  I don't know where spooky winter guy came from (L)...

...I had a stockpile of scrap wood lying about, so I decided to start this "tile" project...

...Ultimately I intend to fit all the tiles together into one larger piece.  I'm also thinking that the I might do a large-scale version of the patterns I've been making (below), maybe 4'x6'.  It is very rare that I work large, and I'd like to give it a shot...

...More hands...I like hands, apparently...

So that's all for now.  More to come soon...

Building a city

This was a collaborative project with every level in the school and it was a ton of fun!  Each class worked on a different part of the city and then we put everything together as one complete piece.

Preschool and Pre-K created buildings and houses out of cardboard boxes using tempera paint and collage materials...

My toddlers worked on the night sky using finger paint and glitter on a big sheet of butcher paper.  the older toddlers made 2-D sky scrapers using cardboard cut outs, paint and yellow foam paper.

This is the finished product.

Nap Time

I decided to start this blog while I am sitting in a dark room full of babies.  To some of you, this is probably a disturbing image, but for anyone who works in Early Childhood Education, it's called Nap Time.  Nap Time is a blessing, as it affords the ever-overextended preschool teacher an opportunity to either catch up on work or simply relax for two hours out of the day.    This is of course dependent on the sleeping patterns of the children in your care, because even as I'm typing this sentence my more restless charges are started to regain consciousness.  

So, since my time is brief, I'll get to the point:  My name is Miss B., and I work as both the lead young toddler teacher and the art director for my center.  I am also a working artist, and I am interested in how these two worlds intersect.  This blog will be a place for both, and for all the creative fallouts therein.

Hope you enjoy!