Project #13 - Lacy Clay Ornaments

The last lesson that was taught was taught by Melanie Jorgenson and Karla Jorgenson. They taught us about different styles of lace. They told us the history of lace and how we would make clay look like lace. We were instructed to draw a rough sketch of what we wanted our ornament to look like. We needed to make it big enough, because we would be using the sketch as an outline for our ornament. After we drew it out and traced it with a Sharpie, we taped a piece of wax paper over top of it. Then, we were given a baggie of clay and water. We had to knead the two together to make sure it was mixed together well. Next, we had to cut a small corner off of the baggie. We had to act like we were frosting a cake, and outline on the wax of our sketch of our ornament. We got to paint with water colors as the clay dried.


For an extension activity, I would have children decorate different ornaments for the city’s Christmas tree or design an ornament for a family member such as a parent or a sibling. They could even draw ornaments in scale and proportions. If one ornament they drew was 2 inches across, the next one they made had to be twice as big as an example. The students would understand proportions and a math lesson would be integrated.

Project #12 - Stepping Stones

The lesson taught by Jackie Eikamp and Kirsten Cronin was stepping stones. They made us bring in a photo that meant a lot to us previously. They laminated them for us as well. During our lesson, we were instructed to shake the cement around in our container to get all of the air bubbles out. We had to draw out a rough sketch of what we wanted to do. After we had our sketch done, we had to place paper towels on our cement to soak up any excess water. We then had to place the picture and decorate however we wanted our stepping stone to be. They taught us mosaic, balance, and other different designs. My design was balanced because I had the same things on both sides of my stepping stone.


For an extension activity, I would have students decorate a garden area that was allowed by the principal. They could plant a flower and then would be responsible for the growth of their plant. After each week, they would have to measure their plant/flower to chart the growth of it. Students would get a math lesson as well as a science lesson integrated into this. They would use their stepping stones as a decoration for the classroom’s garden.

Project #11 - Print it!

The print making lesson was taught by Allison Vetch and Laura Opsahl. They taught us different terms that were related to print making such as roller. We had to draw a sketch of what was going to be on our egg. They chose eggs, because it's close to Easter. We could decorate it however we wanted to. We then had to take our meat foam trays and press the part we didn't want to print, down. After we went through that step, we went to the ink. We had to make sure that the art was evenly laid out on the foam tray. We then placed a piece of paper on top of our meat trays, and pressed firmly. We had to let them air dry as we continued to do three more. After they were dry, we had to place them on a piece of construction paper with our name on the bottom.


For an extension activity, I would have students place all their different eggs together and place them in a basket drawn on a bulletin board. This way the class would have a basket full of their eggs for a display for Easter. To go with the egg theme, you could teach students how to write a poem. They could write a short poem and write it on one of their eggs. You could then display it on the walls of the hallway in your school.

Project #10 - Scratch Art

The next lesson was taught by Nicole Bruemmer and Justin Kiefer. We learned about scratch art. We learned different terms such as hatching and cross hatching. We learned the different styles of scratch art, and what each of them looked like. We were to design a picture from the shape that was given to us. I thought my shape looked like an ax, so I drew a log that was going to be cut in half. I used circles, hatching, and cross hatching on my scratch art. I tried to use it more close together and then space it out more to make the log look like it was rounded. We then had to place it on a piece of paper to add more to it and a border.


For an extension activity, I would teach the students how to shade with the different techniques. This way they could have to draw a rounded object and have to use the different techniques to show light and dark values on the scratch art. Students could use this for just regular drawing as well rather than just for scratch art. This would help the students with using different ways to shade rather than just with the side of a pencil.

Project #9 - Pop of Pop Art

The next art lesson was taught by Ms. Mammenga and Ms. Katzenberger. They taught us about Andy Warhol through a power point. After the power point, we had to draw a specific thing with our group. We then had to trace it with a black marker. After we traced it, we had to choose from either warm colors, cool colors, monochromatic, or analogous colors. We learned that this meant that the colors were next to each other on the color wheel. I chose warm colors, so I first colored my vase yellow, and then colored around it with orange, and around the orange with red. We were taught to either blend our colors together by coloring around or near and rubbing them together or coloring right on top of one another to rub them together. I rubbed them together when the colors were close together. After we were done coloring them and blending, we had to place a black background on them that was an inch around on each side.


For an extension activity: I could have students use math to draw things to scale. I would have them draw very little things like a paper clip or a pencil that they would have to draw to scale to make them bigger on their piece of paper. This would use a lot of good math skills.

Project #8 - Rainbow Fish Collage

For our next peer lesson, Ms. Anderson and Ms. Deslauriers taught us about paper collages. They reviewed the book Rainbow Fish, and then instructed us with our art project. We were instructed to draw out a fish of any sort, and then to trace it with black marker. After we cut it out, we then had to rip out small pieces of paper to make a collage on our fish. We could use any colors that we wanted. We reviewed primary and secondary colors. We also reviewed that a collage was any paper or pictures put together in an artistic way. We could then add sequins to our fish to make it look like the Rainbow Fish.

For an extentsion activity: I would have students create a fishbowl on a bulletin board. We could have it measured out and make sure that the bulletin board would fit the fishbowl. We could then place our fish inside the bowl. Also, for writing, we could have students write a small story about their fish that they drew. We could have the students also share their stories when they were finished with them.

Project #7 - Pebble Painting

The next lesson was mine and Pam's about Pebble Painting. We introduced the lesson with the story "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" by William Stieg. I paraphrased the story, and then Pam went on explaining how to do our project. Students were instructed to place a piece of paper on the bottom of their boxes, and then to pick a pebble to dip into a primary color. Placing the pebble in the corner of the box, they had to shake the pebble around so that they would "paint" with their pebble. The students then went to a different table to a different primary color and use a different sized pebble. After the students had three different sized pebble paintings with the three primary colors, they students then made a secondary color. The students were instructed to place two spoonfuls of two primary colors inside the box, and then choose a pebble to mix the paint around the paper to make a secondary color. After the student had four different paintings, they were instructed to cut out shapes and place them on a piece of large construction paper.

Extension activity: I would have students use writing with their paintings. We had included this in our rubric, and told students to write about what types of shapes or things they saw in their paintings. Students could describe those things or they could write a story with their paintings. They would be allowed to share these with their peers.

Project #6 - Weaving

Ms. Jundt's and Ms. Thorne's weaving project was our first peer lessson. We learned about weaving, twisting, warm/cool colors, and tints/shades. For this lesson, we had to tape four strips of newspaper to the side of a piece of a cardboard. Then we had to tape four more strips on the adjacent side of the cardboard. We then had to twist the newspaper strips and then tape them down on the back. When we were done taping them down, we had to choose if we wanted to paint with all warm colors or all cool colors. Students also were told to use at least one shade or one tint in their project. We then could add glitter or ribbon to our weaving project.

Extension Activity: I would have students create a basket design on a large piece of construction paper for Easter. The students could design eggs to insert beneath their weaving to make it look like the eggs are in the basket. Students could also use weaving in math. You could make sure the students measured out the pieces of paper with equal spacing. Students could learn to measure and use a ruler this way.

Project #5 - Hidden Safari

In this project, we went on a safari in our classroom. We watched the Lion King to see different animals. We learned about warm colors and cool colors and even contour drawing. We did some practice with drawing and then had to turn our paper upside down to draw them from the wrong side up. I thought it was a lot easier to draw this way. We made special “Ruby Red Glasses” in this project too out of construction paper and red cellophane paper.

We had to draw an animal that we would see on a safari. We drew these animals in a sky blue colored pencil. After we were done drawing, we started to draw different patterns over top of our drawing with the warm colors. Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow. I drew a triangle checkerboard with yellow, a square checkerboard in red, and circles in orange. I then went over those things with red squiggles and orange hearts. The only way that you can see my animal is if you use the “Ruby Red Glasses”. Using them takes away the warm colors and exposes the cool colors. My animal was drawn in a blue color which is a cool color. Other cool colors are purple and green. It is really neat how you can only see your drawing if you use the special glasses. We also gave three hints of what our animal was and are displayed with a pair of “Ruby Red Glasses” in the hallway for people to look at them.


In an extension activity, I would have the children learn about the different animals. They could learn about their habitat, their diet, and other different facts about the animal. This way they are integrating science with their art work as well. They could even show other peers what they found out about this animal through science.

Project #4 - Collage Illustration

For this project, we learned a lot about Eric Carle. He is a author as well as an illustrator for his children's books. He uses a lot with layering, painting, cutting, and pasting. We watched a video about him and his very neat ideas. He paints pieces of papers then cuts shapes out of them that were patterns and then turned into something magical. He made it look so simple in the movie clip. We had to create a scene from a two-page fold from a book. I included my favorite quote that I live by day by day which is "All the strength you need is right there inside you." There is a momma bug and a little baby bug that is falling off the leaf. I meant for it to portray that fact that the baby bug is falling off. He needs to find internal strength to pull himself up, so he doesn't fall off the leaf. I really enjoyed this project, because I liked the paint that we used. It had to do with wall paper glue and paint. It was fun to work with and to use the different textures like a sponge. I used the sponge for the texture for my leaves.


For an extension activity, I would have students do the same thing that we did. I really liked this activity for students. I would let them choose a scene from a book they knew or a new design. The only thing that I might change would be have them create a book over the course of a few months. They could continue to add to their project to make a book out of it. If they didn't want to create a book, then they could create book covers or journal bindings with the paint. The paint would create really neat covers for books and journal bindings. They would just have to show creativity and expression through out the use of the paint. They would also have to use construction paper or other painted paper for differences. It would add more design to the pictures.

Project #3 - Fingerpainting

This is my fingerpainting that I have entitled "Chillin' in the Breeze". We learned about Vincent Van Gogh and his different styles of using lines to show movement. Van Gogh was very well known for his impact with emotions and displays of feelings. We then took a look at "Starry Night" and we could either replicate it or create our own picture. The only limitations we need was to have a foreground, background, and middle ground. I decided to do a beach scene, because I was in the mood for some warm weather after having a lot of cold days and snow. Winter was becoming such a mood breaker. In this finger painting, I used lines like Van Gogh to show movement in the sky, wind, and in the water for the waves. I also used a little bit of movement in the sand for the beach area. The toes were also the tips of my fingers, along with movement in the feet.


For an extension activity, I would have students learn about Vincent Van Gogh and his styles of his art and portraits. I really enjoyed the way that Van Gogh used himself in a lot of his paintings. I would have the students paint self - portraits. They would have to use lines and show a lot of feelings and emotions like Van Gogh did in his paintings. They would have to use the whole sheet of paper and use the mid -torso and up in the painting. They could use the option of using their paintbrushes if they wanted, otherwise they could use their fingers too. They could even use both fingers and paintbrushes if they wanted. They could experiment with their control and different painting styles then. It would be interesting to see what types of detail and thoughts that the students would come up with. :)

Project #2 - Principles and Elements of Art

In project number two, each student was supposed to take photos of each Element of Design and Principle of Art. The Elements of Art include: Line, Shape, Color, Value, Texture and Space. The Principles of Art include: Balance, Movement, Rhythm, Contrast, Emphasis, Pattern and Unity. The options were open ended of what exactly we wanted to take pictures of. As long as each picture showed the different principles and different elements, then the assignment could be furthered into a power point. After taking the pictures, we had to include them in a power point that included our photo and a definition of each principle and element.

Lines- Tree

Space - Hallway


As an extension activity, I would have students take all the photos as I did for my assignment. I would have them take photos of each element and each principle. After the student had those photos, I would have the photos printed out. I would put all of the students' pictures of Lines together, pictures of Movement together, and pictures of all the other elements and principles together. This way the students can express themselves and can compare their visual eye to the other classmates. After they had been up for awhile, I would assign students to a different element or principle and allow them to create a booklet of all the photos. :) They can design it and do anything they want to express themselves in an artistic way. :)

Project #1 - Foot Print

For our first project in Art Methods 310, Spring Semester 2011, we had to create a footprint with things on it that explained ourselves. We had to put things on there that would show people things that represented us. You needed to use at least three mediums (markers, colored pencils, construction paper, photos, etc). If you needed more room, you could use both feet. The possibilities were endless!

Here is my footprint!

Starting at the top, you have two N's and three C's. These are the letters of my siblings: Chad, Corey, Craig, Nicolle and Nathan. These letters are made out of Life Saver Gummy wrappers, because it is my favorite candy. I also have a purple piece of yarn as a toe ring. The yarn signifies my passion for crocheting, and purple is my favorite color. Around the outside of the sole of my foot, I placed adjectives about myself. They are helpful, punctual, kind, passive, empathetic, unique, reliable, leader, and listener. I also have a Twins jersey because I am a huge Twins fan. I made a book also, because I love to read. I placed a picture of my friend Rebecca and I on there which is a crazy picture. This simplifies all the crazy times I've had with friends. I also put a "Best Friends" picture on there, because I don't know what I would do without the help and support from my friends. I have a dog bone with my dog's name on it, because I love my dog to death. The ticket stubs represent my love of going to the movies and watching movies. The last thing on my foot is the letters M and D. These letters represent my mom and my dad. As you noticed, the letters are at the top and bottom of my foot as the base and support of my foot because my family is my life. They support me in everything I do, and it makes me very family orientated. And I also included my name, Kim! :)

I would have students get in groups of two and share their feet with someone else. They would explain the things they put on there to that other person. Afterwards, they would work with someone else for the extension activity.

My extension activity for making this foot print in a classroom would have the children do a math lesson. I would have children measure their own feet from the edge of their heel to the tip of their big toe. After doing so, I would have them partner up with someone in the class and taking their two feet measurements, go through and measure three things. The length of the room, the height of their locker/cubby, and the length of the hallway outside the classroom. After they have listed these measurements, I would compare the sizes of other classmates.