Getting Ready for the Art Show!!!

I couldn't live without student helpers who are SO eager to help hang artwork on the walls.

Hope to see you May 9th and 16th at the CIS Art Show/Choir/Band Concerts!!!

ART SHOW SELECTION WEEK!!!

This week all of my fifth and sixth grade classes are selecting art work for the 2012-13 Creekview Intermediate Art Show!  And with that...I suppose now would be a great time to give you all the wonderful details regarding this year's show.

The Art Show will be held on the evenings of Thursday, May 9th and Thursday, May 16th.  I wouldn't be surprised if some of you already have those dates marked on your calendars as that is also the dates of the Creekview Choir and Band concerts!  It's an evening of visual and performing arts and I would love for you to come!  It's a great time to enjoy our school choirs and band and take pride in the seeing the wonderful artwork the kids have created this past school year.

This week, as I said, all of my classes are getting their artwork back and selecting their three favorite works for the show.  They'll put name tags on them and then over the next three weeks, I'll have kids busily hanging the artworks on the wall in anticipation for the show.  All of my students will have three artworks on display and I know that they would love to show you their work!  They have all done such a wonderful job this school year!!!

6th Grade Projects tagged and ready to be hung!

Finally...in addition to all of this, you should be seeing artwork coming home with the kids.  With only three artworks being kept here for the show, most students should be bringing home their additional 4-5 artworks this week.  Be on the lookout for those.  I know the 'trash monsters' like to eat students artwork despite me telling the kids to take them home to you.  Just giving you the heads up!  :)

That's it for today.  Sorry for the lapse in time from the last blog.  My oldest daughter had shoulder surgery...so I may have been a bit preoccupied.  'Blog you tomorrow!!!

...drying...

Fifth grade clay pinch pot and coil projects patiently drying, waiting to be fired in the kiln.  Projects usually take a week and half to dry completely before being fired at a temperature of 1,800 degree F.  It's a slow process...

WINDOW TREATMENT

Earlier in the school year I had applied for a grant from Crayloa.  And while I didn't receive the grant, they did send me a box of window paints and markers for applying.  These new materials have just been sitting around my room for quite some time...and it just took a few students to notice them and ask if they could decorate a few of my art room windows.  How was I to deny them, right?  So, here a few of my sixth graders are painting my windows; Batman and the Jamaican flag!!!

'Blog to ya tomorrow!

FIFTH GRADE ART CARDS!

Have you seen the updates to the Creekview Art Web???  Latest updates include some student examples of the fifth grade art trading card project!  Originally the project was designed to have the kids trade cards with one another, but once we got started I felt it important to turn the cards into one 'larger' composition.  The kids seemed to really enjoy the project!!!

Art Cards by Gaige Patrick, Malia Didonato and Alex Barrett

If you haven't checked in on the Creekview Art Web, make sure you visit from time to time.  I'm making every attempt I can to getting examples from all of this year's projects uploaded.  So far so good.  

Have a great Monday!!!  Talk to you tomorrow!

5th GRADE CLAY PROJECTS

My fifth grade classes have FINALLY begun their clay projects, and this year I'm giving them a choice of what to make.  I'm basically giving the students two options: pinch pots or coils.  After doing a brief demonstration on how to create a pinch pot, how to create a coil, how to join two pieces of clay together and a little intro on the wooden clay tools, I'm turning the kids loose on creating whatever they wish with one simply rule; the finished project must be either a pinch pot OR have been constructed with coils.

Past coil/pinch pot projects

All of my fifth grade classes will have two days to work on and complete the project.  Then...they'll go through the drying process (about a week to let all the water evaporate out of the clay) and then be fired in the kiln at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit!  We'll get to paint them in late April/early May.

EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

   

WELCOME BACK!!!

The art room is officially on the final hill of this year's roller coaster!  There's still so much to do, and less then two months to do it!!!  And to celebrate these final days of the 2012-13 school year, I'm going to try my best to update the blog on a daily basis!!!  Yep...the 'ol Art Blog is going back to DAILY UPDATES!!!  WHOO HOO!!!

SUMMER ART CAMP

So...with that, I'd like to welcome you back by letting you that I am once again doing my annual Summer Art Camps. T his will be the 11th year of my art camps, and it's always a blast to work with kids over the summer creating art!!!  I just love it!  So...if you're interested, please let me know and I'll get the forms e-mail to you!  I'm not sure if clicking and saving the images attached to the blog will work...but you're more than welcome to try that as well.  I'll be passing them out to students who are interested in the new few days.  

So much more to share...but now that I'm 'daily', I should probably save something for each day, right?  :)  Okay...'blog to you all tomorrow!!!

In the classroom: 6th Grade Open Project and 6th Grade Digital Manipulations!

Each year, I ask my sixth graders to come up with their own project ideas.  The only requirement is that their projects take four class periods and they experiment with producing a project using an art material that they interests them.  The only limitations are the materials that I have at my disposal.  In addition students have to complete a journal writing at the conclusion of the project so I could read about their challenges through the process of creating their art.

I'm always impressed with how sixth graders take the task of creating whatever they wish and run with it.  I love seeing them experiment with new materials, and watching them work out certain problems and challenges that they come across.  It's always four of my favorite weeks of the year, and this year the projects again turned out fantastic!  We just completed the open projects last week, and I just managed to get some on my Creekview Art Web for you to enjoy!

In addition...this week the sixth graders are finishing up their digital art projects titled, "Digital Manipulations".  Using some basic tools in Photoshop, we spend two days in the computer lab manipulating the background and pictures of themselves to create some pretty interesting digital artworks.  We are finishing up the digital projects this week (I'll get some of the finished artwork on the website soon!) and will then turn our attentions to painting our ceramic Claes Oldenburg projects.

That's it for this week!  See you next time here on the 'ol Art Blog!!!

FRIDAY, MARCH 8th: 

DAILY UPDATE WEEK

ART HOMEWORK DUE NEXT FRIDAY!!!

Please don't forget that all 5th grade collage projects and 6th grade 'zine projects are due by the end of the day next Friday, March 15th.  If you know your student is going to be out on Friday, please try to have them turn their work in before then.  If your student is sick Friday and doesn't come to school, their homework is due the first day that they are back in attendance.  All of my fifth and sixth grade students were assigned this homework in early January, so if they haven't started yet...this weekend would be a good time to get started!  If you have any questions regarding the project(s), please contact me at your convenience.  I'll try to monitor my school e-mail a little more than usual over the weekend just in case your student has any last minute questions!!!

Hope you enjoyed the daily updates this week!  In the coming weeks I'll highlight finished Munny and Foomi contest winners, pictures from the District Art Show, information about projects created in the art room, and general info and goofiness related to the art classroom.  Everyone have a great weekend, and feel free to e-mail me if needed! 

drweller@marysville.k12.oh.us 

THURSDAY, MARCH 7th: 

DAILY UPDATE WEEK

7th ANNUAL DISTRICT ART SHOW!!!

On March 16^th, 2013, the Marysville K-6 Visual Arts Department will be holding their seventh annual district wide art show for grades 1-6.  This art show will showcase artwork from each elementary school in the Marysville School District, as well as art from Creekview Intermediate School.  

          Near the beginning of the school year, the Marysville District elementary and intermediate art teachers met to discuss and coordinate this event. We decided upon a theme for the show and each art teacher then created a series of art projects based upon the theme to implement into their classrooms.  The theme for this year’s art show is “Inspired by the Masters”.  Each art teacher interpreted the theme and created a variety of projects for their students.  Finally, in late February, the K-6 visual arts staff met to look at and select the work for this year’s show, choosing artworks from first through sixth grade. 

           The Marysville Elementary and Intermediate Visual Art Show will take place on Saturday, March 16^th, from 10am until 2pm at the Houston House; Marysville, Ohio’s cultural arts center.  The Houston House is located on 264 West 5^th Street in Marysville.  We hope that you can join us in celebrating the artistic achievements of these Marysville Art Student.

Representing Creekview at this year's show are:

5th Graders: Jake Carper, Mikayla Seman, Ellie Franke, Leah Potter, Paige Yu, Jeremiah Isaacs, Lillee Keltner, Brianna Quinn, Mitch Weinbrecht, Micah Tuazon, Neeli Torres, Bryce Nicholson, Yasmin Esparza, Veronica Hall, Faith Wilcox, Grace McKillen, Keely Baker, Elise Atzbach, Tommy Schultz, Alex Barrett, Ostyn Fisher, Jack Nuspl, Emma Armstrong, Jenna Rioch, Leanne Eichorn and Jack McPheron.

6th Graders: Ava Zell, Jayden Morris, Rachel Merritt, Katie Miller, Ryan Pauley, Madison Shumway, Gabriel Avink, Colleen Clark, Zack Dumbauld, Cameron Strickland, Amanda Failor, Mason Taylor, Alexandria Oliverio, Shelby Jackson, Olivia Young, Morgan Roby, Anna Kinney, Kara Riley, Derrick Nelson, Kiera Parsons, Emily Rodenhausen, Keith Prinster, Dean Smith, Molly Crane, Lauren Cox, Grace Williamson, and McCoy Taylor. 

Congratulations to all of the selected artists for this year's show!  Hope to see everyone on the 16th!

TUESDAY, MARCH 5th: 

DAILY UPDATE WEEK

FOOMI CONTEST WINNERS!!!

Good morning!  Today's daily update features the winners of the Foomi contest.  Not quite as popular as the Munnys, there were a total of 93 Foomi entrants and many of them were amazing!  It was again very interesting to watch them being judged.  All entries were judged by the Marysville elementary art teachers; Mrs. Warino, Ms. Herzog, Mrs. Poeppleman, and Miss Caldwell!  They enjoyed seeing all the kids' creativity, but in the end could only select 16 to win.  So...without further ado...here are your 2013 winners (in no particular order...)!

Tyler Richardson - "The Hipnotizer"; Nina Kise - "Raichu"; Logan Brown - "Hawaiian Alvin"; Ava Lopez - "Lizard Man"; Kaylee Erwin - "Rock Star"; Hannah Maurer - "Popcorn Man"; Fail Wilcox - "Marysville Monarch Robot Man"; Jacquelin Witt - "The Lizard"; Kiera Parsons - "Monster Man"; Carrie DeHoff - "Music Man"; Livi Miller - "Flowers in Spring";Kelton Huffman - "Math Nerd"; Skyler Saunders - "Ivy"; Rosstin Bender - "Mobster"; Madi Bentz - "Batman"; and Hannah McCullough - "Robert Robot"

All Munny and Foomi winners will begin implementing their winning designs on their actual figurines in the next few weeks.  The figures will be on display during the Spring Art Show in May!  

That covers today's daily update!  Tomorrow we'll talk about the 2013 District Art Show and this year's selected participants!  See ya then!!!

MONDAY, MARCH 4th: 

DAILY UPDATE WEEK

MUNNY CONTEST WINNERS!!!

Good afternoon and welcome to the week of daily updates on the 'ol Creekview Art Blog!  Why daily updates this week?  Well...there's a TON of great art news to share with you, and it really can't be done in just one post, so...we're going to go DAILY this week, starting with today's big news...THE CONTEST WINNERS for the 2013 "Create a Character Contest".

Today will feature the winners of the Munny contest.  With a whopping 113 total Munny entries, it was certainly a tough contest to judge!  All entries were judged by the Marysville elementary art teachers; Mrs. Warino, Ms. Herzog, Mrs. Poeppleman, and Miss Caldwell!  They enjoyed seeing all the kids' creativity, but in the end could only select 16 to win.  So...without further ado...here are your 2013 winners (in no particular order...)!

Emily Rodenhausen - "Fantasy Man"; Mason Kern - "Space Invaders"; McCoy Taylor - "OSU Football Player"; Blaise Duval - "The Joker"; Sawyer Meeker - "Ari"; Katrina Strayton - "Red Power Ranger"; Zane Potter - "C.I.A. Officer Gavin"; Colin Kovinchick - "Joe the Jail Breaker"; Melanie Gray - "Jake the Neon Nerd"; Madison Shumway - "Popcorn Box"; Aggie Livingston - "Shivers the Penguin"; Katie Miller - "Bacon Man"; Anna Kinney - "Baby Bear"; Lane Wagner - "Mr. Weller Art Hero"; Luke Holle - "C-3PO; and Becca Meffley - "Me Collage"

Stop in tomorrow afternoon to see the Foomi winners and then later this week I'll be spotlighting this year's entrants to the 2013 District Art Show!!!  Like I said...LOTS OF FANTASTIC ART NEWS!!!

THE 2ND ANNUAL MUNNY/FOOMI CHARACTER CONTEST!

A few years ago, while browsing around the Blick art store that I just love, I came across these little do-it-yourself toys from a company called Kid Robot, called a Munny.  I was very intrigued, so I bought a few, took them home and had a blast creating my very own 'toys'.  

"Zombie Mario", "Torch", "Allen Android", "Dug", and "Scratch" by Mr. Weller

After creating a few Munnys, I soon discovered that Kid Robot made a wide variety of do-it-yourself toys similar to the Munny such as the Foomi, Tricky, Raffy, Kracka, and Bub.  So (of course) I had to get some of those as well.  Over the years, I have created a nice little collection for myself AND have included them as a project in my Summer Art Camps the past few years and the kids just LOVE 'em.  So, I just had to figure out a way to get them integrated into my classroom.  And with a little help from our lovely Creekview PTO, I am now in my second year of doing the "Munny/Foomi Create a Character Contest"!

I have invited ALL the students at Creekview to design their very own Munny or Foomi for a chance to take their design and implement it on of the of the Kid Robot toys.  The contest started a few weeks ago, and all final submissions are due to me by the end of the week. February 22nd.  The kids are turning in some GREAT designs!!!  I will be hunting down some judges next week from the CIS staff to pick winners and winners will be announced on Friday, March 1st.  

Eventually as the winners finish their characters, I'll get some pictures on the 'ol blog and the Art Web! 

Thanks for checking in on the blog today!  

IN THE ART ROOM: January and February 2013

Upon returning to school from winter break, the fifth graders have been working on one of my personal favorite art projects; a monochromatic self-portrait painting.  I started the project by taking a digital picture of each of the kids by having them express an emotion or their personality in a facial expression.  The kids really had a good time coming up with different facial expressions, and it was fun to watch them practice making faces at one another while waiting to get their picture taken. 

Once their picture was taken, I printed them out as a black and white photocopy.  We then talked about monochromatic paintings; paintings utilizing only one color plus the addition of white to make tints of that color and the addition of black to make shades of that color.  Using the black and white image as a 'guide', the kids then painted themselves using a monochromatic scheme with the color of their choice.
Each year I try to do something different with this particular project, so this year we are creating a sculptural background for the painting using a descriptive word.  We are finishing up these projects this week and next.

"Cool" by H. Carvour; "Epic" by M. Speasmaker

After this project, the fifth graders will move into an 'Art Trading Card' project which I'm sure they will really enjoy!  

The sixth graders came back from break to the excitement of creating their clay project!  I have a variety of clay projects for sixth grade that I really enjoy teaching, and this year I went back to teaching one that I hadn't done in quite some time; Claes Oldenburg.  Oldenburg is a sculptor who creates larger than life pieces of art based on very normal, and often mundane, items.  He has work displayed all around the world, and we spent some time on Google Earth exploring many of his pieces of art.  So, the concept of this project was for each sixth grader to take something small that fits in the palm of their hand, and create a larger version of it using ceramic clay.

 

"Spoon Bridge with Cherry" in Minnesota; "Flying Pins" in the Netherlands

Over the course of the two day art project, I had kids create very large stamps, M&Ms, key chains, earrings, shoe strings, and paperclips just to name a few!  The projects are currently in the process of getting fired in the kiln and the students will paint them in early March.

Currently, as we wait for the clay projects to be fired, the sixth graders are taking full control of their own art making in a four day project I simply call "The Open Project" as kids are open to create whatever they wish, utilizing any material they choose.  We're halfway through now, and I simply LOVE giving kids the opportunity to be in control of their own art creation...especially at this age!  Stay tuned...I'll have more information on that project in the weeks to come.

Hope everyone is having a great February!  Happy Valentine's Day!

-mr. weller!

SIXTH ANNUAL CEILING TILE ART CONTEST WINNERS!

I'd like to thank all the sixth graders who participated in this year’s sixth annual Ceiling Tile Art Contest.  I had nearly 60 submission this year, and the kids did a wonderful job.  After all the submissions were turned in, I took all of them home and hung them on a wall in my office.  Then, throughout winter break, my family and friends all voted for their favorite submissions.  This way...I have a 100% non-biased field of judges.  This year I had nearly 30 family and friends vote for their favorites.  The final votes have been tallied and congratulations are in order to the following students for winning this year’s Ceiling Tile Art Contest.

Emily Rodenhausen (Disney), Kiera Parsons (Baby Vader), Madi Bentz (Munny/Foomi), Kara Riley (My Little Pony), Anna Kinney (OSU vs. Michigan), Mason Kern (Superman) and Ian Forry (The Hulk).  

The kids have all begun painting their tiles this past week, and I look forward to hanging them in my art room upon their completion.

Have a great rest of the week!

-mr. weller!

MR. WELLER'S "HALL OF FAME" OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

By now, I'm sure your Creekview student has shared stories about a variety of odd and interesting things that happen in my classroom.  From the golden toilet, to my pet skull "Bob", there is a wonderful menagerie of interesting things that accompany my daily art teachings.  One of these if the "HALL OF FAME" that I open each and every year.  And...ANYONE can be in the Hall of Fame, and the kids certainly enjoy being a part of it.  And the Hall of Fame is now officially open for business!

The Hall of Fame is open to any and all students; they simply provide me with a picture of themselves, and I take that picture and transform them into...well...anything that I can find!  As an added incentive, if enough students participate from their class(es), the class is given bonus points towards the end of the year pizza party contest!  It's just another wild and crazy part of my classroom that I thought I would share with you today.

And on a side note...if you haven't checked out my Creekview Art Web in awhile, there's plenty of new updates there.  Go ahead and check it out!

That's all for today.  Next time, I'll give you a glimpse of this year's Ceiling Tile Art Contest winners!!!

Everyone have a great Tuesday!  STAY WARM!!!

-mr. weller! 

INDEPENDENT ART PROJECT HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS!

Welcome back, Creekview families!  I hope everyone enjoyed their snowy winter break.  It's so sad to see the snow slowly disappearing in this January 'heat wave'.  Hopefully we'll get some new, fresh snow soon!  (Well...at least I hope so!  :))

As the third nine weeks begins, I have assigned (or am assigning as I haven't seen ALL of my classes yet) a third nine weeks homework project to all of my fifth and sixth grade students.  The project is aimed to be an enjoyable experience, giving them full creative control in their art making.  There are (of course) some requirements, but for the most part, the students are in control of this one!  So...below is just a general bit of information about the homework assignments.

5TH GRADE: "CREATE A COLLAGE"

The fifth graders are being asked to create a collage of anything of their choosing.  I am supplying a 12x18 sheet of paper for them to create their collage on, however I have told them that if they feel their collage is going to be larger (or will need to be sturdier) than that sheet of paper, they may certainly create their collage on a sheet of poster board or cardboard, but they will need to supply that themselves.  All collage projects should use true collage techniques and have at least one word incorporated into their project.  We looked at a variety of examples in class, so they should be set on what is expected of them.

For FULL information about the "Create a Collage" homework assignment, you can click...HERE!

6TH GRADE 'ZINES

The sixth graders' independent art project is to create a 'zine.  We actually created the 'zine together in class, so I guess what I'm really asking is that they fill their 'zine with whatever information they would like to put into it.  They can create a 'zine (like a mini-magazine, or book) about their favorite sports, movies, or music; they can create a 'zine on how to do something like build a snowman, bake a cake, or draw a picture; their 'zine can be informational, full of facts about dancing, Elvis, or the Civil War; or their 'zine can even be a story laid out like a comic book or children's book.  Really...it's up to them.  Each page (including front and back covers) need to contain a visual image and text...but how they incorporate that is strictly up to them.  We looked over a variety of 'zines in class together, so they should be set on what is expected of them.

For FULL information about the "'Zine" homework assignment, you can click...HERE!

And..as always...if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!  Thanks!!!
-mr. weller

drweller@marysville.k12.oh.us