Art Activity - Salvador Dali Melting Clocks

Like a lot of teachers I've been counting down the last few weeks of the school year.  I'm also, however, counting the days until the start of my summer art camps-July 2 !!!!  Since time seems to be very present at the moment, I thought I'd share these Salvador Dali inspired melting clocks.  The clocks were made using sculpey and were originally round circles.  I then gently pulled and stretched to create the final distorted 'melted' look. 

****Super soft sculpey will not work for this art activity, it actually stretches too much!

Art Fun For Fridays - Storybird

Last week while subbing, one of my classes was working on a project that intertwines art with writing, by using Storybird. If you aren't familiar with Storybird, the idea is that the writing/illustrating process is reversed, with students creating their story based on a collection of illustrations, rather than finding images to fit their story.  While some teachers may not like the idea that students don't create their own images, I like Storybird for the fact that it privileges art in the real world, as well as promoting current artists.  Students can also move their stories beyond the digital realm and have their finished stories published in physical book form.

Art Activity-Pattern Drawings With Coloured Circles

This week I was subbing for a grade 7 art class and was looking for a project that was both simple to do, and which the students could get started on right away.  I happened to come across this gem at artisan des arts.

I used standard 8.5x11 photocopy paper, but you really could use any paper.  I instructed the students to cover the entire page with doodles-a combination of patterns, drawings, and even words, stressing that they need to have a variety.  I had the students use black sharpie to create a nice bold graphic effect.  After students had filled the page with their doodles, I had them trace 3 or more circles anywhere on their paper, but you could of course do any shape.  The area inside each circle is the only place where the students could add colour, so I explained to the class that they wanted to trace their circles over doodles that would create visual interest.  The students then used markers to add colour to their drawings.  Not all of the students were able to finish in just one class, but they all created some very cool artworks as you can see below:

This student decided to create more smaller circles by tracing her pencil sharpener.

This student wanted to create more of a complete image, but also included a wonderful pattern with the waves.

This student wanted to try adding colour with pencil crayon.  I liked the outlining she did, especially with the green swirls.

Today's Artistic Inspiration - Robert Delaunay

Robert Delaunay, Color Explosion

Art Activity - Swirled Lollipops Made From Homemade Model Magic

Just a quick post to show one of the projects I made in my search for a homemade substitute to clay-in this case model magic.  I will be posting the recipe in the near future, but for now enjoy these whimsical lollipops.

I was inspired to create these after seeing a post from The Elementary Art Room! .  I didn't have popsicle sticks at the time so instead I used a pencil and a felt marker to create the handles.  I would however use a popsicle stick in the future since I had to re-roll my lollipop after the marker end stuck out the back in my first attempt.  I also found that the lollipops cracked a little bit when they dried, but this wasn't a big deal since they stayed intact.   To colour the lollipops I used my homemade liquid watercolours which gave them a nice soft blended effect.

Art News - Rubik's Cube Art

I wanted to share this story about a local Victoria student who used Rubik's cubes to create the artwork below.  The portrait of past Canadian prime minister Lester B. Pearson uses 1,200 Rubik's cubes!  This could be a great example to bring in when teaching value or to combine art with math, when teaching students about scale.

Click HERE to read more

Pearson College student Leo Yousif stands next to his seven-foot-high portrait of Lester B. Pearson.  Photograph by: Darren Stone, Victoria Times Colonist

Art Fun For Fridays - Puzzles of Famous Artworks

For today's art fun I got this puzzle of Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night from Jigzone.  For more puzzles of artworks you can visit their site by clicking HERE.  You can also upload a photo to create a puzzle out of your own art.