Creating: Bulletin Boards and Blank Canvases

As much as I dread taking down bulletin boards and putting up new work, there is something really wonderful about seeing all the artwork on display.  I watch my kids every day making their projects step by step, but hanging up their art gives me a chance to really look at the finished product and to see them all together.

But I think the thing I love about it the most is the fact that we are creating something where there was nothing before.  We are taking blank canvases, white paper, a few materials, and making masterpieces.  We start with a blank slate and week by week we turn that nothing into something beautiful.

I stare at the dark blue bulletin board empty, so similar to the dark empty nothingness that was before creation.  And then we create; we make art.  And I hang it on that bulletin board and where there was emptiness there is color and life and image and beauty and uniqueness and so much creativity.

I think that's what fascinates me so much about art and where I really see myself, and my students, as made in the image of God.  While God created an amazing universe out of nothing, we, on a much smaller scale, take the raw materials God has given us and continue to create.  We, like God, are creators.  We love to take nothing and make it something; we give life to emptiness.

Recently I've been doing landscape paintings with my middle and high school students and it is so amazing to see how lots of colored brushstrokes can take a blank canvas and give it form and life and beauty - like the picture is coming to life before our very eyes - that we have created a mini world on this canvas, a world that didn't exist before and would never exist unless we created it.  And I can see each student's art as their own, each unique and different.  Each one reflecting the artist who made it, just as creation reflects the master Creator.

Color Family Hot Air Balloons

These Color Family Hot Air Balloons were done by my 2nd - 4th graders.  We learned all about the color wheel and the different color families (warm, cool, primary, secondary, and opposite colors).  They learned how to draw a hot air balloon and how to show distance and depth (having the hot air balloons different sizes and some overlapping).  Finally, they painted their balloons and background.  Each picture should have 5 balloons, each one painted using a different color family.

Still Life Collages

These are collages made by my middle and high school students.  I have come to realize that a lot of my students are really good at realism (see Crushed Cans project) so I wanted to do a project that would challenge them creatively.  We talked about how to make a good still life composition and then they used magazines, tissue paper, and colored paper to turn that still life into a collage.  Some of them may have gone a little too crazy and weird but there are some really creative and well done ones too!

Reflections on a Foggy Sunrise

The humidity hung heavy in the air this morning – so thick it was hard to see the big condominium building down the street.  The sun lay low, just barely over the horizon line, perfectly circular and beautiful.  As it rose the fog dissipated – the air lightened and became more clear.  And soon the mist was gone all together, the sun shining clear and bright, high in the sky.

That’s how it is when darkness comes, isn’t it?  It is shrouded with mist and fog.  It makes it hard to see clearly.  Things seem confusing, the truth seems hard to discern.  But then the light comes.  The light comes and brings clarity. 

Sometimes the lies of Satan close in around us and we become confused, wandering around in the mist trying to find our way.  We lose sight of the truths we have always known.  But God is faithful.  Like the sun, he always comes.  He always shows up to shine his light of life and truth and love.  And when that happens the darkness flees and we feel the warmth and goodness of God on our faces.  Our souls are lightened and lifted in his presence, the darkness and depression replaced with joy. 

Starry Night

I did this project last year and decided to do it again.  I just love this one and love all the results!  The project is based off of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.  

We started off by talking about the painting - what objects do we see, what colors did he use, etc.  Then we outlined the main objects - the stars, moon and swirls.  We used oil pastels to fill in the sky, making short strokes that move with the swirls.  Then we painted the sky with watercolor to fill in all the extra white spaces.  Finally, we cut a little town out of black paper and glued it to the bottom.  Tada!  Beautiful Starry Nights, done by Grade 3.  I love how all of them are so unique :)

Alphabet Soup

This project was done with my second graders.  Their task was to take the letters of the alphabet and turn, twist, rotate, stretch, shrink, enlarge, etc. all the letters.  However, all the letters had to be connected.  Then they had to fill in all the different spaces with different colors.  Some of the students got the concept, some struggled a bit with it.  But some of them came out good and they are nice splash of color in the art room :)  This can also be a good plan for a sub!

Keith Haring and Color Families

This project was done by Grade 5 and 6.  We learned about artist Keith Haring and how he used the basic symbol of a person to show emotions and communicate messages.  We drew figures like him in four different squares.  The students then colored in each square using different color families - warm, cool, opposite, and primary.  They filled in the background with lines to make it look like the figures are moving.