Picasso to Warhol

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia has a fabulous exhibit going on right now called Picasso to Warhol.  I got the pleasure of seeing it myself a few weeks ago.  It is fabulous!  Low and behold, when I went to the AAEA fall conference the next weekend, there was a workshop about incorporating art from the exhibit into the classroom...of course I picked up the packet on that!

The show is so wonderful, and I kept thinking of my students as I passed Andy Warhol's soup cans and Joan Miro's funky "shape people" (that's what we called them in my class previously).  Never have I seen so many famous modern artists shown in one space.  The exhibit will be going on until April 29, 2012. 

If you get a chance, please check it out!  Even if you can't make the trip, check out their online resources.

Also, it's worth pointing out that while the show titled Picasso to Warhol, there are so many more wonderful artists included in the show.  The show has approximately 100 works of art created by 14 of the most iconic artists from the 20th century: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Constantin Brancusi, Piet Mondrian, Fernand Léger, Marcel Duchamp, Giorgio De Chirico, Joan Miró, Romare Bearden, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, Louise Bourgeois, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol.

Owl Moon

My 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders have been working on our "Owl Moon" project for a couple of weeks now.  In case you didn't know, I persnoally adore owls.  They are my favorite animal (besides my pup Luna) and I have been collecting them in the form of jewelry, figurines, art, and anything really for years now.

In this art lesson, we read the book "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen and assembled our own artwork of an owl on a branch with a moon in the background.

We learned about owls, their habitats, their feather colors, and the food they eat. We also learned that most, but not all, owls are nocturnal (meaning they sleep during the day and hunt and stay out during the night).  We also learned that owls can turn their heads all the way around and look behind them.  We learned that their feathers are natural colors like browns, grays, white, and blacks so that they can blend in like camouflauge.  This is so they can hide from their prey and their preditors.  We learned about barn owls, snowy owls, the great horned owl, and the burrowing owl.  Did you know that most owls don't even make their own nests?  Instead they wait for other birds to move on and they repurpose the nests for their own needs.

Here are some finished art pieces from my students.  First, they cut out a branch and glued it on the bottom of their paper.  Then they drew an owl on another piece of construction paper.  They colored in their owls with neutral colored oil pastels and added details in the form of lines, shapes, and patterns.  Next, they cut out their owls and glued them onto the branch.  To finish, they drew a moon up top!

Tar Paper Paintings

I went to the AAEA (Alabama Art Education Association) fall conference this weekend and got to share ideas with fellow art educators...how glorious!  Being a singular art teacher within my school, I often feel isolated.  I also don't get the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with other teachers in my content all of the time like the classroom teachers do.  So, this conference was a welcome change in that regard!

I went to several workshops where I learned about alot of art techniques to bring back into the classroom.  I am very excited!  One of my favorite ideas didn't even come from a workshop. 

I got the pleasure of meeting Nacy Raia, the community outreach director at Eastern Shore Art Center in Fairhope Alabama.  She was also named "Special Needs Art Educator of the Year" for 2011 in Alabama.  Go Nancy!  She showed some of her students artwork.  The artwork was created by painting onto tar paper with acrylic paint.  She finished them by varnishing over them.  The aquatic themed paintings were created as a response to the recent Gulf oil spill.  I think they are beautiful!  In case you are wondering, yes tar paper is that stuff you put on a roof before you put down shingles.  You can get it at your local hardware store in a large roll for around $20 and cut it to size as you need it.

I already purchased some tar paper for my classroom and can't wait to experiment with painting on it with my students.  Wish us luck!