Making adorable felt animal ornaments

For our school auction Christmas tree we are going to have the fifth-grade class so and stuff Woodland animal ornaments for the tree.

Here is the ornaments that were going to do.

 I cut the felt over a few days, and preassembled the animals for the kiddos. They just need to stitch around the edges. For those that don't want to so a.k.a. (boys )they can also assemble cute pinecones owls for the tree.

How to do a basket stitch. 

I don't remember where I found the link to the felt ornaments, and directions, but it was on Pinterest, My favorite go to site for ideas.  I'm always on it.  Well, the craft went well,  of course half the class took awhile to figure it out,  I precut the thread into manageable sizes and put an entire animal ornament and thread into one Baggie.  In hindsight, I should have pre threaded the needles for them.  But with 42 kids in two classes, that would have taken a loooong time.  Once they stitched their ornaments,  I had them hot glue the eyes and noses etc on.  Later, I took the ornaments and threaded them with string to hang them on the tree.  Voila, a camping themed tree for the auction.  They loved stringing popcorn too,  I recommend doing that outside,  more ended up on the floor and in their mouth than on the strings.



 This is the felt that I purchased for this project.

Paul Cezanne's Chalk Pumpkins

Cézanne, Paul |sāˈzän|

(1839–1906), French painter. He is closely identified with post-Impressionism, and his later work had an important influence on cubism. Notable works: Still Life with Cupid (1895) and Bathers (sequence of paintings, 1890–1905).

During Paul's life, hardly anyone noticed or cared about his paintings.  Only a few people, including 

Claude Monet, Renoir, Pissarro , Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh and Gauguin realized what an important artist Paul was.  Many of these soon-to-be-famous artists felt that Paul Cezanne may have been the greatest of them all.

Here is the link to the Paul Cezanne  slideshow.

There are so many talks you can do with Cezanne, what a great artist.  We wanted to do something for fall, and he was a natural tie- in since he did so many still life's.  

Materials:
black art paper
colored artists chalk
black oil pastel
pencils

After you give the slide talk, the kids will draw a pumpkin in sections on their paper.  You want them to do the pumpkin big enough so it will be easy to color and shade.
I bring a pumpkin in so they can see that it is not perfectly round, or perfectly shaped in any way.  Show them how to draw each segment starting with the middle segment individually.  After their pumpkin is drawn, then they will go over the lines with the black oil pastel.  This will keep the chalk from drifting.
Each segment will be colored in separately with dark orange at the bottom, medium orange, then yellow at the top.  I tell them it should look like candy corn, they will then blend it together lightly with their fingers. Add the green stem in chalk, and then draw a black line through the middle of the background.  Have them choose two bold bright colors to fill in the background.

Native american pottery- Acoma Pueblo

The artists from the Acoma Pueblo produce their works of art almost exactly how the pieces would have been produced several centuries ago. • dig the clay from the earth
• coil and smooth the pots
• fire them (either in an open fire or kiln) 
• decorate them with paints
• used geometric patterns or symbols to decorate their pottery.

Acoma Pueblo  also known as "Sky City", is a Native American pueblo built on top of a 367-foot  sandstone mesa in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Settled and built around AD1100, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities within the United States borders. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark. Its Native American residents are a federally recognized tribe in the United States.

Slideshow link is at bottom of post.


Link to a Traditional Acoma Pottery site.
Link to photos and information on many types of Indian Pottery
Wiki link to Acoma Pueblo

Link to slideshow on Native American Pottery

Link to a 1952 short documentary on Pueblo Arts Indian Pottery

 

George Rodrigue's Blue Dog Art

 

George Rodrigue (born March 13, 1944) is a Cajun artist who grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana. Rodrigue began painting outdoor family gatherings framed by moss-clad oak trees in an area of French Louisiana known as Acadiana. More recently and worldwide he is known for his creation of the Blue Dog series of paintings, featuring a blue-hued dog, attributed to his deceased dog named Tiffany and influenced by the Loup Garou legend—the first painting in the series bears the title Loup Garou.

link to bluedog slideshow

After reading the legend of the loup garou, introduce students to Rodrigue’s Watchdog, the first painting which depicted George’s now famous Blue Dog. Use this painting to introduce the concept of primary colors. Discuss how primary colors are used to create all other colors (i.e. secondary colors, tertiary colors, etc.) and how color can be used to convey emotion. Consider asking students such questions as: Has anyone in the class ever seen a dog that is blue in color? Do you think the artist was trying to paint a realistic dog? Why do you think the artist chose to paint his dog blue? How does blue make them feel? Would the loup garou have the same effect in this painting if it were red? Does the color blue better convey the feeling of a cool night? What color would you use to convey the feeling of a hot summer day?

After these discussions, have students use primary paints to create their own blue dog portraits (see below).

Scholastic article - conversation with George Rodrigue

Blue Dog coloring sheets

www.georgerodriguefoundation.org

ART PROJECT

will be posted after the Jump......

Wayne Theibaud

Wayne Thiebaud (born November 15, 1920) is an American painter whose most famous works are of cakes, pastries, boots, toilets, toys and lipsticks. He is associated with the Pop art movement because of his interest in objects of mass culture, although his works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists. Thiebaud uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work.



Link to Wayne Theibaud slideshow

Paul Klee

A Swiss-born painter and graphic artist whose personal, often gently humorous works are replete with allusions to dreams, music, and poetry, Paul Klee, b. Dec. 18, 1879, d. June 29, 1940.

Link to Paul Klee slideshow

For this project you will need watercolor paper.

Liquid watercolor. Deep blue and green. I use magic watercolor in the bottle without diluting it, the pigment is nice and strong for this project.

Oil pastels

Saran wrap

Paintbrushes and water

Talk to them about wax resist.

Oil and water don't mix so it's a great art technique.

Explain that they will draw a main fish and some background life with the oil pastels. Press down hard, they can use white too, light colors will show up nicely. They can squiggle sea plants etc. Paul Klee was colorful and fanciful. Encourage them, there are no mistakes, no need for perfection. It is all different and beautiful. They will be leaving all of their paper blank that they have not drawn the sea life.

Explain how now they will apply the watercolor, and since oil and water don't mix, (or wax and water) that even if when they brush the watercolor over their drawings, it will not adhere to the pastels.

Have them cover the whole sheet completely using the blue and green watercolor (not mixing them, just applying them separately)

While they are still wet, quickly cover it in a layer of Saran wrap.

Squish it into wrinkles. Put on a shelf to dry until the next day. They are done. Don't forget their names on the back!

When the plastic wrap is taken off the next day, it will give the appearance of under water scene. Take photos and email them to sharonroe1@me.com and I will put them on Artsonia

Jackson Pollock- Action Jackson

Jackson Pollock was an American painter, born in 1912, who became famous for his enormous drip paintings. He painted in a tool shed where he could lay his canvas on the floor, and drip and splatter paint across it without worrying about ruining the walls or floor.

Rather than paint a landscape or a portrait, Pollock wanted to paint action. When you look at one of his drip paintings, your eye wanders across the entire canvas in constant motion. In this way, Pollock achieved his goal; the creation of the painting was active and so is the viewing of the painting.







Link to lavender mist.
Don't forget to look for his handprints "signature" in the top right of painting.

Click here to make your own Jackson Pollock painting online!!!!

Video of Jackson Pollock painting


Link to my Pollock slideshow for class

Project:
Canvas boards. Whatever size is on sale or you can order in advance from art department

I used 24x24" last time, it looks great on an easel!

Lots of bottles of acrylic paint,
Brushes, large small, painters stir sticks, or Popsicle sticks
Large Red plastic cups
Drop cloths
Painters smocks from art room ( very messy project)
I prep the white canvas board by spray painting the background a lavender for girls and a blue for boys.
I will put a label on the back saying teacher, year, artist, art masterpiece date.

On the day of, make sure you have list of helpers and find a spot outdoors to lay down the drop cloths, or plastic tablecloths.
Pre-pour the paints into red cups and mix with a little water so it is a little thinner, like house paint consistency.

Show the slideshow, and the video of "action Jackson" at work.
Talk about abstract expressionism, and explain that a very important part of his work is the action and process of making it, not just the final canvas.
Have the kids take their shoes off and put a smock on to cover their clothes.
They will stand in a circle with their canvas on the plastic, and their feet off it.
They'll take turns with all the colors and drip, splash, drop, paint onto their canvas' as they stand over them. They will not touch their canvas!
When they are done with all the colors, their masterpieces will look like these! Have fun, and don't forget to take photos for Artsonia !