Hi Blog Readers!

Hi readers! I am back with a few new blog posts.  It's a new year and with that, I've signed up to get my Master's +30 at Fresno Pacific University.  I am taking a class called "All Things Google" and am really gaining some great information from it.  One of the tasks we are supposed to do is create a blog.  I knew I had already created this lovely blog ages ago but with the world of Instagram sharing, I've neglected it severely.
One thing I'd like to put out there is the true purpose of this blog.  When I started this blog I did it for art teachers to share ideas, comment, and connect.  There were so many great art blogs with great ideas that I wanted to share my own.  My target audience is art teachers or those who need ideas when teaching art to students or their children.
I hope all my readers are doing well.  I had a share this funny picture with purple handprints I found on a Friday during a crazy Kindergarten class.  We were doing a printmaking project with various objects.  Somehow my printing analogy  "a handprint is like printmaking" was taken very seriously by these little darlings and someone printed on the floor.  I still chuckle at this project and it's a good reminder of how kids take things so literally.  Enjoy the weekend!    

Kindergarten's Totally Texture

The kindergarten enjoyed all the mess that went along with this project. We first started off with texture plates and did a rubbing. Over that we did a thin watercolor wash. Day 2 the students used gadgets & bright paint to make prints over the texture from the class before and finally we used foil for a little border. It was a great project and it really got all the forms of texture from visual to implied.

Crazy Print Birds

This was what I decided to do with printmaking this year in first grade. We also used the primary colors. I found various junk items around the room, some paper plates and let the kids print on two 9x12 sheets. This week when they come in we will assemble the birds. Drawing an arch across the first 9x12 turned horizontally. Fold the 2ND piece in half, draw a 'U' shape with a cloud-like line over the top for the wings. Make sure the kids keep the paper folded in order to get two wings. We will finish with some eyes, a beak and little legs. I'm anxious to see these hanging around the school!

String Print

3rd graders make this neat-o print project. We talked about raised surfaces and additive printmaking, also the primary colors. The first part is gluing the string on. I usually have the kids do this towards the end of the first class, then the next time they come to class it's dry and ready to print. We talk about brayers since it's a new tool for the kids. Basically students choose 2 primary colors, roll on the paint, print and do again with the second color. Results are great!