African Safari Silhouettes

5th Grade creates beautiful sunsets using watercolor techniques to create an African Silhouette scene. This project challenges the way we look at a shape, and how to pay attention to the negative space around and inside a shape. 

Keith Haring, 2 Ways!

5th grade learns about artist Keith Haring. We are doing this project in 2 parts. This first part resembles Haring's subway drawings on black paper. 

5th Grade Classroom Display

5th grade gets to put 2 pieces of artwork in the Art Show - but I thought they would love to have more of their work on display in their classroom for Open House! So much to be proud of here.

Da Vinci Self-Portraits

5th grade takes a look at Leonardo da Vinci's classical portraiture techniques to draw a portrait of themselves using chalk pastel.

Ceramics: Mayan Calendars!

5th graders were fascinated with Mayan Astrology back around Dec 21 2012. Apparently they were making a Mayan City as a lunchtime project (not sure about the details). I originally had planned to do Picasso Plates - but these are WAY more cool!

Georgia O'Keeffe Mural

5th Grade was studying Georgia O'Keeffe this year and one of the teachers asked if I could do a class mural. O'Keeffe is one of my inspirations so I was more than happy.

We looked at her painting, "Poppy 4". The class is a small group of about 10 - a fairly challenging group to get "interested" in a project. But I'll tell you - this project really brought the best out of all of the kids - mostly their spirits.

Van Gogh Descriptive Line

I tried this lesson using Van Gogh's artwork,"A Fishing Boat At Sea".

Complimentary Hot Air Balloons

My 5th grade class at Castro Elementary needed some more practice understanding the color wheel, and how to make tints and shades of tertiary colors with paint.

Calaveras Printmaking

Today November 1st is in Mexican tradition, Day of the Dead. We talked about the Mexican culture of venerating the dead, sugar skulls and the printmaker, Jose Posada.

Solar Systems

5th Grade reviewed the solar system while learning about blending and shading to render a 3-Dimenstional form.

Van Gogh Sunflowers

Today I had the pleasure of teaching my friend's first art lesson of the school year! Her awesome 5th grade class was nice to work with especially given the nice facility loaded with materials to use and ample space!

Audubon Society Poster Contest - Red-Breasted Sapsucker

I cannot express how wonderful it is to excite a class with a contest! The Santa Clara County Audubon Society is having a poster contest for their Environment Education Day 2012, and winners will have their artwork put in their 2013 calendar!
My 5th grade class was an excellent candidate for this project, as it is a small class, so I can deliver lots of one-on-one with the students. I chose to do the Red-Breasted Sapsucker, a local woodpecker in the Santa Clara County.

Wild Cat Silhouette Landscapes

A lesson on shape, my small 5th grade class voted on what subject matter to do for this lesson. Wild cats, cats, cats! and more cats. So I modified a lesson to make them excited about this project.