Gyotaku

Gyotaku is a printmaking art form in which actual fish are used to make prints. This art form started back a couple hundred years ago when Japanese fisherman wanted to record their catch. In our class we used fish models and paint to make our prints. Here are some of the results.

Paper marbling

So this week we looked at the ancient art of paper marbling. For those who are not familiar with this art form, it is the application of an ink or water resistant  paint in water. What results is a film of paint or ink that floats on the surface of the water. When this occurs, you "swirl" the paint and create a marble pattern. Then you dip the paper in for a few seconds and transfer the marbled pattern onto the paper.

Another alternative to using oil based paints or inks would be to use shaving cream and water based paints. We used tempera paints and these are the results.

Papermaking

Papermaking start back in Egypt with papyrus, a plant a Egyptians used back in the 3rd millennium B.C.. Our modern "paper" has its roots or start back in ancient China in the first millennium A.D. So I taught a lesson on how to make handmade decorative paper. The students seemed enjoyed decorating their paper.

The Mad Sprayer

I have one particular student-artist who is obssessed with spraying paint on canvas. The student is like a modern day Jackson Pollock. Here is one of the pieces created by said student-artist

Wooden Figure Sculpture

So this week we are starting to learn about figurative sculpture. I brought in a bag full of wooden dowels and other small pieces. The students had a ball creating all types of human like figures

Here is one of the figures made by a student. The students really love the freedom to create whatever they can think of which is great because they are the most creative I feel when they have more freedom to explore a concept.

Minimalism contest

So this week we started to study minimalism. The students learned that minimalists typically use geometric shapes and was often monochromatic or just used one color. They thought it was rather boring, so I spiced it up by creating a contest. I gave the students two 8x10 pieces of card stock and a pair of scissors and asked them to created a free standing sculpture without the use of glue. The students thought I was crazy but I showed them several ways they could cut and join the paper to make it structurally sound. Most didn't have patience to use all the paper but used what they thought they needed to win.The resulting winner is

Sometimes things don't go as planned and students throw projects on the floor!

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse

My students LOVE mickey mouse. That's the most painted, drawn, requested image in the whole school! Mickey Mouse debuted on November 18, 1928. So we celebrated his birthday by creating more MICKEY ART!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKEY!

Found object art

Students learned about how to "recycle" objects and turm them into art! This is one I particularly like.

Fall Pumpkin Art Bean Mosaic

We  learned about and created some bean mosaic art pieces. Since it is Halloween and the fall, I decided we should do pumpkin bean mosaics. Here are a few examples

Woodworking as Art

In this lesson,students learned how to cut, glue, and join wood pieces to form structures. Students worked with balsa wood since its fairly soft but strong and is readily available in most arts and craft stores. The first structure was built by a middle school student and the second a high school student.

Fall Art

So now that it is fall I introduced students to some fall inspired projects. One projects was a mixed media with paper)construction and tissue), paint and for the rings paper towel rolls were cut and dip them in paint to create some interesting designs. Check out the example.

Notan

Notan is a Japanese design art form in which you cut forms out of a square and glue them as if they are a mirror image from the space in which you cut them from. We were learning about positive and negative space so I thought this would be a great and simple way to learn just that. The students liked this project and found it fairly easy to create a nice piece of art.

Cubism

We studied cubism in art this week. People know of cubism because of Picasso. The students I have all love cartoon characters. So we painted some cartoon characters in the cubist style. Here is one example.

Perspective

Some students struggle with drawing. So to introduce perspective to these students I used a construction model that models 2 point perspective. Check it out.

Pattern

One of art and design's basic principles is pattern. So students created painting based on their interpretation of pattern. Here are some of the results

Line

Line is a critical element in art and design. It outlines and separates forms from one another. We learned about how lines can be expressive, calm, etc. Here is an example of a line assignment

Vision

So at the very beginning of the year I had the students work on a vision project. This project accomplished two things. One was to help me access students technical skills and the second was to see what their goals are for the upcoming school year. I submitted one of the student's artwork to a contest for nonpublic special education school and was pick as one of the artworks for the cover of the magazine for the conference!

Introduction

Hi, I am an Art Teacher. I am originally from North Carolina and in my childhood enjoyed drawing. When I started high school I completely fell in love with art. I attended East Carolina University and graduated with a fine arts degree. Have trouble finding any kind of arts related work, I started to work with people with special needs. First, in the group home setting followed by in the classroom. This experience was highly rewarding so I returned to school recently and attained a degree in teaching. Currently I teach visual arts to at a non-public school serving students with special needs,emotional disorders and students on the autism spectrum. With this blog my hopes is to show the world what students with special needs are capable of as well as to help other fellow art teachers teach students with special needs.