Festive Holiday Cards

Using what they had learned in previous lessons, incorporating stencil-making and collage, my students created some great hand made cards for the holidays. Check these great designs out!

Making Jewelry

Making jewelry was something I knew my students had done many times before I came along. Though the process of stringing one bead at a time was often difficult and laborious for many of them. I found a great tool for them to use that strings many beads at a time called a bead spinner. It comes battery operated or as a hand spinner. It's made for seed beads, which we had plenty of left over from past jewelry making exercises. The bead spinners worked great with the memory wire we had, so they made bracelets, necklaces, and rings. We also did some basic stringing and made lots of earrings. The students were so excited when I showed them the bead spinners ...they couldn't wait to try them out. Check out these great pieces of jewelry my students made.

Painting Pictures

My students, taking what they learned about color mixing, moved on to painting a wide variety of images such as landscapes, birds, and flowers. First, a picture tracing technique was used. The outcome looked like a page from a coloring book. You'd be surprised to learn how many artists and illustrators trace their subjects, especially now with the advancement of computers and Adobe Illustrator. For my students, who have moderate to severe disabilities, this technique made the process more gratifying. After they had their picture outline complete, they began painting. Every painting was unique. It was fun for my students to see the differences across similar subjects. We eventually turned some of the paintings into printed note cards, which the students sold to the parents and staff of their school.

Handmade Cards

We had a lot of fun creating cards using specialty papers, along with buttons, sequins, and other materials. My students learned to make their own stencils for each card they made based on a variety of images. Students used the stencils on the papers and then cut out their images. They had not up to this time learned about collage techniques, so making their own designs from the variety of papers and materials was a challenge. One that had spectacular results. Here are just a few of the many unique and beautiful cards my students created.

Painting On Fabric

This exercise was really fun for my students because they were able to experiment with painting in a new and unique way. I gathered many different tools and materials for the students to use to paint on muslin fabric. Their tools consisted of burlap, forks, empty toilet paper cylinders, rope, plastic mesh, paper cup cardboard holders (each one has a different pattern inside), and the bottoms of egg crates... to name a few. Students were given different color paints and a sampling of tools and materials. These are some of their paintings... interesting and beautiful.... each one unique.

Abstract Emotions & Color

This lesson combined learning about the primary and secondary colors and how different colors and emotions are closely linked. Students were encouraged to experiment with mixing their own colors and then painting their feelings. This was also the first time students worked with acrylic paints. As you can see from these paintings, my students really got into this lesson.

Batik - A Modified Process

One of the first projects the students were taught was a form of batik using a modified version of the standard batik process. Instead of using wax and dyes, the "paintings" were created using clear, washable glue (which acts as a resist, like wax) and tempera paints. Check these creations out done by some of my students.

A New Endeavor - Teaching Art

Well... I have been very busy over the last 9 months with a new job and career change. In June 2009, I took the MTEL, passed (phew!) and became a MA certified teacher of visual arts. I am writing this in March 2010 and am back dating some of these postings to show the artwork created by my students over the course of many months since becoming an art teacher.

I started work at a private elementary school in Boston during June 2009. The school, over the past five years, developed a full and enriching day habilitation program for young adults aged 18 - 22 years old with moderate to severe disabilities. Since I began teaching art to these wonderful young adults, I have learned a great deal about myself, about art, and the process of teaching. The outcome of their hard work I am showing here. You can see more of what the students have been up to at the Access All blog, which I created and keep up-to-date.

My personal art has taken a back seat over the months, but I am starting to work on personal projects again.

So... check back over the coming months to see my new creations.

Organic Prints (final)

Organic Prints (yes, more)

Organic Prints (still, more)

Organic Prints (more)