One of the coolest things ever!!!!!!

In buying supplies for Art-al-Sol, I found a glass fusing kiln that goes into the microwave. I ordered it and tried it out with my campers. It is AMAZING!!!!!! You design a glass piece, place it on kiln paper, and place it in the kiln. The whole kiln goes in the microwave for just a few minutes. The only drawback is that you have to wait for 30 minutes before you can take the glass out of the kiln and see it. I know...patience is a virtue, one that I usually have, but this time, it was very hard to wait. I found this kiln in an art supply catalogue, but I also found it at Hobby Lobby. It's a little pricey at about $119 at H.B., but with a 40% off coupon, it makes it more affordable. I have fired my kiln over 60 times, and it is still working great!

Art-al-Sol 2009

Each year Metro schools offers a summer art program called Art-al-Sol. I have taught this camp for the last three years. This summer, we used the theme of Art around the World. We had some great artwork this year, and I thought I would showcase some of it!

What a semester!

The spring semester of grad school has been very, very hectic. I have been so busy with it, that I could not seem to find the time to post...sorry.

Aboriginal Handprints

This is a lesson that I have done with my first graders. As a class, we look at and discuss aboriginal art, and then I give them a piece of paper, and have them trace their hands with a pencil, three times. I want them to overlap the hands. After the hands are drawn, I give them black sharpies, and have them trace over their pencil lines. Next, I talk to them about patterns, and then give them colored sharpies and the students draw patterns on the hands. Finally, the students pick a color to paint the background. I really like to use opalescent paints for the background, it gives the pictures a little shine.

Crayon Encaustic

I know, I know.... I haven't updated my blog in a while, but it has been crazy, with the holidays, starting a new semester with the kids, and starting a new semester of grads school. Sorry. Anyways, this is an example of a lesson that I create with my students. This is crayon encaustic. This is a great way to recycle those old crayon nubs, and turn them into wonderful art. First, you need to melt the crayons. For this, I have an old chili pot, that my father turned into my crayon melter. He drilled a hole in the bottom of the pot, and installed a light fixture that hold two light bulbs. He drilled another hole on the side near the bottom, and ran the power cord out of the side. Next, he drilled holes in the sides of the pot, near the top, and installed two metal shish kabob skewers (to hold a foil muffin pan). Finally, he drilled some holes in the lid for a vent. This is just one way of melting the crayons. I know that there are items that are sold on the market to do this, but they can be expensive, and don't hold a lot of wax. Be creative, you just need to use a light bulb to melt the wax.
Anyways, I fill the muffin tins with peeled crayons (hint....soak the crayon nubs in a bucket of water overnight, the labels come right off) and let the heat melt the crayons. I start this before my class comes in. When the wax is melted, I have the students gather around the pot, and "paint" the wax on their paper with q-tips. They have to work quickly, but when they are finished, the pictures are beautifully textured. After the remaining wax has cooled, I pop the crayons out of the muffin tins (they look like colored Reese's Peanut Butter cups) and put them in my treasure box.

What a couple of months or so!

I have realized that I have not updated my blog in a while! It has been a wild and crazy couple of months. I am in grad school, and this is my first semester. Getting back in the swing of things has been fun and stressful. I have also been battling some sort of upper respiratory infection for a month now, and I think that I am getting over it finally. I will be adding some more lesson plans soon though. If there is anything that you need help on before then, please feel free to let me know.

Since I have mentioned grad school though, I might as well talk about it. I live in the Nashville area, where there are a lot of art teachers, but there are not any local colleges who are offering a masters in art education. So the art gang (a group of art teacher friends) did some investigating online and found out about a MAT program at the University of Idaho. This is an online program, and as far as we can tell, very affordable. We started this semester, and here are some pictures of artwork that I created for one of my classes.

I created these pictures by gluing seed beads one by one to a canvas, and then painting around them to finish the background. What do you think? Check out the rest of my artwork at www.flickr.com/photos/malonejanet

Very Hungry Caterpillars

This is a lesson that I like to do with my Kindergartners. I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. After reading the book, the students are given pieces of tissue paper that are cut into ovals, and a piece of 12x18 paper. I have the student use a crayon to write their name and draw a slightly wavy line in the middle of their paper. Then they use liquid starch to collage their tissue paper ovals on the line, making sure that they overlap the ovals. After the papers dry, the students use crayons to add features to the caterpillar (including feet) and a grass line to the ground. These look great going up and down the halls!