Swatch it!

7th Grade students created a new design for Swatch.  This was a very fun project, talking about design and composition.  I had to make sure the project came to life by purchasing my very own Swatch of course!

Prrrrrimary and Secondarrrrry Dinosaurs

1

1st grade did an amazing job creating these primary and secondary dinosaurs.

Howard Finster and Me

Over the past few weeks 3rd grade has been creating amazing self portraits.  These portraits were inspired by Howard Finster and his unique style.  Thanks to Ms. Krass at The Lake Forest Louvre and her inspiring ideas, my students at TMSA had a great time creating personal sentences and painting self portraits.  I wish you could read all the great descriptions the kids wrote about themselves.  One of my favorites was "I am very strong and brave."
Enjoy

Be.....

Our first assignment was helping me finish my bulletin board outside the art room.  I had the kids come up with positive adjectives to finish the phrase BE...they had wonderful words and were very creative with their designs.

New school year, New ideas

Well, school has officially started (well teacher work days) and I am trying to switch things up for the year in my classroom.  I am thinking of a huge colorwheel on the wall and grouping some art elements and principal posters together ...the bad news is that I have to travel between to campuses and sadly I dont have a classroom at one campus...well that actually remains to be up in the air at this time, but its not looking good.
So the first few days have been a whirlwind but look for updates on my new ideas for the classroom and soon to be art cart.

First Annual TMSA art night

 The Main Street Academy first annual Art Night

I am not sure where to begin explaining how wonderful, how successful, and how magical this night was...first was the set up with the help of so many wonderful volunteers.  My dear friend Kristin was a rock star with set up and keeping me focused.  All this came together in less than 6 hours, calling in extra volunteers at the last minute and everything was set and ready at 5. 
The families started flowing in and were overjoyed by the gallery feel of the event.  I had over 600 pieces of art, a beautiful spread of fruit, cheese and deserts donated by our PTO and another close friend, 26 painted wooden chairs for auction (which brought over 2,000 dollars) and music performed by our 6th grade students.
I could have asked for a better night.  The artwork was stunning and looking at these pictures now, taking it all in, I am proud to say that TMSA has the most talented kids ever!! I knew all school year that they were working hard and carefully followed my directions, but when I sit here in the silence of my living room, reflecting on a school year, I am so proud, so happy to be a part of this school and these kids.