December Art News

The Mountain View C.H.O.I.C.E Art Studio

Students are enjoying the variety of art-making activities available to them.  We are working in drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, and now fibers.  Students in grades 2-3 can do a stitching in burlap and yarn. 4^th and 5^th graders can try stitching or making coil baskets. They are experimenting with many different stitches including a running stitch, couching, backstitch, and satin stitch.  Weaving is also still a very popular activity in the fibers center. 

The art program has purchased 3 digital cameras to be used in the newly opened photography center.  Students are taking photos of the inside of the school with an emphasis on the lines, patterns, textures, and lights and shadows.  Students are beginning to learn what makes a good photograph including varieties in their ‘point of view’.

First grade is slowly learning how to use the art room as an art studio.  They have the opportunity to make drawings, paintings, and collages. We will soon begin a collage project with torn paper and printed gadgets.

Kindergarten is learning about and experimenting with color.  We explore paints as way to mix color and invent new colors.  We study how other artists like Henri Matisse, Alma Thomas, and Sonia Delaunay use color in their work.

October Art News

The Mountain View C.H.O.I.C.E Art Studio Opens

Students are getting their art studio back again this year.  We are beginning to open art centers slowly as we re-learn how to work in our studio space.  Drawing and painting are open and we are adding collage, clay, and finishing center.  Soon after that we will open fibers, printmaking, and scuplture. 
There is some great exploration taking place and some beautiful artworks being created. Most importantly, students are practicing 21_st Century Skills like collaboration, critical thinking, reflection, flexibility, adaptability, leadership and responsibility, and so much more.  You can also see that students are taking pride in and responsibility for their studio centers and materials.  

Kindergarten are expert line makers.  We have explored many different lines that artists use through many different  media; drawing tools, paint, clay, and cut paper. We've studied artists who highlight lines in their paintings and drawings.  We will now explore shapes and color.  Working through collage techniques and color mixing, we will study artists like Frank Stella, Henri Matisse, Joan miro and quiltmakers that work with geometric shapes.

Welcome Back to Art Class

Welcome back to the 2011-2012 school year. I am glad to be working with all my new and returning art students. Already students are creating great works of art!  We are beginning the year by unveiling of this year's theme...What do artists do?  We are discussing that artists do more than just make things.  They think, and look, and connect to others as they work.

Students in grades 1-5 are starting the year by contributing to a school mural in the Kiva.  They are able to explore a variety of centers and move at their own pace with their own ideas.  They can choose to express these ideas through drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, fibers, and sculpture.  This first project is called the ABCs of ART.  Each student is making a 5"x5" square with a letter of the alphabet. Since many of these students were familiar with our studio setting (TAB-Teaching for Artistic Behavior) last year, I am encouraging them to really 'Stretch and Explore' many ideas while doing this project.  We are reflecting on our progress and making connections to each other, just as artists connect to other artists’ work in the art world.

Kindergarten students are beginning the year by doing some observation drawing.  We are also exploring a variety of media in the art room while studying lines.  Looking at artists’ work that show line and finding them in our world helps to make our work more meaningful.

If at any time you need to contact me the number is

School—720-972-8429

Email— Jennifer.schmuldt@adams12.org

Daily Monsters!

Students are really loving the flexibility and the unpredictability of Daily Monsters.  Based on Stefan G. Bucher's website  http://www.dailymonster.com/ ,  we tried our own versions in class with india ink, eye droppers, and cocktail straws.

May Art News

April Art News

What’s happening at the Mountain View Art Studio?

Kindergarten students will end the school year with CHOICE studio options.  They will choose between drawing, collage, painting, and printmaking centers while also choosing the ideas they want to express.

As the year comes to a close, students in grades 1-5 are working hard to finish the work we’ve started in class.   We are really excited about monoprints.  We’ve experimented with painted monoprints, symmetrical folded prints, and subtractive monoprints with ink and brayers.  Now we are looking at embellishing our prints with drawing, collage, or painting techniques.  Students have also really enjoyed making daily monsters (http://www.dailymonster.com/).  A flexible thinking activity that involves air blown ink and student imaginations.

School—720-972-8429

Email— Jennifer.schmuldt@adams12.org

Adams 12 Five Star Schools Annual Art Show

Congratulations!

Mountain View had 33 artists whose artworks were on display at the TASHCO gallery, April 7 -14.  An awards ceremony will be held May 12 at Horizon High School for our award winners; Francis Abila 2^nd Grade, Joseph Borman 4^th Grade, and Ethan Kissell 1^st Grade.

April Art News

    April Art News

What’s happening at the Mountain View Art Studio?

Kindergarten students will begin a printmaking unit where we will explore many ways to make a print.  Found objects, fingers, and pre-made and homemade stamps will all lead students to better understand pattern, and texture, and rhythm in works of art.

It’s finally time for clay!  Students will work on getting to know clay and understand it’s basic properties.  All students in grade 1-5 will explore hand-building techniques like coil and slab construction.  Students will learn how to wedge clay and use slip to join pieces together.  There will be opportunities to work with molds, incorporate textures, and make one-of-a-kind functional and non-functional works of art.  Glazes and paints will be available to finish the fired pieces.

School—720-972-8429

Email— Jennifer.schmuldt@adams12.org

Mountain View Gets a New Kiln!

Thank you to the PTO for their generous contribution and to all of the parents and teachers who have supported the art program for the past 2 years.  With your help we have raised enough money to buy a shiny new kiln.  It has been ordered and should arrive soon.

Thank You!!!

March Art Newsletter

March Art News

What’s happening at the Mountain View Art Studio?

Kindergarten students are continuing their work in sculpture by working in clay.  We are exploring texture by pressing common objects into the clay.  We are learning that textures are all around our world and that artists use textures to give pattern and interest to their work.  Our texture study will extend to collage and printmaking in the spring.

It’s an exciting time for students in grades 1-5. We are opening the sculpture center and students are eager to get their hands on the materials.  I am stressing the idea of transformation with their sculpture work.  Viewers of their work should have a hard time guessing the materials that were used to make the work (a lotion bottle shouldn’t still look like a lotion bottle!)  And the form should speak for itself.  There is a lot of active problem solving happening as students have to figure out how to make things stick, and balance, and look transformed.  As you see these wonderful creations come home, remember that is this student-centered work.  Ask your students questions about their process, about their intention, and what their next steps might be.

Look for more 3-dimensional work coming home and on display as we start focusing on more types of sculpture.  All students will get a chance to work in clay and glaze after spring break!

School—720-972-8429

Email— Jennifer.schmuldt@adams12.org