Smartest Artist of the Month: May 2012

Our featured artist this month is 5th grader Caroline C., who is currently working on a beautiful tapestry weaving.  Caroline has impressed us with her artistic talents for many years here at Dolvin, and I know she will continue to grow in her creativity as she enters middle school next year.  Caroline is very dedicated and serious about her work in art class and always strives to do her very best.
Caroline enjoys making art because "it's creative," and in her spare time she also loves playing outside and beign with friends.  She loves going to the beach and just having fun!  Thanks, Caroline, for sharing your awesome work with us.  We will miss you next year!

This is a painting Caroline has been working on in her after-school art class -
she said she has spent about 9 hours on this Van Gogh replica.

Thanks (to and from) Ms. Clark's class

I received a whole stack of handmade thank you cards from Ms. Clark's class on Wednesday. They were colorful, nicely drawn, and thoughtfully expressive. I am happy you enjoyed the year - it seems the high points for most were the stitchery project, the clay coil pots, and of course, the field trip to the High Museum. Have a great summer, soon-to-be 4th graders!

Succulent plants in Mexican pots

This is a new lesson that 4th graders tried out this year during our unit on the art of Mexico. I found this amazing lesson on the Room 9: Art! blog and decided to give it a try.  If you haven't seen this blog, definitely check it out - I have been inspired by it several times this year.
We began by looking at different varieties of cacti and succulent plants like aloe and jade, and we discussed the climate necessary for these plants to thrive.  We looked at colorfully painted Mexican pottery, and put our handbuilding skills to use as we pinched pots and modelled clay.  We mixed a variety of different greens for a natural look to our container gardens, and even added broken spaghetti noodles for the cactus prickles.  We were a bit rushed for time with these, as school is out next week, but I think they are really fun and cute and I hope they will adorn many mother's shelves this Mother's Day.