Blog Archives

Clay Days

4/30/2015

My classes are organized by color and each student has an assigned number in the class, which is helpful when putting away projects in progress.

We are entering week two of M-STEP. There is about two more weeks of testing left to go, so when scheduling what these weeks were going to look like in my classroom, I made sure to include our clay unit. This ensures that kids could get away from trying to find the one answer and instead, explore how many solutions they could come up with using this moldable material!

For our clay project, students craft a clay balloon (that they can also turn into a rattle) and then incorporate that balloon into their overall design. Here are some pictures from the process this week:

Two Tips:

Here are two tips I have found SUPER helpful when working with clay.

Use plastic sealable bags for storing projects. Because the bags are clear and have a click-sealing lock, students projects no longer take someone else's thinking it is theirs and their clay stays moist!
Use Newspaper as a matt. I used to think clay matts had to be fabric, but they don't! If you use newspaper instead, it is easier to clean up and works just as well.

DAFT in Detroit

4/26/2015

Yesterday was the 47th Annual Michigan Student Film Festival at the Detroit Film Theater in the DIA. I had never been to the theater, so it was a real treat to be in such a historic place and really take in the glamor of the architectural details. If you ever get a chance to visit, make sure to get to the upper level so you can take in the view of the whole glimmering theater.

For the film festival, the Best of Show winners were shown and awards were handed out. It was a thrill that to see two of my students videos displayed and at least one student able to make it over from the other side of the state to represent our group. Thank you again to Jewel and her dad for making the trip and representing BCWMS in a great way!

I have been to quite a few awards ceremonies over the 11 years I have been teaching, and I have to say that DAFT puts on one of the best, most organized, and fun awards show I have ever experienced. I would like to thank them for not only honoring the students, teachers, and families of those who won, but to do it in complete class and style. They had a great pace and representation of speakers that included DAFT president, DAFT teacher of the year, and actor Dave Davies. They fully explained how the awards were decided and what each level meant so that first-timers like me could understand what it all means. They also included highlights of what former winners are doing in the Film Industry as well specific feedback for EVERY video to help aspiring film-makers reflect and improve on their craft and vision.

I was really blown away with the level of insight and professionalism that the young award winners were treated with by this organization. I am already thinking of how we can enter even more works next year!

Spaced Out

4/24/2015

Being that is was Earth Day this week, 7th grade students delved into their own planetary wonderings by creating the spacescapes seen below. This is a fun and quick Photoshop exploration, thanks to the help of Ian Sands.

Ethan

Hannah

Matt

Brynn

Jessica

Students also explored the illusion of space through 1 and 2-point perspective drawing. Here are some examples of names created:

Students also finished up their Sooper Art entries, which I will be dropping off today!

Emily: Everything living, whether it's a bug or a human, dies and then decays. Animals decompose into the ground, and eventually become apart of the environment. Not only that, but in the bible it talks about how the earth and the plants and animals were created, and from that came humans. In the circle of life or from evolution or however else we humans came to be, we are all apart of nature and our natural environments. So, if that's true, then shouldn't we try to keep our environment clean and preserve nature? Shouldn't we protect our environment, if it is one of the things that is so involved in the human race, that we will all come to rest in when we die?

Jewel: This artwork definitely fits in with the theme of environment because it shows how our environment is being harmed, what it will become and how soon, we won't even be able to live here any more.

Katie: My art fits with the idea of the environment because if we don't take care of it then it will be destroyed. Thats what the left eye represents. the right one tells us that there is beauty in all of the world and it can be found in all places.

Ethan: So, this is a image that is supposed to show the beauty of nature and how pretty things that aren't polluted can look, I decided to do this, because: one, I love to draw trees, and two, it was something new, that I hadn't really done much of before, like the sun, and the grass shadow, and water reflections. I feel that this fits in the competition because it's (as I said before) supposed to show the beauty that non-polluted nature can have/show.

Sooper Environments

4/20/2015

In the spirit of Earth Day, both 7th and 8th grade students worked on finishing environmental pieces this week, some of which will make it to the Sooper Art Competition. The timing for this project and competition are perfect to get students thinking about their environment and how they can positively impact the future through their present actions.

Cheyene

Emily

Devin

Rylynn

Ana

Light and Shadow

4/17/2015

Dual Enrollment students worked with the concept of light and shadow with this assignment. It was fun to see them experiment with different ways to capture the light in their camera and how it impacted their final images. We are now moving onto their final thematic series to finish out the course.

Here is a sample of the pieces submitted for the assignment:

Kenton

Kenton

Jason

Jason

Tara

Tara

Holly

Holly

Sarah

Sarah

Denise

Denise

State Winners

4/13/2015

47th Annual Michigan Student Film Festival

This is the first year we have entered student work in the State Film Festival. For years, our High School program has participated in the event with great success, leading the way for my students to get involved and be successful, too. I am proud to announce that we had 10 videos receive recognition, with 29 students involved in the creation of those films. We want to extend a special thanks to the Byron Center Fine Arts Boosters who sponsored our competition entries. The BCWMS winners are featured below:

Junior Best of Show

Junior Excellence

Junior Honor

MAEA State Winners

Saturday we celebrated the Elementary and Middle Level winners for the Michigan Art Education Association State show. It was fun to celebrate with students and see so many parents and families travel across the state to join in the success of their artists at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. This competition is a process that starts in each region with teachers selecting 5 works to compete from their school, work is then juried in that region with some moving onto state adjudication, afterwards the work is then narrowed to the Top 15 for grade groups. This is the second year we have had two students in the Top 15 and the third year we have had any Top 15 finalists for Middle school work.

Notans, Two Ways

4/11/2015

Before we left for Spring Break, 7th grade students worked with the Japanese concept of light and dark harmony through paper cut and digital Notans. It was fun to see the students work with the concept in two mediums and have them compare the work and processes. Here are a few from the group, but you can find them all on our Artsonia gallery.

Paper Notans:

For the paper Notans, students used a 4x4 inch black paper and cut out shapes that would then be opened like a mirror from the side. They were asked to cut shapes from all four sides and use a glue stick to secure it to their white background.

Aaron: In this piece of art I made the shapes in a unique way that I thought was cool. Some of the shapes I made were influenced by my surroundings and I also used some of the designs in the video that we watched.

Kasey: I created a Asymmetrical and Symmetrical design using black and white colors. I wanted to create a different and funky design. So used more organic shape then geometry shapes.

Denver: When I was creating this piece I was thinking of fire and the way it burns thats why it has a sharp fire like edge to it. And for the smoke the circles and waves represent that. Also in this pice i added a trapezoid to show a mountain along with the mountain like shape in the circle. This makes it seem like the fire is on a mountain or something. this piece may seem like nothing at first but when you look at it more and think about it, it seems to have a story.

Digital Notans:

For the digital Notans, students were asked to use work from their Artsonia portfolio and alter it in Photoshop with the use of the lasso tool and some other editing tricks.

Jewel: During the creation of this art piece, I used the lasso tool in photoshop to cut and paste into a digital notan. My favorite piece of this artwork is the eye on the other side of the face.

Matthew: I made this notan by using the lasso tool on photoshop. This made it so I could select a part of the image and flip it so it turned out to be a notan like the paper ones we made in class.

Jordan: For this Notan, I used the lasso tool in photoshop. I took an image from my own profile on artsonia, and I made it into a Notan. It was really easy, and as I went, it got cooler and cooler. I really like this artwork because it has a lot of color and design.

Photo Update

4/10/2015

I have not had a chance to post the works from my Dual Enrollment students earlier last month until now; students worked with a variety of images as they explored the concept of Depth of Field. Through the manipulation of aperture and shutter, students were able to control how much of their image was in focus. It was fun to see students explore with their settings and the diverse images that resulted. See for yourself below:

Jason

Jason

Sarah

Sarah

Kenton

Kenton

Holly

Holly

Tara

Tara

Denise

Denise