Classroom Murals: Collaborative Art Project

After seeing this post, from Organized Chaos, I could not get the idea of a group mural out of my head. Even though I have had my end-of-the-year projects planned for weeks, and we wrapped up painting projects last month...I decided to tackle a couple of group murals with my 1st graders.

 I decided that these would be fantastic bulletin boards for the summer/beginning of the year and open house next year. The original idea for this project comes from Experiments in Art Education. I would like to share my experience with this project with you, along with a few tips so that if you decide to do it with young classes, it will be easy, breezy and beautiful.

First of all, I would just like to say that I am not a control freak.  If you have control issues, beware of doing this with kindergarten and first grade....I set some ground rules, but some kids either did not 'get' the rules, or they ignored them. Its okay, the murals still look great!!

 I covered each of my 6 tables with a big sheet of bulletin board paper, and I painted a couple of them with words: ART, MUSIC, HEALTH, LIBRARY (I could've made Counselor, Office, P.E. too, but I only have 6 tables and I wanted a few plain murals without words.) Mrs. Novak suggest this in her post.

When the students walked in, I told them, do not sit down, put on a paint shirt and STAND behind your normal seat. I explained that we would be doing some group painting, but they needed to follow a couple of rules.

 Rule #1, do not paint over anyone's work
 Rule #2, paint shapes that do not touch all over the paper

I did a quick demonstration of the type of shapes that work well (with everyone gathered around one table) and said to make lots of sizes and spread them around the big paper. 

 Then I had students line up to get a jar of black paint. Since I store my paint in baby food jars, I reminded them to be careful not to drop them.

My first grade classes are freakishly small this year....I have one class of 14! Students worked pretty quietly, and even though I demonstrated what kind of shapes to paint, some still insisted on practicing stars....making big solid black blobs on the murals. GAH!

 Once there were lots of shapes, I told them to connect each shape with lines. I wish I would have told them to draw lines to the edges of the paper. But its okay, they murals still turned out great!

Some of the murals with large words like ART or MUSIC had lines drawn straight through the letters. But that's okay.

 My students have an hour of art, and this project only took up about 20-25 minutes...even after I gave some basic instructions and a brief demonstration, AND we put on paint shirts.

We created 6 murals.

 I would suggest that you have something for those that are 'done' painting to do....since my tables were covered with paper, I didn't want them sitting at their spots if they had already washed their hands and taken off their paint shirts.

Also, I instructed my students to put their jars of paint down near the hand washing bucket and then scrub if they needed to. Well, this enticed two girls in my class of 14 to paint their entire hand black and then rub them together and show off their messiness to the entire class. I was busy moving all of the murals off the tables so they could dry since we still had 40 minutes to fill!!

 Obviously, it is the end of the year, and kids to silly things, but as you might imagine, this was incredibly frustrating. I'm not one to shy away from messy projects just because they are messy, and I love fingerpainting, but for two of my best artists to be so reckless, in such a small class, who should totally know better...GRRRR. It's okay though, I made them wash their hands very last, and stand off to the side while I explained the next project to the rest of the class.

I told them they wouldn't get to participate in the 'artist trading cards' that we would be creating.

 I did let them make cards.

I'm weak. Its the end of the year, it was just a little paint.

Anyway, back to the murals!!

I let those dry until the next 1st grade class two days later. Let me clarify, I have two small 1st grade classes, but I still see 20 classes a week, 11 of those are kindergarten....so I chose to do this with my two smallest classes since I hadn't taught this type of lesson previously. It would work with any grade.
 
 Before the next class, I prepared 20+ colors of paint, using white to create tints.

I also painted over the lettering with white so it would really stand out.

I had the students do the exact same procedure as I had done with the previous class, go in, put on a paint shirt, stand behind your chair. I had them gather around one mural once everyone was dressed in their shirts, and I demonstrated how they would use their color to pain in one of the shapes, scoot over and paint in another shape.

 I explained that once they had used the color on one mural, they would move on to other tables and put their color on every mural.

 I also told them not to paint on top of the white words and gave them the same rules as I had given the previous class about not painting on top of someone's work.

 During this class period, the school maintenance team came into my room to talk to me about my new cabinets for next year.  Of course they did. I took them around and explained what I wanted and where I wanted it. I was distracted for a few minutes, but the students continued to work quietly on the murals. Whew! I was fully prepared for madness to break out at any second with paint flying, but thankfully, everyone was cool and no one dropped their paint jar or got out of control.

Pretty soon, students started to get 'done' painting. I had joined them, painting with white. I was filling in a few spots on the murals without lettering as well as touching up the white lettering, covering drips etc. Frustratingly, I wanted to keep painting...but after a few minutes....one boy was done and then, suddenly, everyone was done.

Most of the murals were finished, but a few needed more colors. I realized that I needed to move the huge-really-wet-painted papers to other spots around the room and give the 'finished' students an activity otherwise it would get out of control really fast.

It was a little wild, because the kids couldn't sit at the tables, and some of the tables and chairs needed to be wiped off after we painted, and I was the only one who could maneuver the big papers. As soon as that little moment of craziness had passed (no one painted their hands this time), I directed the students to their seats and demonstrated how to create artist trading cards.

You've probably heard of this activity before, students create a series of drawings to trade. I let mine choose their own subject, and they could use markers, colored pencils or crayons to color them.

It is a fun end of the year activity. WOW! As soon as the class had their little blank cards, pencils and fine point sharpie markers, they got right to work, creating little masterpieces. It was as if the group activity had warmed them up.

A little bit 'Keith Haring'

The room was dead silent, the opposite of what it had been minutes before when I was dragging massive paintings around the room, trying to get them off of the tables and kids were running around with wet paper towels, and messy fingers.

Without even telling them to, they were completely enthralled in the activity.

They knew they had limited time because we were going to trade cards at the very end.

 If they finished early, they could make an extra card to look at a book while they waited to trade...The students whispered....they whispered to each other....and to me if they had a question. (I was in touch-up mode on the murals, covering drips and finished the two that weren't quite done).

I had to stop and look around.....the class was completely engaged in the process.

It was magic.

Towards the end, the last 7-8 minutes, students were allowed to trade cards. Some were finished, some weren't. But the ones that weren't could take their cards and finish them later.

This was a very successful end of the year project, and I can't wait to put the large paintings up on my bulletin boards.

 If you are low on patience this late in the year, beware.....I've tried to be as honest as possible about what worked for me so that you don't make the same mistakes I made.

I would definitely do this again.

It was a really great collaborative project.

Joplin Community Mural Project

In July, I mentioned that a team of artists was working in Joplin to create a Community Mural. The team met with children, and adult members of the community to create a vision for Joplin's mural. The design is now complete and the team is working on the painting stages of the mural.

Here are a few iPhone photos from the first community painting day.

 And here are a couple of Lensbaby photos from that first community painting day:

I would also like to share a conversation I had with a man on Facebook...he commented on the local newspaper's article link about the mural on August 24th:

Man: Is this free to the city? 

Newspaper: The chamber's Cultural Affairs Committee received grant funding as well as assistance through the Mid America Arts Alliance and funds raised during the "Dancing With the Stars" event.

Man: I'm just curious because there is local artist who would have gladly donated their talents to a project like this...as one of the co-painters of the Hope Wall on 20th and Main I have been working with others to try to get more projects like this going...the hope wall with its thousands of signatures and messages from survivors, volunteers and organizations also became a "community based mural" by artists who donated their time to give something back to our city...dont get me wrong I'm not against this mural but my goal as an artist since this terrible event has been to do these things with minimal costs so that money is spent on rebuilding our city...lack of art or artists in this community is not in jeopardy but as more and more debris is removed the lack of homes, businesses and even something as simple as trees seems so much more important to me...I hope this isn't taken the wrong way...im just passionate about helping joplin recover from this tragedy

Me: 'Man's name', what an amazing opportunity for you!! The mural team is a group of incredibly talented artists working throughout the Midwest to create murals in rural communities. They are working artists (because artists can't donate everything they do, or else they would never eat!), who are affiliated with the Mid-America Arts Alliance Mural Project. Dave Loewenstein is incredibly talented at gathering the insight from an entire community and its vision for a mural design. The grant was in the works as early as last year, and was approved in March. The team arrived in Joplin in July and has been meeting with community groups to develop a design for the mural. You should definitely head down there this weekend to talk to them, you have some great insight on keeping their community art momentum going after they leave!! All artists are welcome to donate their time and talents and be part of this amazing mural. Wow, I am so excited about this project, after seeing what has been painted in other small towns this is a really amazing opportunity for Joplin!!

Man: I work Saturday...may go up Sunday   

I am watching comments on other post relating to the mural...One woman said: 'I think that is cool what they r doing there but wish they would of did it the way ppl did it at 20th an main wall by the station....'

I really, really, really cannot wait for people to see how incredible this mural will be when it is finished!!

Two painting ideas combined

A few weeks ago I told you about a really cool painting on Alisa Burke's blog...I fell in love with it and made two, one for my home and one for my classroom.

In the meantime, I completely fell in love with this crayon wax melting on the whatever blog. I guess these are all over pintrest?
I decided to combine the two into a totally new, fun painting for my classroom!!

 

I'm really happy with how it turned out!! Such a fun, easy, creative thing to accomplish for such a busy time of year!!

Large Painting with words {Addict}

Recently, I've realized that the dark wall color in my living room and lack of light bearing windows makes my front room a dim cave most of the time. In search of ways to brighten it up, without repainting, I came across an idea that I immediately fell in love with.

On Lisa Burke's blog, she posted about how to create a large painting full of text and I knew immediately that it was the perfect thing for my home (and I already had the perfect canvas ready to go!)

I went down the the basement, found some old white house paint, primed the surface and searched through songs to find something that reflects what I am feeling at the moment. I chose two verses from 'home' by Pink Floyd.

As you can see, even with the morning sun streaming through the dining room, my couch is in the dark. The painting has added a large, white reflective surface to the room, especially when the t.v. is on. Maybe not so much in the morning, but it is much brighter than the mirror and photo frames I had on the wall before.

Now I just need to make some new colorful pillows so that my living room will look half as trendy as Lisa's! (I really should go back and take a photo during another time of day with a camera other than my iPhone...but whatevs)


I was so in love with Lisa's painting that I also really wanted to create one with the ee cummings poem, 'I carry your heart.'  I had another large canvas so I decided to paint it and take it to school to spruce up my room for the year.

Anyway, I decided that the worthless back corner behind my desk needed a makeover so I have been busy this summer clearing away the clutter. You can kind of see the 'before' picture of this corner and the old  poster collage on the wall behind my desk in this photo.

 I am going to leave the lomography rainbow up for the year....hoping to inspire students with my artwork. I am also thinking about doing a lesson with this poem to start out the year, because I know it will be a conversation starter for the students.

Have you done anything new in your classroom? What song or poem would you paint on a large canvas?

If you are interested in stretching your own large canvases, check out my DIY on the Birds of a Feather blog from last summer.

Thanks for reading!!

The girl who can't stop painting owls....

I keep painting owls. I just can't stop!!! 

Here is my entry for this year's Spiva Small Works Auction.

Remember last year's entry:

And I've started a circle journal with some friends. Angela. Jari. Jen. I've done the first two pages...but I also decorated the cover:

Close up!

This one might not quite be finished, but he is part of the collection. Retro owl....Inspired by Mati Rose.

Night owl.

Baby blue owl.

And Winston. One of my first owl paintings. This guy is really huge!! One of my favorite owls ever.

I am only motivated to paint occasionally...and I know I will never be Monet, Picasso, Cassat, Frida or any of those great, dead artists who would NEVER appreciate my work...but I think...Eric Carle would like it...and that is okay with me.

So I just keep painting owls.

Because I think it is important for an art teacher to make art. And show it.

So I had a show this weekend at a local art walk. And one of my (4th grade!!!) students also had art on display there also.

Guest Blogger: Not So Still Life

 I am so excited for you to read this guest post! My friend Josie has an amazing spirit. She is so passionate, dedicated, talented and extremely fun. We can literally talk for hours and hours. She inspires me as a teacher, artist and woman....she is so incredible! I cannot say enough great things about her! To read more about her, visit her blog: Call and Response. Thanks Josie for your beautiful guest post! I can't wait to try this! ~Nellie

Not so Still Life   I am an artist and teacher, much like my good friend Nellie. She inspires me. Art teachers often have to teach this idea of “still life”, you know, oranges and lemons in bowls, piles of seemingly random junk cleverly arranged on wooden tables, flowery table cloths, or chipped-paint shelves.    One of my missions as an artist and teacher is to take old ideas and try new mediums and processes to put my own spin on that old (OK, “traditional”) idea. I was stuck one day in my studio, and first looked for a surface to play on. I found a piece of plexiglass. I had a sharpie in my hand, and as I walked back to my table, I saw my shelf full of art supplies through the plexiglass.  So I stopped in my tracks, propped the plexi on my hip, and traced my stuff as I saw it THROUGH the plexi directly ONTO the plexi with the black sharpie.  I next considered painting with acrylics, but wanted something more tactile and time-consuming. I turned to a big box of yarn and went crazy, first gluing down the contours with black yarn, then filling in with whatever colors I felt like using at the time.I am excited by what is happening. The lines give these usually boring objects some intense energy. It is taking many hours to complete, but the process has been both a design challenge and a meditative exercise for me in this crazily-scheduled spring. And bonus, a happy accident!    I noticed that the yarn was starting to peel off the plexiglass, intact because the glue was holding it all together. I hope that when it is finished soon, I will be able to peel the whole piece off like a band-aid and tack it up on the wall.

New Stuff Around My House

 I thought it would be fun to show you some of the new stuff around my house. I have sort of a dark home so it is hard to get really good pictures of anything once it is on the walls.

Anyway, here is a set of thrifted portraits I got in Oklahoma this winter. I just love these old Woolworths pictures, gorgeous! The blue perfectly matches my turquoise blue hallway.

 I recently acquired the most perfect little vanity accessory....I am using a desert stand to hold my polish, perfume, lotions and the like...the top is the perfect place for some of my vintage broaches. (Don't mind the brush full of hair in the background--eeep---gross, just noticed that!)

 I have a hard time keeping all of my jewelry organized. This little plant hook will definitely come in handy--and my necklaces look lovely hanging on it.

 This photo frame wall is a work in progress. I've been collecting little goodies for months...and I finally made time to hang them up together. I don't have pictures in all the frames yet, but I think it will be awesome once it is done!

 This new-to-me-deer-paint-by-number is hanging above my vanity lighting and I just love it!!

Anyway, sorry for the weird lighting...I just really wanted to show my new stuff off!! Hope you have a fun weekend planned!!

A painting! {Penguin} Love

Here is my penguin painting that I mentioned yesterday!! I hope you like it...I think he is pretty cute too!!

Also, if you missed it, go check out my DIY--Stretch Your Own Canvas at the Birds of a Feather Girls blog!

Jason really likes him...I think he named the penguin 'Franklin'....A proud 'papa'...hehe...

Guest Blogger: Maria Ontiveros

I was so excited when Rinda emailed me about being a guest blogger. She is a true artist in every sense of the word. I hope you love her post as much as I do!! Be sure to check out her blog, Gallo Organico! ~xoxo NellieMae

"I have observed a number of works which actually lead one to assume that certain people's eyes show them things differently from the way they really are . . . who perceive - or as they would doubtless say 'experience' - the meadows as blue, the sky as green, the clouds as sulphurous yellow, and so on . . . I wish to prohibit such unfortunates, who clearly suffer from defective vision, from trying to foist the products of their faulty observation on to their fellow men as though they were realities, or indeed from dishing them up as 'art'."

Adolf Hitler, 1937

Don't you just hate people who want to ban art? I much prefer this thought about color:

"The craving for colour is a natural necessity just as for water and fire. Colour is a raw material indispensable to life. At every era of his existence and his history, the human being has associated colour with his joys, his actions and his pleasures."

Frenand Leger, "On Monumentality and Color" 1943.

I'm guest blogger Maria Ontiveros, but I go my my childhood nickname "Rinda" in the blogosphere. One of the things I love about Nellie's blog is her use of color. It's so fresh and saturated. Her approach to color inspired me to create the art journal page above. I hope you like it. The background is gesso, textured with drains and paper rolls, and painted with a variety of acrylic paint. I stenciled the owl, "dream" and swirls with stencils from Ed Roth and Club Scrap. If you want to read more about using stencils in art, check out my blog post here. The broken circle stamp is also from Club Scrap. The quote is one of my favorites - it comes from the
mind of the brilliant A.A. Milne.

Feel free to come visit my blog, Gallo Organico, which features my art including art journal pages, mixed media collage, photography, scrapbook pages, and cards. You might just find an owl of a different color there.

Small Works

On Saturday the 5th--I was feeling super creative! It was a fantastic holiday weekend so I was inspired to get a lot of creative things done.

In my small town, there is but one art center. Spiva Center for the Arts is a gallery that has grown over the past few years and I just love the director Jo and many of the people affiliated with Spiva have become dear friends to me. As an active member on the Education Committee, I have felt especially connected to the art center lately.

For the past 3 years I have attempted to create a painting for the 'Small Works' membership show. And for 3 years, I have either never finished what I started...or I never turned it in. Well, this year I decided to make it happen. In fact, the polyurethane was still wet when I dropped it off just 15 minutes shy of the 5:00 deadline...but it was on my TO DO LIST so I made sure that it got done this year.


(It looks better in person, I snapped this photo really quick. It is a collage with acrylic paint!)


As part of my 'One Little Word' for the year, my goal is to inspire others to make art and express their creative side. So I painted this little owl. It will be auctioned off via silent auction over the next 6 weeks and the proceeds will go to the gallery. I hope that it goes to a great home!


A lot of really talented artists create artwork for this auction. You can view the past entries here. Check back on that link in a few weeks to bid on any of the 12X12 artworks created for this year's auction.

Sometimes I paint...and sometimes I organize!

Hey Everyone!! Sorry it has been so quiet around here!! I am enjoying my vacation!! I have officially had 3 days off and I have been completing projects around the house. Basic chores are mostly caught up like laundry and dishes but its the big ones like cleaning out my drawers, closets and organizing the bathroom that have taken up most of my time.

I found this really great birdcage jewelry stand at the mall, perfect for my earrings!!



Here is one project you might enjoy. I saw this on a blog somewhere, it is not my original idea, but it is something you might enjoy! Basically, this is a shoe organizer that has been filled up with various cords, chargers and other electronic things that don't have a home (like calculators, my iPod and accessories!). I have a small house with very little cabinet/drawer/closet space so something like this is wonderful for keeping things organized.


I created labels in Word and printed them off on cardstock. I used a couple of punches and some eyelets tied on with hemp to create the perfect label tags. I did have to put an eyelet in each of the pockets, but it went really quick with my Crop-a-Dile.

Some things do not need a label so they are just stamped with a cute 1" stamp. I am thinking about putting some pattered paper in each pouch so it looks more decorative, but I haven't quite decided yet.



Finally, I know it isn't a card, but sometimes I paint. I drug out a huge, old canvas from the basement last week. It is left over from college and I have been planning to paint over it for some time. So, Monday night I decided to paint something that I like! Here is my giant owl painting! It is finished an in my living room!!




What should I name him?

Check back later this month...it is my ONE YEAR BlogAversary and I will have some prizes for you to win!! Thanks for reading, as always your comments are welcome and appreciated!!