Guiseppe Arcimboldo Collage

4th and 5th grade students have reached 1570's on our timeline which includes the famous artist GUISEPPE ARCIMBOLDO!!! Arcimboldo creates two-dimensional portraits out of unusual objects. He was way ahead of his time!! Everyone else in his time was creating realistic art (like Da Vinci and Michealangelo), he was painting these crazy pictures!! Salvador Dali called Arcimboldo the "Father of Surrealism." Students really like Arcimboldo's work!!

For our assignment we created portraits by using magazine pictures. They were required to make a face out of anything but facial features!! This project is so much fun and really forces students to be creative and think outside of the box!!

E is for Elmer the Elephant!!

Kinder and First Graders have been working on an Art Alphabet and we have finally reached "E." For "E" we read the book Elmer which is about a patchwork elephant. It is wonderful story about celebrating our differences!! We used tissue paper squares and white card stock to recreate the patchwork pattern. Next, we used an elephant template and traced it on the back and finally, we cut them out!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

This is a very important year for Chinese New Year because is the year of the dragon!! We are so lucky at Herrera School to have such a diverse staff that can teach us about their culture. For this assignment, Ms. Sun (our wonderful dance teacher) came into art to teach us about Chinese New Year, culture and Chinese calligraphy. Students were taught proper technique, like holding the paintbrush vertical. we used red paper which signifies good luck. Students (and Mrs. Castrigano) learned how to write "Happy New Year."
Thanks Ms. Sun!!

Snow Globes!

I am loving these SNOW GLOBES!! This assignment required kinder students to trace, cut, glue and color. Also, one of the main vocab words for this assignment was ground line. I really stressed the importance of the ground line so we wouldn't have "Floating Snowmen."

Polar Bears in AZ??

Kinder students created these adorable polar bears in art class in December. We practiced the circle shape first. Next we used white tempera paint to paint the polar bear and snow on the first day. The next day we used oil pastels to add the facial features and scarves. I absolutely love the way these turned out!!

Op Art Christmas

4th and 5th graders completed these beautiful OP ART ornaments. First we used rulers and pencil and drew the circle and the grid around it (trying our best to press lightly). Next, we added the hook on top, the highlight and learned how to curve the lines on the ornament to make it look 3-D. Lastly, we used watercolor paints to paint a checkered pattern in their choice of colors.

Kinder Christmas!!

Kinder students were learning about shapes and Christmas break came while we were studying TRIANGLES! This was a perfect time to draw Christmas Trees!! Fist we used two different green markers to draw and color the Christmas tree using a triangle. Next, we used brown markers to draw the base of the tree. The next day, we used glittery red watercolor paint to color the background. Lastly, we used glue and sequins to add "ornaments" to the tree. Great Job Kinders!

Art School Tour!!!

Fine arts teachers chose selected 8th grade students to attend a field trip to go visit and tour Art High Schools in the Phoenix area. During this field trip students went to 2 different schools including Metro Arts Institute and Arizona School of the Arts. They were so privileged to see the campus of both schools, a private performance, a dance performance and were able to actually ask current high school students questions about their experiences in High School. After the tours, students came back to school to fill our a reflection about their trip. Here are some of the responses...

" This (tour) inspires me to continue in an art school because it gives me a chance to express what I like and try new things!"

"I will tell future Herrera artists to go to art schools because they can continue to follow what they love."

" This trip inspired me to continue my education because I saw people who enjoy going to school!"

" My favorite part of the tour was the play because it was really creative and the actors were really good and I want to be that good."

"I would say that Metro School is really cool and that you could do things you never thought you could!"

"This school is calling my name!!!!!"