New Year--Same Chaos!

 

Welcome back to another exhausting year! Oh, I meant “exciting.” Or maybe both! 

(Let’s be honest.)

My wiggly students must have saved up a lot of energy over their winter break because when school started again in January, I was scraping them off the ceiling. I do love their youthful energy, even while mine seems to be…hibernating.

Anyway, I have art to share from most of my classes. Some classes as working on projects that we are not ready to show, so you’ll just have to wait a little longer. It will be worth it!

My Kindergarten students made Chinese New Year banners this month. You may know that 2023 is the year of the rabbit. According to my Internet research, this is an especially lucky animal. Will it be a lucky year? If not, blame the rabbit.

First grade also made Chinese New Year art. They made lanterns with patterns and the Chinese symbol for luck. 

My second grade students are working on something we will share next month.

Third grade created colorful Chinese lanterns from paper plates. I like how paper plates already come in a rounded shape (excellent for lanterns) and how the ridges along the edge gave us extra texture for our decorations. 

My energetic fourth graders created three-dimensional Chinese lanterns, with fringe and a handle for hanging.

Fifth grade made art with origami paper. We cut the paper, so technically we are doing kirigami, because origami involves only folding. This art piece was inspired by all the rain we have had in San Diego in January. The kids made umbrellas with different patterns of origami, and we added metallic silver raindrops to each piece. 

Sixth grade also created Chinese New Year art. We incorporated the dragon, and I love how much detail the kids put into their dragons, with scales and spikes.

Seventh grade is busy working on a project that will be debuted next month, so look for that in February.

Lastly, my eight grade students have been working on art pieces using corrugated cardboard. If you have peeled open a piece of cardboard, you will find that the inside has a layer with alternating high and low points. This makes it corrugated, and I wanted the kids to experiment with this texture. I love how many different ideas came out of this assignment. I encouraged the kids to add several layers, for a 3-D effect.

And that wraps up January. It flew by, for me. Rumor has it, spring is on the way. If you live in Southern California, you may have noticed early signs—buds on trees, and tulip tips popping out of the earth.

Before I sign off, I will share a few paintings that I have been working on in the last few months. Most are small (6 x 6 inches or 8 x 8 inches). It feels good to finish a painting and the small ones are faster to finish. I love painting buildings and cityscapes but sometimes I paint a still life, like this candy cane and Ball jar from December. I have wanted to paint a Ball jar for a while because painting the different facets of the glass jar seemed like a good challenge. Hopefully 2023 will include more painting for me.

Space age rocket slide based on a photo I took in Torrance, CA, years ago.
As a kid, I absolutely loved the rocket slide at the neighborhood park.

Historic flat-iron building north of San Francisco

Until next month, stay safe, keep calm and carry a sketchbook. There are art opportunities everywhere!