My Art

Below is a collection of some of my own paintings I've done in my spare time/college.  I thought I'd share my work as well as my students! All of my work is done with oils. 

Fruit plate. Oil on Masonite. 2006

This painting is actually 9 different Masonite panels.  It's 3 1/2 ft by 3 1/2 ft and currently resides at my parents house in NY. 

Wine Triptych 2.  Oil on Canvas. 2006

The shadow at the top is not there in real life!  These are 3 different canvas paintings. I used a pallet knife inside of a brush to paint these. 

Below is series of my work in progress. 

Countryside. Oil on canvas. 2011

Here's the final product!  This is a landscape of Culpeper, VA. 

Lamp. Oil on canvas. 2005

This painting can be hung vertical or horizontal. 

Niagara Falls. Oil on Canvas. 2005

Wine Dreams. Oil on Canvas. 2006

This is another painting that I did with the pallet knife rather then a brush. 

Wine Tryptic. Oil on Canvas. 2004

Colorful Countryside. Oil on Canvas. 2005

Hadley Grace's Tree.  Oil on Canvas.  2012

Kindergarten Self Portraits

Kindergarten students learned about the artist Henri Matisse and his use of pattern in backgrounds.

First, I passed out mirrors so students could see themselves as they drew their self portrait.  I demonstrated a few key steps on the board for portrait drawings (head shape, eye, mouth and nose placement, hair, etc).  After they were done drawing, they traced their drawing in black sharpie. The next step was coloring!  It's important to remind Kindergartners that they don't have blue or green skin....only tan, brown or peach crayons!

For the background students used recycled paper and crayons to create patterns and designs.  After the background was complete, students cut out their self-portrait and glued it to their patterned paper.

Cherry Blossoms

I found this idea on Pintrest!  Awesome website! If you haven't checked it out yet, it's a teachers dream planning board!  Originally when I had the students do this project, it was Cherry Blossom Festival time in DC so lots of the kids knew exactly what a cherry blossom tree looked like.  First I had them use India Ink and a straw to "blow the ink" to create the branches.  Next I set out pink,white and red paint on plates at each table.  Students used empty water bottles to print the cherry blossoms on the branches.

Check out second grade's cherry blossoms below!

Big Fat Hens

I have done this lesson before, but it was such a hit, I had to do it again!  

To check out the original post click here. 

Adobe Landscapes

I borrowed this idea from Deep Space Sparkle.  To introduce the lesson, I showed students 2 pictures of landscapes.  They worked in groups to answer a collaborative group discussion sheet about the two pictures.  Students had to decipher the similarities, differences, age of the pictures and locations using group discussion.  After students had time to talk about the art they saw, I taught them how to create an Adobe landscape of their own!  We used chalk and oil  pastels for this project.

Earth Strata

Fifth grade students learned about the layers of the Earth in science class.  Then, in art class on Day 0, they created a relief map showing the layers and texture of the Earth. Can you identify the layers, rocks and fossils they added to their work? 

5 Senses Painting

For Kindergarten Day 0, student's explored the sense of Smell in Art!

First students reviewed each of the 5 senses.  Then, I helped them start a basic still life for this project.  They drew the table and a bowl to start with.  Next, as a whole group students brainstormed different fruits and added them to their still life.  After the drawing was complete, student's used fruit smelling tempera paint to add color to their art work!  I purchased the "smelly" tempera paint from Nasco.

Check out their artwork below!