The Art Room

End of the Year

Wow, I just can't believe how fast this year has gone!  We are all wrapping things up and trying to get everything finished.  Third grade finished the Ancient Egyptian Death Mask project with just enough time for one more short texture project.  Fourth grade finished the Papunya Dot Paintings, and I must say that they have really turned out great!  Fifth grade's last project is a Pop Art project in which they made an over-sized playing card.  Each student chose their own theme, and their personality really came out. 

A local art facility, The Art Station, celebrated young artists recently in the Spotlight on the Arts exhibit.  Congratulations to the following students whose artwork was displayed:

• Jordan Sesan
• Katie Stenzel
• Mason Jeans
• Delaney Rickles
• Anthony Bolden
• Sarah Andrews
• Autumn Camp
• Sean Prewitt
• Mackenzie Sicard
• Austin Bushnell

Thank you all for another great year.  I wish you all the best summer ever.  Third and fourth graders, I will see you next year.  Fifth graders, I have enjoyed the last three years more than you know.  I will miss you, and good luck next year!

Love Always,

Mrs. Palen

Spring into the Art Room

With Spring Break just around the corner, we are working hard to get another project finished.

3rd grade is wrapping up the Ancient Egyptian Death Mask project.  The golden mask made famous with the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 has been used as a tool to create many other beautiful masks by our students.  After coloring with oil pastels, the last step is to use a hieroglyphic code to sign our work.  The treasures of Tutankhamen's tomb can be seen in the TUTANKHAMEN AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE PHARAOHS exhibit which is currently in Atlanta.  For more info go to  http://www.kingtut.org/home

   

4th grade is taking a dream time journey through Australia with Aborigines as we begin a Papunya Dot Painting.  Each student is using native symbols to tell a story with the use of tradition colors and of course, dots.

                                                                  

5th grade has been working hard (and getting really messy) with Paul Cezanne inspired still lifes.  Each student has chosen a bowl filled with fruits and vegetables to draw and is adding color through the use of chalk pastels.  Our fingers are messy, but our work is looking great!

Fun Fact: This work by Paul Cezanne is the most expensive still life painting in history.  In 1999, it sold for $60.5 million dollars!

If you can tell me the name of this painting, you will get a special treat!

Art Update

3rd Grade- Our self portraits are amazing!  We have really learned how to draw a realistic face.  Look for these to come home soon.  Next, we will use our knowledge of drawing the human face as we move on to our new unit Ancient Egypt.  After learning about the famous pharaoh Tutankhamen, or King Tut, we will be creating a portrait of his legendary, golden death mask.

4th Grade- We are almost finished with the dragons.  After learning about the influence on art that your culture may have, we created dragons of either a western or eastern influence.  The oil pastels give a bright and bold look to the dragons on the black paper.  The students are excited to share their work with you!

5th Grade- The clay reliefs are coming home!  They all have a hole so that they can be easily hung on the wall.  Simply hang a nail and enjoy!  We will be looking at the work of the well-known Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne who is most famous for his many fruit still lifes.  We too will be creating our own fruit still life using chalk pastels.

 

Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a restful and relaxing break and have come back ready for the new year!

The Art Room is buzzing with new activity.  Everyone is starting new projects, and it is an exciting time!

3rd grade is learning about the human face as we start drawing our own self portraits.  Using mirrors will help us to make our portraits look even more like us!

4th grade is celebrating Chinese New Year by learning about the dragon.  Depending upon where you live in the world, you may have different ideas about what they may look like or how they act.  We have looked at dragons with a western influence as well as those with an eastern influence.  Now we are using texture to create our own idea of a dragon using both glue and oil pastels.

5th grade is finishing up their owls, and will be moving on to the clay unit.  We have been anxiously awaiting our turn at clay, and they should be coming home in February!

Fall Break

Everyone needs a break sometime, and I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your holiday week away from school, and I look forward to seeing EVERYONE refreshed when we return. 

All is good in the Art Room.  All grades are about to start new projects!

3rd grade will be starting printmaking.  (snowmen!)

4th grade will be learning how to draw realistic trees as we begin our Winter Tree project.

5th grade will be starting on their owl still life.  (Yes, we have a real, stuffed owl that we will be drawing, and they turn out awesome!)

Fall is Here!

Thank you to everyone who came to the Fall Dance.  What a great time it was, and everyone looked fabulous.  The Art & Music Department sold pizza dinners, and all of the money made will be going towards new materials.  Mrs. Brown will be purchasing a couple of new drums, and the Art Department will be purchasing new clay materials.  So, if you have not started your clay project yet, you will be starting soon!

News from the Art Room

Attention all artists: The art contest Reflections, sponsored by PTA, is collecting your artwork right now.  Can you "WOW" the judges?  Enter Reflections; YOU have the opportunity to win!

September 16th was our first early release day.  The Latin American musical group Havana Son was here, but unfortunately the power was out that morning.  I am currently trying to reschedule them.  Our next early release day is October 15th.

Performing Arts

Performing Arts forms have been sent home again asking for donations and parental permission for your children to participate in this wonderful program.  This money allows Big Shanty to bring performers to the school and also for our students to go out in the community to see other events.  Our first performance will be Sept. 16th, our 1st Early Release Day, and the performers are a group of 2 musicians called  Havana Son.  The program is "A musical tour through Latin America."  It is a tour through Latin American countries which will include clapping, singing, and dancing as they move through the music of each country.  They also talk about each country's location, population, and some vocabulary.

This year 5th grade will be traveling to the Cobb Energy Center to see the Atlanta Symphony and 3rd grade is already scheduled to see The Ride of Paul Revere at the Cobb Civic Center.

Please remeber to send the forms back along with a donation so that we may keep this program running!

I will keep you posted on new performances throughout the year!

Art Room News #2

I truly hope that everyone has had a wonderful start to their new school year.  All grade levels have begun their first projects of the year.

3rd grade is learning about VALUE- which describes how light or dark a color is.  They have all practiced mixing different values of a color by creating a value scale.  Next, they will begin a drawing that they will paint using only values of one color.  This is called a monochromatic painting.

4th grade has started their shading unit.  Shading is a technique that artists use to help give their work a more 3-D feel; it also helps artwork to look more realistic.  They will be producing a wonderful drawing using shading very soon!

5th grade is working on a color unit.  Why do artists pick certain colors?  Do they wish to make their colors harmonious or do they want something in the artwork to stand out to the viewer?  These questions can all be answered by our 5th graders as they are learning more about color schemes: monochromatic, analogous, and complementary.

*All students: Please get your Performing Arts paperwork back in as soon as possible.  Our first PA day will be the early release day on Tuesday, September 16th!

Welcome Back!

Another new school year is beginning!  I can not wait to see all those who are returning and to meet all those who are new to Big Shanty!  For those of you who may not know me, my name is Mrs. Palen.  I love Big Shanty (I actually came to Big Shanty when I was in elementary school), art, music, and pretty much all sports.  I look forward to having a great year and creating lots of new art with you!