Marc Chagall used to be one of my favorite artists. I told the kids, really! cuz they don't believe me cuz I tell them every artist is my favorite. But Chagall so much, that I used to have a cat named Chagall, based on his painting "Paris Through My Window." But this one is called "I And My Village." A fourth grader today, told me the title was wrong. It's suppose to say "My Village and I." I said, "It's Art, not English."
We then worked on our own villages..... Color to come......
I saw this Roy Lichtenstein at the National Gallery of Art last month in Washington D.C. It was huge, probably 10 or 15 feet high. I've seen some of his work at the LACMA, but nothing this big. My kinders study Lichtenstein and his use of benday dots to create his works of art. You can see benday dots with a magnifying glass and the colored comic page. 
They then create their own self-portraits using a pattered piece of paper for their face and only using red, yellow, blue, white and black construction paper. I can really see their resemblance.
I went to the Sugar Plum Craft Show at the Buena Park Mall this weekend and came home with a few things. Here are two little spring decor things I picked up. I love the party hats on these cute two. I think I'll have to attach party hats to all my spring decorations and we'll have a Spring Fling. 
My students are learning about the Italian Artist Amedeo Modigliani. Modigliani was known for his elongated portraits of his muse Jeanne. He was influenced by African masks and sometimes his portraits had blank masklike eyes. My students created selfportraits last week after we discussed the word, "likeness," and they made their portrait in the likeness of themselves and in the likeness of Modigliani's style. 
Spring is about pretty dresses and birds and flowers and new beginnings. 
I love hearing the birds chirp in the morning, there's a mocking bird near my window, I love it.
and the rain has brought green grass and new color to the world.
And Easter is coming......
and, it's time to spring clean and make things fresh again. I love to have the back door open and feel the sun and fresh breeze.
With birds and Easter, come eggs and new beginnings......
Well she isn't as famous as Mona Lisa, or does she have that cute little smirk, but none the less a real DaVinci. Painted on a wooden panel and was cropped off on the bottom, but the cool thing is that Leonardo painted the backside of her too. This portrait of Genevera de Benci has a backside with a painted laurel wreath that has the inscription, "Beauty is Virtue." And whats even cooler, is that to soften up the trees into the background, DaVinci used his finger in the wet paint, so it has his finger prints in it. Its the only DaVinci in the U.S. and it's at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. 
Last Friday evening Calvary had an art night, with interactive art stations set up all over the courtyard. It was a very creative night with lots of fun hands-on art activities. Here are a few pics from the evening. This was a paint mural, on the backside was a chalk mural. 
Jr. highers working the clay station. Thanks girls for helping out. 
Melted crayon and wax paper station...... 
More paint...... 
And, a pic of my student's mural that was in the art show. 
