Artistic Freedom

These are the first of my year 4 Mondrian Square projects. I will be adding a bunch more pictures, but I was excited to show you some changes made this year. This year I wanted to get away from the rectangle frame... nothing like a stack of tea cups. More pictures to come!

I built our very own Little Free Library! As a teacher, I felt it was my duty to reintroduce the excitement of reading books (with actual paper pages) to the children and adults in our neighborhood. Other than the cedar on the roof, my fiancé and I repurposed everything else to build the library. After all is said and done... the library gets hit three to four times a day. Take that video games!!!!

This is my attempt at Cézanne apples with a Matisse painted background done by my first graders. We stared with a oval tracer (helps with scale) to make the apples. I didn't care where they put the first circle, but by the third apple the students had to overlap one of the other apples already drawn. After the apples were drawn and the stems were added, we drew the horizon line in the background. The next couple classes were spent painting the background using the colors orange, blue, purple, and  yellow (they could choose where to put the colors). The students ended the painting with choosing green or red for the apple color. We added the apple and horizon line outline, and were finally finished. Great job 1st graders!!!!

ARTWORK!!!! Artist of The Month board. Storage!!!!!!!!! My large wood shelf for cereal box sketchbooks My college books, Personal library. Reading center. I am working with the library to have a second option for students when they finish an art project early. Read or Sketchbooks. The books on the shelf will rotate every two months. The books are "art" related or award winning illustrations.  This summer I spent some time moving three art classrooms into one. I am blessed to not only work in a building that wants me, respects me, and appreciates me... I work in a district that does the same. After some retirements, I moved into the main art room at the elementary I have worked part time in the last three years. I am spoiled, the room as you see is probably the third largest room in the school next to the gym and library. I am still going through things and making it my own, but after two months I have what you see above...