So proud of my young artists!

Our Muse Club Nativity

 

During October and early November, fifteen members of the Incarnation Muse Club met before and after school to create this lovely crèche for the University of Dayton's annual Christmas crèche exhibit. This was the first time that area students were invited to participate and have their work displayed along with the university's extensive collection of multi-cultural Nativity sets. The work has been on display since Thanksgiving weekend and I will finally be bringing it "home" to share with the school community.

 

Ready for the kiln!

We loved our cute little sheep!

The Three Wise Men

The Holy Family

Our Angel and Cherubs







So much work and so many hours...but so worth it! The fifteen students, all in grades 6-8, were an impressive team, doing every bit of the work from building and glazing the figures to designing and painting the backdrop, on their own time before and after school. The reception at the University of Dayton in November was especially sweet when the awards were announced...and this creative team won the Marian Award for their artistic vision and creativity!

 



 

Is it December already?

It's hard to believe the it's December 7! Thanksgiving came and went in a blur of travel to visit family in upstate New York, which was great fun for me and my husband since we had not seen our two grandsons since midsummer. Aiden, the oldest who is three and a half, presented me with a mini collection of his preschool art projects...so cute! This past Friday we had enough snow to get one of those wonderful snow days, which was great for me, but now I am going to be playing some frantic "catch up" to get my first and second grade projects finished and out the door before Christmas break begins.

Aiden's preschool art

My first graders were first introduced to the paper cut works of Henri Matisse, then used the Art Doodles app on their iPads to create some digital work in the style of this popular French artist. The app is somewhat limited in scope, but it provided the students with a nice introduction to the idea of creating a picture entirely out of shapes. The following class period, the students used colored construction paper to create their own Christmas collages using some precut Accu-Cut shapes, tracing stencils, and their own cut outs. I'm in the process of photographing the students and their work to create an art room Christmas video greeting for our school's digital newsletter next week. Here are a few of my favorites so far:

 

We talked about overlapping shapes...I think she's got it!

The only precut used by this student was the Christmas tree.

Here's another with only one precut, the donkey.

This student took a lot of time coordinating colors.

This one has some pop outs!

After two class sessions, this creative little guy told me he still needs more time.
I can't wait to see what he adds next!

 

This resourceful student taped three sheets of paper together
to create his heavenly choir!

 

 

Two first grade classes finished, two more to work with tomorrow, then on to second grade and clay Christmas ornaments! Although I love those snow days, I'm hoping for smooth sailing until December 20!