Eagle's Art Night 2016

So, I just wrapped up our annual Eagle's Art Night.  This is the 4th event I have been apart of, but this year I am teaching on my own, so I didn't have my wonderful teaching partner to help me through it all.

However, I did feel like things went very well, even with our student population increasing to around 830 kids.  So, the big challenge this year was getting the work done on a six day rotation.  We started on week two of school with the artwork, so it seems like there would be plenty of time, and for most grade levels that was true.  I did feel the pinch a bit with the older grade levels.  The PTA always request that the work be delivered to them the first week of November so that they have sufficient time to mount all the work.

Which means that I have to complete the work so that it can be checked, signatures added, as well as the labels to each art piece around the middle of October?

The PTA came up with this creative way of displaying all the work and it seems to work really well.
All the art work is hung with rubber cement so that parents can peel off their child's art work.  Then, they take it to the framing table where a bevy of workers take money, organize paperwork, frame, and so on.  We ran out of frames and more had to be ordered. So, I would say it was a success.

The frames are sold for $12, and I think there is about a $3 profit from each frame.  Last year the profits were around $800.  I haven't heard what the final numbers were for this year, but I believe it will be even better than last years earnings.

While this is happening in the gym, we also have a talent part that is happening on the stage in the cafe. It is one of the school's biggest events of the year.

So, this is why I have had a little hiatus from blogging the last 4-5 months.  I am relearning to juggle full time teaching and being a Mommy to 3 very busy girls!  But, I am loving every minute of it, and I go to bed EVERY SINGLE NIGHT wiped out.  I'm sure many of you can relate.

But, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.  Now to do my last minute Christmas shopping and packing for our trip.  I'm grateful everyday for my wonderful life!  Merry Christmas everyone, have a blessed and restful holiday.

Last of the Trees

So the murals inside the library are done. I finally wrapped up painting on July 22. I think it will be a great addition to the library.  

I'm sure I will find things to fix, but for now I can breathe easy it all got done before school starts. 

       

Here is one I've gone in and added some details since posting. 

I think the Winnie the Pooh is my favorite. 

All of the trees were a bit of a challenge because there wasn't very much width to the spaces, but lots of height. 

            

While I am finished with these, our PTO is having me do another tree mural as a donation tree. 

        

So now I'm just trying to get that done before they start waxing the floors of the hallway. We will see, hopefully it will all work out and painting is done before the floors are shiny and new looking.   I sure don't want to make the custodians upset with me!  I try to stay on their good side.

Art Camp with a Native American Theme

This summer I hosted two art camps.  The first camp was held in June and I decided on a Native American theme.  This first project is also the portfolio pouch.  That way everything goes home in a neat little packet. I also love this, because as a Mom that keeps everything, I can write the date on it and it makes it easier on me when I am putting work into a keepsake box.  

So, on one side of the portfolio they did their name and on the other they did a Native American inspired design.  Of course, they could adapt these if they wanted.

I always start off with the portfolio the first day, they usually don't need a lot of instruction which is great, because I'm busy greeting the incoming campers and talking to parents.  

We usually end up working on these over several days in 30-40 minute increments.  And it is great to get these out after we have finished something messy and it takes everyone a while to get cleaned up.  

For the shrink art project, I chose to do a bull skull.  I almost always do a shrink art project.  Usually an hour of work and then I take them home to shrink.  They love seeing the way they turn out.  

Here are a few of the shrink art close up.  

        

Native American Art Camp Pt. 2

So, wrapping up my summer camp lessons, I had seen several blogs posting a lesson on Dream Catchers, including Smart Class, and knew I needed to include it as one of the lessons for camp. They turned out so great and I had lots of compliments from parents on this one.

Then we also did a pinch pot as our potter piece. One the clay dried for a day, we glazed the pieces with one color.  Students added Native American designs into the piece by scratching into the glaze with a sharpened wooden dowel. 

For a fun, quick activity, the students had fun painting designs on a feather.

We also did a metal embossed piece with the thunderbird theme. I usually save metal activities for 3rd and up in school. But using metal at camp works well, especially if I buddy them up with an older student that can help guide the younger student.

And, here I got to see one of the parents had the canvas framed. I love that she added in the painted feather, it looks great together! 

Tree Murals Continued

This was the third of the ten murals painted. It is from the book Tree: Seasons
Come, Seasons Go. I spent the most time on this mural. It actually still has a few
details that I'd like to add. But, I felt like it was time to move on and start filling up
other spaces.

It was one of the two largest, and had the most color changes. 

Most elementary teachers will recognize this next one as Scaredy Squirrel. 

This is not the finished piece, I think I spent another hour or so on it after 

this picture was taken. 

And a Few More Tree Murals

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, seems to be a favorite amongst the adults. This may have been the first of the ten that "sold". 

For $1000, there will be a dedication plaque near the tree. I think 6 sold before school was out. 

This one was a lot of fun to do. It comes from the book Stars. Even though we can't totally black out the library, because of the emergency lights, we added some glow paint for when the lights are turned down.