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Digital Learning information can be found at: 

https://sweetappleart.blogspot.com/p/digital-learning.html

Here is a little sneak preview of the Sweet Apple 2017-2018 Art Show! Please join us Thursday, November 30th to see your child's amazing artwork! The show is open to parents and guests from 2:45pm until 6:30pm.

As in years past, every child will have an artwork professionally framed by Artomé and on display. You may purchase the framing package for your child's artwork if you wish to take it home and add it to your family gallery wall for $25. We can only accept check or money order so please plan to bring your check book! Quality color reproductions are also available with the purchase of an additional frame. They make great gifts for family or colorful additions to your office decor. You will have a tough time telling the original from the reproduction!

Please be assured all artwork will be returned to the artists who created them if you choose to enjoy the show without purchasing the framing package. All frame sales directly benefit the art program at Sweet Apple and allow our strong program to continue with quality art supplies. Thank you for your continued support!

Total eclipse of the art

We were so excited about the solar eclipse that we made some art to predict what we thought the corona would look like! Check it out! These pictures are out of this world!!

Inaugural Art Show @ VME

The inaugural art show at Vickery Mill was a huge success! I love seeing the amazing artwork every time I enter the building! The artwork really brings the space to life. See the video below for some highlights from the show.

Blog Name Change

Hello, and happy summer! I am excited to be opening a NEW elementary school in my county next year! I just changed the blog name and address from aheartists.blogspot.com to vickeryart.blogspot.com. I hope you will continue to follow my adventures teaching art at my new school. Change your bookmarks if you find me that way or follow my posts by email on the right column!

Kid Knits Enrichment Cluster is complete

My amazing Enrichment Cluster group wrapped up the year last night with our showcase for parents. This year I taught a group of 15 students how to knit hats on a round loom.

We used the curriculum and kits available at www.kidknits.org. Students learned about global poverty and how a little girl named Ellie started a company to help widowed women in Rwanda. The women were taught how to take the wool from sheep and turn it into yarn that they could sell. Check out this video:

 

The parents were impressed with the hats and how hard their children worked on them! Here's some of the competed hats. We are donating the hats to a local charity for children.

 Each skein of yarn came with a tag that told about the woman who made the yarn on it. On the back is a space for the students to write about themselves and how they hope to make a difference in the world.

I really enjoyed teaching this class and think it would make an awesome service project for an art club!!

Another Successful Art Show!

It's my favorite time of year! March is Youth Art Month and to celebrate my school hosts a fabulous Fine Arts Night. Every child in the school has their best piece of art professionally framed and on display for parents to see. That's 691 frames!

Kindergarten - 2nd grade framed artwork

4th and 5th grade framed artwork

This year we set up in the main hallway and kept the artwork up all day. Students loved looking at the gallery and writing reviews of the artwork for other students!

Kindergarten framed artwork with 4th grade masks above

Kindergarten and 5th grade students viewing the artwork together

Sculptures and clay projects on display

Here is a video with a sampling of some of the amazing pieces that were in the show this year.

St. Patrick's Day friend

I had a little visitor in my classroom today.

Japanese teabowls

I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Japan with a ceramics class as part of my grad school coursework. We learned traditional Japanese hand building methods, saw the sights, and took shifts firing the town's anagama kiln. Have you ever fired a wood kiln?? First, let me just tell you it is hot! There's a real fire in there folks! Next thing you should know is that you have to get the kiln to temperature and then maintain it. This required us putting wood in the little opening every 4-5 minutes. All day. And night. For days.

This trip only fueled my love for this second grade teabowl lesson that I have done many ways over the past 12 years. My favorite part is having a tea ceremony with our bowls at the end of the unit!

Here are a few of our bowls before I loaded them into the kiln this morning. This year I had students look for common themes in the designs of contemporary teabowl artists. They noticed most of the designs were either inspired by nature or geometry. Next they chose a limited color palette to represent the simple beauty that is part of the Japanese aesthetic and set to work with the glaze. Can't wait to open the kiln Monday morning and see how they turn out!

-- Mrs. A

O'Keeffe inspired slab bowls

I arrived a little early this morning to unload the kiln and just had to share these beauties!!

Fourth grade students created these by rolling clay slabs and using a bowl to mold the shape. We saved the bowl in a gallon ziploc bag and added the flower details the following week. Students looked at photographs of flowers for ideas to help them create the petal shape, pistil, and stamen details in the center. After the bowls were bisque fired we used Mayco Stroke & Coat glazes for the amazing colors!

I know some moms who are going to love when these come home!!

-- Mrs. A