Talking Brush

Field trip down the hall!

My K's and I walked down to the mosaic that Rogers students made last year to discuss what a mosaic is. It was fun to hear that many of them already knew about the piece and could tell me what part their siblings worked on. To open every K's art class I have them pass around the talking brush.

This is the talking brush. We pass it around from student to student and they remind me of their name and answer a question of the day. The only time you can share is when you have the brush in your hand, other wise your a listener. This time they had to spy something in the mosaic. It has been a fun way to give every K a voice and have even just a couple of seconds of my total attention.

MOSAIC VACATION in NEGRIL, JAMAICA

As many of you remember, I had a mosaic artist in residence come to our school this last year. She did magical things with the kids and now you can learn from her. Lisa is offering an amazing mosaic filled vacation. She is a great communicator, a wonderful mosaic artist, and a spectacular person. Consider a trip to Jamaica this in Jan.! Please see all the details below and help spread the word.

MOSAIC VACATION in NEGRIL, JAMAICA

Register for classes with Lisa Arnold, professional mosaic artist from Minneapolis, MN -www.flickr.com/photos/xolaarts/
Jan. 13-19, 2011 at Negril Treehouse in Negril, Jamaica:www.negril-treehouse.com/welcome.html

Stay right in the heart of seven-mile beach at the Treehouse Resort in beautiful, unforgettable Negril, Jamaica while learning how to make stained glass, tile and picassiette mosaics. All materials and tools included!

Classes will be held on Jan. 14-17, 9:30am-12pm. Afternoons can be spent sunning, swimming, snorkeling, eating, drinking, reading, sleeping, kayaking, parasailing, waterskiing, scuba diving, walking on the soft white sand beach, watching the sun set into the ocean, getting a massage or doing anything else you like!

This $1000 introductory (based on double occupancy) offer includes a six-night stay at Treehouse Resort in Negril, six big breakfasts, four days of mosaic instruction, materials and tools. All ages and experience levels welcome! (Save $100 by booking before Nov. 15, 2010).

Lisa Arnold is a professional mosaicist with 20 years experience teaching art. She is on the Minnesota and North Dakota State Arts Boards’ Rosters of Artists in Education, is a member of the Minnesota Mosaic Guild and the Society of American Mosaic Artists.

Please contact Lisa at xolaarts@gmail.com to register or receive more information.

Thanks for helping spread the word!

My Mosaic

Look at the fun mosaic I created while taking a summer class. Lisa Arnold class through the Art Alliance. It was fun to take a class rather then teach it!

The gift of art education...

Look at what has been inspired by bringing in an artist. As many of you have read, we brought in a artist in residence, Lisa Arnolds (of Minneapolis) to work with our school to make a mosaic in the spring of 2010. All students 2nd through 5th grade helped make the mosaic. One student the last week of school brought this in to show me. I love that something our school has brought forth has inspired young hands to work on art outside of the classroom. Isn't that our goal?

Come one come all...

It's done, It's up and the kids are proud!

Next week is conferences for Rogers Elementary and we welcome parents and community to join us in the opening our RES Mosaic. This untitled work of art is ready to view in main entrance of the school, across from the office. It is the buzz of the school!

Rainy Day?

The dollar store is great for little crafts to do on a rainy day. I picked up some frames and the kids decorated them with paint on night. We are waiting for the next rainy day to mosaic our found shells from Florida.

We are done!

It's done! Whoo Hoo!

Hoo Ray for Thursday! We finished and grouted our Mosaic. Second through fifth grade students are proud of the work they have accomplished. We plan to have this work displayed before conferences. Please come to see this amazing work of art!

It's coming along...

Things are coming along. Lisa has just a couple of days left and things are spot on! We are just putting the finishing touches on. It's looking great!

Intro to Mosaics

Intro to Mosaic making...

One of the best things about having an artist-in-residence visiting is learning new ways to teach. Lisa introduced the students to making a mosaic using paper and tile tesserae. She had them draw a circle on a sheet of paper and place the tesserae on the outline. She explained how to make a strong line with tesserae. She then talked about the negative space and how to fill in the inside. I was impressed with how she explained the technique in a way the kids could really understand it!

Mosaic Vocabulary

Mosaic By Lisa Arnold

Mosaic Vocabulary

Mosaic

Many small pieces to make a big picture.

Tessera

A piece used in a mosaic. Tessera can be any kind of mosaic material; ceramic, stone, pebbles, glass or some other substance.

Tesserae

The plural of "tessera", a name given to piece used in a mosaic.

Positive Space

The inside of a shape or form. Anything that takes up space.

Negative Space

The empty space between and surrounding shapes and forms.

Mosaisist

A person who creates a mosaic

Tip: Other mosaic terms, processes, and projects can be found at: http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/index.shtml

1st grade Home Mosaic

The 2nd through 5th grade students are working with Lisa Arnold, our artist-in-resident to create a group mosaic. I wanted to have 1st grade work on mosaics too. I choose the theme of home for the students to create an image from. We reviewed the Kindergarten shapes and use circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles to draw the house with and create design. They used construction paper crayons on dark paper on day one.

On day two, I demonstrated how to use a ruler and we drew two horizontal lines, and two vertical lines on the back of their page. They then finished coloring and cut on the lines. They placed pieces of their house back together using negative space in between.

Tip: If you are working with many classes, ask them to write their teacher code along with their name. A teacher code might look like B-1 for Mrs. Bower's 1st grade class. I often use different colors of paper for each class as well. This way if they forget to write their teacher code on the back you still know what group the art belongs too.

We are starting on the mosaic today!

She's HERE!

Lisa Arnold, our Artist- in -Residence, is finally here! We have started our community art project at Rogers Elementary. Lisa is using the poems that she and the students created in January to create the imagery for our mosaic. The theme of the poems was home. Please check for updates in the next few weeks.

Mosaic 2010- Poetry

We welcome Lisa Arnold to RES. Lisa is a multidisciplinary mosaic artist working to empower students by honing their visual, technical, and poetic abilities. RES students are currently working on poems with the theme of HOME. Next month Lisa will come back and work with the student to create a mosaic! I can't wait!