Alebrijes

4th grade students created clay animals inspired by "alebrijes" made by the Oaxacan people of Mexico. Students colored their clay animals with brightly colored oil pastels and then dipped their clay animal into a bath of watered down tempera paint. Students learned  that Alebrijes are brightly colored animal sculptures that were originally created by Pedro Linares. Linares was very sick with a fever and dreamed about brightly colored animals. He decided to re-create these animals by creating wood carvings and painting them with brightly colored paints. He also made these sculptures with cardboard and paper mache. The people of Oaxaca were already known for their animal sculptures and they decided to begin painting their sculptures with bright paints like Linares. They now make these sculptures for tourists and to sell in other countries.

A lizard

A rhino

A dragon

A cobra

Cropped Animal Drawings

 

1st Grade students used viewfinders to zoom in closely to a photograph of an animal. They saw a demonstration of using photo-editing software to see how to crop a photo. They learned that sometimes artists crop a photo or artwork to show emphasis (or what the artist thinks is the most important part of the artwork).

Students cropped a photo of the animal of their choice and then drew what was in the viewfinder very large. Then they wrote clues to help people guess what animal they zoomed in on.

Los estudiantes de primer grado usaron visores para enfocar de cerca una fotografía de un animal. Ellos vieron una demostración del uso de un programa para editar fotografías digitales y vieron como recortar una foto. Aprendieron que algunas veces los artistas recortan una fotografía o una obra de arte para hacer énfasis (o lo que el artista piense que es la parte más importante de la obra de arte).

Los estudiantes recortaron una foto del animal que escogieron y luego dibujaron lo que estaba en el visor, pero muy grande. Luego escribieron pistas para ayudar a las personas a adivinar cual animal enfocaron de cerca. 

Snowman Paintings

Kindergarten students painted snowmen and falling snow. Then they added snowman details with markers.

Carmen Lomas Garza Inspired Art

4th grade student were inspired by Carmen Lomas Garza. Students read "In My Family" a book by Carmen Lomas Garza that showcases her artwork and the accompanying stories. They learned that artists sometimes make art to record history. In the case of Carmen Lomas Garza, she paints memories she has of her childhood. The 4th graders made dioramas that detailed a special memory they have.

Clay Owls

1st Grade students created these awesome owls out of clay. Students first made a circular slab of clay and then folded the wings in and the head down. They used clay tools to carve in details. After they were fired in the kiln, students colored them with oil pastels and dipped them into a "bath" of watered down tempera paint.

Other 1st grade students created their owls using the same process, but instead of coloring them with oil pastels, they painted them with watercolor paints.

1st

Birch Trees

Students in 3rd grade created birch trees using a non-traditional technique. They used cardboard dipped in paint to create these birch trees. Then they used either warm or cool colors to paint a background.

 

 


Los estudiantes de 3er grado crearon abedules usando una técnica no-tradicional. Usaron cartón mojado en pintura para crear estos árboles. Luego usaron colores calidos o fríos para pintar un fondo para sus árboles.

Mummies

5th grade students studied mummies and created their own mummy sarcophagus. They learned that the Ancient Egyptian mummified their dead in preparation for the afterlife. They learned that the Egyptians would put money, food, favorite items and even pets in the coffin (or sarcophagus) to have in the next life. The name of the mummy was written in hieroglyphics on the sarcophagus. This is called the cartouche. Students also created a cartouche on their sarcophagus. Students also learned that the person's face was often painted on to the sarcophagus so the person's spirit would recognize it and could get the items saved in the sarcophagus. Students  learned that many symbols were used to bring protection to the mummy (like the Wedjet eye) and to depict important events in the mummy's life. Students created their own mummy sarcophagus out of clay and painted it with tempera paints.