Fifth grade students are learning about the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. We talked about how he lived through the second World War in Vienna, and how that affected his view of life. He remembers the craters that the bombs had left in the city, and how the rain filled them, and small life emerged from them eventually. We talked about how flowers can stand for the re-emergence of life in the spring after the long winter. We also looked at many of Hundertwasser's paintings and drawings, and focused on his paintings that showed flowers. Then we started our own mixed media process for creating our own unique flower drawing that would be inspired by Hundertwasser.
First fifth graders each painted two papers, one with warm colors, and the other with cool colors.
The next class we drew flowers on one paper and cut them out and added them to the other paper. Some students chose the cool color for a background, while others chose the warm color paper. 
Last, students added a variety of lines with markers. Special thanks to the art blog Deep Space Sparkle for this wonderful lesson idea!
Fourth Grade Artists are studying the art of the Australian Aboriginees. These native people of Australia use dots of paint to create their images. A lot of their painting subjects are animals. Fourth Graders each chose a native Texan animal, and had to draw the outline of their animal, then cut it out and include it in their artwork as a black silhouette. Then students drew one or two x-ray drawings: an image of one of the animal's bones or organs. The last step was to add patterns of dots to their animals using tempera paint and swabs. Students also included an Aboriginal symbol, concentric circles, on the backgrounds of their artworks. The concentric circle stands for family, or a village. 
Third Grade students are creating fish sculptures out of clay. Students here are adding side fins and eyes using the score and slip method.
Students then added texture and different kinds of lines with the pin or needle tools. Students also had to add gills and a mouth.
Last, students painted one color of glaze onto the fired clay sculptures. Using one color creates UNITY, a principle of art we were studying with this particular lesson. Look for these beautiful sculptures in the hallway at school soon!
In celebration of Black History month, second graders are studying African art from Ghana. The Akan tribe creates akuaba dolls out of clay or wood. Students choose one of the three styles to create a clay doll of their own. They designed the dolls details using geometric shapes. 
Here students are cutting the shape of the dolls out of a clay slab.
Students then drew the details onto the clay surface using a pin or needle tool. Our last step will be adding the African colors to the dolls with glaze.
This is one of my all-time favorite projects! First Graders have been patiently working on their self portrait collages for a few weeks now. We work step-by-step and really concentrate on details that make the portraits come alive and look very realistic. Here are a few works in progress. We learned about symmetry, overlapping, and folding techniques.
Kinder students drew beautiful patterns using crayons. We reviewed all of the geometric shapes, free form shapes, and different kinds of lines and discussed how we could combine those elements of art and make them repeat to create patterns. Then we practiced painting, remembering how to use our brushes gently so we take care of the bristles. After the paintings were dry, we created a wonderful soft sculpture with the paper; look for these sculptures to be "swimming" home soon!
Zilker students are helping to paint a special mural that will be part of Zilker's second annual Festival of Lights. Please join us Friday, December 16th, at the front of the school at 6pm. We will have a trail of lights, food vendors, artists selling crafts, and wonderful holiday singing from our own Zilker Panthers under the guidance of Ms. Price, our music teacher. Rumors are also circulating that Santa may even pay Zilker a visit that evening! Please join us for an evening of family fun and look for the finished mural...it will be interactive!!
Third Graders are working hard on their clay fish sculptures. First, we sculpted the body of the fish using a baseball sized piece of clay. Then we added side fins on using another piece of clay. In order to attach the separate piece permanently, students had to first score both pieces of clay, then add slip, which is clay mixed with water that acts like a glue. Finally, students smoothed the seams between the two pieces of clay.
The next art class we were able to add details with clay tools. Students had to draw eyes, gills, and carve a mouth for their fish. Then students added texture on the bodies. Next, students used the clay pin tool to draw lines on all of the fins. The sculptures look fabulous. They are now drying and will be ready to go into the kiln the second week of December. Our final step will be painting one color of glaze onto the bisque-fired ceramic surface of the fish.
