Kindergarten Sculpture with paper and wood scraps!

Let's Design a playground! 

Problem solving with our junior engineers! 

 And one fantastic Jurassic Park Dinosaur! 

Second Grade "Art Dolls"

Here are a few delightful "SmartFab" creations from the Harrington Art Room

Grade 2 Students were "SEW" happy to be able to use their self expression by designing an "Art Doll" in their own way! 

My students chose a color of "Smart Fab" fabric for their body and then used a carpet needle and thread to sew, invert and stuff their dolls. They used felt, and fabric to adhere features using "Tacky Glue". I used my glue gun to finish off legs and arms and any other loose pieces.

Some of these were displayed at the Adams Library
for Youth Art Month! Enjoy! 

Trompe L'Oeil - Grade 3

Grade 3, Drawing from Observation

Trompe L'Oeil Desktop Still Life

(French for "fool the eye") 

Johnathon Yu

This project was probably the most difficult project of the year in any grade. I wish I had taken more photos. This student's work was displayed in Boston for the State-Wide, Mass Art Education Association, Youth Art Month Art Show this winter. 

Students were to select objects used in the art room to draw from observation... capturing all the line, color and shadow observed. I allowed students to trace their objects and add observed details from there on. We used an areal view. We began with graphite pencil and then added colored pencil and crayon textured backgrounds. The final step was to glue on objects from my box of used materials to help "Fool the Eye" Trompe L'Oeil style. 

Primary Color Collage - Grade 1

Primary Color Collage in the style of Henri Matisse, Grade 1

Matisse working on a cut-out in his studio in Vence, 1947 (Financial Times).

Samples of our 1st Grade student artwork.

Check out this video of "Matisse's Cutouts" at the Tate Modern

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLgSd8ka0Gs

The Snails (1953) by Henri Matisse

Author, Rob Buyea came to visit our 4th Grade!

Here are a couple of banners we created in the art room with Ms. Sullivan's class:

Mr Buyea with our Interim Principal, Ms. Tobin stand at center, surrounded by our wonderful fourth grade Team

Our students were all spellbound by Mr. Buyea's great storytelling skills as they were with his writing style!

  Let this be the last snow you see this winter! 

                           * * * * * * * *                            

Grade 1 stayed warm while creating these exquisite snow people - enjoy! 

And here is a wonderful banner made just before the holidays by Ms Prussack's class

Mask Making as Abstraction, Invention and Expression - Grade 4

Mask Making in Fourth Grade 

One of my favorite lessons in the year is mask making with my fourth graders! It's hard to describe the creative atmosphere in the art room when all my students are engaged in their own sculptural creations using paper pulp, paint and all the other materials at hand in my cupboards. So much fun for me! 

I was especially impressed this year by the wide range of solutions to the problem presented. I told my students that they had to change the "form" of their paper mold in some way. Simple! The beauty of this material is that students can proceed at their own skill level while finding success in self-expression. Motivation for this project began with "Masks of Many Cultures" DVD. 


We worked on studio habits of mind by experimenting with lots of different possible solutions, being diligent with craftsmanship and being sensitive to knowing when to stop.

Here are a few of our wonderful creations! 

We would love to hear any comments you'd like to share!