Haunted Houses

These haunted houses were inspired by Cincinnati Music Hall which is a great example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. Third graders learned how to draw three-dimensional forms for the buildings and used white bubble painting on dark paper for the starry background. 

Information for Parents

Hi everybody. My name is Matt Shifley and this is my second year as the Art Teacher at Wilson Elementary School. It is a privilege to make art with the students of Wilson every day. Feel free to look through the images of this blog to see what the students have been working on. Parents and guardians might be interested in a few of the items below.

Paint Shirts

Art can be messy. I have smocks, aprons, and paint shirts for the students to wear while they are in art class. These shirts are shared by everyone and are washed about twice a month. Students with severe allergies or other concerns may bring in their own designated paint shirt. If you bring in your own paint shirt, place it in a plastic bag with the student’s name on it. I will store it in the cubby area of the art hallway and I will make sure that only that student uses it. 

Donated Items

I am happy to take any donated materials as longs as they have not come in contact with food items. Examples of great donated materials include: colorful paper, art images from calendars, books with good reference images for drawing, paper towel tubes, and any art material. 

Art Show on January 28

It seems like a long way off but students will soon be working hard on projects for the art show. This year the Art Show theme will be the Renaissance and Medieval Times.

I am looking forward to a great year! Follow me on Twitter@ShifleyMatt. Feel free to email questions and comments to mattshifley@foresthills.edu

One Point Perspective

Fifth graders used one point perspective to draw a city from a bird's eye view. Perspective drawing can be challenging but this group of students did a great job! 

Masks

In sixth grade we have been sculpting with paper. These are masks made from layering papier-mâché on face molds. Students have also been exploring the artwork of Sandy Skoglund. We especially enjoyed her installation artwork entitled Radioactive Cats. Students created their own radioactive animals out of paper pulp and wire. 

Robots

4th graders learned about drawing three-dimensional forms and shading to invent these robots. We also looked at images from the pages of Leonardo's sketchbook for invention inspiration.

Bubble Art

Third graders are making bubble paintings to be used as starry skies in their haunted mansion projects.

Squash and Stretch

3rd graders found out that squash and stretch is a fun way to make cartoon characters look silly. They also learned that animators can use squash and stretch to give their characters weight and movement. Students used Vincent van Gogh inspired landscape paintings from a previous project as a setting for their cartoon creations.

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Jabberwocky

Are you frumious like a Bandersnatch? Can you burble like a Jabberwocky? Second grade students attempted to illustrate some of the made up words in the poem Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. First we painted organic shapes. Then we tried to transform those shapes into the plants and animals described in the poem. In these pictures you will find slithy toves, borogoves, mome wraths, jub jub birds, frumious bandersnatches, tum tum trees, and jabberwocks. 

Roller Coasters

 In first grade we kicked things off by talking about line. We learned that a line is a mark with length and direction. We use words to describe lines like wavy, bumpy, zigzag, pointy, and wiggly. Students used their knowledge of line to design roller coasters.