Parents and Students!!!  PTA Reflections Contest entries are due November 5th.  The link for this artistic contest is https://www.pta.org/programs/ArtsinEducation.cfm.  I  have information upon request in the art room as well.   Local winners go on to compete at the state and national levels. 

Some of the Artists we have studied...

 "Magic Garden" By: Amy Giacomelli

This was a contemporary abstract piece that we used to learn about the thicknesses of branches and creating realistic trees.  We did a 30 second tree drawing and then used "Magic Garden" and "Olive Grove" to see how other artists capture trees.  Then the students got to go outside and draw trees from observation. We even got to take them on a short nature walk so the could see the other kinds of trees that are located along the trail on the side of the school.  Upon arrival back in the classroom students put their first drawing and second drawing together and analyzed the differences of drawing from their memory and relying on what they know compared to drawing from direct observation.

 "Olive Grove" By: Winston Churchill

This piece was used to help students observe "organic shapes" and learn how to capture trees from observation without relying on "lollipop" trees.

 "Stripey T-Shirt" By Kai Regan

Students learned about silhouettes and gesture drawings after looking at Kai Regan's artwork.  This lesson students were in pairs for a classroom dance party and they learned how to draw gesture drawings using their partners dance pose.  After we did a few short exercises students did a 3 minute gesture on black paper and after the finished they cut out the silhouette of the dancer and got to put on their classroom dance party poster. I made one for each class! Some classes will be doing this during my last week of teaching. 

These lessons were written and taught by Miss Davila :)

What has your artist been up to?

Hello Parents and Students!

This is Miss Davila, I am writing to tell you about the unit plan that I have written for your artists.  They are currently getting to learn how to draw trees from observation to help support the next part of the unit.  Some of the classes have began to research an animal and they are writing about where it lives, what it eats and some of it's daily activities.  Integrating reading and writing will allow your artists to create 3-D models of the habitat of the animal of their choosing as well as drawing the animal in it's habitat with sticks!  Students get to hike on the paths, (on school grounds) to collect materials to construct their habitats which is also integrating science concepts about plants and animals sharing space.  I have been working hard to write fulfilling lesson plans for your artist that enriches them across the disciplines to support their knowledge in other subjects while still keeping it playful and relevant to creating art! I hope that they have had fun stories to tell you about their adventures and findings.

Have a nice day and check back again soon!

-Miss Davila

Dear Parents and McDowell elementary school artists,

Greetings! I am a new student teacher, my name is Miss Davila and Mr. Davis is my mentor teacher. I am excited to teach the 3rd grade students as my journey as a Kent State University student comes to a close. I have not worked with this particular age group before but my first week has been wonderful! The school staff and students have given me a warm welcome and I look forward to working with them over the next 6 weeks. Enjoy the blog! I will be posting on here as well as Mr. Davis so check back for updates on completed projects, vocabulary learned from the lesson and community out reach projects :)

Have a dandy day!

-Miss Davila

Parents,

I'm so excited for our second McDowell Visual Art Night. The date will be March 19th at 6:00pm. Please come and have a great time making art with your child. More information will come soon about this night.

Mr. Davis

Welcome to McDowell Art

Welcome to the McDowell Art Room!

Dear Parents and Students, I became interested in Art as a kid, and I received my Bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Akron. One year later I started school at Kent State University where I received my Bachelors in Art Education. In addition, I received my Master in Integrating Technology in the Classroom from Walden University. I love the outdoors and enjoy trail running, cycling, throwing clay, and oil painting.

I look forward to a wonderful year in the art room.  I will focus on the state standards written for art with an understanding that each child is unique and has their own personal style of creating art.  I will use a variety of media including: paint, mixed media, various drawing materials, 3-d materials and printing media.

Your child will meet in art every week of school for a total of 80 minutes.  Some sessions will focus more on studio activities and others will focus on art history, aesthetics, art criticism, connecting art to other subjects, or a mixture of all of these combined.

I look forward to getting to know each student this 2013 –2014 school year.

Your Art Teacher,

Jamie Davis

McDowell Elementary School

Parents,

Art To Remember orders are due this Friday April, 12th.

Art To Remember

Parents,

Your child will be coming home soon with a folder including information about Art To Remember. In this foloder is a completed art work that can be ordered on any of the items listed. If you do not wish to order anything please keep the art work and folder.

THANK YOU

McDowell Visual Art Night

Parents,

I'm so excited for our first McDowell Visual Art Night. The date will be May 8th at 6:00pm. Please come and have a great time making art with your child. More information will come soon about this night.

Mr. Davis

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Parents,

The Cleveland Museum of Art's spring session of museum art classes for children and teens is starting March 16 through April 27. Please visit http://www.clevelandart.org/ for more information.

When Blue Met Egg Collage

Trash Menagerie - Art from Recycled Material

Mural Arts: Design In Motion

Water Lily Pastel

Building Clay Coil Pots

McDowell Visual Art Night

McDowell Visual Art Night will be held on May 8, 2013 from 6:00 - 8:00pm. More details to come soon about this night.

Clay Coils

Coil Pot Design Ideas

Ceramics Coil Technique