Seaton Springs into Artist Books

Second grade students at Seaton Elementary School in D.C. learn how to make a variety of artist book forms including this flag book made from colorful papers. Here a student learns how to make a sunflower from a simple geometric shape. Students earlier viewed a video about the life cycle of a sunflower.

Brilliant Finished Books at Brightwood

5th grade students at Brightwood Elementary School in D.C. proudly displayed their finished hardbound books that they wrote and illustrated during  our Kennedy  Center residency. We met for ten sessions and learned so many things including how pictures tell stories; how art elements can contribute to the mood and tone of a picture; how to write using sensory detail and how to use art elements and design principles to create beautiful and engaging compositions. 

Painted Picture Stories

Second grade students at Seaton Elementary School in NW D.C. were prompted to create vibrant picture stories of a favorite family member. Students cut and pasted these collages using papers painted with glue and tempera paint. In a later session students will write narratives about what was happening in the picture.

Bright Students at Brightwood

5th graders at Brightwood E.S. analyzing how visuals can contribute to the meaning and beauty of text.

Students learn the paste paper technique in paper decorating and create lines using a paint scraper.

It's been great working with 5th grade teacher, Ms. Tatum at Brightwood Elementary in my art and writing residency through the Kennedy Center. Her students are disciplined, bright and eager to learn. In 5 weeks students will  learn how pictures tell stories, make paste paper, create cut-paper collage illustrations; and write their own personal narratives.