Jackson Pollock, kids-style

I promised to share some art that I did with the kids while I was on placement. The year 4 class (8-9 year olds) was doing a unit on art while I was there, so I did some lessons where they discussed their reactions to a range of famous paintings. We also did some brainstorming around topics like "What is art?", "Why do people create art?" , "What types of art do you know?" and so on. I was really surprised at some of their answers and their reactions to the paintings were quite insightful.
My Associate Teacher also did some lessons about several famous artists and then allowed the class to make their own artwork in the style of the artist. Here are some pictures from the Jackson Pollock lesson. The kids first watched this video showing how Jackson Pollock painted. They then looked at a few examples of his artworks and we discussed them. Finally they planned and created their own masterpiece. The kids had a lot of fun dribbling and flicking the paint and finished pieces looked fantastic once they were mounted. I will definitely be trying this idea with my own class at some point.

Art for all

If you haven't discovered it yet, you must visit Feed Your Soul. Each week you can download art prints from up and coming artists for free! Print one out, frame it and smile at your new piece of art. This is one of my faves, by artist Sarah Golden.

Long time...

It has been a full-on couple of months here at casa 20c mixture. After our holiday in Auckland, Alex started a new job that is keeping him busy and I have been occupied with assignments and teaching. I'm currently in the middle of another 7 week teaching placement at a primary school in Lower Hutt. This time I had to plan and teach several weeks of classes, which has been both exhausting and rewarding. I have had a lot of late nights up preparing resources and polishing lesson plans, and broken sleep worrying about how it will go. Thankfully my preparation paid off and the last three weeks have gone relatively smoothly, albeit with the help of strong cups of coffee at lunchtime to get me through the afternoon.
The final two weeks of my placement will be a lot quieter, as I'll be sharing the teaching with the classroom teacher, meaning I'll hopefully get more time for crafting and gardening (I still haven't planted the new vege garden).
I'm hoping to get back into posting more regularly now that this current busy period is over. I've taught a few art lessons with my class and they have done some great work that I'd like to share. I've also got some plans for new designs for my online shop that have been brewing in my head and need to be sewn up. In the meantime, here is my first FO in a very long time, a soft knitted ball for my niece. The pattern is from Knitted Toys by Zoe Mellor. A simple pattern made up of six separate sections, which required a lot of sewing up at the end, but I think the finished product was worth it.