So far this year we have been very busy in the art room learning about LINE, SHAPE, FORM, and VALUE.  

Window collages inspired by Matisse's Open Window ​brought a beautiful close to the summer.
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K-2 students have explored their EMOTIONS using abstract art to show the colors and feelings in their hearts.  The results are beautiful and meaningful.  

Grades 3-5 have been using LINE to create depth in artwork.  

With Halloween around the corner, students in Kindergarten and 1st have been creating cat collages.  

​2nd and 3rd grade have been working on using VALUE to create FORM in organic pumpkin drawings/collage.  The lumpier the better!   

4th and 5th grade have been working with clay to create spider web coasters and witch hats.  This exploration of FORM has been especially fun.

Many people believe that the Day of the Dead is the Mexican version of Halloween.  This is not true. . . The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated on November 2nd of each year.  It is a time for remembrance of loved ones lost and ancestors that came before us.  People dress in skeleton masks and festive outfits to celebrate life after death.

In honor of Dia de los Muertos:

4th and 5th graders are making sugar skull two way drawings that may represent different people or different aspects of themselves.

3rd graders are working on sugar skull collage.  

K-2 are still working on a variety of line and shape artworks.  They will be introduced to Day of the Dead concepts a bit later in the month.

So excited to share in this celebratory Mexican tradition this month!

February is Black History Month, but in the Hedke artroom we talk about embracing diversity all year long!  

Some current projects that we have going that teach the acceptance of others and futhering our understanding of others include:  

All hands In - A project that symbolizes the fact that no matter what our race, heritage, background, lifestyle, dress, etc., etc , etc., we are all one TEAM.

Jacob Lawrence Collages - A collage that shows how community impacts our lives.  We look at African-American painter Jacob Lawerence's work, read a book he has illustrated and find out about the meaning of his community inspired artworks.  We then create a community inspired collage of our own.   

The fall is a perfect time of year to explore organic shape and form.  This fall we have a wide range of fun and educational art projects happening at Hedke.

Kindergarten is making pop-up pumpkin patches.  They are using organic shape, warm colors, and line to create natural looking pumpkin patches that take 2D shapes to make 3D sculptures.  

K - 2 are also exploring organic shape through the work of Pablo Picasso.  His abstract portraits are a great inspiration for creative witches and frankensteins.  

3rd grade is loving the creation of organic form tree sculptures and pumpkin patches. They are using warm colors, actual textures, and more. Unfortunately, these are a must see in person: the pictures really don't do them justice. 

4th grade is getting extremely creative with haunted house silhouettes.  

4th and 5th grades are all making organic jack-o-lanterns out of clay.  

5th graders are also practicing form through shading partial pumpkin drawings with warm color value techniques.

More pictures will be posted soon.

Some of our student artwork was selected to be displayed in the Trenton Board of Education office!  

Here it is!  If you are in the neighborhood feel free to stop by and check it our for yourself!

Our newest unit is all about TEXTURE.   Students are using implied and actual texture to create a wide variety of artwork.

Kindergartners are creating tissue paper and mixed media collages based on the writing and illustrations of Eric Carle.   Hungry caterpillars and mixed-up chameleons all around!

First graders are learning about ways art can impact society.  Artist Andy Lakey used texture in art to create work that people could feel.  He was the inspiration for our actual texture paintings.

Second grade is drawing inspiration from Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life to create a textured tree of life that seems to pop off the page.

Third grade is using implied texture to create landscapes inspired by traditional Japanese landscape painters.  

Fourth grade is also exploring implied texture by creating collage landscapes using magazine scraps in unexpected ways.

Fifth grade is using texture as a form of personal expression.  They are creating abstract self-portraits and symbolic license plates.  They are using found objects as a base and then using tin tooling for the surface textures.