Thursday, May 20, 2010

Fine Arts Auction Banner by my Second Graders!

This is what I accomplished with the help of 21 second graders in 3 days this week. Every year
I have to make an auction piece for my class to present at our Fine Arts Night. Parents get paddles and bid on the children's art as a fundraiser for our elementary school. Sometimes it's a class book, or ink and chalked cards and envelopes, painted aprons, photo collages, etc.
I had NO idea what I was making last week and this was due Tuesday!!!! Luckily, I am very motivated by adrenalin!
At the retreat I went to in Key Largo last month, my friend Eileen shared the rosen paper technique she learned from Lynne Perella. I made a big background piece this weekend. It came out so cool, I decided to have my students make a large banner for our auction.
On Monday I brought in a 4 foot by 4 1/2 foot piece of red rosen paper. I had applied the gesso and some tissue paper, pattern paper, and paper flowers gessoed on for texture. I showed the class the white banner and told them I wanted to make it a colorful, vibrant celebration of Spring! I painted the background colors and had the students draw pictures. They drew the ladybugs, butterflies, dragonflies, hummingbird, flowers, leaves, and grass. I asked three kids to write the large words Grow, Create, Bloom. We traced the drawings with black sharpie markers and glued them onto the background. They colored the background with portfolio oil pastels. The pictures and flowers were colored with oil pastels, watercolor crayons, sharpies, and glitter watercolors.
I covered the whole piece with matte Mod Podge. I added the dotted lines and dots with Sharpie poster paint markers and glued gems to the flower centers. I attached the vintage white pom-pom trim, giant red rick-rack and orange rick-rack to the top and bottom of the banner.

The piece hangs with a dowel inserted through a sleeve on the back side. I got a lot of positive comments about it from teachers and parents. MY students LOVED it and several brought their parents to bid on it. I am thrilled to report that our collaborative piece brought in $100.00 at the fundraising auction! We worked hard to create it in just three days and it is such a happy, bright, lively banner. One of my students is going to hang it in her bedroom and enjoy it for a long time to come.

6 comments:

Valerie Brincheck said...

Fantabulous! They all did a wonderful job. I would have paid a lot of money for the privilege of owning this piece of artwork too.


Valerie B.

Lillian M said...

this is perfect Jen!!!
Lillian
http://www.canadianscraptramp.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Jen! This is so gorgeous, and it warms my heart that children 3,000 miles away learned something that I showed you!
I would have bid on it too (a bidding war with Val, lol) and displayed it proudly in my home. Tell those kids I said so!
Eileen

Michele said...

This is beautiful! I would have bid on it for sure. Lovely work, and so cool it was done as a class.

Tinker said...

That is so-o-o cool!! Go you! And way to go, second-graders too!

<3

Tracie said...

Incredibly beautiful!!! I love it all, but especially the way the lettering was done!