ART ROOM BUZZ

Colorful Collages

4/27/2018

April was "collage month" at Blue Church Art. Students had fun piecing together colorful paper shapes to create their masterpieces. Birds, flowers, and fruit were popular subjects.

Ashlee K.

One student created a zebra with his collage, and another made a beautiful red cow!

click on any image to enlarge it

William N.

Kaitlyn S.

A sweet little cat collage:

Vanessa T.

Lots of beautiful birds....

Patricia S.

Kinley K.

Reese K.

Ethan S.

Rene M.

Madeline H.

A stack of cute little ones...

Kacey P.

...and a partridge in a pear tree!

Ava R.

Here's a very handsome collaged rooster:

Ava L.

Fabulous collaged fish:

Lauren S.

Jenna W.

Luke F.

And an iridescent jellyfish!

Julia B.

Two students, inspired by the animated film UP,
created these great collages:

Kaitlyn S.

Leah H.

Another student was inspired by a Dutch girl on a Delft tile!

Madison W.

Colorful pears, one with a french flair:

Erin C.

Emma W.

Kaitlyn S.

A slice of patterned citrus fruit:

Sophia D.

Collaged flowers...

Lauren S.

Kaitlyn S.

Natalie F.

...and collage butterflies:

Hope B.

Jessica H.

The students in the Wednesday grade 2-3 class made these delightful parrot collages:

Elena J.

Evan J.

Holden C.

Blaise C.

Ava K.

Riley B.

Jamie K.

Sophia K.

Jack C.

Laney L.

Here's another pair of colorful birds:

Ella M.

Gianna S.

And a colorful forest of collaged trees...

Hadley G.

A very lively Tree of Life:

Corinne H.

Here are some delicious cupcake collages:

Lynn S.

Madison C.

Some of the younger students created ladybug collages:

Hayes C.

Davis C.

Arabelle K.

Emilia W.

Katie D.

Alicia H.

Captain Underpants appeared in Noah's collage!

Grant H.

Noah S.

Students in the Thursday evening K-3 class made these beautiful sunset collages, where sheep wander under the sun's last rays.

Anshul M.

Graham S.

Anthony A.

Patrick B.

Gabrielle M.

Ava R.

Allie R.

Soveida M.

Isabel K.

Kiki C.

Last but not least...a regal peacock collage!

Jessica S.

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March was a wild wintry month here in southeast Pennsylvania. We endured four nor’easters this month! Lucky for us, the most recent one arrived after the Blue Church Art Annual Student Show, which was on March 18th. That Sunday was a beautiful, mild sunny day. Over 300 people came to marvel at the 800+ beautiful artworks on display.

On the Wednesday after the show Mother Nature dumped 14” of snow in Coopersburg. It was a beautiful storm, transforming the Blue Church neighborhood into a winter wonderland. Shoveling out was a chore. My daughter and I took a break from shoveling and made a little March snowman, decorated with a bit of shamrock garland that I had used to decorate my car’s rearview mirror for St. Patrick’s Day.

Erin M.

Orianna G.

After one of the earlier March nor’easters some of the students at Blue Church Art created delightful snow people paintings…with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. Their cheery snowmen (and snow-women) are surrounded by shamrocks and snowflakes- and some have pots o’ gold and little hats that they’d snatched from leprechauns!

Patrick B.

Addison R.

Anshul M.

Soveida M.

Graham S.

Ava R.

Colin V.

Gabrielle M.

Amelia R.

Grant H.

Brady M.

Rylan M.

Alicia H.

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Leprechaun Art

3/17/2018

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It's St. Patrick's Day! This past week the younger students at Blue Church Art drew whitewashed leprechaun cottages, surrounded by rainbows and pots o' gold.

click on any image to enlarge it

Emilia W.

Katie D.

Arabelle K.

Alicia H.

Erin M.

Davis C.

Hayes C.

Rylan M.

Addison R.

Happy leprechauns are sliding on rainbows in these masterpieces:

Grant H.

Kaley H.

Kiki C.

Evan J.

Ava R.

Riley B.

One rich leprechaun keeps his gold coins on the roof, and another has a pot o' gold with coins piled almost as high as the rainbow!

Amelia R.

Brady M.

Here's a little fellow who likes to toss his coins in the air for fun:

Sophia K.

This funny leprechaun keeps his pot o' gold on his roof, along with a box of Lucky Charms cereal (he likes to count his coins while he's having breakfast):

Anshul M.

Vivian LOVES cats. Her leprechaun IS a cat, with a rainbow tail:)

Vivian S.

Some of these leprechauns have dog houses...

Orianna G.

Soveida M.

Graham S.

Colin V.

...and some have interesting architectural features, such as TALL chimneys, and shamrock-shaped windows. One lucky leprechaun has gold coins pressed into the white stucco on his tiny house:

Patrick B.

Gabrielle M.

Laney L.

Ava K.

Shamrock-shaped clouds float above these cozy cottages:

Holden C.

Elena J.

But life isn't always easy, living under the rainbow.
Leprechauns have to beware of humans who want to steal their gold. This unfortunate little guy is being robbed of his pot o' gold by a giant wearing Nike sneakers!

Blaise C.

Leprechauns like to draw and paint, too! The leprechauns at Blue Church Art exhibited artwork at the Annual Student Show that was held on St. Patrick's Day weekend.

Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!
That's Gaelic for
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

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Tooth Fairy

2/19/2018

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Sophia K.

Laney L.

Losing a baby tooth might be a scary event for a child, but thanks to the Tooth Fairy, it's also something to look forward to! In exchange for a tooth left under the child's pillow at night, the generous Tooth Fairy leaves a gift of money and (according to some of my students) other gifts may appear, too. When I proposed drawing the Tooth Fairy to my younger students, there was an enthusiastic response. They had fun depicting the tooth fairy in their drawings. Everyone loves the Tooth Fairy.

click on any image to enlarge it

Holden C.

Arabelle K.

Where did this beloved sprite come from? I searched the internet and found a Brief History of the Tooth Fairy on 123dentist.com:

The Tooth Fairy as we know it is a relatively recent creation. Like other myths, it evolved over time. There are traditions, legends and myths dating back millennia with regards to losing your baby teeth.

Addison R.

Riley B.

Early norse and European traditions suggest that when a child lost a baby tooth, it was buried to spare the child from hardships in the next life. A tradition of the "tand-fe" or "tooth fee" originated in Europe for a child’s first tooth, and Vikings used children’s teeth and other items from their children to bring them good luck in battle.

Emilia W.

Katie D.

Hayes C.

Davis C.

Blaise C.

Brady M.

What does the Tooth Fairy look like? No one really knows, because everyone in the house is fast asleep when she visits.

Patrick B.

Rylan M.

Orianna G.

Ava R.

Gabrielle M.

Elena J.

Graham S.

Alicia H.

Grant H.

Ava K.

Colin V.

Erin M.

Kaley H.

Vivian S.

Maybe the Tooth Fairy looks like a cat!

Sometimes the Tooth Fairy finds bunk beds in the bedroom, and she has to guess which pillow she'll find the tooth under.

Amelia R.

Soveida M.

Or maybe the Tooth Fairy gets a big surprise and finds a FISH in the bed!

Evan J.

Collecting all those baby teeth can be tricky work,
but the Tooth Fairy always gets the job done:)

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Llama Love

2/14/2018

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Llamas are members of the camelid (camel) family. We think of llamas as originally being from South America, but their camelid ancestors first appeared on the Central Plains of North America about 40 million years ago! The camelids migrated to South America about 3 million years ago. For centuries these sturdy, intelligent creatures have been used by native people there to transport goods over the rough terrain of the Andes mountains.

Blue Church Art students imagined their llamas delivering Valentine gifts (with llama love:) to some special people.

click on any image to enlarge it

Brady M.

Rylan M.

Arabella K.

Katie D.

Grant H.

Alicia H.

Graham S.

Patrick B.

Holden C.

Orianna G.

Soveida M.

Colin V.

Addison R.

Amelia R.

Kiki C.

Ava R.

Erin M.

Laney L.

Vivian's llama is delivering a contented cat to some lucky person:

Vivian S.

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Fly, Eagles, FLY!

2/11/2018

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Travis G.

Super Bowl 52 was played on Sunday, February 4th, 2018. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the favored Boston Patriots with a final score of 41-33! Philadelphia is about 50 miles south of Coopersburg (as the eagle flies:) so most folks around here are Eagles fans. Needless to say, those of us who were rooting for the underdog Eagles were ecstatic when they won.

At the end of the game Coopersburg neighborhoods erupted in fireworks, celebrating the first time the Eagles have won the Super Bowl. At Blue Church Art the students celebrated, too, by commemorating this historic win with Eagles artwork:

click on any image to enlarge it

Vivian S.

Colin V.

Sophia K.

Gabrielle M.

Patrick B.

Orianna G.

Kiki C.

Kaley H.

Holden C.

Blaise C.

Rylan M.

Brady M.

Soveida M.

Ava R.

Amelia R.

Ava K.

Alicia H.

Grant H.

Laney L.

Erin M.

Graham S.

Evan J.'s stars & stripes eagle!

A few students are Patriot fans~ their eagles don't look happy!

Addison R.

Elena J.

Ashlee K.

Maybe you'll have better luck next time, Patriots:)
But watch out for those AWESOME Philadelphia Eagles!

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Penguin Awareness

1/20/2018

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Emperor penguins by Jessica S.

January 20th is Penguin Awareness Day. These appealing creatures certainly deserve our attention. Penguins are the only species of aquatic bird that can't fly. Instead of wings, they have stiff flippers that can propel them through the water, where they feed. Their favorite foods are shrimp, squid, and krill.

All penguins live in the southern hemisphere, from the Galapagos Islands to the Antarctic continent. Some penguins can live to be 20 years old in the wild.

Students in the Tuesday preK/K class are proud of their beautiful penguins!

At Blue Church Art we celebrated "penguin awareness" by creating portraits of these unique birds. Most of the students chose Emperor penguins for their subject. These handsome birds are the largest of the penguin species, growing to be 4 feet tall, and weighing up to 85 pounds! The head and face of the Emperors are completely black, with a long curved black beak that has a pink or orange stripe down the middle. Its belly is mostly white, blending into light yellow at the top of the chest.

Ellie S.

Jill G.

Ava L.

Callie L.

click on any image to enlarge it

Jenna W.

Loraine K.

Madison W.

Kacey P.

Travis G.

Sophia D.

Kaitlyn S.

Emperor Penguin chicks look quite different from their parents. Their first plumage is gray, and they have white around their eyes and around their beak. The markings of emperor chicks make them more visible against the ice and snow, important because emperors don't have individual nest sites where the young can be found.

Sierra G.

Matt M.

Vanessa T.

Rissa S.

Luke F.

Leah H.

Penguin chicks require attentive parents for survival. Both parents feed the chick regurgitated food. Adults recognize and feed only their own chick. Parents are able to identify their chick by its distinctive call.

Savannah G.

Jessica M.

Jessica H.

Tondy H.

Natalie F.

Patricia S.

Erin C.

Madison C.

Heidi R.

Ashlee K.

Hope B.

Here's a lonely little penguin...

Jill M.

Emperor penguins seem to have a lot of affection for their chicks. One of the Blue Church Art penguin chicks is returning the love with a gift of flowers!

Gianna S.

Corinne H.

The younger Blue Church Art students captured the spirit of these cute Emperor chicks in their paintings:

Addison R.

Kaley H.

Soveida M.

Colin V.

Ava R.

Kiki C.

Erin M.

Patrick B.

Some of the Emperor Penguin chicks have crowns!

Amelia R.

Gabrielle M.

Orianna G.

Graham S.

Other students drew Emperor chicks snuggled up with mom...
or is it dad?

Riley B.

Sophia K.

Evan J.

Rylan M.

Brady M.

Elena J.

Ava K.

Some students drew Adelie Penguins. Adelies have dark eyes that are surrounded by a white circle. They are named after the wife of french explorer Jules Dumont, who discovered these penguins in 1840.

Linda H.

Hadley G.

Shayla W.

Last but not least, a Blue Penguin! They are the smallest of the penguins, growing to an average 13 inches in height. Their distinctive bright blue-gray color goes from the head down their backs, wings and tail. Blue Penguins are found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand.

Blue Penguin by Reese B.

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A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies!

11/17/2017

2 Comments

Madison W.

Monarchs are large, beautifully colored butterflies that are easily identified by their orange, black, and white markings. They live in North, Central, and South America as well as Australia, some Pacific islands, India, and Western Europe.

click on any image to enlarge it

After hatching from tiny round eggs, Monarchs begin their lives as caterpillars colored with yellow, black and white stripes.

Ava R.

milkweed flower by Savannah G.

Monarch eggs are laid only on the leaves of Milkweed plants, and these plants are the only food source in the Monarch's caterpillar stage.

Milkweed sap eaten by the caterpillar is toxic to other creatures, making both the caterpillar and the butterfly that it becomes poisonous to predators!

Blaise C.

Vivian S.

The caterpillar transforms into a pupa (also called a chrysalis), and after 9 to 15 days a fully formed Monarch butterfly emerges. After waiting for its wings to dry the butterfly begins to fly, surviving by drinking nectar from flowers.

This butterfly, painted by Vivian, carries a little pot to store its nectar in:)

Male Monarchs are slightly larger than females. A black spot on each of its hind wings identifies it as a male.

Anshul M.

Grant H.

The most amazing thing about Monarch butterflies is the huge migration they undertake each year. They're the only butterflies who make a two-way migration, as birds do! Unlike other butterflies, Monarchs can't survive the cold winters of northern climates. Every fall, as cold weather approaches, the Monarchs begin flying south. They overwinter in California and Mexico, often nesting in the same trees that their ancestors landed in. In the spring the Monarchs begin their journey back north. Along the way, they roost and reproduce, giving rise to new butterflies that will continue their flight back north.

Noah S.

Rylan M.

A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope. The students at Blue Church Art created a wonderful kaleidoscope of Monarch butterflies this session!

Davis C.

Hayes C.

Katie D.

Emilia W.

Lindsay T.

Jacob T.

Arabelle K.

Denver B.

Holden C.

Brady M.

Jack C.

Soveida M.

Delaney G.

Abby D.

Ava K.

Sophia K.

Hadley G.

Alicia H.

Kiki C.

Erin M.

Orianna G.

It appears that the two Monarchs pictured below
are toasting marshmallows!

Laney L.

Riley B.

These Monarch butterfly masterpieces were created by the older students using a variety of media~ gouache and sharpie marker, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, and pan pastels:

Sophia D.

Hope B.

Savannah G.

Carolyn R.

Reese K.

Kinley K.

Vanessa T.

Julia B.

Emerson T.

Jessica H.

Toby N.

Gianna S.

Reese B.

Ellie S.

William N.

Rissa S.

Madison C.

Erin C.

Corinne H.

Grace Y.

Ashlee K.

Here's something wonderful...

I was delighted to learn that one of my students dressed up as a Monarch Butterfly for Halloween!:)

2 Comments

Red Barns in Autumn

10/28/2017

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Jessica S.

We still have lots of old barns standing in the Blue Church neighborhood. Most are painted traditional red. To celebrate autumn, students painted red barns in the colorful setting of our local fall foliage.

McKenzie H.

click on any image to enlarge it

Pre-K, kindergarten, and 1st grade students created these beauties (curious pigs are peeking out of some of the barns!):

Emilia W.

Arabelle K.

Davis C.

Hayes C.

Jacob T.

Lindsay T.

Katie D.

Orianna G.

Denver B.

Brady M.

Rylan M.

Alicia H.

A noisy cow is keeping all the other animals in this barn awake:

Holden C.

A fox and some spooky Halloween characters
showed up near this beautiful barn...

Noah S.

Grade 2-3 students surrounded their barns with sunsets, mountains, roosters, cows, and friendly cats:

Vivian S.

Ava K.

Laney L.

Sophia K.

Erin M.

Grant H.

Soveida M.

Riley S.

These two barns have graveyards alongside them!

Blaise C.

Jack C.

...and Godzilla is about to visit this red barn

Evan J.

Nestled at the foot of a mountain,
this big red barn is ready for winter!

Linda H.

These beautiful cows are headed for the barn,
wandering through a magical autumn landscape:)

Kacey P.

Jill M.

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The Remarkable Bee

9/29/2017

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Jessica S.

We owe many thanks to the amazing bee! There are around 25,000 different types of bee species in the world (around 4,000 in the U.S.) All of them serve as pollinators for our agricultural world, but only 4 of them produce honey.

To make just one pound of honey the bees in a colony must visit 2 million flowers, and fly more than 55,000 miles. Making that pound of honey will be the life’s work of about 768 bees! Bees are the only insect in the world that make food that people can eat, and honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life (including enzymes, water, minerals, and vitamins). Honey has a very high sugar content- 80%- so it never goes bad. Edible honey was found in King Tut’s tomb!

Bees lives in colonies. Each colony has a queen bee whose job is to lay all the eggs. Drones (who are all male) also have only one job- to mate with the queen! The third type of bee in a colony is the worker bee. These bees, who are all female, are well named; they clean the hive, collect the pollen and nectar to feed the colony, and take care of the offspring. Worker bees make honey from the nectar that they gather.

Ella M.

Rene M.

The students at Blue Church Art celebrate the remarkable bee in their September artworks. The youngest students’ bees are gathering nectar from flowers and returning to the hives they’ve built in the trees:

click on any image to enlarge it

Lindsay T.

Jacob T.

Davis C.

Hayes C.

Emilia W.

Arabelle K.

Denver B.

Alicia H.

Grant H.

Brady M.

Rylan M.

Holden C.

Orianna G.

Anshul M.

Delaney G.

Hadley G.

Abby D.

Kiki C.

Noah S.

Grade 2-3 students drew old-fashioned bee skeps for their bees to live in. For centuries, beekeepers have used these handmade domed baskets to house their hives. Skeps are woven from straw. Some of the Blue Church Art skeps have turrets like a castle, a nice touch for a home where the queen bee lives:)