Ms. Vella's Summer Art Projects

I've been doing a lot of painting this summer, as I hope you all have too. Ms. Millham was so nice to give me an enormous box of some of her old paints that she discovered while cleaning out her basement. They were high quality paints too! I've used a lot of them up already, if you can believe it.

I was lucky enough to take a course this June-July with Julian Bradshaw at St. Michael's College entitled, "Educator as Artist." The course focused on personalized learning in the arts. Each student enrolled in the course were encouraged to work on their own passions and interests as an artist while developing a large body of work.

Here are some of my paintings I did during my time working on my concentration; you might see some of these at the South End Art Hop in Burlington in September, if you get a chance to visit the Innovation Building off Lakeside Avenue.

2016 Colchester District Art Show

I hope you have had a good vacation. I spent a good chunk of mine preparing for our upcoming art show. All schools in the Colchester School District participate in this one amazing show that demonstrates our students' talent and creativity ranging from kindergarten to grade 12. I do my best to include as many students in this art show as possible. 

The Show runs from Tuesday 5/3 - Friday 5/6 and will be open 8am-4pm all days. There is also a closing reception being held Thursday night (5/5) from 6pm-8pm. Refreshments will be provided.

Students who have artwork on display are listed below by class along with which artwork will be on display:

Kindergarten 26 TOTAL

K Donnelly

1.       Ben Donuts and snowman

2.       Lily Donuts

3.       Nellie Donuts

4.       Shania Donuts

5.       Ella Butterfly

6.       Charlie Butterfly

7.       Bella Tape

8.       Caleb Feathers

K Bourgea

1.       Jenna Donuts and Building

2.       Jillian Donuts

3.       Hannah Donuts

4.       Emma Jean Donuts

5.       Kasey Numbers

K Belaski

1.       Rowan Numbers

2.       Liam Tape

3.       Mary Warm up

4.       Aya Feathers

5.       Elijah Building

6.       Evan building

7.       Chelsea building

K Allbee

1.       Meredith Panda

2.       Nick Panda

3.       Isabelle Panda

4.       Isaac Building

5.       Jordan Building

6.       Anna Building

1^st Grade              20 total

1 Plunkett

1.       Ryann Donuts

2.       Keira Donuts

3.       Sullie Fox

4.       Everett Police Car

5.       Ciara firetruck

6.       Ava Police car

7.       Addie portrait

8.       Reason Dayclouds

9.       Keira owl

10.   Chase feathers

1 Hershman

1.       Alee Portrait

2.       Brayden Portrait

3.       BreezieLynne Feathers

4.       Makayla Map

5.       Ayson Portrait

6.       Madison Portrait

1 Silverberg

1.       Tre cement mixer

2.       Tara portrait

3.       Josh feathers

4.       Brayden fox 

2^nd Grade             32 Total

2 Warren

1.       Emily H Puppet

2.       Lexie Autumn DP

3.       Izzy Water

4.       Jacob             Pumpkins

5.       Raleigh         Marten

2 LaRose

1.       Emily Puppet and water

2.       Naomi Puppet and water

3.       Ariana Puppet and pumpkins

4.       Kaleb Birds

5.       Saya Autumn DP

6.       Chloe Birds

7.       Zach Eagle

8.       Jackson Water

2 Bissonette

1.       Olivia Puppet

2.       Hailey Puppet

3.       Ryan Marten

4.       Lucien Marten

5.       Blake Printed flwer

6.       Caleb S Printed flower

7.       Jane Printed Flower

8.       Jason Eagle

9.       Zachary Sturgeon

2 Hooper

1.       Brynn Puppet

2.       Luna Puppet

3.       Nate Birds

4.       John Eagle

5.       Maddie water

6.       Isaiah Warm up

2 Shepherd

1.       Bleona Sturgeon

2.       Riley Sturgeon

3.       Simon Eagle

4.       Lucy Printed Building

Champlain Valley Regional Art Show

28 artworks by PPS students are on display now through March 25th at the University Mall in South Burlington, VT. Check it out this week, before the stunning display comes down! If you can't make it, be sure to  find room in your schedule to see the Spring District Art Show, held in the Colchester High School gymnasium May 3-6.

Puppets!

In art for the past several weeks, students in 2nd grade have been designing, building and creating puppets using a whole lot of imagination and problem solving. In Mrs. Hooper's class, students worked in small groups to write short dialogue discussing their new knowledge about some important Americans. Check out these puppet shows we put on using the dialogue they wrote in class. Thanks to Mrs. Hooper for being an amazing collaborator and helping to make this happen. It has been a blast!

Snowflakes

Mrs. Millham came into the art studio just as Mrs. Belaski's Kindergarteners were finishing up these beautiful "make-and-take" snowflakes. We decided it would be a good opportunity to get a picture of the entire class along with their finished work. I'm thankful for such perfect timing! Say "Cheese," or better yet; say, "Snowflake!" We are ready for winter!

Painting Spirals

Spirals are everywhere; from the tiniest organisms to the largest galaxies. 1st Grade students at PPS created these vibrant paintings after viewing a series of images of spirals seen throughout nature (including snails, hurricanes and fiddle-head ferns). On day one of this lesson, students drew a spiral and used it's shape to guide the direction and movement of their paintings. On the second day, students finished painting and embellished their spirals with colored oil pastels. These 1st grade artists have demonstrated immense creativity, color sensitivity, and expression through movement.

Using our Imaginations to See

If you are interested in fun and easy drawing activity to activate the right side of your brain, I've got just the one for you! Take some strips of tape and place them randomly on a piece of paper. Turn your paper around until you "see" an animal or creature in the tape. Then use a pencil to outline the animal; you can add more details with colored pencils and markers.