FEATURED ARTISTS!

Congratulations to all of my Lower School artists for another successful year in art! I hope that everyone has a fun and relaxing time with their friends and families. Be sure to save some time to draw during your time in the sun and bring in your creative sketches to share with us in September. We would all love to see how you enjoyed your vacation away from school!

Here is my latest Featured Artist video for this year. Make sure the sound is turned on to hear the voices and artist statements of all of our artists. Well done everyone!

FIFTH GRADE . . . Crossing the Lawn!

Congratulations to all of my fifth grade artists! To celebrate the class of 2021 "Crossing the Lawn," we have an art exhibit in Panther Hall gallery that shows their favorite sketch pad drawings and their final painting project.

For their final paintings, students selected a piece of work by a famous artist that interested them, based on style and subject matter. Using their knowledge of drawing and color theory they learned in Lower School art, students created their own painting inspired by the work of their chosen artist.

Here are a few examples of our paintings. All of our work is on display in the gallery and can also be viewed in artsonia.com. Here is the link for the Ranney home page at artsonia.
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Olivia B.

Artwork by Fatima

Artwork by Ava

Artwork by Ryan K.

Artwork by Tatiana L.

Artwork by Claire P.

Artwork by Jillian

Artwork by John K.

Artwork by Trent

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

FIFTH GRADE . . . What Creativity Means to Me

To be creative is a goal we all have and fifth graders showed off their creative styles not only with their choice of painting but through their quotes. Here is what creativity means to us...

“Creativity comes from imagining something amazing.” – Julian B.

“Creativity is like an empty world with nothing in it and you use your brain full of ideas to fill it.” - Gordon R.

“Creativity means that you will take risks and be brave. I always feel creative when I sing because I feel like I can do anything and anything is possible.”  – Olivia B.

“Creativity means thinking of something from your mind and using it in drawing, music or life.” – Ethan T.

“Creativity is an instinct. Everyone has it. Creative people are just people who dare to use their instinct of creativity. The people that say they are not creative are just people who don’t let their creativity thrive.”-James G.

“Creativity is when you get lost in your work and have fun.” - Ben S.

“Creativity is knowledge doing its own thing.” – John L.

“Without creativity life would be dull. I like to make things up and draw what I like and feel. I like to sketch characters and animals. Creativity isn’t art; it’s a way of life.” – Peter W.

“When I think of creativity, I think of beautiful paintings and works of art. Creativity helps people express themselves. It means tons of bright colors and beautiful designs. When someone is creative they spend time on their work so that it can be perfected in different ways. Everyone is creative in their own way.” - Emerson G.

“Creativity means being able to express yourself freely.” - Anna C.

“Creativity means a spark, an idea, and having your own style. I love to dance, sing and act. In dance, creativity is moving to your own beat or when you do improv which is making a dance up on your own as you go. You have to put emotion into it. In acting, you have to put creativity into being the character and be the character, not the actor. In singing you don’t always have to belt it out. You should put your own voice into it. Overall, creativity means be yourself.” – Sarah P.

“Creativity lets you express yourself in any way you want. I feel creative when I play the violin. Even though I didn’t write the songs I play, I love the feeling of knowing that I can play the song. I feel accomplished when I play a piece well.”  – Samantha J.

What does creativity mean to you?

FIFTH GRADE . . . Leaving our hand prints in Lower School

A Zentangle is a doodle made up of lines and shapes that repeat to create an overall filled pattern. It is a very relaxing way to sketch and some of the designs can be very creative.

Fifth graders drew their hands on paper to create a basic outline shape. Using black marker,they filled the spaces of their hands with intricate lines and patterns. Some of the designs extended beyond the shape of the fingers and others followed neatly within the outlines. All are wonderful interpretations of this very popular technique of drawing.

As the class of 2021 crosses the lawn next week into Middle School, I am hoping that all of my students will continue to draw, whether they draw from observation as we did in our sketchpads all year, or just for fun as we did with these hand prints. The important thing is to feel creative and keep drawing!

Here are a few of our Zentangle hand prints. Some of these designs are so intricate. To see them in more detail, click on each picture. For all of our prints, follow this link to the Ranney home page on artsonia.com.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwor by Abbi

Artwork by Chloe

Artwork by Ava

Artwork by Siobhan

Artwork by Saxon

Artwork by Morgan

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

THIRD GRADE . . . Sculpting with Clay

Artwork by Colette

To learn how to see our animals in a 3-dimensional way, we first drew each side of the stuffed animal we brought into school on six sides of a cube. This way we could learn just how the animal forms look from the front, the side, the back, the top and the bottom. Scroll down to see my earlier 3rd grade post for pictures of our finished animal cubes.

Finally, we were ready to work with clay. With our stuffed animals as models we had a pretty good idea of what shapes we should mold. We used an air-dry clay in class, but it works the same way as firing clay. We learned how to knead the clay to make it softer, how to add water to moisten it as it dries and begins to crack, and how to score and add slip as glue to attach the parts of the animal to the body.

Once the clay set, we painted them with bright colors of paint and then a glossy spray was added to seal everything. Here are some of our wonderful sculptures! To see all of our work, check out this link to the Ranney home page at artsonia.com.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Ashley 

Artwork by Ava

Artwork by Maria

Artwork by Tomas

Artwork by Pierce

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

FOURTH GRADE . . . Architecture

Fourth graders just completed a unit on architecture. Last year, we created animal cubes out of cardboard and learned how each side of the 3D cube gave us a very different view of our animals. This year we took that lesson a step further and made architectural designs that went beyond just a simple cube. Since our designs are 3D, we learned just how important each side of the building is to the whole design.

We began with a presentation of buildings from all over the world, looking at both traditional and very modern looking designs. Inspired by the unique shapes of some of these architectural photographs, we used graph paper to lay out a design for a building we might find in any neighborhood. For example, some of us chose to make a house, others created a museum, a theater, a store, or a church.

Once every side of the building was designed as a shape and details were considered, such as windows, doors and signs, the designs were transferred to a large sheet of card stock. Students colored in the details of their buildings before they were cut out, folded and glued to a base.

Here are some examples of our architectural designs!

Artwork by Emma S.

Artwork by Matthew

Artwork by Maya

Artwork by Morgan

Artwork by Taylor

Artwork by Tucker

SECOND GRADE . . . Flowers are blooming at Ranney School!

Inspired by the artwork of Vincent van Gogh, second graders painted a still life in art class with a vase and a bouquet of flowers. Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), a Dutch post-impressionist artist, is well known for this painting of "Sunflowers." All of his work including hundreds of self portraits and his famous, "Starry Night" scenes were painted with short directional brush strokes that helped to define the shape and movement of the scene.

To explore this style of artwork, we painted our vase, table and back wall with bright colors and added patterns with our brushes all over the page. Then we learned a technique for painting flowers using the thickness of the brush to create the petals. We did not draw our flowers first, but used our brushes to do all the work. They all look like realistic bouquets of wildflowers, and just like Vincent did with his sunflower still life, we signed our names right on the vase!

Here are some examples of our work. To see all the 2nd grade flower paintings, click on this link for artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Jason

Artwork by Shaya

Artwork by Crosby

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

THIRD GRADE . . . learning how to see 3D

In third grade we are creating 3-dimensional animals out of clay. In preparation for this project, students brought into school a stuffed animal that they could use as a model. It is difficult to understand how to mold the shapes of the animal if we are not used to seeing it in a 3-dimensional form. To practice seeing 3D forms, we created drawings of our animals from six different view points, using the layout of a cube.

Cube layout by Ashley

Cube layout by Lucia

On one side of the cube we drew the front of the animal as it is facing us. Then we drew the two sides of the animal, the back, the top, and even how it appeared from underneath! A nose that looks flat from the front projects out when you look at it from the side. We learned a lot about the shapes of our animals this way.

Here are some finished cubes! To see all of our cubes, click on this link for artsonia.com.
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Nicholas

Artwork by Lauren

Artwork by Nehemiah

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

KINDERGARTEN . . . We are published authors and illustrators!

 “If you Take a Mouse to Ranney School” is now a published audio e-book. I recorded each of the students’ voices as they read their own story for the book. To read our published book and hear everyone's voice, see the iTunes information below.

You will need an iPad or an iPhone with the ibooks app (free to download) installed on your tablet or phone. In the itunes bookstore, you can then download the book into your ibooks app. It is a free book and is listed under the category of education. Share your child’s artwork with your entire family!

This book is available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device, and with iTunes on your computer. Books can be read with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device.

This is an audiobook written, illustrated, and read aloud by the Kindergarten art students at Ranney School in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Based on the book "If You Take a Mouse to School," by Laura Numeroff, Kindergarteners drew illustrations of what would happen if they take a mouse to their school. Along with their illustrations are the voices of each student reading their stories.

View In iTunes

·         Free

·         Available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.

·         Category: Education

·         Published: May 14, 2014

·         Publisher: Ranney School

·         Seller: Barbara Levine

·         Print Length: 38 Pages

·         Language: English

·         Requirements: This book was designed for an iOS device and some features may not work as intended with a mouse or trackpad. To view this book, you must have an iOS device with iBooks 3 or later and iOS 5.0 or later.

CONGRATULATIONS CHANTAL...

Congratulations to Chantal M. in Mrs. Congemi's class for winning a very special art contest with her landscape! Out of thousands of images uploaded from schools all over the country, Chantal's tropical forest was chosen this week by Artsonia as a finalist. She went onto win the contest for her age group with over 900 votes! This is a national recognition for Ranney School and a very special honor for Chantal. She will receive a plaque and a gift certificate as her award later this month.


Artsonia.com, is an online art museum for students that Ranney School participates in. With this site, I can upload photos of artwork created in my class and build a personal portfolio for every art student in Lower School. All of my art students have a portfolio on Artsonia and are eligible for opportunities just like this one, but not all families have registered to the site. If you still have not set up a personal account for Artsonia, please email me at blevine@ranneyschool.org with your request and I will forward your login information and pass code. It is free to join and registration allows everyone in your family to share in the pride of your child's creativity.