VOLCANO ISLAND MANIA!!

Look at how beautiful these rainbowy volcanic eruptions are! Just look!

At Chevy Chase:

At the Langley School:

See more painterly Volcano Island Art Brains magic here.

Thanks to Art Brains buddies Raul and Emily for helping to snap pictures!

CAMPFIRE STORIES

For our Spring "Campfire Stories" project, students gathered around a pretend campfire (made of sticks, stones, and orange crepe paper) to tell each other stories, most notably, a collaborative tale created by each person contributing a part in sequence. Each student then illustrated his or her section, and we combined them all to make a book. At Chevy Chase, the kids came up with a mystery about a vampire on another planet that involves a candy factory and, well - I won't give away the twist that happens midway through - you'll have to read it for yourself!

This picture was taken after the circle had broken up and we'd moved the fire hastily into the shade, but you get the idea!

This photo provided by Reuben from the Oyster-Adams Campfire Stories class

HOLIDAY ICE CREAM

Happy Memorial Day from Make/Believe! Please treat yourself to one of the above flavors of the month from the Ice Cream Time Machine Parlor* at the LAB School of Washington. Thanks to Art Brains teacher Dawn Whitmore for making and passing along this sweet little menu!

*Note: Please place all orders via your nearest wormhole or FTL device.

SPRING PROJECTS AT CONGRESSIONAL & OYSTER-ADAMS

Thanks so much to Reuben for sharing these pictures from two of his Spring Art Brains classes! The top photos are from our "Holiday Animals" project at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School, and the bottom two show the "Ice Cream Time Machine" project at Congressional Schools of Virginia. Looking good, guys!!

Giant Butterfly Day

L: sketch for Plant Day holiday; R: the Plant Day beaver with his basket + seeds. Look at those teeth!

Sounds pretty great.

L: "gift to: Me! Time: right now!" Fair enough.

VOLCANO ISLAND AT BRADLEY HILLS

Hooooly moly, I love this project from last Friday at Bradley Hills, and I love the pictures from it, too! We made a good, old fashioned volcano island from homemade playdough and sticks/leaves/flowers/etc. found outside, and then created multiple eruptions of various colors (using baking soda and vinegar). The kids got a huge kick out of experimenting with different mixtures, adding glitter and other objects to the "lava" and also telling stories about each of the new lava overflows (e.g. "A rainbow fell into the volcano, and that's what made  the lava these colors"). I get to do this project two more times with other classes before the end of the Spring session, and I can't wait. On that note, Friday was our last Spring class at Bradley Hills, and I'm getting a little sad about Art Brains classes ending for the year. It's such a sweet deal to get to hang out with these cool (re: talented, creative, hilarious, smart, and sweet) kids every week, and I'm genuinely going to miss them over the summer!

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this gorgeous mess we made:

~ Fin ~

ICE CREAM TIME MACHINE

For this project, students work at an ice cream parlour called “Ice Cream Time Machine” that has the ability to transport ice cream sundaes backward or forward in time. They create sculptural treats they feel would be suited to the tastes of someone (or something) in either the past or future. It was a pleasure to look upon the pretty (or in some cases, gruesome) creations, just before space-time was bent to our will to transport these babies to their grateful recipients in days long gone or as-yet unknown. Unmelted and not a sprinkle lost in the wormhole, or your money back! That's our motto.

This one's for a vampire in the future. 

The one on the right is garnished with a scorpion tail

L: for a unicorn of the future; R: for a dragon of the distant past