“AN AMAZING EVENT! BEAUTIFUL ART AND A LOT OF FUN.”
A is for Art Paintings - 2025
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A is for Art.
PAINTING A
Itty Bitty Marks
Medium: Acrylic Paint Sticks, Pens
Classroom: Chicks
Master Teacher: Imelda Rivera
Supervising Teacher: Kim Dunlap
The Chicks were inspired by the colorful linear marks of one of Stanley Whiteny’s (the Chicks’ Inspiring Artist) artwork pieces. The Chicks practiced from the start of the Spring semester to day of the actual process of the canvas using different writing tools such as crayons and markers to make marks on paper. Each child had the opportunity to put their practice into work using different colors of acrylic sticks and pens to make long and short liner lines throughout the canvas.
PAINTING B
The Duck’s Bouquet
Medium: Acrylics
Classroom: Ducks
Master Teacher: Giselle Geiler
Supervising Teacher: Kim Dunlap
Our inspiring artist, Shozo Shimamoto (the Ducks’ Inspiring Artist), is known for his interesting way of getting colors onto his canvas. He throws various objects filled with paint onto his canvases and lets the paint splatter wherever. As soon as I saw his artwork, I knew he would be the perfect inspiration for the Ducks. The children love to throw and dump everything in the classroom, so getting an opportunity to safely throw paint and watch where it lands on the canvas was so fun for them. I let each child pick what color caught their eye, put it into a beaker cup, and held their hands as we threw the paint onto the canvas together. Seeing the final product and knowing every child got to be involved was so special.
PAINTING C
Blue and Purple Rectangles
Medium: Acrylics
Classroom: Koalas
Master Teacher: Mariana Ortiz Calderon
Supervising Teacher: Eryn Juns
Ryan Cosbert (the Koalas’ Inspiring Artist) uses patterns and grids across all her canvases. The Koalas were inspired by her use of colors and layers. We began sectioning and taping our rectangles. The children then began to paint using combs. They were given the choice of a big comb or a small comb. We started with the purple rectangles and worked across the grid one by one until finishing all the blue rectangles. Every child had the opportunity to work on their own rectangle. Our canvas is a representation of each individual child’s artistic point of view.
PAINTING D
Circle
Medium: Acrylics, acrylic sticks
Classroom: Otters
Master Teacher: Cindy Miranda
Supervising Teacher: Eryn Juns
We started this project by first exploring the work of our chosen inspiring artist, Rachel Jones, and discussing the colors and patterns the children were noticing in her canvas during circle time. This sparked their creativity and set the stage for their own artistic expressions. The children showcased their artistic skills by selecting from a variety of brushes and carefully choosing the paint colors they felt most inspired by. They often collaborated with one another, sharing ideas and offering suggestions about where to paint on the canvas. As they painted, they moved their wrists in all directions, creating unique and expressive patterns that covered the entire surface. Once the acrylic paint background was complete, each child added a personal touch by signing their work with acrylic sticks. To finish it off, we added stamped circles with acrylic paint to make the artwork stand out even more.
PAINTING E
Yellow Colored Spider Webs Because It’s a Canvas
Medium: Acrylics, Oil Pastels, Modeling Paste
Classroom: Pandas
Master Teacher: Melinda Gonzalez
Supervising TeacherS: Isabel Richter, Dawn McCabe
Process: The children used short and flat medium sized brushes to add the base layer of bright pink acrylic paint to their canvas. Once that was dry, they worked together to help lay down painters to tape to create the large square tiles throughout. For two weeks the children worked together to color in each square using either purple or yellow oil pastels. Over the next week the children again helped lay painter's tape to give way to smaller squares that they then colored in with blue oil pastels. The multi-colored rectangles and squares were completed using a mixture of acrylic paint and modeling paste that was tapped on the canvas using a rough bristled brush to achieve the wave-like texture. For the yellow line work the children used a piping bag with a mix of yellow acrylic paint and modeling paste that they squeezed into varying designs.
PAINTING F
Grassy Rainbow Fire Truck
Medium: Acrylics, Modeling Paste
Classroom: Seals
Master Teacher: Maya Massamiri
Supervising TeacherS: Isabel Richter, Dawn McCabe
The Seals were inspired by all the different colors our inspiring artist uses! They wanted to combine all our paint colors into one art piece, so we used our artist's method of painting abstract art that expresses different emotions and blended our colors using a series of smudges created with a cement trowel. From the array of colors, each Seal chose which ones they wanted and pressed them onto the canvas. After the initial smudge, they then chose which direction they would smudge again to create the elusive blend of colors!
PAINTING G
The Missing Forest
Medium: Acrylics
Classroom: Whales
Master Teacher: Linda Marquez
Supervising Teacher: Dawn McCabe
Our first step was to vote on which painting we wanted to recreate. The next step was to choose the colors we would use. Once we gathered the different shades of green and some white acrylic paints, we began painting the canvas with medium-sized brushes. The children took turns blending the colors in a back-and-forth motion. After waiting for the first ombre layer to dry, tape was placed on the canvas, and it was painted again with the same colors, but this time in the opposite direction. We removed the tape, and the canvas was complete.
PAINTING H
Around the World
Medium: Pens, Sharpies, Acrylic Paint Pens
Classroom: Elephants
Master Teacher: Gabby Prichett
Supervising Teacher: Dawn McCabe
“Dan, what's your favorite food?” This was a question Dylan asked Dan Miller (the Elephants’ Inspiring Artist) during our Zoom call. That's how the canvas came about, after a Zoom call with our inspiring artist. As Dan painted an original piece on the zoom call, the children used markers and pens to create their own interpretation of Dans canvas. After our call, we got to work on our own canvas. Similar to Dan's process, the children began drawing with pens on the canvas as a base layer. After a few days, we moved on to Sharpies. Freely expressing themselves, they drew shapes, numbers, insects and even their names! Finally, the children used acrylic paint pens to bring the canvas all together. Oh, and if you were wondering, Dan's favorite food is a burger from Dennys.
Hidden messages in our canvas: Palmer's “P’s,” Isla's “Big and small ladybugs and hearts,” Brandi's “X’s and family,” Noah's “Spider in a tent,” and many more… What do you see?
PAINTING I
Forest
Medium: Acrylics
Classroom: Dolphins
Master Teacher: Abby Castro
Supervising Teacher: Lee Ann Chavez
The dolphins were inspired by Jirku's (the Dolphins’ Inspiring Artist), abstract landscapes with geometric shapes and patterns. Similar to Jirku’s process, the dolphins’ free hand sketched different nature elements in pencil. We discussed different things we see in nature like rivers, oceans, lakes, and mountains as they sketched. The dolphins then started filling in their oceans, mountains, and sky with vibrant colors. Some children even choose to mix and make their own colors. Like Dylan who mixed the color “siren” for the sky out of blue and purple paint. Lastly, we looked around the classroom for different objects we could use to make textures or patterns. The items we used included: q-tips, clothes pins, a crinkle cutter, fork, knife, rolling pin, as well as, the bottoms of cups and glue sticks. We incorporated what we called “neighbor colors” where a pattern would match the base color used in a mountain, field, or river nearby.
PAINTING J
Rainbow Splat
Medium: Alcohol Inks
Classroom: Giraffes
Master Teacher: David Peña
Supervising Teacher: Lee Ann Chavez
Our artwork was created using a combination of three colors magenta, yellow, and orange. After a child picked a color, he/she moved the color around using a squeeze bottle. We blew colors around until things were just right. What do you think? Though we chose the name Rainbow Splat, the runner up was Flying Pig. Can you see it?
PAINTING K
Glow Glow
Medium: Acrylics, Watercolors
Classroom: Chicks, Ducks, Koalas, Otters, Pandas, Seals, Elephants, Whales, Dolphins, Giraffes
Master Teacher: Marcos Avila
Supervising Teacher: Kim Dunlap, Eryn Juns, Dawn McCabe, Isabelle Richter, Lee Ann Chavez
This year all the children were excited to get started on “Glow Glow,” we used glow in the dark paint and painted with a black light. Again, this year all of the children across the center had an opportunity to participate and lend a creative hand on our canvas. The Elephants and Whales created our backdrop with lots of intense lines and designs. The babies added some gold and silver details. While the toddlers and transition team helped block off areas and help give us a good base cover for the glow lights. Finally, the preschoolers in the Dolphins and Giraffes did the finishing touches and added some finer details. This year when it came to naming it was almost unanimous on what we should call it. Simply just the word glow but twice to show how much fun they had with the lights and colors. It was simply just a party whenever the canvas was brought out and the children were so inspired at times, they almost wanted to paint themselves rather than canvas.
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