Elementary Grades 2-5, May 31-June3, 2011

Art Work is Heading Home!

We have spent all year developing our art making skills. You saw some of our results at the Art Exhibit. But you didn't see it all. Each student has filled a portfolio with art work throughout the school year. Now it is time to send all of the work home. We hope you will enjoy looking at all of our experiments. The sketchbooks will be heading home as well. There you can really see the process your student went through to develop each project. If you haven't seen your students' portfolio yet watch for it. It is on its way!

Elementary Grades 2-5, May 9 - 13, 2011

It was wonderful to see so many parents and students enjoying the 2011 Discovery Art Exhibit. People, places and pets lined the walls of the library, art room and computer lab. Our youngest students raced ahead of parents eager to point out their work. While older students stood proudly but more quietly next to their work. The high school students and Advanced/AP students appreciated the comments and questions of those who looked closely and thoughtfully at their work.

From the “fresh fish” and murals-in-progress in the coral reef, to pet portraits and floral watercolors, to the Chuck Close painting by first and second graders the library was a feast for the eyes.

Parts of the exhibit will remain on the walls for the next week, while some works will travel for display at the American Embassy. If you were not able to visit the exhibit last week, please feel free to stop by anytime Monday through Wednesday this week to take a look.

Thank you to all of you “viewers” who helped us complete our work.

Now we will begin to gather together all of the work we have done this year. Soon we will send home the student art portfolios.

More Exhibits

First and Second Grade Chuck Close Inspired Painting





Grade 4 Blue Mountains of Honduras





Grade 5 Egyptian Mural
Cross Curricular/Integrated Social Studies


Grade 2 Julio Vesquera Inspired Portraits

Elementary Exhibits 2010-2011

Grade Four Flying fish







Grade 5 Greek Mosaics

Grade Four "Block" Printing

Grade 4 More Flying Fish - Coral Reef Mural Grade 8

Grade 3 Flowers in a Vase

Congratulations to all of our elementary students on the fine work they have done this year. We are proud of you and your creations.

Elementary Grades 2-5, May 3-6, 2011

“The last step in art making is exhibition. A work of art is not truly finished until it is viewed and responded to by another.”

Students are making their final selections of work to exhibit. We are busy mounting and labeling our work. Wednesday morning we will begin transforming the Library, Art Room and Computer Lab into an art gallery. The Art Exhibit will officially open Thursday May 5th at 4:30. The Art Exhibit will be open until 6:00 pm when the General Assembly meeting will begin with a performance by the Discovery Choir.

All grades are participating in the exhibit from Nursery through the Grade 11/12 Advanced and AP classes. This is a great opportunity to share your student’s pride in their creative growth and development in the visual arts. Please help us complete our work by viewing and responding!

The exhibit will remain open on Friday May 6 from 8:00 am until 3:30 pm.

Elementary Grades 2-5, April 27-29, 2011

Peace by Lisandro Arit a


Discovery School Visual Arts Exhibit 2011


May 5, 4:30 - 6:00


Students are putting the finishing touches on their work and preparing work for display.

Please join us before the General Assembly meeting to celebrate the creative achievements of our students.

Discovery Visual Arts Spring Exhibit

Students are busy putting finishing touches on their projects and selecting works to be displayed at the 2011 Discovery School Spring Visual Arts Exhibit. Mark your calendars now. The General Assembly meeting and the Arts Exhibit are on the same evening Thursday May 5. Come and see what we have been up to all year.

Elementary, March 28-April 1, 2011

Last week there was a hush in the art room as students concentrated on learning to control the brush and their attention to create peaceful scenes of the nature. Bamboo stalks and leaves with small lizards and spiders hiding among them and butterflies and dragon flies hovering over them.

This week students will have the opportunity to continue developing their Sumi-e brush skills. At the same time they will continue working on their projects in process. Grade 2 – will be paint designs based on a Shape and Line vocabulary inspired by Juan Miro and Kandinsky. Grade 3 – will finish their prehistoric cave paintings. Grade 4 – will make their printing plates and print them. Grade 5 – will complete their Greek masks and mosaic designs.

Elementary Grades 2-5, March 21-25, 2011

This week all of our Discovery School art classes are practicing the art of Sumi-e painting. This unique Japanese art uses only four brush strokes to express all of the shapes and forms in the universe. It was built on the knowledge ancient Japanese scholars brought back from China. They developed an art form that reflects Japanese culture and philosophy. This art requires complete control of mind and brush. Because of this it is often used as a way for the artist to enter a peaceful, meditative or prayerful state. Our classes are practicing this art as a way of showing their respect and concern for the Japanese people. Works from each student will be put together in a scroll to be sent to the Japanese Embassy.

Parents are invited to stop by the art room anytime during the day and either observe or participate in this project.

Elementary Grade Five - March 21-25, 2011

Masks and Mosaics! We are multi-tasking - working on two projects simultaneously. While one dries we work on the other. Students have been researching the characters they will play in their Greek Theater project. Soon we will be adding color and texture to the masks. In between working on their masks they are additing "tiles" to their mosaic designs.

Elementary Grade Four, March 21-25, 2011

Block printing unit continues. Last week we started mono print experiments. This week we will continue to experiment while building our block printing plates.

Elementary Grade Three, March 21-25, 2011

This week we will put our book illustration project on hold while students finish editing their stories and getting them ready for printing. Instead we will return to our cave painting project and complete our designs that are based on prehistoric drawings and paintings found in caves.

Elementary Grade Two, March 21-25, 2011

"Careful, even though it is hard it can still break."

This past week we separated the plaster of Paris mold from our “fossil” impressions. It was exciting to see the designs the shells and leaves had left behind. Our clay, just like the mud on the bottom of prehistoric lakes and oceans, recorded every line and shape of the leaves and shells. Minerals from the water (plaster of Paris) settled on the shells (impressions). After many thousands of years (four days) the minerals hardened into rock preserving the shapes of prehistoric life for us to see.

It was great fun pretending, learning about bas relief and how to make a mold and cast plaster.

This week we will explore symbols, develop our own symbol vocabulary and use it in our paintings.

Elementary Grade Five, March 7-11, 2011

We will continue to add layers of papier-mâché to the Greek theater masks. While they are drying we will look at early Greek mosaics and be inspired to create some of our own using colored “tiles” made of paper.

Elementary Grade Four, March 7-11, 2011

This week students will “impress” their insect designs onto the Styrofoam printing plates. Then they will “pull” a few practice prints. They will experiment with different colored inks, and types of paper.

Elementary Grade Three, March 7-11, 2011

Students will continue to develop their story board for their Tie-Dye Reed stories. When they have ideas for their images and have determined the number of pages and illustrations they will need they will begin the illustration process

Elementary Grade Two, March 7-11, 2011

Using clay and plaster of Paris second graders will create abstract relief sculptures using found objects from the art room.

Elementary Grade 5 - February 28 - March 4, 2011

Portfolio Days – This week we will spend some time looking at our past work and organizing our individual portfolios. Some work we will be sending home and some we will keep for a while. Then we will choose our best work to share at the spring art exhibit. We will continue to work on the Greek theater masks. We are altering them for a custom fit and then we will make them look like their characters.

Elementary Grade 4, February 28 - March 4, 2011

Portfolio Days – This week we will spend some time looking at our past work and organizing and decorating our individual portfolios. Some work we will be sending home and some we will keep for a while. Then we will choose our best work to share at the spring art exhibit. All art work will be sent home at the end of the semester. Also, we will continue to work on the designs for the printing unit.

Elementary Grade 3 - February 28 - March 4, 2011

Portfolio Days – This week we will spend some time looking at our past work and organizing and decorating our individual portfolios. Some work we will be sending home and some we will keep for a while. Then we will choose our best work to share at the spring art exhibit. We will also begin work on the “story boards” to illustrate our Tie-Dye Reed stories.

Elementary Grade Two, February 28 - March 4, 2011

Portfolio Days – This week we will spend some time looking at our past work and organizing our individual portfolios. Some work we will be sending home and some we will keep for a while. Then we will choose our best work to share at the spring art exhibit. Grade 2 will also enjoy a trip to the “art cafeteria”. They will select their own materials from the offerings on the “cafeteria table” and then they will use their own ideas to create.

Elementary Grade 5, February 22-25, 2011

Grade five Greek Temple designs are on display in the reception area of the Administration building. Stop by and take a look if you have time. This week we will continue to develop our masks for the Greek theater. We have completed the first layer of papier-mache and will add several more before we start modifying them into indvidual characters. Right now they all look very much the same.

Elementary Grade 4, February 22-25, 2011

Grade four students are beginning a unit on printmaking. This week they will be looking at three types of printing, woodcut, linocut and etching. After they create their design they will develop it into a print and experiment with color in the printing process.

Elementary Grade 3, February 22 -25, 2011

Grade three students will put their cave painting lesson on hold for a while. We will be working the next few weeks in collaboration with Miss Christiana's language arts lesson on writing stories. In the art class we will be looking at children's book illustrators and how they work.and then illustrating the story they have composed in language arts class. Then we will prepare our work for "publication". Hooray, for young authors! This should be fun!

Elementary Grade Two, February 22-25, 2011

Grade two students will use their time this week to complete their abstract paintings inspired by artist Chuck Close. Then we will have a portfolio day and take a good look at all of our work from the first three quarters. This is a good time to make and decorate individual portfolios and add finishing touches to any incomplete work.

Elementary Grade 5 - February 14-17, 2011

From architecture to dramatic arts. With their original temples completed – fifth graders will begin creating a mask in the tradition of ancient Greek drama. They will use the plastic face forms to create the foundation for their mask with papier-mâché. Then they will develop their individual characters to use in their social studies performance.

Elementary Grade 4 - February 14-17, 2011

Hooray! Our fish are having a great time swimming in the library coral reef. We had a great celebration and with the help of Mr. Juan on the ladder all of our fish were happily released to swim under the ceiling. This week? Hmmm new art adventures await. How about some printing experiments. We will use the brayer to spread ink on our printing plates made with printing foam and cardboard. What will our subject be? NOT FISH!

Elementary Grade 3 - February 14-17, 2011

Paint like a cave man! Third graders are looking at the work of prehistoric artists to get insights into why we make art and how the first paintings were made. Then they will decorate the first part of our timeline wall with “real” cave paintings.

Elementary Grade 2 - February 14-17, 2011

Last week grade two students created the set and props for their Friday performance of El Gato. What a great job they did working together. Their art work enhanced their wonderful performance.

This week they will follow up their portrait project by looking at the work of Chuck Close and creating abstract paintings based on his work.

Elementary Grade 5 - January 31 - February 11, 2011

Ask your student to explain the three styles of Greek columns - Doric, Ionic and Corinthian – we are having fun designing our own Greek temple. Students will be keeping their eyes open looking for the influence Greek architecture on the buildings they see in Tegucigalpa. They have completed their research and have completed the basic temple construction now they will be adding details and relief sculptures.

Elementary Grade 4 - January 31 - February 11, 2011

The fish for the library coral reef are just waiting for final touches of color before they are launched or “released”. We are planning a special class celebration to mark the completion of this major effort. You are invited to join us Friday February 11, at 2:15 in the library. Come help us celebrate!

Elementary Grade 3 - Janaury 31 - February 11, 2011

Grade three students looked at the Mayan mask making traditions and answered the question what is an artifact? Then they created a miniature model of a Mayan mask using Sculpy terra cotta clay to form the base and then after baking the form they added colored Sculpy to represent precious jade. Then the mask was baked again. (Thanks again to grade 10 students who purchased the oven for the art room with proceeds from their guacales auction last year.)
We added our miniature Mayan masks to the Mayan Museum exhibits. We will add additional embellishments and finishing touches to them this week.

Elementary Grade 2, January 31-February 11, 2011

Grade two students are continuing their unit on portraits. They started by drawing a self portrait looking closely at the shape of their faces, placement of their eyes and hair styles. Next they looked at the portraits painted by Julio Visquerra and used oil pastels and water color paints to create their own Visquerra inspired creations.

Who is Chuck Close? We will take an “up close” look at this artist and his portrait paintings. Then we will use some of his ideas to inspire our own compositions. Using tempera paint color and form will take on a new dimension.

Elementary Grade 5, January 24-28, 2011

We are taking a giant leap from Ancient Egypt to the 21st century - to a world of imagination and image making. How does our culture personify the creatures in our surroundings. We will look at examples of contemporary animation and then select an animal native to Honduras and give it form and persnality.

Elementary Grade 4 Janaury 24-28, 2011

Our Fish are Flying...They all have their fishing line attached and are ready to be painted in their exotic colors and patterns. They can't wait to get to their new home in the Library Coral Reef.

Elementary Grade 3 January 24-28, 2011

Grade three students will put the finishing touches on their stripe paintings. Then they will begin taking a closer look at Mayan artifacts - wht is an artifact? Then they will make some of their own.

Elementary Grade 2 January 24-28, 2011

Second graders will become portrait artists when they look at famous self portraits and then try an expressive portrait of their own. This is an introduction to proportion - where are the features placed - look closely in the mirror. What emotion do you want to show? How will you show it? What happens to the features when our expessions change.

Elementary Grade 5 January 18-21, 2011

How is Your Mummy?

Final touches are being put on the mummy cases and the mummies are waiting patiently to be tucked inside. The papyrus boat model has been completed and is ready to be tested in the water. The press has been opend and the papyrus paper is ready for display.

Murals will be moved to the fifth grade classroom Tuesday ready for everyone to come and see the Egyptian Museum. We hope students and parents will enjoy this very special exhibition and cross curricular collaboration. Congratulations to all of the students and to Miss Mary Carmen and Mr. Warren.

Hmm...what will we do next?

Elementary Grade 4 January 18-21, 2011

Gone Fishing!
We are still "fishing" in the art room. Some students are putting the last layer of papier-mache on their fish forms and will begin designing their colorful patterns. Soon they will all be ready to hang in the library coral reef.

Elementary Grade 3 January 18-21, 2011

Stripes, Stripes and More Stripes!
Horizontal, vertical, curving and zig-zagging we have lots of stripes. We have explored tints and this week we will add shades to the compositions and see what effect that has on our work. It is so much fun playing with color and moving paint across the paper.

Elementary Grade 2 January 18-21, 2011

Second Graders are completing their paintings inspired by Paul Klee. They are learning about tints and secondary colors. They are also getting some good practice on how to set up and clean up their painting station and putting on and taking off their art aprons.

Elementary Grade 5 January 5-14, 2011

So many things to finish and get ready for display at the Egyptian museum next week.

We will be laying gold on our mummy sarcophagues, wrapping our mummies, finishing the model papyrus boat and completing our murals. See you at the exhibit!

Elementary Grade 4 January 5-14, 2011

More and more layers of papier-mache! We are making our fish forms good and strong. This week we will add the nylon fishing line that our fish will ultimately hang from in the library coral reef.

Elementary Grade 3 January 5-14, 2011

Third graders looked at stripe paintings by several artists. Then they put on their aprons and started painting their own versions of stripe paintings. They used one color and white to make a variety of tints. Next they will experiment with shades adding very small amounts of black to change the intensity of the color.

Elementary Grade 2 January 5-14, 2011

Grade 2 students have completed their research on Paul Klee and have moved into the studio to create paintings inspired by his work. They are working with our new liquid tempera paints to get the tints and shades that characterize his work.