Janet Tomaszewski's Home Page

My name is Janet Tomaszewski but my students know me as Mrs. T. I've been teaching art since 1977. I always knew I wanted to have a career in art. To accomplish this goal I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Art Education from Ohio State University in March of 1977. I started teaching that same month at a small rural high school in Ohio. While teaching there I earned a Master of Arts in Education with Supervisor and Principal certficates from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. After taking time off to marry and raise two children, I returned to teaching as a part time art teacher in a local Morris County school district. I have been teaching here in Wharton since 2001.

Please click on any of the following pages to view art work created by students in Wharton. I'm proud of their work and you will be, too!

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Janet Tomaszewski's Home Page

African Masks and Printed Cloth

Art and Math Together

Students in 7th grade art given the assignment of enlarging a small cartoon image from 1/4 inch squares to 2 inch squares. It was explained to the students that this was the way we had to enlarge pictures in 'the old days.' Before there were computers or copy machines with enlargement features, small images were enlarged using the grid system. What ever line or shape that appears in square 2 of row 3 had to be drawn in the exact location in square 2 of row 3 on the larger grid.
The students found that this was not as easy as it appeared! The natural instinct to draw the cartoon had to be repressed, focus had to be made on just one square at a time. The end result was very accurate! The creative part of this assignment came in the painting. Although the original comic was without a season, these pictures were created in December. Snoopy and Charlie Brown are depicted in a winter wonderland!

Celebrating Field Day

Egyptian Art

Lesson Plans

Miscellaneous paintings

Native American Indian Shields

Peace Hands

Henna tattoos were traditionally done in India as part of a bride's preparation for marriage. Henna, a natural dye, is drawn onto the hands and feet of the bride in traditional and special designs. One legend is that as long as the design stays on the hands and feet, that's how long the honeymoon will last! Alas, henna will eventually wash off.
As we have become a more global community, henna tattooing and Mendhi designs have become popular all over the world. Students in 7th grade added their inspiration to traditional designs in a printmaking assignment.
After tracing the outline of a hand on a piece of printmaking foam, students drew their own versions of traditional Mendhi designs. The hands were cut out of the foam and ink was rolled onto the surface with a brayer. The foam was then pressed onto paper to transfer the image. Two hands were required for this assignment. They could be the same color or different, or the students could trade and print their own and someone else's. The results were stunning, but not yet finished!
The image of two hands working together inspires thoughts of peace. To integrate our school's bully busting initiative, students were required to write an inspirational quotation about peace around the frame of their hand prints.
The internet was used to search 'quotations about peace' and the results were infinite. I selected about 75 that I thought my 7th graders could relate to and asked them each to find one that they could use as their border design. Since they had to write the same quotation over and over to fill up the frame, they had time to reflect on what they were writing. Although some of the quotations were quite lofty, the 7th graders were able to relate them to situations that could occur right here in the hal

Perspective

Sailboats in a harbor

Scrimshaw-7th grade

Scrimshaw is the art of carving an image into bone or ivory. It was practiced by the men working on whaling ships off the New England coast during the 1700's and 1800's. After the whalers had harvested what was needed from the whale, the scrap bone was cleaned and carved. Once the image was carved, the bone was rubbed with the soot of an oil lamp (lamp black). The lamp black stayed in the incised lines of the carving creating dramatic black drawings on the white bone.
The native peoples of the Pacific Northwest, particularly in the arctic region also created scrimshaw. It was created in the same manner as the New England whalers, however, walrus tusks (ivory) was also used.
Scrimshaw images range from traditional sailing ships and sea life to wolves and polar bears. Scrimshaw was created on ivory or bone that was to be used as the handle of a knife or bow. It then became a popular tourist item. Because whales and walruses are endangered, scrimshaw is no longer created on bone or ivory. Tourist areas sell plastic or plaster scrimshaw that is made to look like it was made on a whaling ship. Original scrimshaw is very expensive now, and very rare.
In the art room at MacKinnon Middle School, 7th graders created scrimshaw images on plaster disks that had been coated with shellac. The imaged was scratched through the shellac and then ink was rubbed over the image. The result was a very authentic looking piece of scrimshaw!

Seascapes by 7th graders

Self Portraits Inspired by Frida Kahlo

Students in Grade 6 learned about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Ms. Kahlo led a tragic life but used her unfortunate circumstances to inspire telling portraits of herself. In this lesson students reflected on their own lives to select a theme for their own self portrait. A collage of magazine pictures was assembled as a background for the painted face. Many students chose their favorite animal as a theme for telling about themselves. Papier' mache' face masks were painted to match the theme of the collage.

Sweet Feet!

The All American Red Barn