Art takes over recess

Sunflowers in mason jars dotted the brightly covered tables as inspiration for the Vincent van Gogh-themed art activity, but some students came with their imaginations blazing.

“I’m drawing people getting hot lava on them,” said kindergartner Luke Hohman, 6, paintbrush in hand over his scene of a giant volcano.

“I’m drawing black death,” said kindergartner James Gallagher, 5, as he wielded a black colored pencil. “I’m going to draw a spider web with a big, giant spider.”

“The sun is getting red,” Luke said as he added red paint to his paper. “Look how hot that is. The sun is boiling.”

Imagination was the name of the game at Woodland Elementary School’s final Friday Recess Art Project, which celebrated van Gogh’s 159th birthday. The Parent Faculty Organization sponsored the campus’ first month-long program in celebration of Youth Art Month.

“We aren’t doing cookie-cutter stuff — they just get to explore and create,” said Caren Cope-Fahy, a mother of two who runs Fine Art Express and organized the activity.

The project gave the K-2 students at the Costa Mesa campus the chance to try a different art project, or just create anything they wanted every Friday during recess.

While some students still played handball or were on the playground, most participated in the Friday Recess Art Project.

“You can see the kids have a choice to go out and play on the swings, and they are here,” said local artist Lisa Albert, who teaches art enrichment lessons in the Newport-Mesa school district. “They love it.”

Jessica Bowen, 6, called the projects fun as she painted her favorite subject.

“I paint lots of rainbows at home,” the first-grader said, the front of her blond hair held up with neon rainbow hair ribbons. “Because rainbows have my favorite colors.”

britney.barnes@latimes.com

Twitter: @britneyjbarnes