Chihuly Suspended Sculptures Complete!

My fourth grade class recently completely these amazing suspended Chihuly inspired sculptures.  I wrote more about them in my last post and how our basic tools were clear transparencies, tempera paint, staplers and fishing line.  I love their whimsical nature and the way they bring so much color and movement to the front foyer of our building.  Combined with our painted ceiling tiles that we created all throughout our hallways last year, our snowflake painted windows, our sixth grade Picasso sculptures sitting on pedestals and our clay mosaic dancers mounted on the walls, it is quite a display that greets you as you come through the doors:)  And all thanks to our wonderfully talented students!

My Take on Chihuly!

For years I have looked at the artwork of glass blower Dale Chihuly and his team and been in amazement at what they are able to construct both organic and man-made in nature.  Each year I tell myself that this will be the year in which we will study Chihuly and create something in his likeness.  Then I hit the wall of how we will do it, how much it will cost, etc, etc.  This year, I am so proud of what my fourth graders are accomplishing!!  After watching a fantastic video clip about Chihuly and then looking extensively at his work, we set out on our way to construct in his style.  Truthfully, it was not as difficult as I thought, and the answer to how to model his work really seemed to be under my nose the whole time.  First we painted transparencies that I ordered in bulk for my class and surprisingly we were able to use tempera paint on them without it chipping!  We discussed color theory and other combinations to get our best possible results.  Now we are in the stages of cutting and stapling them together.  So easy!  Students are astonished at their whimsical, eye-catching combinations and the way they seem to float through the air (thanks to fishing line).  I cannot wait to fill our hallways with them!  More to follow...

Here are students in progress...

So much to do, so little time to do it in.

With all that is happening at the start of the new year I have been quite lacking on updating many pages of my blog.  This fast-paced six week schedule combined with the setting-building for last night's winter musical has left me multi-tasking all day and grading at night (along with spending time with my sweet 18 month-old--what a fantastic age!)  Anyhow... my sincerest apologies.  I have also been busy prepping for our upcoming student teacher, Miss Flegal who will be joining us from KSU!  She is going to be great.  With all that being said, my goal in the coming weeks is to catch up on photographing recent work and posting more regularly.  Until then-- enjoy the snow:)

Starting the new year off with a bang!

  Whew!  What a fast and furious start to the new year and second half of the school year!  Just before Christmas break our art program was blessed with a brand new Bailey table-top slab roller, great for enhancing our ceramic-building opportunities!  Thanks to my wonderful husband, we were able to assembly it quite quickly and start using it!  Because of our new equipment, I have found myself quite behind on updating our blog, taking photos of student’s working and changing displays in our building.  Every spare moment I have been pulling students in small groups to start building personal mugs using our slab roller.  Mrs. Walker, one of our fourth grade teachers has been lending her pottery expertise as well.  She is quite accomplished in creating mugs and teapots through hand-building with clay and a slab roller.  My goal is to use small group instruction and build a mug with every student in the school over the coming weeks.  This may lend itself to very special fundraising opportunity if all goes well in the spring on our ART ROCKS night, a night to celebrate the visual arts!