This session I will be teaching my fifth grade class. Unfortunately my sixth graders left and will be moving onto the middle school next year:( I will miss them greatly. What a good bunch of kids!
April 15, 2012
Silkscreening T-shirts with a Social or Environmental Message!
Miss Flegal and I cashed in on these stretcher bars we came upon and combined them with white organza fabric to make silkscreens! Students brought in their own t-shirts and used elmer's glue to create a resist. The exciting component about this project was the glow-in-the-dark printing ink I was able to find to make their shirts really special!
March 21, 2012
Sixth grade silhouettes complete!
March 9, 2012
December 2, 2011
This six week session I will be instructing my fifth grade class and will return to teaching fifth grade again in February. Stay tuned...
November 11. 2011
Self Portraits in Chuck Close Style
Students in sixth grade are integrating math skills by measuring and creating a grid for an exact self portrait drawing. This is the method that artist Chuck Close uses to create his portraits. After spending extensive time learning about his life-- he is my FAVORITE artist, we are now in the beginning stages of creation. So far, so good!
November 4, 2011
Oh what a busy Friday! Students were busy glazing ocarinas as well as using acrylic paints to put finishing touches on their cubism Picasso sculptures. It was a great way to end a busy week and we will look forward to working in new art media next time.
October 26, 2011
Pablo Picasso Sculptures in progress...
Students are using some unconventional tools for their current sculptural project-- wood scraps, glue, wire and pantyhose. Yes, you heard me right. If your child has recently come home talking about using pantyhose as part of his art project, he is not lying to you. Here is what we have started in the past few days.
October 19, 2011
Ocarinas
We are trying our hand at constructing ocarinas out of clay. Students did extensive research online and here is what we have learned so far.
The ocarina (/ɒkəˈriːnə/) is an ancient flute-like wind instrument.[1] Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is often ceramic, but other materials may also be used, such as plastic, wood, glass, clay, and metal.
The ocarina belongs to a very old family of instruments, believed to date back to over 12,000 years.[2] Ocarina-type instruments have been of particular importance in Chinese and Mesoamerican cultures. For the Chinese, the instrument played an important role in their long history of song and dance. The ocarina has similar features to the Xun (塤), another important Chinese instrument (but is different in that Ocarina uses an internal duct, whereas Xun is blown across the outer edge.)[3] In Japan, the traditional ocarina is known as the tsuchibue (kanji: 土笛; literally "earthen flute"). Different expeditions to Mesoamerica, including the one conducted by Cortés, resulted in the introduction of the ocarina to the courts of Europe. Both the Mayans and Aztecs had produced versions of the ocarina, but it was the Aztecs who brought the song and dance to Europe that accompanied the ocarina. The ocarina went on to become popular in European communities as a toy instrument.[4][5]
Its earliest use in Europe dates back to the 19th century in Budrio, a town near Bologna, Italy, where Giuseppe Donati transformed the ocarina from a toy, which only played a few notes, into a more comprehensive instrument (known as the first "classical" ocarinas). The word ocarina in the Bolognese dialect means "little goose." The earlier form was known in Europe as a gemshorn, which was made from animal horns of the Gemsbok.
The ocarina was featured in the Nintendo video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, attracting a marked increase in interest and a dramatic rise in sales.[6][7]
How an ocarina works:
1. Air enters through the windway
3. Air vibrates throughout the inside of the ocarina
Covering and uncovering holes lowers and raises the pitch
Source: Wikipedia
Here are our ocarinas in progress...
Let's hope they make music once they are come out of the kiln!
October 17, 2011
After not having my sixth grade class for the first six weeks of this school year they are now occupying my room every morning for 45 minutes for the next six weeks. It is such a joy to have them and experience their growth since I last saw them as fifth graders. We started our time together with a pencil study called The Vanishing Snack. I adapted this from high school art teacher Mrs. Vogel of Field High School. My students as usual have risen to the challenge and are producing wonderful work. At each stage of their four part drawing, they are wrinkling a pop can and drawing it as well as all of its highlights and shadows in its new state.
September 7, 2011
Because of our new six week schedule I will not see my sixth graders until October 10th! Stay tuned...
June 1, 2011
Tile Triptychs in progress!
Students in sixth grade are embarking on a triptych constructed of clay. A triptych is a three paneled piece of art that views as one continuous piece but is constructed in stages. This has been a great opportunity for them to learn about specific properties of clay and how to work with this medium from one class to the next, keeping it moist and workable. The students were expected to include text, an image and possibly a favorite verse that states something about themselves as an individual.
April 21, 2011
Plaster Hands and Feet
March 13, 2011
In sixth grade we have about three projects going on at once. One is our plaster hands and feet project that we started back in January. Here they are as works in progress....
January 31, 2011
Recently in sixth grade I set my students loose with plaster and these thoughts in mind. Below are the results so far. Once again, their minds, their thought processes and their creative journeys amaze me. I will keep blogging as their projects move along...
Take a moment and think about all of the uses of your hands in the course of a day, the course of a hour or even a minute. For example list every way you can think of that you used your hands just this morning…
-to brush your teeth
-to eat your breakfast
What do you think your hands can say about a person? Can they have polished nails? Wear certain rings? Does their appearance tell you a story? For example having wrinkles… Let’s think about some of those features.
Next think about phrases that have the word hand in it…
“hands of time” “helping hands” “clap your hands” “give me a hand” “lend a hand” “in good hands”…
If you could compare your hand to another object of similar form what would that be? A growing tree branching out?
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Don Drumm Inspired
Endangered Animals
Students in sixth grade studied the metal art works of local artisan Don Drumm and then decided to make a statement with their art. After doing some research about the current Endangered Species list they created these metal embossed pieces about animals of diminishing numbers. Next, by adding a statement, they could give the animal a voice to be heard. Won’t you do your part in raising awareness for some of these unknown creatures?
Below is our display of the completed sixth grade Chuck Close inspired portraits.
Chuck Close Self Portraits in Progress
November 29, 2010
We are wrapping up our Chuck Close portraits and the end results are amazing. Not only are students manipulating charcoal very well to create various tones but they have mastered a likeness of their own face!
Chuck Close Self Portraits
November 15, 2010
Wow! It has been awhile since I have updated my sixth section of the blog. Students have been hard at work and are tackling difficult projects and techniques. Most recently we have begun working in Chuck Close grid style. You can see his work at http://www.chuckclose.coe.uh.edu/. He is my favorite artist.
Using a grid, students have integrated math skills into their drawing by focusing on exact measurements for precision. Here are a few of their starts...
Vanishing Snack Drawings
October 14, 2010
Students in sixth grade are training their eyes to see close details through these altered still life drawings. They are working on drawing a pop can and then slowly crushing it until it becomes very minimal. At each stage they have to look closely at how their object has been changed and then try and draw it. Charcoal has aided them in learning about the value scale. They are beginning to see that with shadows some parts can be extremely dark and extremely light.
