Monday, April 29, 2013

back in the saddle.

Zamorano was back in session today after 4 weeks of spring break.

It's good to be back:) I got the second graders dirty today making pinch pots and learning about symmetry. We looked at a few of the fantastic pinch pots that Lisa Farris made a couple years ago when she set off on her 365 days of pinch pots project. We identified symmetry and discussed how she went from a block of clay to the pot/bowl/cup form.


The kids were very excited to get started in each class. Students started with a little block of clay, turned it into a sphere, made a deep thumb hole, and then pinched the walls to create their shapes. They did a great job with this. I emphasized not to make the top thin right away, so it wouldn't get too floppy on them. As students worked I went around and helped everybody one by one. The biggest issue for kids was not making the hole/bottom deep enough. I helped them do this and it allowed them to make their forms a little wider and taller.


The nit was time to add details. Students got another piece of clay that was thin and flat. I showed them how to cut slab shapes, how to roll small spheres, and how to roll coils. I emphasized that the most important part of the add-on stage was using enough slip/glue to keep the parts together even after the form dried.





A whole lot of variety in the faces and one of the quietest work periods I have seen in a while (after slapping the clay into a sphere:). Kids were into it!

4 classes down. 6 to go. Next week the pieces should be fired and they will paint them using a family of analogous colors of their choice...









Thursday, April 18, 2013

5 more:)






I made my spring break goal of 10 drawings! Let's see if I can knock a couple more out before heading back to work next Friday:)


Tuesday, April 9, 2013

keeping busy.

It's spring break for us until April 29th:) Zamorano is a year round school, so we have extended winter and spring breaks, but we go until the end of July.

These breaks are great. I absolutely love the year round schedule. It allows me time to re-energize. I get to spend more time with my family, lesson plan, do house work, and some times, when the mood strikes, I do some drawing for myself. 

This week has been one of those times and I thought it would be nice to give you a peek at what I've been up to.



I love mid century architecture and I have been driving around the county taking pics of buildings. The drawings are a combination of these images along with clouds that I have also shot in the area. I'm hoping to get at least 10 of them done:)