uh oh...

I thought all the 2nd grade classes would be glazing their pinch pots this week, but I ran into some kiln issues... grrr!

Half the pots for my first class today were at the bottom of a hot kiln load this morning. Such poor planning by someone who shall not be named;) 

Anywho, I needed a project to do and remembered the work of Japanese artist Miroco Machiko that I had pinned earlier in the year. Mrs. Knight also did a project based on Miroco's work with her students this year, so I pulled up both Miroco's website and Mrs. Knight's blog post to share with my class. 

I like to share the work of other students as well as our focus artists because it allows kids to see how other kids have approached the project. I have found that it makes the work a bit less intimidating for them.

Like Mrs. Knight, I talked about the still life as subject in art. We also realized that Miroco's shapes of fruits and veggies did not look 3d and round. She doesn't worry about using light and dark colors to make things look 3d. Flat is good with her:)

Before jumping into the project, I had students give me names of some fruits and veggies. As they told them to me, I drew them out on my front board, so they would have some references for their shapes. 

I had the students shoot for at least 9 shapes on their paper. I emphasized using a variety of sizes in their drawing. I also stressed trying to use the whole paper. Once they were done drawing, students traced their shapes with some fancy metallic crayons. In hindsight, I wish I had them make these lines a little thicker, but the kids LOVED using these crayons. 

After that, I quickly demonstrated how to blend two watercolor colors together inside a shape. Another crowd pleasing moment:) Students could use any color except black.

Once students finished painting in their shapes they moved onto painting the background with black. I was a bit nervous about this step. I was picturing a big mess, but the kids showed great control with the black and the amount of water and color they used to fill the background.

Thanks for getting me through my morning Miroco and Mrs. Knight:)

glazing away on a rainy day.

The first 4 2nd grade classes got to glaze their Lisa Farris inspired pinch pot creatures today. They were, shall I say, just a little excited about it:)

Instead of coming in and finding their pre-placed nametags, I had students sit at table that had the main color they wanted to use on their pots. When students finished applying at least 2 coats of that color, they could move to another glaze table to apply more. The students repeated this until they were done glazing and then they brought their pieces to me, so I could sponge the bottom and place it on a kiln shelf.

This set up has worked very well. I remember seeing Rina from k6art pin it earlier in the year:) It saves on brush cleanup and glaze waste.

I'm looking forward to cracking the kiln tomorrow and seeing what we got!

space. messy, messy space:)

This week the 5th graders are diving into chalk pastels. So, instead of clay dust left behind from the 2nd grade pinch pots, I have very colorful dust kicking about my room after each class.

The project we are working on was inspired by a project I found on the art blog Make It... a Wonderful Life.

I introduced students to the Hubble telescope, it's history, and what it does. We looked at a number of photos from the Hubble website and we talked about how many of the images looked abstract in nature. Kids saw different things in the pics like we do when looking at clouds in the sky. I pointed out how some formations looked 3d due to the presence of light and dark on them.

At each table I had 7-8 different images for students to refer to during the project. I emphasized that they did not have to copy one image. They could combine them, they could add to them, they could use them for inspiration to create new and different scenes.

Like Make It... a Wonderful Life, I demonstrated how to work the pastels in a variety of ways. As students worked on their own creations, I worked on a drawing in the back of the room on a vertical easel, so students could see how I was handling things. I left the technique demo up on my projector screen, to serve as a visual reminder, too.

The students are quite enjoying the photos from the telescope and they are having success with their pastel drawings. Next week I plan on doing another one  with them, but the shapes will be much more concrete, so they will handle the materials differently.

writng about crayons and color.

Before spring break I did a drawing project inspired by an illustration by Philip Tseng with my first graders.

One of our fantastic 1st grade teachers, Ms. Kitchin, did an English langauge arts activity with her class afterwards.

She shared the story, The Crayon Box that Talked, with her class and then they wrote a story or about how colors made them feel.

Wonderful.

Below are just a few of the great writing pieces that were prompted by the art project:)

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...

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:)

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:)