CLAYYYYYYYYYY.....

And seriously... if you want kids to wig out... tell them they are working with clay. The result... an explosion of yells...

So here it is... the final region of the N.C. regions study The Piedmont! We looked Catawba Indian pottery. They have a very simple and elegant style. We recreate vessels using the techniques of the Catawba Indians. 

Start with the coil method. Build and layer coils. I gave the students freedom with design (they could add legs, handle or a spout) The students needed to smooth the coils out when they finished building the vessels. 

Vocabulary:
Coil
Slab
Score
Slip

In progress...

Vessels!!!!!

Artwork at the top of post:

Two Small Rebecca Pitchers

Left: by Florence Wade, 1993

Right: signed Catawba Indian, undated

I saw three ships come sailing in...

Holiday art with a twist (again)...

Here is the "holiday" project for the first grade. Instead of doing Christmas trees, snowmen, candy canes, etc... I took inspiration from the song the kids sung in the holiday concert.  (I saw three ships)

The kids drew three ships. Each ship had to be unique. I gave them the choice to create whatever sky they wanted. The ships were cut out and glued down on the water and sky background... I think they are pretty cute!

i do not think...

it can possibly get any COLDER here in good ol' N.C...

Here is something to warm you right up!

Artist: The Tallest Man on Earth
Song: Little River
Album: Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird

whoa...

Here are a couple of pinhole photographs I took... thank you homemade camera for making simple things look totally rad!

fantasy windows...

Oh how I love the brightly colored paintings of one Henri Mattise...

He is my inspiration for this fun second grade project... For the past few weeks the students have been working on drawing from pictures that they brought to school. They are illustrating (and writing in L.A.) their autobiographies. It is taking a bit longer ( and by bit I mean a LOT longer) and the kids were getting bored with it.

We stopped illustrating to look at Mr. Mattise's paintings. Specifically the paintings he did that included windows!

We discussed the color and the style in which he created art. We also talked about what fantasy was... I could really see the kids getting excited about Mattise!

The project requirements were:
Must include a window
Must be fantastical

That is all. And the kids were SO pumped! I gave them the choice to use markers, color pencils, or crayons. They also chose 3 large things that they were allowed to paint. (They drew very small and detailed, that is why I made them choose 3)

Here are the final creations...

I just love how creative kids are... flying horses, candy houses with aliens, stairs to space... just plain awesome.


Artwork at the top of post:
Henry Matisse, Armonía en rojo, 1908.

on location...

Here is the second piece of art created from local communities: Lake Norman!!!

So while visiting Lake Norman, the students had a little bit of time to sit by the lake and soak up its beauty. They were allowed to draw what they were looking at, or something they saw on from their day at the lake (the highlight being they say EIGHT I repeat EIGHT deer)... exciting stuff!

We ran out of time... the students did not get a chance to start painting. booooo whoooooo.... SO we collected some lake water in bottles to use back at school!

Here are the on location watercolorings!

student journals...

So I tried out the visual journals in my pinhole photography class. The kids were like "what does this have to do photography?..."

Well kids, photography is an art, learning about principles and elements of art can only help your build your artistic knowledge, mixing up the medium is always a good idea, all the assignments are relating to photography... plus I said so. HA!

They had a total of 4 assignments and were given about 2 weeks for each. I only gave them one 55 minute class a week to work on them. They had specific assignments that they had to complete. Some  included things like:

1 page: 

Research the photographer Man Ray

Include a page dedicated to the photographer Man Ray. You must include photos of his work. What is Man Ray mostly known for? What do you like? What do you dislike? Why? 

2 page:

Going through the magazines in my room, or your own, find an advertisement you find to be compelling.

·       Tell me what you like about this advertisement.

·       What works for it?

·       How is it selling the product well?

What is different about this advertisement?  

1 page:
Almost, if not everyone, had the word emotion in their definition of ART. For this page I would like you to create a piece of ‘art’ bases on emotion(s).  

1 page:

Doodle, doodle, and more doodles…

Please do not doodle in other subject classes. This is reserved for photo class, home, flex, and other down time. 


1page:
Why create a journal? What is the purpose (other then JR’s trying to torture you)? What can be gained from journaling? Do you hate this? Why? Do you like this? Why? What can make you love this project?

I showed them different ways of manipulating the pages and ideas for backgrounds. We looked at examples and I sometimes worked along side with them. 

Like with anything, some kids loved it and other were not so fond of this project. I would love to teach an all journaling class. 


Here is what the kids did...

 I love this because you can begin to see the students styles... None is right or wrong just unique. Even students who don't like to draw or think they suck at art can make a journal interesting by being themselves!

magic...

Meet Mr. Owl...

He is magic... he watches to make sure all students are behaving for me. When students are REALLY SUPER DUPER CRAZY well behaved, Mr. Owl will fly down and give them a treat. Yes, I said fly!!!

Mr. Owl flies on his own and no one can tell him what to do (not even me!!). He also does not like to be talked about. (The kids K-5 still ask if Mr. Owl is going to fly down today.)

He moves around the room to keep the kids on their toes...

When Mr. Owl decides to come down the kids are so very proud of themselves and get a lollipop treat!!

stories are great...

DUH!!!! I think they are a substantial starting point for an art project. There are thousands of beautiful and meaningful (with awesome illustrations) stories.

I read the 1st graders Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. This is one of my favorites. Both the story and the pictures are super cute. Anyway, this project was inspired by one of the pages from this book.

We talked about how it is better that everyone's artwork is different even though we were inspired by the same story...

This project has a bit of everything... (it is not for the faint of heart) ( or if you do not like a mess)

-Drew the mice
-Colored the mine
-Drew the lizard
-Colored the lizard with markers in small blobs of different colors (make sure they stick to all light colors)
-Painted water over the lizard (to make it look tye-dyed)
-Used oil pastels on black paper to create the background
-Made a small leaf stamp from cardboard and fun foam
-Cut out mice and lizard
-Stamped the leaves
-Glued mice and lizard down

Whoa right? At the beginning of each class I wrote a list on the board and explained the order. Kids were at all different stages, but I think it helped to go over ( and over and over) the steps and having it written on the board. I thought the project was going to crash and burn because of all the steps...

BUT...

I think it went really well and I am extremely happy about how the kids were able to follow the multiple steps. There were only a few minor mess ups, but it is a great way to show how a mistake can be turned into a creative opportunity!