First graders learned about primary and secondary colors. Then they colored their clay with markers. Lastly, they rolled it up to look like a giant lollipop, just like in Wayne Thiebaud’s artwork. Everyone was so tempted to taste them but we didn’t.
Larry the snake (stuffed animal) came to visit art class and shared his special talent with the students. He made lines of all kinds! Then the students learned that a sculpture is three-dimensional so we can see it from all sides. They practiced drawing lines on strips of paper and then pinching it to create little “feet,” which they then glued down to create their own line sculpture. Look below for the poem incase you want to practice it with your kindergarten student.
Larry the Line
Is a friend of mine
He can make three
(hold up a three with your fingers)
Straight lines for me!
Ver-tical
(create a vertical line with your forearm)
Diagonal and horizontal!
(pantomime each)
Any curve, he can learn
With a twist and a turn.
When he’s out of his tangle
he makes a great…angle.
(created by placing your hand on your hip and pointing to your elbow)
Any line, he can make
After all, he’s a snake!
By Cassie Stephens
The 7th & 8th grade girls in the Fiber Arts Elective have been weaving away! Many of them are almost finished with their beautiful woven creations. Each colorful strand of yarn they chose represents a part of them, making this project a glyph of sorts. They were challenged by warping the loom, but easily relaxed by the weaving of the weft.
Students in 4th & 5th grade had a lot of fun creating their own self-portraits in the style of Pablo Picasso.
Students played “Roll a Picasso” to help them get used to choosing unique representations for their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses as well as choosing shapes for their head that is not a circle. They completed three “self-portraits” and then chose their favorite one which they will create with clay in the upcoming weeks of art class.
The 7th graders had a really enjoyable time last week learning about contour lines and practicing them in several ways with string, dry-erase markers, and pencils. I think their happy faces say it all!
Drawing with yarn / Continuous line drawing
All were preparing students for continuous line self-portraits with pipe cleaners that they will be making this week.
Thank you so much to everyone who interviewed with me. My aim was to express multiple points of view, that sometimes clashed and were opposing in my book, so that it would make the reader think. Instead of trying to convince the reader one way or another, my hope was that the reader is left with the convicting statements to be led by their own conscience of how to act as a Christian during COVID. I hope I represented everyone’s opinions and statements properly. I tried my best to represent everyone well as I am so appreciative of all the time everyone spent talking with me about this controversial topic. Thank you!
As my projects wind down, I am just finishing up the last couple things. I labeled my prints, attached my colophons, and put the back cover of my new sketchbook on.
As I put together my final Cyanotype pieces for my big final project compiling all my research and interviews, I found it easier to make little note cards instead of storyboarding in my sketchbook. I needed to play around with the order and the quotes.
I’m still working on my final cyanotypes because I can only do one at a time. I found that they come out the best in one particular spot on the glass of our fire pit so it’s slow-going…one at a time every half and hour. Then we had a crazy rainstorm today. I’ll finish up tomorrow, bind the book, and then photograph everything nicely.
I used my gelli prints to make an accordion book featuring silhouettes of people from the Hasidic Jew community. I only had neon colored inks but someone told me the contrast between the content and the colors could work.
I tried to go with a walking theme since a lot of images I found showed the people walking on the street. I think it helped with the continuous pages of the accordion book, however I wish I had the skill to make the monoprints continuous, flowing from page to page. However, with the nature of monoprints, I would risk having to redo several pages if the print didn’t come out right. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about that- one aspect of virtual learning is that it is more on you!
I also started making another sketchbook since my first one wasn’t going to be acceptable for my final portfolio. I was inspired by all the scraps I had been saving. I just can’t get rid of the pretty papers!
So I decided to do some paper weaving. Fiber arts is actually my favorite medium and so anytime I get to incorporate the idea of fabric into another medium, my heart soars! I also love paper as a medium and love weaving- so all around I am really happy with the outcome for my sketchbook cover.
I also cut the paper, folded and sewed the pages of 4 signatures for the sketchbook. I’m down to almost no paper left so I only did 4 signatures.
Then I glued my weaving to a spare paper (conserving!) and cut it down to size and attached to my book board cover. Then I glued that to the signatures. My new sketchbook is almost complete!
I also did some revisions to my linoleum plates for relief printing. I think my Amish family looks so much better just by outlining the figures and clothing. There is no way to improve the faces- especially my own, but I am thinking of sending a copy to the family with the photo just to reminisce.
In planning a book of my gelli prints of the Hasidic Jews, I realized I needed some more prints. At this point I think I’ve discovered Gelli printing isn’t my favorite thing and I feel like it could be related to my choice to only work with silhouettes, but I did like some of the prints. Here are some photos of my gelli prints and process.
I also decided I needed to do more relief carving on linoleum. I tried carving on the burlap backed linoleum and found it really challenging and hard to push. I ended up just playing around the with simple unplanned design. I haven’t printed with it yet, and left lots of space to do more carvings after I do some prints.
Next I made a mock up for my Hasidic Jew Gelli print book. I am glad I ran through it as I had some trouble even though I had already made a mini accordion book last week.
Next I measured and cut the accordion pages and glued them together.
After it was complete I really wanted to try and fix the binding so I decided to cover it with an extra piece.
The reason I didn’t cover the book board on this mockup was because my prints were exactly 5×5 and so was the book so I would have white edges. I should’ve just went with that. Now I will “have a think” about that before I go to complete my final accordion book.
Mrs. Garnier's Class Blog 