Shoe Sketch

The third grade students created a sketch of their shoes in art class.  As a class, we discussed the small details of the shoe such as the stitching and texture of the material.  We decided that the shoes would look more realistic based on how much detail was added.  The third graders started out creating the shape of the shoe which was one of the most challenging parts of the assignment.  The next step was to add detail, and the light, medium and dark values.  Their work was very impressive!

Ceramic Fall Leaves....... Better late than never!

These beautiful fall leaves were made by the second grade students before Thanksgiving, but they never made it to the blog!  Even though there are almost no leaves in sight, I couldn't help posting this image.  The students started the project with a leaf template.  The template was used to cut and shape the clay into the Maple leaf shape.  The 2nd graders used clay tools to carve the veins of the leaves.  For the glaze application we used a type of glaze that I hadn't tried before called color burst glaze.  It has little particles in the liquid glaze that pop open during the firing process.  Some of the color glaze worked and some of it did not.  I will have to do more research to find out why this happened.  They all turned out wonderful even though the color burst glaze didn't work in some cases!

The Mitten

The Kindergarten students started out the week listening to The Mitten, which is a Ukrainian folktale.  

We studied the location and climate of the Ukraine, as well as the patterns and designs used in the creation of actual Ukrainian mittens.  Each student was given a construction paper mitten to create their own design.  Their prior study of line type and shape really came together for this project!  I was amazed by their integrate designs and the detail that the students were able to achieve!  These are on display in the school auditorium.    

Portraits... Focus on Facial Expressions

The Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students created portraits that depicted a certain emotion.  We began the lesson by letting the children view photos of a person showing various facial expressions (angry, surprised, scared, etc).  We discussed each photo, and the elements of each face that lead them to know which photo showed a scared person verses a surprised or angry person.  The next step was for the students to make their own portraits that displayed the emotions that we discussed.  The last step was color application, which was created with oil pastel and crayon.  They are all so expressive!

Kindergarten Pinch Pots!

The kindergarten students completed their pinch pots this week.  They used their thumbs to create the center and then manipulated the edges to shape and form their clay into a pot.  Next they used the clay tools to carve designs onto the surface of the clay.  The last step was to apply the glaze, each student had a choice of six colors.  The kindergarten students were very excited to see what the pots looked like after they were fired in the kiln!