Greek Sculpture Update

This past week, fifth grade artists molded air-dry clay over top of their wire armatures. Students had so much fun with this portion of the project and it yielded great results! Here are some in-progress and final photos of the sculptures:

Throughout this project, students have overcome so many hardships - I am so proud of their hard work! These forty students have shown the most patience, diligence, and constancy in the last couple of weeks! I have heard feedback from students and have thought of new ideas that would have made this project even more successful. One student suggested that this solely be a wire sculpture project. I'm not opposed to that; the wire sculptures looked awesome and most of them stood up well. I know for next time that I need to purchase thinner wire so that it is easier to bend, or supply more tools to manipulate the wire with. We use air-dry clay at FCCS because we do not have a kiln in our building, but maybe next year I could talk with my art teacher colleagues and see if we could use a kiln in their school! I would need to buy proper clay and cut out the step of building the wire armature (since it would melt and explode), but the final sculptures would be sturdier this way. I also think that by dividing the clay into bags for each student ahead of time made the clay dry out quicker, resulting in all the cracks in the solid statues. I have thankfully not had any casualties yet, but as precaution, I'm going to apply a layer of mod podge over the sculptures to prevent any limbs from breaking off before students paint this week. 

Stay tuned for the final product in the next couple of weeks!

Greek Sculptures

Fifth grade artists have been showing great patience and working diligently the last two weeks while creating wire armatures for their Greek-inspired sculptures. First, they had to choose which Ancient Greek sculpture style they wanted to portray in their artwork: Archaic, Classical, or Hellenistic. Next, they had to draw a rough draft in their sketchbook of either a person they knew, a Greek god or goddess, or an animal that displayed qualities of their desired sculpture style. Once rough drafts were completed, students took to using a variety of wire, pliers, and wire cutters to twist, bend, cut, and shape the "skeleton" for the inside of their sculpture. Next step is to sculpt on clay!

Here are a few excellent examples of the wire armatures:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

It is hard to believe that the school year is almost half way through! As the second term is coming to and end, all of the art classes will be starting new projects.

5A was introduced to Greek sculptures last week; 5B had a snow day on the day they were supposed to start the unit. This is yet another multi-step project. First, students will build an armature out of wire, and, then, they will mold clay around the frame to create a miniature sculpture depicting a human of their choice in one of the three iconic Greek sculpture styles: Archaic, Classical, or Hellenistic. For more information on the project and examples of the art styles, check out the slideshow on the 5th grade page.

Sixth grade students are wrapping up their weavings. Each weaving is extremely impressive! Each one is unique and demonstrate their themes beautifully. Next, students are going to start one of my favorite projects: papier-mâché African masks! This project is messy but always tons of fun. It is a slow, lengthy process, but the results are bound to be phenomenal. If you have any light cardboard (tissue, cereal, granola boxes) or newspaper lying around, please start gathering it and sending it in to school so students will have supplies to build the armature for their masks. 

Now that the stained glass windows are complete, 7th grade artists are going to learn about Johann Gutenberg and the printing press. I took a book arts class in college and fell in love with the art of bookmaking and I am so excited to finally be able to share this passion of mine with my students! Students are going to practice several bookbinding techniques and create their own short stories. An email was sent out over the weekend for donations for this project - if you have not yet responsed to the sign-up genius, please do so, so this group can make cool art! Thank you to those who have already signed up to donate supplies!

Eighth grade artists are almost finished with their Gustav Klimt scratch art drawings. Once this project is over, students will learn about Pablo Picasso and his influence to 20th-century art. I am piloting a new Cubism project this year, combining still life and collage. I am looking forward to seeing the masterpieces these students will create -- this group never fails to impress!

Fifth and seventh grade Virtural Art Shows have been recently updated. Please take a look at them to see the beautiful artwork the students have worked so hard on! Sixth and eighth grade VAS' will be updated by the end of the term.

Happy art making!