Friday, April 29, 2016

Arts Integration with History by means of a clay Face Jug





Have you realized how art infiltrates other subjects at school? We are learning more and more about how to integrate the arts cross curricular with vertical and horizontal alignment. Below is a link to our Pinterest board for Arts Integration:

Check out some of these links on why Arts Integration is a good thing! It is a 2 way street with lots of communication!






Below are places to find Arts Integrated Lesson Plan Ideas: (If you know of more please comment so we can check them out!)






Below is a link that will take you to the process of making the Face Jugs:

1969

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Getting Art HaPpY with Leonard "Porkchop" Zimmerman

Leonard "Porkchop" Zimmerman is a visual artist trying to be "Happy" in Augusta, Georgia.  From Facebook, I found a more detailed description.  Facebook account is The Art of Porkchop.  Click here for  Porkchop Facebook Link.
Leonard Zimmerman Jr.,  A.K.A. Porkchop, is a native of Augusta. He is a graduate of John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School and The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He's an award-winning graphic artist by day and a painter of robots and other fun stuff by night. His whimsical robots can be found in numerous locales in the Augusta area and beyond.
While he is most well-known for his robots, he also paints other subjects.
As a teacher, I would suggest watching this full 12 minute touching Tedx video.  I would not show this to lower age kids.  Click HERE for Leonard Porkchop Zimmerman Tedx video.

Directions:
 
I showed this quick video to the students for a little artist background information.  Leonard "Porkchop" 2 minute video.
I gave the kids a handout with some of Porkchop's robots.
I told the kids that they should attempt to create their own robots.  Many were very creative, but many could not resist just copying Porkchop's coolness.  These were a fun project and I think the kids enjoyed drawing and coloring their robots very much.



 
You can also find Porkchop on Instagram at Porkchop's Instagram Account
Also, I created a Pinterest Board with some of his art. Click Here for Pinterest Porkchop Link.
 
Here is Porkchop in Yellow and Orange.  Happy colors and a happy smile.
 
How about John Butler Trio cover for Pharrell Williams "Happy"?
I like changing it up.
 

 
1965

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Clay Animal Bowls

The puppy dog Face Jug....
Students were taught the history of the Face Jugs and then were charged with creating one. The deal was it had to have a face but it didn't matter if it was an animal, person, cartoon character as long as they understood the history behind the jug.
This one is a hoot...a turkey...yep, a middle school boy that hunts and fishes =)

Different take on the jug. It ended up being a bowl but the face was placed on the inside of the project. Below is a black cat!
I have posted on Face Jugs before this year. Our Face Jug lesson at Maclay took a turn to animals in the 4th quarter. I thought some of these were very clever.  The link below is where you can find out the history of Face Jugs and see our other blog post on this unit.

The students could use the coil extruder to create the jug or they could use the classic pinch pot technique. We went over basic ceramic terms like; slip and score. They had to create the details by hand-making them out of extra clay. We had all kinds of details. (eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, ears, beaks, whiskers, eyelashes, etc...)

We let them dry. Took the greenware fired it at 04 on slow with a hold of .15
Took them out used overglaze on them.
Fired them at 06 on fast with no hold and viola!

When was the last time you created with clay?
-1969

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Ellsworth Kelly Collage Project

On December 27, 2015, Ellsworth Kelly passed away and the world lost a great artist.  As a tribute to his memory, the fourth graders looked at his paintings and found inspiration.  They took their inspirations and created a collage work in the style of Ellsworth Kelly.  Of course, some chose to 100% copy, but copying is the highest form of flattery. 
 
Directions:
 
 
Share Ellsworth Kelly History
 
Born in Newburgh in New York's Hudson Valley in 1923, Kelly grew up in New Jersey and enrolled in art school in New York City in 1941. 
He left school during World War II, when he painted camouflage patterns on fake tanks and other military objects produced by a special Army unit to deceive the Germans. Among his comrades was Bill Blass, the future fashion designer.
Kelly moved to Paris after the war to study art. He returned to New York in the mid-1950s to begin creating the boldly colored geometric paintings that were exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, as well as in museums and galleries across the United States and Europe.
He became one of America's leading abstract artists, his work emphasized the simplicity of form associated with minimalism, hard-edge painting, color field and pop art.  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3376893)
 
Give kids a handout so they can observe and ponder Kelly's Art
 
Give kids construction paper, scissors, and glue. 
 
Nice job, fourth grade!
 






 
Through a little investigating, I found out that Actress Gwyneth Paltrow was a fan of Ellsworth Kelly.  On Instagram, Paltrow wrote "#ellsworthkelly leaves us today having impacted the way we see the world. Rest in peace dear Ellsworth".
Remember Gwyneth Paltrow was married to Chris Martin.  Chris Martin is lead singer for the band Coldplay.   So, you know what's coming.
 
Coldplay singing "Yellow".  Yellow, a color used by Ellsworth Kelly.
 

 
1965

Monday, April 25, 2016

Hicks', The Statue of Liberty And Britto...We LoVe them All


 
I was in LS the other day talking with Cathy Hicks...saw these on her board and new I had to blog about them. They used 9x12 white drawing paper and made homemade oil pastel etchings. They covered the paper with oil pastels for the background. Used black washable paint over the oil pastels. They etched the background fireworks using that technique. Drew a "Britto" style Statue of Liberty and colored in with marker. How cool are they??? They were designed with colored markers and cut out and pasted over the etchings. Wow! These are amazing and can be adapted to any level. So glad Cathy allowed me to share. We definitely have our vertical alignment of our curriculum going on!         - 1969

Friday, April 22, 2016

Jolie's Cat, The Beatles, SCAD, and Eddie Vedder


The Beatles like cats.  Don't believe me?  Have a look.


How do you like Jolie's cat?  Isn't he just the cutest?  I mean who would ever think about making a paper mache cat like this?  Well, my friend, Jolie, a high school sophomore at The Westfield School interested in attending The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) certainly did.  Is this not clever or what?

Do you remember the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" or what about "Yellow Submarine"?


 Here is the side of the kitty representing these 2 great songs.  See the red strawberries and the submarine windows?


Hey, we got to give peace a chance, too!



Here is the cat's behind...And to me, it is just the cat's meow.  The "X" just cracks me up.  Now this is just a Jolie thing.  Funny thing, though.


Shutting this post down with a Beatles song, of course.  It's "I've Got a Feeling", a Beatles cover by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. 

First, a quick story.

My daughter loves Pearl Jam.
I tweeted this a few days before her birthday.
And on Saturday night at the Pearl Jam concert in Greenville, SC, Pearl Jam played "Present Tense".  Eddie Vedder said it was a request. I checked the setlist history.
Pearl Jam Setlist History  They have only played "Present Tense" in concert 128 times since 1990.  Was it the tweet?  I don't know, but it was one awesome present for my daughter's 22nd birthday. 

Here's Eddie Vedder singing The Beatles.

1965