Thursday, November 30, 2017

Expressive Line Designs

Mrs. Laura Harrison's Visual Art Comp Class did an expressive line design assignment.  The high school students' artwork is really good.  I think each of these would be great examples for other students to view to get ideas on how to develop their own expressive line designs.

Have a l👀K!













1965

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Clay Leaves (Art Integration - Cross Curricular)

Cathy, lower school art teacher, worked with 4th grade on a cross curricular unit that involved the study of leaves for the state of Florida. The kids study the lesson in class. Went to art and were able to create the leaves in clay using white low fire clay and Stroke n Coat green glazes. The leaves were bone dry and place in the kiln at 04 to bisque on a slow  firing as to not have them crack. Then glazed and placed back in the kiln at 06 for a fast firing to have the completed look in the photos you see above. This is the 3rd year she has done this lesson and each year these get better and better!


We have blogged on this type of lesson before:
Thanks, Cathy for letting me share! These are really cool! 1969

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Clay Pinch Pot Sugar Skulls

What a cool project!  My friend, Laura Harrison, did this Sugar Skull Project with her high school students.
How?
The kids made pinch pots.
Laura fired the pinch pots.
Some kids painted the glaze on the pinch pots.
Some kids experimented and rubbed glaze on the pinch pots.
Either way, ALL the results were amazing!
L👀K!










Oh my goodness! I LOVE!  

1965

Monday, November 27, 2017

Grateful Gathering with Cathy Hicks and Claes Oldenburg

Wanted to share these corn sculptures from our lower school art teacher, Cathy Hicks!
They were a hit over our Thanksgiving Feast / Grateful Gathering!
See our other Thanksgiving Idea Post from this school year:



What are you grateful for? 1969

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Self-Portraits in the Style of Tim Campbell for Patriots Day

For the past several years, the fourth grade students have participated in a program called "Why America is Free."  What is this program?  The curriculum is a hands-on learning experience for educators and their students.  The program covers the extraordinary events, times and heroes of the American Revolution as well as the principles and values upon which the country was founded.  At The Westfield School, the teachers include the program across all disciplines for six weeks.  For the grand finale, the students dress in clothing of the period and participate in a day of colonial life.  The girls were taught how to sew.  The boys participated in a "how to march" lesson by local ROTC.  A violinist visited and shared with students. Parents were invited to join in viewing kids sing and dance.  Also, there was art on display.  This is where the blog comes to life!  (Click HERE for Why America is Free Information.)

A few years ago, we were doing the program and I ran across an artist named Tim Campbell. Tim is from New Hampshire. (CLICK HERE for Tim Campbell website)  Tim's art worked perfect for the colonial time period study.  For the previous post, click HERE.  The students really liked Tim's work.  Tim makes the colonial time period "pop" with his fun work of characters from this period.  After Tim viewed the post, he was so excited he sent my kids tons of art goodies!  It has been 2 years and the kids still talk about a "real" artist sending them prizes.  I have never had an artist make a connection with art students in this manner.  When the students were recognized with such love, they had a greater appreciation for the artist and art.

Here are the two pieces of Tim's artwork that the students were shown before they began their self-portraits. 



Directions:

The kids viewed some of Tim's work.  We talked about Tim's work.
The kids took 2 weeks to get their portraits drawn.
Once the drawings were complete, they outlined in sharpie.
They used tempera to paint their faces.
They used colored pencils for their eyes and mouth.
I mixed acrylic paint for the background.
The project took 4 weeks.  Yes, it was an endurance test.
The results were amazing!

L👀k!






























Here is Tim and his dog, Otis.  Heehee.


In honor of Tim and Otis, here is a song about a dog named Boo. 

1965