Taking time for
myself is something that usually falls by the wayside. It happens to us
all, right? Life can be so busy. Well, after trying to find the the
time, money and inclination to do something for myself, my wonderful husband pushed me to finally stretch my creative muscles in a way I haven't
for such a long time! I have been taking ceramics classes on the wheel at the New York/New Jersey Academy of Ceramic Artin
Jersey City. It has been a wonderful experience, and a great way to
gain personal and professional development as an art educator.
One of my first pieces, set out to dry.
Working in this
professional studio has given me a renewed appreciation for the
qualities of clay, the importance of care and cleanliness in the
work space, in taking time to work at improving my skills and abilities,
and in making creative choices and seeing where they lead me.
Preparing to glaze finished pieces.
It has also been a
refreshing change in my ceramics experiences, as working with children
in the elementary art room has its own unique challenges, and outcomes. I
love when children get to have clay experiences, as for many it may be
the only time in life that they have the opportunity. And creating a
coil pot, a bowl, or a statue can be a pretty magical experience! Here
are my magical experiences shown below, with notes on glazes and
firing.
Glazes: Thick White Shino, Oxblood. Reduction firing.
Glazes: Davis Red Shino. Oxidation firing.
Glazes: Iron Oxide, Rutile Blue, Lapis Blue. Oxidation firing.
None of these pieces are
perfect, but I love them all. And since taking the time to pursue this
art, I breathe a little easier, see pictures in the clouds again and
feel like a working artist and student. Teachers should be life long
learners after all. Special thanks to my teacher, Frank Bosco. I am so
grateful for your knowledge and guidance, and all of my experiences in
your wonderful studio!
So it's a year of firsts, and I've tried my hand at making a video tutorial. Can I just say it is sooo much more difficult than it looks, but I hope to find it easier to accomplish as I continue. I also jumped into learning iMovie to edit things and make them fancy. I came up with this lesson for using Model Magic to create Koi Fish Sculptures last summer during my stint as a summer workshop teacher for my school district.
The summer workshops for me are a great place to develop a lesson, to see which age groups it works best for, figure out what tools work best or what materials will be needed, how long the lesson may take etc. Not to mention, will the kids enjoy it? Will they all attain a level of satisfaction and success? Can early finishers assist those who need help, or who may have missed a class? These things are more important to me than the writing of the lesson plan. I know it's important, but it's a heck of a lot easier to explain in theory, when you have also accomplished the putting it into practice.
This was also a lesson which helped me round out a ceramics and 3D workshop. The classes ran for 5 weeks, and towards the end, you just can't begin a ceramicsproject with no time left for drying, cycles in the kiln etc. Model Magic was a great option for the kids, and I am proud to say this lesson is all mine. I love this blogging community, and I love being inspired by all of your hard work! I am thankful to have the technology to research your successes and failures, and so happy to share this one with you. I hope you get a chance to take a look. Enjoy!
EXTRA TIPS AND TRICKS:
I’m not fond of using Model Magic in the hotter months, unless the art room is air conditioned. When it is hot, the material becomes soft too quickly.
A clean table top work surface is best, and reminders to students to pick up their projects now and then while working will prevent their projects from sticking.
If you're creating this project in the classroom, I would plan for one class to introduce the lesson, a class to form the body (closing up projects in ziploc bags will keep them fresh for next time), and one to add colors and final details.
For drying time, I place projects on a layer of plastic wrap, let dry for a day or so, and then turn upside down or on it’s side for the last area to also dry out. A hard, stale marshmallow is kind of what you are looking for when it is completely dry.
If a piece was not properly attached, and falls off, I just hit it with a little bit of craft glue and it repairs nicely.
I attempted to give a finished piece a layer of Mod Podge to glaze it, and it was successful for me. Unfortunately, the little bit of extra time the kids took to paint a layer of Mod Podge over their projects caused the Model Magic to release it's color and bleed into the Mod Podge. Now Crayola does sell a glaze specifically for this purpose, but not in amounts for the classroom, so I haven't given it a try.
This subject matter lends itself to cross-curricular learning! Think anatomy, life cycle, or environment offish, Asian art and culture, and so on. Not to mention, I used these sculptures for a collaborative lesson and display, which I will share soon! Make sure to check in and see it. Cheers!
The most recent session of Manga Club was a blast! We studied the kawaii style and for a change of pace, we created a 3-D project using model magic and recycled vegetable trays to create our own kawaii bento boxes. All of the students finished a one page manga this time around as well. Usually when we do a one-page assignment, I have copies made so each student has one copy of each work. Then for last class we read each others stories, critique and color the black and white designs for fun.
Great work everyone!
This spring we decided to branch out on our Easter tradition of decorating Easter eggs, and learned to create pysanky. I was having trouble finding a place to buy supplies or a person to ask advice of. I then found that there was a Ukranian church about 20 minutes from my home with a church goods store, and it sold pysanky supplies! Not only that, the woman who was working in the shop the day I visited was a former art teacher! She was a great help, and we swapped stories. This art form actually predates Christianity, even though it is now associated with the Easter holiday.
The term pysanky comes from the word pysaty, which means to write. Designs are written with beeswax, dipped in dye, and then the wax is removed to reveal the resist design. Then the process is repeated for each turn with another color of dye. Pysanky also refers specifically to an egg decorated with traditional Ukrainian folk designs. It is not just a term for any egg decorated using wax resist.
The process takes some time, but the end results are just lovely! I have seen an art teacher or two blogging about creating pysanky with their classes, but I think I would modify the project to a watercolor resist on egg shaped paper, and concentrate on the Ukranian symbols and their meanings. Between lit candles, such specific supplies and containers of dye I'm not sure how successful it would be in the classroom environment.
But I will say that spending the day with family, sharing stories and each others company, learning a new skill, exploring other cultures, and creating tiny masterpieces together was an experience that I would not trade for anything!
The kids and I have been working on a great project for Chinese New Year. I designed a puppet that takes inspiration from Chinese New Year Lions. My family and I visit Chinatown in nearby NYC for the Chinese New Year celebrations and have followed the lions through the streets as they visit shops to collect small red envelopes and to give the shopkeepers their blessing.
It began with the idea of cutting a plastic plate in half and hinging it to make the mouth of the lion and it developed from there. Here we are creating the mouths and feet.
We created the bodies of the puppets with Smart-Fab who coincidentally were another exhibitor at convention. A little while back, they sent me some fabric to try and blog about. This was the first project I used it for. It's easy to cut, and we used tacky glue and hot glue guns to construct our projects. The Smart Fab stood up to it all. Thanks to the company for giving me an opportunity to try it out!
And here are some of our final creations. It was hard to keep everyone still to take pictures! As you can see, I had a large age range and everyone was happy with this project! When I have older kids and younger kids together, the older ones always love to help the younger ones. It is a nice place to be. Not to mention that I even get to be in a picture!
Can you see all of the parts to construct these lions? A plastic plate, a plastic bowl, egg carton cups, paper tubes, and Smart-Fab. We used tissue squares and Mod Podge to cover the head, felt for the ears and tails, yarn, gems, pom poms, wiggle eyes, and jingle bells. I love this job! Enjoy.
I love giving my recycled art classes during the summer. I hoard during the school year in hopes of having enough egg cartons, paper tubes, straws, or whatever I might find interesting to have enough for a group class.
I saw examples of these African inspired masks at Fem Manuals, one of my favorite art sites ever! They always have incredibly creative projects, recycle often, and really capture the adventure that their young artists are constantly having.
Our masks are created using recycled laundry soap containers, bottle caps, acrylic paint, and other materials from the studio. I assisted with construction using a hot glue gun. We discussed the stylized geometric forms and special uses for masks in Africa, as in many cultures of the world. Here are some of our creations.
The idea for this lesson plan came from Family Fun Magazine online. I was interested in the project for its application of weaving and 3-D art. It is also nice for my small studio because the children make and take their looms home as part of the sunflower. I had a template for them to trace and cut to create the petals of the flowers on their paper plates.
We read the book titled 'Van Gogh and the Sunflowers' to learn more about his life and inspiration. Then I used the lesson to help them create their own sunflowers. They got to decide when they had weaved enough to create the centers. I also had photo reference available for the shape and color of the leaves.
I gave this lesson to my older and younger students, and have to say that it was more appropriate for the older kids (grades 4-8.) But since my classes are small, I was able to guide the younger ones to create great flowers too! It was also just a great project to send home to brighten up this cold, snowy winter we are having. Have a look:
As part of our section of American art, students learned about Native American nations of the Northwest. The Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida carved elaborate totem poles out of wood to honor someone, to tell a story, or sometimes just as art. We studied their use of color and its representation, and talked about animal totems.
First, the children built their totem poles out of paper towel cardboard tubes taped to a rectangle of chipboard about 6x9 in size (I used the backs of old paper pads). Then they painted the poles brown and the bases green. Our totems were four figures high. We used 2.5 inch strips of paper in red, white, blue and green.
They drew each image in sharpie and added more color with cray pas. For images that didn't extend beyond the width of the pole, we just wrapped our paper around and adhered with tacky glue. For larger images we used a second strip of paper, cut the outer edges of both strips together, and sandwiched the two strips to the front and back of the pole.
I had been wanting to do a class on Sugar Skulls to celebrate Dia de los Muertos with my students. Well I found these papier mache skulls in the clearance bin at a local craft store, and had my chance! We talked about the holiday and how it celebrates the people in our lives who have passed. Did you know that the sugar the skulls are made out of represent the sweetness, and the skull shape the sad? We painted the skulls with a base cost of white acrylic paint. Then the kids had paint markers, sequins and glitter glue to create their designs. Here are some of our creations.
