April-May Art Update!

Hello and welcome back to "Mrs. Miller's Makers!"

At this point of the year we are getting into some of our best projects and the students reach new heights with their art making abilities. It is a joy to see them grow as young artists!

On Thursday, May 18th the Thorson 5th graders had their Fine Arts Night! Here is a video of the artwork from Mr. Hartling's 5th grade class!

Thorson Fine Arts Night 2023

As we draw closer to the end of the year when students will be packing up all of their artwork and bringing it home (stay tuned for more info on that), we are in need of materials such as newspaper, bubble wrap, and other wrapping/packaging materials. If you have some to send with your child to art class, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Here's what we've been up to in each grade level...

Kindergarten artists are enjoying a piece of abstract art inspired by Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky!" The students enjoyed learning about Kandinsky and looked closely at his artwork entitled, Squares with Concentric Circles." The students learned that the artwork made by Kandinsky was a color study focused on the art making process of seeing what colors look like together in different combinations. 

Color Study - Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913

To make their own version of the artwork, the kinders were given a blank white paper with a grid of 12 squares. For our first lesson, the students boarded the "color train" and traveled around the room printing every color on the color wheel using foam blocks. I enjoyed being the train conductor and blowing the whistle as students moved from color to color. They practiced naming and recognizing the 12 colors (primary, secondary, and tertiary). 

For the second lesson, the students were asked to draw a circle and paint a circle in each square. They were encouraged to mix colors with the paint just as Kandinsky did and give a name to the colors they mixed :) During the final lesson, the students were given a variety of objects that they could glue down to make circles (foam, paper, yarn, buttons, beads, etc.). The favorite material was of course GLITTER! 

It was so fun to see the artworks progress with the different colors and textures. Soon, we will be sewing a border around the abstract art with TWO types of stitches!

First grade artists are finishing up their TWO batik projects! Both the fabric batik (with glue and paint on fabric) and the paper batik (crayon and black paint) are done, so we are now making fancy frames to display them! Before I describe the frames, let's back up and review the most memorable part of the batik process for the paper batik... the students were asked to CRUMPLE up their crayon coloring of the sunflowers! What?! This shocked many of the students and some even laughed out loud! They learned this was an essential step in making a wax batik to create the awesome crackle effect! After smoothing out the crumpled artwork, they brushed the paper with black watercolor allowing it to stain the cracks. The crayon did a great job of pushing away the paint creating a nice contrast of colorful sunflowers and a dark background. 

We are now creating TWO fancy frames for our batiks! One with glue and metallic paint (like an ornate frame you would see in a museum) and one with a stitched border :) We can't wait for you to see the finished artworks soon!

Second grade artists completed their fabulous Clay Picture Frames that were uniquely designed by each student. As the students planned out and created their frames that practiced a variety of art making skills. With their sketches we talked about representational vs non representational designs, as well as creating a nice composition of positive and negative space. When it came to working with the clay, the students learned to roll out a slab (flat piece of clay) and cut out pieces to fit the paper templates (harder than it looks)! Each artist was asked to show the following clay making methods when adding designs to their frames: coil (snake like pieces), extra slab (roll and cut out), texture (pressing in objects like texture plates and shoes), drawing (using a wooden stylus), and negative space (removing areas of  clay - optional). 

After the art pieces were fired in the kiln, the students were able to add COLOR! They first colored the raised areas of the frame with oil pastels to capture the textures they made in the clay. Then the students used water down paint to fill in the rest of the open areas. Each student had a blast with this and was very thoughtful with their use of color... especially since they knew they were making it for someone special ;)

We are now beginning our Pop Art Paints project, which combines printmaking and sculpture!

Third grade artists completed their AMAZING Felted Tapestries, which are on display for all to see :) We are now working on our CLAY project... Clay Canopic Jars! The artwork connects to their Ancient Egyptian unit of study, which made the students all the more excited when the project was introduced! This year we are giving it a creative twist... rather than creating one of the four traditional Canopic jar heads, the students were given the fun task of selecting their own head. They were asked the question, "If you were an animal, what animal would you be?" The head of the jar should represent their personality in some way.

After gathering images to guide the clay designing process, we began making the base of the jar. The students rolled out slabs of clay and cut them to fit templates (one curved rectangle and two circles). They will then learn how to wrap the clay around a cup (used as a mold) and attach the clay together to make a cylinder. Eventually the students will be adding hieroglyphics to the bottom of the jar and will also be forming and shaping the clay to make their unique head. This will be followed with painting the jars after they have been fired in the kiln! Stay tuned for our last update next month to see the finished products!

Fourth grade artists are in the midst of constructing their Clay Coil Vessels! The students got a brief history of coil pottery, tracing it all the way back to Ancient Greece! The students then saw a wide variety of clay coil projects as inspiration for their own designs. The students were given the task of designing a vessel that is both decorative/pleasing to the eye, and functional. The clay project gave the artists TONS of practice in forming and shaping coils as well as joining clay together using the "4 S's." It is so fun to see what direction the students take the project. Each clay project is unique and made with a great deal of thought and creativity! :) Once the projects are fire in the kiln the students will be able to glaze them!

Fifth grade artists are thoroughly enjoying their last and most anticipated project of the school year... CLAY CAKE SLICES! :) Many of the students look forward to this project as soon as 1st and 2nd grade. The students learned about artist Wayne Thiebaud prior to designing their cakes since he was well known for painting cakes, pies, and other tasty treats. His artwork was whimsical, inviting, and mouth watering with its realistic use of oil paint that appeared like buttercream on canvas. 

The 5th grade artists were asked to come up with a theme for the cake and sketch out their designs in their sketchbooks, as well as gather digital images for inspiration. They then rolled out many slabs of clay and cut them to fit paper templates. This is the FIRST year that I had students request a shape other than a triangular cake slice. That's the thing about teaching... the students always keep you on your toes and stretch you in new ways. I am always learning and growing too! So... we came up with a design for a whole circular cake AND a circular cake with a slice cut out! 

The 5th grade artists will begin to paint their cakes after they have been fired in the kiln. They are excited to amaze you with their awesome Clay Cakes when you see them at the 5th Grade Fine Arts Night. Can't wait to see you there!