Plaster Casting in 8th Grade

Eighth graders are creating "self portrait masks" for their first project of the year. Today, half of the group had their faces cast in plaster by their classmates. Those having the plaster applied have to wear a shower cap to protect their hair and plastic wrap on their face to protect the skin (leaving the nose holes open of course!). The other option would be smearing vaseline on the skin to be plastered, but that hardly seemed like a good option for 8th grade girls! Helpers applied plaster gauze strips one by one by dipping them in warm water (to activate the plaster) and smoothing them onto the skin... Here are some photos of the process:




This picture makes me laugh... As I was about to take it, the non plastered student said "Smile!" to the other one in the photo - haha

Painting A Fresco

The word fresco comes from the Italian word "affresco" which derives from the adjective fresco ("fresh") and refers to a painting style done on plaster walls and ceilings. Frescoes were often made during the Renaissance and we just learned about them in Art History this week while we looked at the artist Giotto- the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance. Fresco is a challenging medium - it does not allow for errors or corrections and is time sensitive, therefore requiring an adequate level of artistic and technical skill. This is due to the fact that fresco is done on wet, fresh plaster... once the pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, the plaster dries and reacts with the air, fixing the pigment particles in the plaster (making it quite durable!) Today in class, we created our own mini frescoes... First, we mixed the dry plaster in water and poured it into a plastic plate to set (about 20 minutes):

In the Renaissance, artists used powdered pigment mixed with water to create their own paints. On fresco secco (fresco done on dry plaster), a bonding agent was needed to adhere the paint to the wall, which was often egg yolk. We created our own "egg tempera" while we waited for our plaster to set up.
1. Separate the yellow from the white, then poke a hole to drain the yellow into a bowl:


2. We stirred in powdered tempera paint and a little bit of water until smooth. I only bought the primary colors, so we created green, orange, purple and brown by mixing those:



3. Fresco painters in the Renaissance would transfer their drawings onto the plaster by poking small holes in their cartoon (sketch) and blowing charcoal onto it, leaving the pattern of dots on the plaster. We did the same thing with some Renaissance images:



The kids painting:

Completed frescos!:

Advisory Games

Ms. Marlowe's advisory joined us today to learn our favorite game called "One, Two, Let's Play Zoo!" It's a funny game in which players have to display gestures that represent an animal of their choice and keep a beat by clapping their hands and thighs... I really don't know how else to explain it, but feel free to ask a 6th grader how to play!

First LS Art Club!

Romare Bearden was an African-American artist whose powerful works represented his life experiences. He grew up in Harlem, but spent most of his early childhood in North Carolina were he was born in 1912. Bearden did the majority of his works with pen and ink and paints on scraps of paper and old photographs. He used these scrap materials to create collages which delivered powerful messages about African-American life. For a short time in the 1950s, he was a songwriter and, although he returned to art as a profession, music was always an important subject matter in his work, primarily the colorful representations of jazz and the blues (like the one pictured here).

The Lower School Art Club met for the first time yesterday and learned about Romare Bearden and his work. Inspired by Bearden, and while listening to a jazz CD, clubbers are creating musical collages of their own using various materials. Here are a few snapshots of them working- stay tuned for the final products in the weeks ahead!

Pre-instruction Self Portraits

My seventh grade girls (my 7th and 8th Grade classes are both all girls this semester!) spent the first day of class this week drawing themselves by looking in a mirror before I give them any instruction about facial proportion, shading, etc. I won't post their first drawings yet, but you might see them later when I post their final projects so you can compare "before" and "after"!

Happy 1st Day of School!

Welcome back artists! I am super excited to get the year started and hope you are too! Middle school is a time when there is a HUGE range of art ability that the students bring to the table. My goal is to meet you at YOUR level of need, while challenging you to try new things, improve your skills and produce your best work. Learning how to make art is like learning to play a musical instrument... practice and patience will lead to improvement, and hopefully that is YOUR goal. That, and to have some fun in the process! Here's to a great year ahead!

(Isn't the picture above hysterical? I found it on one of my favorite art lesson websites and it's actually an image printed on a t-shirt... I think I might have to buy one!)

Drawing and Painting in Greece- Summer 2009

Besides teaching the best kids ever, there's another really great perk to being a teacher at Calvert called the Garrett Grant. The purpose of the Garrett Grant is to ensure that Calvert’s faculty members have the opportunity for learning, study and travel beyond the normal scope of professional development. I was SO fortunate to be awarded a grant for travel to Greece this summer where I explored the ancient art and architecture of Athens and took a seven day drawing, painting and printmaking course on the island of Paros. It was VERY INSPIRING and I plan to keep on painting on my own now that I'm home. I hope to apply many of the techniques I learned into my own classes as well as use classical Greek art as inspiration for some new projects. Stay tuned throughout the year to see what comes up and enjoy these dozen or so photos from my trip (I took about 900!):

The gate to the Roman Agora, Athens

The Parthenon at dusk from my hotel roof

Inside the Stoa of Attolos in the Ancient Agora

Black figure vessels in the Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens

Painting & drawing in Parikia, Paros

Glass blown pieces in the Paros Archaeological Museum

Drawing in the museum

Greek churches galore!

Octopus drying in Naoussa, Paros

Creating watercolor prints in the art studio

Eating lamb souvlaki- yum!

Greek "taxi"... poor donkey!