X-Ray Style Aboriginal Printmaking

The "X-ray" tradition in Aboriginal art is thought to have developed around 2000 B.C. and continues to the present day. As its name implies, the style depicts animals or human figures in which the internal organs and bone structures are clearly visible. Through the creation of X-ray art, Aboriginal painters express their ongoing relationships with the natural and supernatural worlds. Fifth graders created a three-step reduction relief print in the X-ray style using carving tools and a linoleum-like block. Students depicted animals with portions of their skeletal and organ systems visible within the outline of the body.

Dot paintings are the traditional visual art form of the Aborigines in Western Australia Central Desert. The canvas is covered in small dots of paint which create patterns and symbols, often called "dreamings." Bright colors are now more common with the use of acrylic paint, but traditional dot painters used natural pigments such as ochre from crushed seeds. The boys used this technique to create a border of painted colorful dots and patterns, similar to those seen in most traditional Aboriginal artwork, for the frame of their piece.

Art Auction Items for Sip and Swing 2009!

The Sip and Swing (which is this Saturday, February 21st) is an annual fundraiser event sponsored by the Calvert School Parent's Association where you will find parents and teachers mingling, dancing, eating, drinking and bidding on auction items to raise money for the school. This year, the parents in charge asked me and Mrs. Dypski to facilitate the creation of class art projects to be included in the auction. Click here to see the pieces the LS created and see the MS pieces below. I hope they bring in lots of money!

8th Grade Project (each 8th grader glazed a tile that frames this mosaic wall mirror):

7th Grade Project (the "Pop Portrait" of each 7th grader is immortalized in this poster):

6th Grade Project (each 6th grader glazed a tile that tops this mosaic patio table):

5th Grade Project (each 5th grader glazed a tile that borders this large planter- large palm tree included!):

Traveling Art Show comes to Calvert!

Every year Calvert MS Art joins with five other local private middle schools (Gilman, RPCS, Bryn Mawr, Boys Latin & Friends) to participate in a "Traveling Art Show". Each art teacher creates five boards highlighting the artwork of their students, and the show travels between the schools. The show has come to Calvert and is on the display in the MS Black Box Theatre until the end of the day next Monday, February 23. Please take a moment to stop by to see the artwork, but if you can't, here's a sample of the boards:

Artwork by Roland Park Country School:

Artwork by Friends School:

Artwork by Gilman:

Artwork by Bryn Mawr:

Artwork by Boys Latin:

Artwork by Calvert!:

Body Organ Collagraphs

This is the last project done by my 7th graders during the first semester, but I forgot to post about it! Calvert’s seventh grade life science class covers several aspects of living organisms with a final focus on human body systems. In art, students chose an organ system as the subject of their two-part artwork. In the first part, students used medical drawings of human organs (found in “Gray’s Anatomy” and other library books) to create a detailed, shaded, pen and ink drawing.

For the second part of the project, students created a collagraph of their organ. Collagraphy is a collage printmaking technique in which materials are assembled on a flat base to form a relief block. To create their own prints, seventh grade students drew a simplified outline of their organ, glued yarn to chipboard and printed the plate using white ink on back paper to imitate the look of an x-ray...

Advisory Alliance Snack

Our advisory went to Ms. Spadone's 9-A class today for snack with them but I forgot my camera to capture it for all to see! We brought brownies, popcorn and drinks and the 9th agers asked the girls questions about Middle School and they talked about what they did on their long weekend off... We hope to get a kickball game organized for the Spring- stay tuned!

Art Opening Success!!

The art reception at Stone Mill Bakery was this evening and was fantastic. Eight of the fourteen artists were able to join the party, as well as many of their family members and a handful of other Calvert teachers and administrators. Thanks to everyone who came for their support! If you were unable to make it, there's still time to see the show - the work will be up until February 18th... enjoy!

New Course- 7th Grade Digital Photography!

This semester, Mrs. McGraw and I are co-teaching a new Fine Arts course for 7th grade- Digital Photography! We meet in room 201, rather than the art room, where each student has access to their own desktop computer. The overall objective of the course is to mix traditional studio art with digital photography and graphic design. Students will learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop (an industry standard image editing and creation program) over the first several weeks of the course, including working with layers, cropping, adding blending effects, colorizing, etc. We will also teach them how to take photos and will discuss composition, lighting, perspective, etc. They will combine what they learn about digital photography and the software to create a number of exciting artworks! Stay tuned for completed projects. Here a few pics of them creating their first one...