Lidded Clay Slab Boxes

The final project for the first quarter fifth graders was a clay box constructed of slabs. The girls learned how to use wooden slats and rolling pins to create thin slabs of uniform thickness, which they put together to create unique oval boxes. They created lids from slabs as well and the design and glazing of the pieces was up to them. Check them out:

A Collaboration with Nature

Andy Goldsworthy is a British scuptor, photographer and environmentalist living in Scotland who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. His work involves the use of natural and found objects to create both teporary and permanent sculptures which draw out the character of their environment. He experiments with leaves, grasses, stones, ice, sand, wood, clay and snow, while the seasons and the weather determine the materials and subject of his work. With no preconceived ideas about what he will create, Goldsworthy relies on what nature will give him. He "feels" the energy from nature and transcends that energy into an art form.

Inspired by the work of Goldsworthy and the vivid colors of fall that could be seen around campus the past few weeks, seventh graders created temporary artworks by using found objects. Like Goldsworthy, we photographed the pieces to document their existence. Here are just a few:

The Week in Review

Most of my classes are mid project right now, so I don't have much to post in the way of final products, but here are a few action shots of some of my classes this week...

Seventh graders are glazing the coil pots that they created out of clay a few weeks ago based on traditional Greek pot shapes. Stay tuned for the final fired pieces:

Sixth grade Art History class created fresco paintings on Wednesday. Read more about the process from my first quarter post:

Eighth graders are nearing the completion of their multimedia still life projects (I've given the girls a Thanksgiving deadline). After making a line drawing of a still life, students cut their work into four sections and have used pencil, oil pastel, watercolor and collage in each of the sections- you can see three of the four mediums being used in these photos:

LS Art Club members have been printmaking for the past two sessions. They learned about Kente cloth from Ghana and are using a three step reduction process to create a Kente pattern of their own. Details and photos to come, but here they are pulling some prints:

Man's Best Friend

In this sixth grade clay project, students brought in a photo of their family dog, a dog they know, or a dog they wish they owned. They used two pinch pots to create the hollow bodies and added coil legs and necks, pinch heads, and little details like paws, facial features, ears, wrinkles, tails, hairy texture, collars and more! Woof!

Tamata by 5th Grade

This project was inspired by something I saw on my Garrett Grant trip to Greece this summer (I took the photo on the right). In the Greek Orthodox church, tamata are votive offerings made of rectangular pieces of tin, silver or gold embossed with images symbolizing the subject of prayer for which the plaque is offered. When a loved one is ailing or a person desires a miracle or good luck for something, they make an offering to the church in order to acquire a tamata. A wide variety of images can be found on them, each capable of multiple interpretations. A heart may symbolize a wish for love or a prayer to heal a heart problem. Tamata are tied to a pole beneath the icon or painting of the worshipper's chosen saint with a prayer that their wish comes true. Often, if their prayer is answered, the person will return to the church to donate money or offer jewelry to the icon/saint who answered their prayer.

In this project, fifth graders thought about what they hope most for in their own lives, either now or in the future. They then created a symbol that would represent their hope or wish, and used special tools to emboss their design into 36 gauge aluminum, creating a low relief. Their wishes ranged from health for a 96 year old great-grandfather to luck in Harvest field hockey... Each student wrote an explanation of their tamata which is on display with the piece.

Clay Aquarium Castles

In Lower School Art Club, students recently created aquarium castles out of clay. They rolled slabs for the circular base, created hollow coils for the towers and pinched small clay bridges to connect them. Then, they cut out notches in the towers and added castle details and textures. The final step was to glaze them in fun colors. The castles are on display in the MS lobby complete with fishbowl and live fish! Here are just a few of them, but do try to stop in and see them in person!

Da Vinci - The Genius

Today the entire sixth grade went to the MD Science Center to see the traveling exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci (hailed as the most comprehensive exhibition on da Vinci ever assembled) as an extension of our Art History class. We had a great time and the students really enjoyed learning more about the quintessential "Renaissance Man." Here are a few highlights, although I recommend trying to see the exhibition yourself if possible!

Here are some students interacting with some of Da Vinci's ideas brought to life- pulley systems, etc:Da Vinci's early version of scuba gear and an underwater breathing apparatus:Large scale models of Leo's flying machines and his version of a war tank: Students reading about "the secrets of the Mona Lisa revealed." The exhibit includes the world's only 360 degree walk around replica of the painting- very cool! Pascal Cotte was granted unprecedented access to take photographs of Mona using special cameras, etc. His findings included the ability to identify her original pigment colors (seen below, left. The current color is on the right):A few boys attempt to build an "emergency bridge" like the large replica of Da Vinci's sketch that is on display. He designed it so that soldiers could quickly build a bridge using no tools in an emergency:Being Mona: