Positive/Negative Cut Paper Designs

While the seventh graders waited for their Greek pots to fully dry and be fired, they created these positive/negative cut paper designs. In this project, students came up with a theme and a list of symmetrical images that go with the theme. Using an Exacto knife, students cut half of each of their images from the sides of one 8" square of black paper, creating a negative space in the black paper. When the cut piece was flipped over and placed next to the square, the positive piece visually completed the shape. Then, smaller details were cut out and flipped back into the negative space and so on. See if you can figure out the themes of the final works below:

Clay Aquarium Castles

It's funny, though not surprising, that the Lower School Art Clubbers care way more about their 28 cent goldfish than they do about the beautiful and whimsical clay castles they made for their fish to hide in! Here are a few photos of the clay castles on display... fish and all!

Art is Alive!

Don't worry blog followers... art is alive and well in the middle school even though I've been a bad blogger this month- sorry! Not to make excuses, but I have been a very busy lady lately, mostly because of the National Art Education Association's 2010 national convention which was held this year right here in Baltimore! The convention was held from the 14-18th, included over 1,000 sessions and events, and welcomed over 3,000 art and museum educators, adminstrators, professors, students and artists from around the globe to B-more to network, learn and re-energize. Since it was in my home town, I decided to get involved and volunteered on the state host committee as well as PRESENTED for the first time. I was nervous but excited to share some ideas and successful lessons with my colleagues in the art ed world... it was AWESOME and I will definitely be applying to present again the future. 2011 Seattle??!

Meanwhile, I promise to post some great project pics this week that are long overdue!

Houses for Haiti Sold Out!

This weekend I went to Red Tree to pick up the last check from the sale of the Houses for Haiti my students made. All together between the sales at Red Tree and Antique Exchange, we sold 72 houses and raised $360 to donate to the Art Creation Foundation for Children in Jacmel , Haiti. Thank you to the artists and those of you who went to buy one, or five!

Three-step Reduction Prints

Asante Cloth- or Kente, is a ceremonial cloth hand-woven on a loom in Ghana, Africa. Rich, colorful repeating patterns are woven into 4-inch strips and are sewn together into larger pieces of cloth. Cloths come in various colors, sizes and designs and are worn during very important social and religious occasions, but kente is more than just cloth. It is a visual representation of history, philosophy, ethics, oral literature, moral values, social code of conduct, religious beliefs, political thought and aesthetic principles.

In this project, LS Art Club members created their own patterned kente by using a 3-step reduction printing process. A pattern was first scratched into a rectangular piece of printing foam and this design was printed six times on colored paper with ink of their choice. Next, the plate was 'reduced' by cutting out areas to create new patterns. This reduced printing plate was printed on top of the first six prints. Plates were reduced one last time and were printed once more with a third color!

This Week in the Art Room...

We're rounding out the 3rd quarter this week and lots of projects are underway or wrapping up. Here's a recap of what's been going on in the art room this week...

5th graders are busy creating all of the colors on the color wheel by mixing only the primary colors, black and white. They are creating a color wheel accordion book including tints and shades of each color:
6th grade art students are drawing from observation. This quarter, students are drawing their hands spelling out their names in American Sign Language. We're using lamps as spotlights in order to create shadows and highlights:6th grade art historians are working in small groups on Windows Moviemaker movies about the Renaissance as their final project. They will present on their topics (architecture, sculpture or painting) tomorrow in class:7th graders are creating coil pots out of red low-fire clay inspired by the pottery of ancient Greece. They are going to be impressive!:8th graders have been painting the self portrait masks they casted from their faces the week before spring break. I don't have any in progress photos, but here are some from the plastering process:LS Art Club members completed their most recent project this past Tuesday (photos of the final products to come). They created a three-step reduction print inspired by African kente cloth. Here are some pics from Tuesday:Ceramics Club is on hiatus this week- the third session starts next Monday and there is still room if you want to participate. Sign up in the office with Mrs. Conkling!

Clay Clocks

I am so excited by the results of the latest Ceramics Club project! Members created unique themed wall clocks out of clay, and yes, they actually work!