Some year three and four 'wild things' ceramic pieces

Cracking the kiln!

I was excited to get to school today to crack open the kiln. Nothing has exploded! Always a good thing and one of those unpredictable things that can happen with ceramics, even when you follow all the right techniques. 

The yr 3/4 and yr4 classes created pinch pot 'wild things' We watched a very expressive YouTube reading of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. We observed the patterns and textures on the bodies of the wild things and recorded them and created some of our own ideas in our visual diaries. 

Next we had a game or two of Exquisite Corpse - a fun drawing game developed by the Surrealist artists ( think Salvador Dali and his friends) these games helped us to come up with ideas for some drawings of wild things. After exploring these ideas we had a look at the work of a contemporary Australian ceramicist, Vipoo. He creates some interesting characters. 

Finally once we had looked at all these ideas the kids got to create their own ceramic " wild thing'. The yr 4's had to have a pinch pot as part of their construction and had to demonstrate that they could join two pieces of clay using the correct technique. The surface of their work had to have textures applied. Year threes were able to create a model of a wild thing that if they didn't make too thick I would fire or they could choose to paint as is. Many of them chose to follow the year 4 outline although this was not expected to demonstrate a satisfactory grade level for them. 

Last week room 1 got to glaze their pieces. They had to be really really careful as I am rushing them through the kiln because we are so close to the end of the year and there's quite a few to get to. The once fire method means applying glaze to green ware which has not been bisque fired. They are very fragile at this stage but the yr 3/4 class managed quite well. The paper clay I've given them can be moistened and reattached sometimes (if your work is not too thin) and a couple of models I has success with 'gluing' them back together with glaze. 

The year 6 classes had a bonus clay day because I had left over clay from the yr 4s. Their outline required them to create something rolled and textured. They could join the rolled pieces to create a cylindrical or conical form. It had to be done properly - joined with slip, surface decorated and not rolled too thin in order for me to fire it. This was clearly communicated to the children and most of them followed the outline. Once their models were dry most kids glazed their work but some opted to paint theirs with water colour paint and varnish them rather than fire them. 

                            

Today the studio will be busy with glazing again with two more classes trying to get as many glazed as possible for the next kiln load which takes about two days to reach temperature, fire the clay then slowly cool so that the pieces don't crack when you open the door letting cool air in.

Amazing 3D

At the end of last term we did some paper mâché over the milk cartons left from the milk supplied to schools to promote dairy. There were SO many milk cartons that the challenge for our waste size school was to think of ways to use them. 

The year 5 and 6 classes created plain house forms that they were able to decorate in any way they wanted to. 

They will be used as an art installation for the pally deck open day. We discussed that the fact that they were all the same form - with a few exceptions where a couple of kids opted to join two or three cartons together, created a sense of unity, making them look like a set that belonged together despite the fact that they are all decorated differently. 

These differences or variety create interest, making people want to take a closer look. The kids came up with some pretty cool ideas and they look great en masse.

After finishing these forms the children looked at them carefully from different angles, observing the lines and shapes that they could see.

They made several drawings creating different shades to create 3D drawings in their visual diaries. 

Next we used these drawings to create paintings using acrylic paint. We learnt about how the brush strokes are visible with thick paint and we need to think about how we apply the paint.

Acrylic paint is also pretty opaque and can be layered so it is important to do the background first and build up the paintings.

The children selected one colour for their house form and created a sense of depth by mixing shades and tints of that colour. 

 

Knots

It's our first week back after a two week break and the pp/1, yr 1, yr 2 and yr3 classes are busy preparing to do some sewing projects. The yr threes are finally sewing their pencil cases which will be used to store their art supplies for the rest of their time at primary school. The other classes are making a small decorative item.

We started by looking at a piece of sashiko embroidery and discussed what they could see and how it may have been made. We then talked about how originally it was used as a way of mending clothes because once upon a time it took a long long time to make clothing by hand and people couldn't just run out to Kmart and spend $10 to buy a new one. This lead to a talk about the development of machines and how times have changed then onto sustainability and how sustainability is more than just sorting rubbish and recycling it. We talked about mending clothes and not creating more rubbish. Who'd have thought one little bit of patched embroidery could lead to so much learning hey? 😉 

Source ot image and info about sashiko

We learnt the term 'textiles' that refers to the art of making things from threads and strands, yarn and fabric. The kids brainstormed how textiles were used in their homes. There are lots of textiles in our homes and many children have craftspeople in their families who knit, crochet or sew. These crafts fall under the textiles art form. Today's lesson was spent getting ready to sew, choosing and labelling our fabric with name and room number, creating a focal point shape (yr 3cut theirs from felt and pinned it on, the others selected a sticker shape and positioned it on the fabric) THEN came the most important part of the lesson. We learnt ways to thread a needle and tie knots. 

I did not even attempt to introduce the actual sewing as I wanted to focus on these important fiddley skills. Now I know that every child can thread a needle and tie a knot. Although I have an alternate plan for the PP and yr 1 kids if required, we'll put a bit of tape at the end of the yarn. But after breaking down the mechanics of knot making using thick string to demonstrate and teaching them to make a 'chicken beak with their fingers ( softly putting the pad of their pointer finger on to the pad of their thumb rather than pinching the tread with their nails this gives them the ability to move their fingers a bit to grab the needle or extra bits of thread allowing loops to be held in place while making the knot) I don't think I will need the alternative, as they all managed to tie a knot so far - there's another couple of classes to go but so far so good. We talked about the importance of having a go and practicing a skill. They all laughed when I suggested that if they couldn't kick a goal in footy that the coach could run on and do it for them. They said you had to try over and over and keep kicking the ball yourself no one could do it for you. Art skills are the same, they take time to develop and require practice and effort to achieve and boy weren't they proud of themselves when they got it! 

  So you might find that your kiddo brings home an extra length of yarn this week to practice tying knots. They know that the knotted string is not actually important it is the doing and the learning that is important - but some of them couldn't bring themselves to put it in the bin on the way out the door.

Cultural Presentation

Today's presentation of what the kids do in Music, Indonesian and visual art was a fantastic success.

( Calm before the storm - my puppy came along with my husband to help us set up. )

It was a huge amount of preparation with a variety of challenges coordinating three learning areas and 450 kids! Plus don't talk to us about technology! ;) But it was all right on the night and the kids loved it.

 Every class performed a little musical item. The choir and instrumental groups performed and the whole school sang Indonesian songs. We made a media presentation with photos and film clips showing the kids art works and the fruits of the collaboration between art and Lote with the puppet plays they'd done in Indonesian with puppets made in art.

I put together an exhibition of art works from across all year levels showing a variety of art forms we've been doing this term. Part way through the day the wind came up and required a flurry of activity to gather up artworks that had flown away and re positioned and nailed back into place with tacks! And the oncoming rain lead to a hasty rearrangement of the outdoor 'gallery' space.

It's been a very busy term! 

 

 

Book week

Today we had our book week dress up parade. There is SO much excitement and energy in the school - on top of that everyone is wearing fancy clothes that we don't want paint or ink on so I decided to take advantage of the colour and fun of the day and use it for inspiration of our art works. 

Our normal art classes, following this terms programme of work would have us printing with messy ink or using messy PVA glue and paint so with all our special costumes I thought it bes to make a programme detour!

I decided to go as 'Ragged Little Blossom' from Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. This presented a learning opportunity to show the kids other art work by May Gibbs.

 I had a sudden Light bulb moment this morning as I got ready for school and came up with a cool idea for today's art classes using her work as inspiration. I found a few gum leaves and copied them in coupler on the photocoppier. 

The children looked at May Gibbs's work and used their imagination to populate their gum leaves with their own fairy folk - cute or gruesome, their choice!     

Some kids decided to use their sketch books to plan and try out different critters and creatures ...

Others just jumped in and began drawing.

The other option was to use a long strip of paper to record some of their favourite costumes in the Book Week parade.

We all decided it was one of the best art lessons ever!

 

Groovy Shakers

Our 'Cultural Presentation' day is fast approaching! The children from PP/1 up to the threes in room 14 are decorating the shakers they have made in music. They will be using them during music lessons and during the performance.

We covered their rice filled containers with a couple of layers of paper mâché.

 Last week some classes managed to get their shakers painted and today they decorated them with a variety of materials.

At the beginning of the lesson I showed them the types of materials that were available - feathers, Pom poms, foam shapes, sequins, tissue and coloured papers. We discussed ways that the various materials could be used.

The children then planned their designs selecting from the materials available. The only direction was they had to use at least one of the paper ribbons they printed patterns on last week and not grab handfuls of all the materials without thinking of others. 

There wasn't a mountain of certain things so they were limited to about four of some things. For example they could have four big feathers or four alien stickers but not 4 of both. Luckily my stock order arrived today so these trays of goodies can be replenished for next weeks classes.

There were heaps of sequins and small feathers so there was no limit - besides being thoughtful and using only what you need and returning the rest! 

Part of the lesson is to be creative within the limitations of what is available and to share what is there.

We are also busy writing procedures explaining how to do paper mâché, so some children were finishing these off and will complete their shakers next week.

Some children completed theirs today. They are looking fab! 

I can't wait to see them all done. They will look amazing!