- 6th to 8th Grade Gallery -
Sixth Grade - Coil Pottery
Like a couple of other groups, this class voted to continue the final project from
last year. Coil pottery is made by joining coils of clay together to form the sides of the
pot. By making them slightly larger or smaller, you control the form of the pot.
After practicing making a base, a coil, and joining them together with modeling
clay, we proceeded to make the finals from air-dry clay. Every artists was required to add
decoration to their pot by joining additional pieces or carving into the walls.
We loooked at examples of Southwest native american pottery for ideas on the design - and
for a limited palette to use painting them. Our final activity was to evaluate one another’s
work.
We are currently finishing-up Nearikas, or yarn paintings...pics soon!
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Seventh Grade - Calligraphy
Our next project [chosen by the class] was to try our hand at "The art of beautiful
writing", or calligraphy. It involves using a special pen with a flat nib [tip] and holding
it at a certain angle [35 - 45 degrees] while making lines that form each letter.
It is also important to try and make the letters consistent in size and spacing, to space the words
correctly - AND to space the lines evenly! We used guideline papers to help with the last one...
Everyone decided on the text they wanted to use, and we spent
time practicing 3 main alphabet/font types:
- Chaucery - An italic [slanted] script.
- Uncial - A rounded, all caps [capital letters] script.
- Gothic - A pointed, decorated script.
Seventh Grade - Maskmaking
We started our first project with a group contest: name as many natural and human-made
items that could be used in an artwork you can. Next, we viewed examples of masks, discussed
their purposes and examined the materials used to make them. Then planning work began -
everyone chose a Process to use to make the
basic form, then sketched-out the colors and idea for it.
Some used plaster-filled gauze strips and a plastic form to get a human-like face. Others
chose to build-up thin cardboard, newspaper and masking tape to get a more custom shape.
Then, everyone mixed paint colors to use on their mask & finished by adding materials
for decoration. Masks were then prepped to wear and/or hang:
Eighth Grade - Tee Designs
Next, we voted to design and make iron-on designs for T shirts. The only criteria was to combine text and an image ;-) [I also did this lesson with Mr. Polovina’s class.]
Eighth Grade - Candies!
Our first assignment of this year was to bring-in a favorite candy and then sketch ideas for a composition. After selecting the most interesting layout, the candy was drawn and painted - with colors mixed to match.
Eighth Grade - Stitchery or Mini-Museums
[For some reason, I do not have photos of the stitchery designs on burlap - where artists practiced 3 required stitches: running, cross and satin.] These were our final projects from last year that the class voted to continue. For the musuems, each student researched and collected examples from a well-known artist and built a small room / space to display them.
Cross-Categorical Class: Upper - Egyptian Cartouches
This group is working on the same project as the 5th grade class...
Cross-Categorical Class: Upper - Auto Designs
[The process is dentical to the 2nd grade lesson...except not in groups.] We tried to follow the idea that "Form follows function." Can you match the design with it’s purpose?
- An underwater vehicle.
- A race car
- Something cool to drive
- A drag racer
- An auto that flies
