Pinch Pot Fish

Students investigated clay by using the basic pinch pot building method. After the pinch form was created, each student use the "slip and score" method to add fins, tails, eyes, and other aquatic details to build a fish(ish) sculpture. After these were bisque-fired, students used low-fire glaze to add color.

Hide and Seek

Second graders were introduced to Katsushika Hokusai’s (1760-1849) Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji. The classes discussed how Hokusai used art elements, such as line and shape, to direct the viewer’s eye to Mt. Fuji. Next, the students carved images of their everyday “leisure” life into Styrofoam plates, which they printed using traditional inking methods. Can you find Mt. Fuji?

White Out

First graders studied the work of Louise Nevelson, the "original recycler". After looking at her monochromatic sculptures, each student created an all-white design. The students focused on an object's shape and texture to up-cycle, or repurpose the original use of that object. Some students worked on abstract design, while others illustrated a concrete representation.

Pumpkin Heads!

Yellow + Red = Pumpkin Head! The first week of the project, the students learned how to mix yellow and red paint to make orange. Focus was on painting the whole page, holding the paint brush correctly and mixing colors. In the following weeks, the students cut out pumpkins from their orange painting and decorated using black, green, and brown paper. The class discussed the use of facial expressions to tell how someone, or some pumpkin, was feeling. 

Apple Trees

This mixed media project started with painting the blue sky "like the breeze." The students were introduced to Mr. Paintbrush and the ways that we treat art materials. After painting the sky, the students used glue water to create tree bark out of tissue bark and brown construction paper. At the next art class, they were introduced to printmaking, using sponges to create the leaves and corks to print the apples.