Day One: Handmolds

We started off talking about how to see the space between our hands... the negative space. We imagined what can be held in that space... looking the lines that are seen around our knuckles and palm. The plaster was poured and then the hardest part.... waiting!

While the molds were drying in the sun, the artists drew the lines that they saw, imagining that they were little ants walking along the peaks and valleys.

 

After lunch we looked at the Negative Space that our molds captures and, again, looked and drew what we saw. These molds and line studies will be used later in the week as reference for printmaking and batik!

 They artists were invited to use some watercolor to add visual depth and highlight areas of texture.

Day One: Printmaking

Hand casts were used as reference for the printing processes; by abstracting their personal hand prints to carve linear patterns into their printing plate. 

During the print making process the children rolled ink and printed with limited assistance, giving them the huge satisfaction and pleasure of learning a new skill as well as the anticipation of what happens when one, two or even three colors are rolled onto a plate and then printed.

Snowflake Quilt Progress Pics

The fifth graders finished the quilt pieces right before break. I spent a wonderful day sewing and quilting all of the pieces together into a beautifully adorned winter-inspired piece of art. The images that follow show the progress. Happy Snow Day!

Week Four (3 weeks of running stitches!)

Week Five: starting to add some embellishments...

Week 7: I began to sew on borders so that I could piece together as soon as they were finished with their designs.

Week 8: I started to piece together the squares...

And the finished product! (with cool glitter fabric on back!)

Story Quilts

First graders spent time talking about the different purposes of quilt-making. After creating a symmetric foundation of fabric, each quilter embellished his/her fabric with ribbons and buttons. During the subsequent classes, students discussed symbolism found in colors and shapes in the quilts. We looked as some examples from the Freedom Quilts of the underground railroad. After the quilt was finished, each student wrote a short story based on the symbols of his/her quilt.

Sweet Dreams

The second graders stepped up to the sewing challenge! Using burlap as the primary surface, the students attached yarn using the “couch” method of sewing to represent the first letter of their first names. Next, the students added “pizzazz” by sewing on buttons, beads and sequences. The real fun began when each student stuffed his/her pillow. The pieces were sewn together using the “running stitch”.  These beautiful pieces showcase determination and self-expression. Like snowflakes, no 2 pillows are alike! Sweet Dreams...