Sketchbooks!

Day One of Art Class we always spend the bulk of the class period creating art. I personally am a bit Attention Deficit in meetings so I can't expect my students to sit in our colorful, stimulating art room and not create! We tackled some simple rules, got seats and then moved into our first projects....... the first of which was a simple piece of functional art.

It was hard keeping a secret but I made it to day one of art today without telling the kids what the cereal boxes were for that they collected.

Sketchbooks!

I'm excited because, after a 3 year hiatus, we are using formal sketchbooks again... and this time we're making them with a few simple supplies. 

Zooming back a few years: Every student had a sketchbook AND I gave them all weekly drawing assignments AND I vowed to check that they completed the drawings AND all before the end of the class period/school day. It was CRAZY. Half the kids loved it and half said "ART HOMEWORK??!" and didn't complete the simple assignment. My intentions were in the right place but what a task. So, I canned it and gave out optional vacation and summer drawing prompts. 

But, I really love the idea of the kids having a sketchbook and how easy it is for the kids to make them while being "green" in their art so that's what we did today.
My students made two sketchbooks today: one to keep in art class and the other to take home. The home book has 30 weeks of optional sketchbook prompts inside if the kids want to use them. Of course, they can just fill up the pages as well with drawings and writing of their choice.

I started to think "here we go, again!" as the piles of recyclables started to pour in. I have found myself in this situation all too often having a classroom filled up with "trash" or cumbersome materials. Fortunately, this is a one week project, the kids are really liking these sketchbooks and (here's the big one) the cereal boxes do not attract bugs since they are clean and.

Cut!

Fold and cut

Add a binding

Pages and rubberband so that more pages can be added easily

Mrs. Drake checking out the sketchbook

5th Grade Art Enrichment: Ceramic Lamps

Student working. Those hands are such an amazing tool!

We are nearing completion on our ceramic lamps that we have been working on in Art Enrichment. The kids have started to glaze their lamps and they are looking so vibrant and beautiful. I gave my students the challenge of creating a lamp base using clay coils. Some left the coils exposed for decorative purposes, others smoothed the coils out. We will wire our functional lamps so that they light up properly. The kids have been working so happily hard...I know they are creating a piece of art that they will cherish.
Below are pictures of our works in progress. Wait until you see the finished results!

Slowing down the drying

All so beautiful and different

Trying out the lamp shade for sizing 

4th grade Repousse

What do the 4th graders and I share in common? We love these functional art repousse boxes that we are making!
After discussing metal work and copper tooling, I hope students appreciate the skill it takes to make intricate designs in metals of all thicknesses.

After creating a sketch of a sun or flower, students followed step to create a nice repousse design. Day 2 was to paint the boxes with metallic paints

Eva N.

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We discussed the outside of the box and how to make it more ornate. One 4th grader suggested utilizing the scrap metal to add metal designs in areas on the sides of the boxes. What do you think I said? YES! Let's go for it! So students have the option of utilizing the scrap metal if they choose.

Here are a few works in progress

Adding india ink to make the copper look antiqued

Getting set to paint the box