Arpilleras and Quilt-Making

Today we were introduced to quilt-making.  We learned that in Chile, quilts are called Arpilleras (A-p-a-l-i-a-r-a-s) and the activity of quilt-making carries meaning and symbolism.  A quilt is a patchwork of fabric squares that each reveal a design of some sort.  The squares are then sewn together a masterpiece.  The quilt can have a theme or can be of squares that present different ideas.   

Quilt-making can be a social event or a political event; it brings people together and creates scenes for conversation.  In our group, we discussed our personal lives, unit plans, and brainstormed ideas for our individual patches.  In our situation, we did not debate or concern ourselves with controversial subject matter, however I can see this as an important topic for some communities and in certain situations. 

Quilts are made with different fabrics, different materials and scraps, thread and needles, decorative crafts, and felts.  In a primary and intermediate classes, needles would not be a safe tool in quit-making so the teacher would either not use them, or monitor one child at a time ( this may not be a feasible option).

Clockwise: Melissa, Brynn, Danae, Reena

We became familiar with two artists today: Jessica Stockholder and Brian Jungen.  Both artists create ingenious, controversial, bizzare pieces.  Brian Jungen is known for taking everyday items and creating inventive art; for example, Jungen created First Nations masks out of running shoes, and Jessica Stockholder creates scenes using household items.  The premise of Jessica’s work is a reinterpretation of space; Jessica takes things apart, experiments with colour, creates social/political scenes, and uses various elements of design in her work. 

Jungen and Stockholder’s pieces conjure different interpretations by different people and it is this strategy for making people think that makes their art educational and informative. 

Lesson plan for Grades 2-3: Thanksgiving quilt

http://www.kinderart.com/seasons/thanks_quilt.shtml

Get to know Jessica Stockholder: www.jessicastockholder.coe.uh.edu

Get to know Brian Jungen: www.nativeonline.com/brian.htm

Printmaking

I am familiar with printmaking from my elementary school years when I used potatoes and apples to make art pieces.  In class we experimented with styrofoam sheets, tile blocks, and rope glued to cardboard to make different prints.  We used various materials to print on, for example, cloth, white paper, and coloured construction paper.  

There are techniques when working with ink in printmaking; one has to roll the roller over a sheet of glass to make sure that the roller is ‘load’ with ink and ready to roll ontop of a design template.  There is many tools you can use and methods you can do to create images on your materials, for example, you can draw a picture on styrofoam with a pencil pressing firmly, you can use a chisel to make an image out of the tiles, you can glue string on cardboard.

In creating a print, there is a ’positive’ image and a ‘negative’ background; the positive is the image that will print on a piece of paper and the negative is the background around the positve that is usually solid or non existent.  If you want only a ‘positive’ image then it is important not to press down on the surrounding material.  

To create a print with ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ characteristics, when working with a tile, one needs to draw a illustration of an object they wish to print, and chisel around the object so that the image is in relief.  Then, roll the roller (after it is loaded with a colour) over the image, and print it on a piece of paper.  It is your preference how much material you would like to chisel off.   

Twinkle Twinkle-use of tile and chiseling ( I chiseled only a little bit around the image)

When working with string, the string creates the positive image, surrounded by a negative background.  

Dream-use of string ( I pressed down on the surrounding material a little bit)

Sea to Sky- use of tile, string, and styrofoam

Lesson plans for all grades:

http://www.kinderart.com/printmaking/fruit.shtml

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ArtStillLifePrintmaking312.htm

Printmaking techniques can be divided into the following categories:

• relief printing, (ontop of the block) where the ink goes on the original surface of the block.
• woodcut or woodblock or wood engraving-image is carved into the surface of the wood-the carved image remains white while the surrounding is inked. 
• intaglio: (into the block)-etching- the whole block is inked, and the ink then wiped away from the surface after it is stamped, so that the ink remains only in the lines where the ink goes beneath the original surface of the block.
• planographic, where the matrix retains its entire surface, but some parts are treated to make the image, eg. lithography, monotyping, and digital techniques.
• stencil, including: screen-printing

Artisits: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/toulouse-lautrec/uses chemical processes of oi-based paint and water

Sketching Techniques and Colour Wheel

Drawing is a complex activity; it requires imagination, creativity, and technical uses of different pencils to give the affects envisioned by the artisit.  Today we worked with pencils that gave different effects on the page; I worked with 2B, 6B, and 2H pencils and they all had different degrees of colour and width of line. In our first activity we were asked to copy a pencil drawing of a tree with the use of these pencils.  To create shadowing and dimension I used the 6B pencil because it produces think dark lines; I used the 2B pencil to create details on the tree as well as adding shadows; I used the 2H pencil for fine details on the branches.  I used cross-hatching and smudging to create shadows and definition on my tree.    

 

characteristics of three drawing pencils

characteristic markings of three pencils

 

contour drawing of a tree

  

Various artists who draw sketches in pencil are experienced in the techniques, such as shading, cross-hatching, and the use of light and dark pencils, used to create dimension in their artwork.  

Our next activity focused on the nature of art expression; according to the IRP, art is about responding, perceiving, creating, and communication.  Our class brought in personal cultural objects and were asked to explain the origin and significance of the object with the classmates at our table.  We then displayed them for the rest of the class and did a gallery walk to look at the other tables’ artifacts. 

I think that asking students to bring a special object to class to share with the class is important for teachers to implement in their classrooms because it allows the teacher to get to know the students and the students to get to know each other.  This sharing experience can be done in activities such as show-and-tell and group or individual presentations.  These effective activities because communicating information develops student’s oral skills and confidence level.

Today we also experimented with colour.  We worked with primary colours, which are red, yellow, and blue, and secondary colours, which are purple, green, and orange; these are the colours that are created by mixing primary colours. 

 

We experimented with tinting and shading; tinting is where you add white to create lighter shades of one colour, and shading is where you add black to create darker shades of one colour. Tinting and shading techniques are useful when painting depth and in giving images excitment and dimension.

 

Use of oil pastels, various texture modes (using sponge, scratching, wiping)

We then experimented with our own primary and secondary colours to create images in nature.

Illusion of distance

      

warm colours: red, yellow, orange

cool colours: blue, green, purple

Lesson plans for primary grades:

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ArtScienceColor-EggCartonPaintPalettesIdeaK2.htm

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ArtLABeginSchoolFavoriteThingsSelfPortrait312.htm

Getting to know Artists who work with colour

 Georgia O’Keefe is an artist who is known for her beautiful oil paintings of flowers and her ability to capture realism in her work.  She is also known for her landscape creations and her skull collection.

A taste of O’Keefe’s work….. 

 

Visit this website to learn about Georgia O’Keefe, her life, and her works of art:

www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/okeeffe.htm

Claymation, Earthworks and Collage

CLAYMATION 

We did not line up outside the classroom today because we already knew our colour groups and we knew what tables to sit at. The first portion of the class was spent discussing our jigsaw readings with our groups and the activities from the previous session. Our classroom management strategies were now set in place so that class ran very smoothly.

We watched a video on Andy Goldsworthy, an artist who creates scultpures out of materials readily available in nature. His scultpures are beautiful and almost surreal, as the artist takes us away from the mundane world into a world of creativity and imagination. The video was introducing us to artists, new and unusual forms of art, and showing us that creativity is in the eye of the beholder.

The video was followed by an introduction to the art of clay-making where we were given the task of creating anything we wanted to. Our professor showed us techniques in playing, cutting, and moistening the pieces of clay and then let us have the rest of class time to work on our creations; we used scultping utensils to make fine cuts in the clay and create texture, we massaged the clay in our hands to get it warm and soft, and we learned that clay gets dry fairly quickly so the key is to moisten the piece of clay with water. 

It is important to go over safety rules in the activity with students, especially in the primary grades. In a primary class I would go over the safety rules in working with clay; I would tell them that they are not to taste the clay, and they are not to touch their faces or eyes until they have washed their hands with soap and water.

Lesson Plan-grades k-3

http://k-12.ccad.edu/lesson01.htm

Aristists who work with clay:

http://www.earlinegreen.com/ (very interesting)

http://www.lundinkudo.com/ (Really cool)

EARTHWORKS and COLLAGE

Today was our first art class of the elementary education program; the first day going into art class as a student with the mentality of a teacher. Our professor greeted us outside his classroom door and asked us to line up and one by one, we would pick a coloured fuzzy craft ball and enter the classroom to find our corresponding coloured table. Our first lesson with him was thus a lesson on class managment strategies. We then sat in our coloured groups and were asked to pick a group leader for each group. This was great lesson because this sort of practice creates accountability between students, focus on the stduents and away from the teacher, and it establishes responsibilty. Right from the started our professor administered ‘the clap’ as a way to control the classes attention.

The session included many activities that were centred around exposure to the world of art in a variety of ways and in different mediums. We laided down on the floor to observe a different perspective of the world, we went for an outdoor walk to observe the many mundane articles in nature that we may not usually take note of, we created collages and creative displays of our designated colour.

Green is all around us

dislay of colour

The definition of the word, collage, according to Sayr’s second edition, A World of Art, is “a work made by pasting various scraps or pieces of materia-cloth, paper, photographs-onto the surface of a composition”. Our professor put on the music of Carmen for us to listen to and, with felt pens, we were asked to draw, with no particular rules or instructions, the sounds that we heard in the music composition. After the initial creation, we were asked to rip up our art work and, listening to the piece of music again, paste the pieces onto a piece of paper in a collage format. I was not distraught at having to rip up my masterpiece but I could see how younger children may be unhappy at this request. In a classroom setting I would probably tell the children the course of events ahead of time because I would not be so sure that the element of mystery would go over well with them. On the other hand, I think it is good to know your class before assumptions are made on the creativity of an activity.

I agree with the raw definition of collage however I think collaging entails much more. I think that it is more about ‘thinking outside the box’, personal expression, subjectivity, creativity, and even telling a story. The creative process in creating a collage, for some, requires only slapping pictures on a piece of paper, but for others it may be much more and may entail deeper thoughts.

My father and I went to Europe two summers ago and after the trip, for his birthday, I made him a collage of our memories from teh trip. The collage tells a story of our trip from centre to periphery; we started in London, then we went to Athens to my family’s house, then we set sail for the island of Santorini, and Mykonos.

Lesson Plan-grades 3-8

http://www.dickblick.com/lessonplans/2005collagebook/

Artists:

Karen Marcus creates natural collages with different textures.  Visit her site and enjoy:

http://www.artists.ca/gallery/kmarcus.html

Contour Drawings and Finger Puppets

In art class today we completed a number of drawing exercises that we could use in our classrooms.  In our first assignment we were asked to draw a map illustrating ‘a day in the life of me’ and each map was unique in a sense that everyone has different routines throughout the day, and a different route of transportation to and from school.  It was interesting to see the diversity in our classroom, especially with the everyone getting out of bed in the mornings.

We then were introduced to contour drawing.  Contour drawing is a drawing, drawn in pencil, that shows the visible border of an object with as much detail to give the drawing dimension.  We first drew a blind contour drawing of an object and then added definition to our drawings; I chose to draw my water bottle and it turned out quiet nice.  A technique that we have been learning is cross-hatching to create shadow, dimension, and definition.       

We also experimented with plaster making finger puppets; when working with plaster one needs water and plaster sheets cut into thin strips.  Water transforms the hard plaster into a soft sticky like substance that is used to create scultpures.  The key to making sculptures out of plaster is to make sure the plaster is dry before you move your object or paint your object.  We were making finger puppets and some of the people at our table learned that if you apply plaster to your finger when it is bent, you will not be able to take it off when it is dry.  The lesson here is to make a sculpture that can be left in same shape dry as it is wet. Another fun activity to do with older grades is making masks out of paper mache; this activity is interactive in a different way and it requires the students to be comfortable with using the material on their faces.

I think this activity would be great for students, starting at a grade 3 level.  In organizing a messy activity like this with enough class time so students can think of an idea, cut the plaster, create their object (it drys very quickly), and clean up, I would allow 45 minutes.  The teacher would have to talk to the students about safety around plaster: do not touch your eyes or face with plaster on your hands.  In this session there is not enough time to paint the scultpures but that can be done in the next session.    

Paper mache caricature finger puppet of a grey cat 

Paper mache caricature artifact brought back from Greece. I couldn’t live without it!!!!!!!!

My favorite book from my childhood was Angelina Ballerina; my mom made me a framed model of this storybook character that I still have on my wall.

Lesson plans for primary grades:

plaster of paris:

http://www.kinderart.com/littles/little14.shtml

http://www.art-rageous.net/Papier-MacheBowl-LP.html

contour drawings:

http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/blind.shtml

http://www.teachartathome.com/Shape.html

Artists:

http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/Piet_Mondrian/