Jar Art

Starting the "color" unit off this year, 6th and 7th grade students will be working with "jar art."  For inspiration, we will study snow globe artists Martin and Munez.  Students will look at the realistic scenes, from enlarged photographs, that take place in snow globes.  Students will use their own jars to create scenes within, both on the inside and the outside of the jar.  They will depict a scene that has some sort of connection to their own personal life.  Students will be using a variety of materials, including sculpture, natural materials, found objects, and craft materials.  This is what the 6th and 7th graders created.

Icon Paintings "spontaneous realism"

Voka, born in 1965, lives and works in the Lower Austrian town of Puchberg am Schneeberg.  He coined the term "Spontaneous Realism" as a trademark for his art. Voka defines this style as a revival of the significance of contemporary art, a valued tradition in a new era, with a new interpretation reflecting today´s spirit of the time.



Students study this style of art, focusing on the artist himself as well as new renounced style of art.  Each student is asked to choose an iconic figure of either the past or present.  Students create a list of at least 10 people that they would consider for this assignment and then select one.  Students then start by creating a basic sketch of their chosen person.  This is to help them practice drawing proportions of their iconic person.  After creating sketches, students will each be given a canvas where they will experiment with palette knives as well as pieces of cardboard.  With those tools they will spread 3 colors of paint all over the canvas (2 primary and 1 secondary color).  After the paint has dried they will then take a pastel or chalk and lightly sketch out the portrait of their person (a simple gesture drawing).  After they complete that they will paint in their figure's face, using abstract colors and composition.  This is what 8th graders created.

Artist Place Setting

We introduced an artistic place setting clay project - an inspiration from Judy Chicago's work.  Judy Chicago focused on a feminist style in her own "Dinner Party" piece.  She focused on women of the past and present that have made a significant difference in our world today, relaying the message of strength and power of women.

Students were asked to create a place setting containing a plate, cup and at least one utensil to be included in their piece.  These items had to be made out of clay.  The added pieces, for example: a bowl or other utensils could be made out of any 3-D additional material.  Students were challenged to choose one person that they believed had changed history in some way.  Students researched, and then developed, imagery based on the person that they choose.   Each student was asked to choose someone different so when the entire "Dinner Party" piece was developed, we would have different place settings for different people.  Students created a banner to help introduce the person that they had chosen, and used them for the display.  Here is what the 8th graders created.

Steve Jobs

 

 

Grateful Dead

 

Kelly Slater

 

Bob Marley

 

Albert Einstein

 

 

The Beatles

 

Elton John

 

Michael Jackson

 

J. R. R. Tolkin

 

Georgia O'Keeffe

 

Steven Tyler

 

Jennifer Lawrence

 

Buddha

 

Eminem

 

Louis Chevrolet

Three Noun Clay Vessel

In our 3-D unit, students got the chance to experiment with the properties of clay.  6th and 7th graders were greeted with the challenge to create an uncommon vessel.  This vessel was to be created by having the students pick three nouns that had no association or connection with each other - for example, apple, piano, and dog.  Their vessel had to have some kind of opening in order to be able to hold something in it.  Students first created a list of about 20 nouns that they thought would be interesting for this assignment.  They then had to figure out how they could arrange these nouns into a container shape.  It was strongly suggested they not make a "totem" meaning, not to just stack the nouns.  They then had to problem solve how the words could inter link with each other and be woven into a piece.  Once fired, students used acrylic paint to add color to their piece. This is what they have come up with.

Scratch Art

Students in 6th and 7th grade experimented with scratch art and creating different types of textures.  Students each chose an animal of interest to create on the scratch art board.  Students experimented with hatching, stippling, and cross hatching techniques to obtain their designs.

Drawing in the Round

Drawing on an unusual surface and creating a story based on their own imagination.

Anatomy Drawing

Students experimented with drawing the human anatomy, mixed with a realistic face.