Students had to create an artwork about "Keeping Texas Beaches Clean." They really enjoyed doing research in the computer lab about sea creatures and the Texas coastline. We never heard back from the contest, so I guess none of my fabulous students won the cruise :-(
African Clay Figurines - 7th & 8th Grade
While 6th graders were working on the Adopt-a-Beach contest, 7th & 8th graders worked on their own research about African animals and the Ardmore ceramics studio in Africa. Students had to create drawings that were inspired by the Ardmore style (bright colors w/African animals). Then they turned their drawings into 3-D art using clay. Some students made bowls, cups, jewelry holders, etc. Two requirements for the assignment were to make the piece functional and to incorporate an African animal. The results were amazing and exceeded my expectations! It's not easy to turn a drawing into a three-dimensional piece! Great job!!!!
6th Grade Clay - Pinch Pots, Coil Pots, and Tiles
Clay Whistles - 7th and 8th Grade
These took days and days to make! I thought we would be done in 4 days. Ha! It took 6-7!!! It took teamwork to get the half that did work to work! The students pretty much did everything except make the whistle work. That was my job after they carved the initial hole out. I put the popsicle stick in for them and showed them where to carve to try to make the whistle work. Then they brought their whistles back to make for a more precise carving if it did not work. If a student's whistle didn't work, I had him/her decorate it anyway and make into a little figurine.
Pop Art
All grades created a pop art inspired canvas painting. We studied pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Peter Max, and Keith Harring. Students selected one or more of these artists for inspiration to create their own design.
6th Grade
7th & 8th Grade
Printmaking
All grades did the printmaking project. They loved it! I did this last year. It was such a big hit and so inexpensive, I had to do it again! The pics are on my computer at school. Will add later if I don't forget!
Final Exam - T-shirt Project
Students had the option to create a group screenprint design and/or bleached stencil design. They turned out great, and the kids had a lot of fun. Students were required to make stencils for both the screenprints and bleached designs. That took the longest! Some didn't understand at first how certain letters & numbers needed to be cut a certain way - like letters with floating shapes, like A, D, O, P, Q, R, a, b, d, e, g, o, p, q, 4, 6, 8, 9. Everyone eventually figured it out and got their stencils cut!
