Sensational Still-lifes? Just Take A Peek...

Normally, most people might not associate the words “sensational” and “still-life.” Those people have clearly not seen the work that EES third grade students just completed!  This project was, to be sure, ambitious for eight and nine-year-olds. Never one to be deterred by wondering whether children can really do something (Show light source and effect in first grade? Solder circuits in fifth grade? Of course they can!), I set out to teach third graders how to observe, sketch, and refine drafts, while working in traditional and digital media.

Students began by observing clusters of fruit and fabric on their art tables. The first day was all about making mistakes in pencil, and I let them know that they would have as many pieces of paper as they needed- look, draw, look again, draw again. The results were amazing; as kids relaxed and slowed down, they added overlapping areas, refined shapes, and experimented.

                 

          

We used these rough gorgeous drafts as a starting point for second drafts in Sharpie. They could choose to use the Sharpie directly on their sketches or on new sheets of paper. 

Using one of my favorite-ever iPad apps, students photographed and uploaded their drawings into Colorscape. In Colorscape, the drawings become a black line drawing and top layer. The coloring that students do is a layer underneath digitally. The tools like paint bucket, soft brushes, and pens allow students to fill in their work and begin to add light sources. Thanks to an enormous and generous grant, we had access to 1:1 iPads for students, giving these artists ample time and flexibility to explore the program.

This cohort has been studying light and shadow since first grade, when they had concurrent science and art units. As they have gotten older and had more practice, the work has become more sophisticated. Students were here asked to imply their light direction- in other words, no corner suns- just to show the direction of the light by applying consistent lights and darks to the fruits and the surface with highlights and shadows.

After they completed the work digitally, student used a variety of traditional media, including crayons, oil pastels, markers, and pencils to create a hand colored version as well. The work is displayed so that the viewer can see all three, which show the observations, changes, and progress the artists made.

Stunning still-lifes! 

The best I have ever seen by students at this grade level.  The students are so, so proud, and we look forward to displaying them in our upcoming February Fine Arts Night.

Stormy Seas

First grade students began their first big project of the school year with painted paper collage. 

Here is Burlington, we are lucky to live along the gorgeous Lake Champlain, so bodies of water were a natural inspiration.

Artists brainstormed creatures that live in the various types of water across our planet. We came up with quite a list, including creatures that dwell in waters warm and cool, fresh and salty.

Students also created lists of things that we would find on the bottom of the water, floating on top, on nearby land, or in the skies above. 

Students practiced being able to cut shapes that they can draw. This is actually a pretty sophisticated skill, and a lot of first grade artists are still approaching the ability to cut the curves that their pencils can so easily render.

Artists began these collages by making painted papers for their water and skies. For the skies, we talked about how the colors and shades of color give information about the time of day. In the water, color, line, texture, and movement tell the viewer about the mood and weather of the water.

Artists cut the top of the paper painted as water to show the calm or the waves, and some added white oil pastel to show additional currents and movement in the water, using wavy or curling lines.

Students can use artwork to tell stories, and often work such as this comes with a specific narrative the student has created to move the work forward, such as the artist of the work below.

"A submarine and ship crashed, and are sinking."

In it's simplest form, collage is gluing materials to a flat surface. The things that makes it so flexible is that students can make lots of mistakes in that process, and simply choose not to glue those things down if they don't feel satisfied. My goal is for students to feel comfortable and confident with these materials and skills

In addition to the painted papers, students added wiggle eyes, sequins, and rhinestones to add interest, texture, and dimension to their work.

Hooray for the New EES/EMS Kiln!

By far, the most exciting news for the EES community that I could share is that we have a brand-new kiln! And here it is, a shiny thing of beauty!

After the first test firing, a perfect pyrometric cone tells me that it is ready for artwork.  The kiln is in a space that is shared by the middle school as well, making pottery newly a K-8 experience for our students.

Truly a thing of beauty: a just-right temperature was met in the test firing of this cone.

This comes after years of fundraising, donations, and advocacy for the benefits of a clay program at EES, and another year of budgeting, engineering, and construction.

Thank you so much to all of the donors and Burlington Property Services staff who worked hard to support the EES and EMS art programs!

I cannot wait to get started right away, and our young artists could not be more excited!

Balance, Weights, and Alexander Calder in Kindergarten

This is the time of year when Kindergarten students are studying relative measures like weight.  This art and science-integrated engineering lesson taught teamwork, failure, tenacity, and experimentation.

In the first class, students used materials that were on the heavier side to make a wire strand for our mobile, including big glass beads, large 1-2" buttons, and big painted cardboard shapes, among other options. This is good exercise in dexterity and fine motor development, too: artist practice using a pinching grip, use basic sewing skills to thread in and out of the holes in cardboard, and learn to twist the wire so that materials don't fall off. 

For the second class, students used very light materials, including sections of bendy straws, sparkly burlap fabric, plastic beads, and faux flowers and leaves.  Many students were finishing their strands from the first class, and added these light materials to the heavier strands, resulting in more medium weights.

On the second day, I asked students what they thought an engineer is. As you might imagine when posing this question to a group of five and six-year-olds, the first answers were that engineers drive trains. So true! They started there and delved deeper. Here are some of their thoughts:

"Engineers drive trains and switch the tracks around." (Cue train sounds from a dozen kids simultaneously!)

"Engineers fix the train when it is broken."

"Engineers can fix other stuff too, like cars."

"Some engineers build buildings."

"And some can even make bridges you can drive over."

After extended student discussion, I asked what all of their definitions of engineers had in common. These are the features students came up with linking all types of engineers:

"Engineers do hard stuff." 

"They solve problems and fix things that break." 

"Engineers make stuff."

They found out that in art class that day, they would all be engineers who did exactly those things- making stuff, solving problems, fixing things that broke, and working together when it got hard. I let them know that the most likely outcome would be a class time of experimentation, failure, excitement, and occasional disappointment, resulting most importantly in experience. I assured them that a "finished" mobile was the least important thing to achieve.

I hung a large, circular piece of foam core form the ceiling. Several like it have been kicking around my storage space for some time, waiting for me to figure out a good use for them. There are deep slits in towards the middle, just the right size for the strands. Additionally, I used an awl to poke lots of little holes in the surface for more hanging options. 

The foam core was initially hung from a wire, lopsidedly. After students made their two strands, they began to add their strands to the foam core, causing it to shift from side to side. Students could adjust where they put their strand in an attempt to balance the foam core. The strands that were slid into the slits moved around as the mobile tilted, and frequently slid right out of the foam core and onto the floor. The idea was to see how each addition effected the whole- adding something too heavy to one side might cause the mobile to shift, dumping off the work a couple of other classmates had just added. 

Now, you might think that the kids would be upset by having to start over. Many children were surprised, disappointed, and a little frustrated, while many others giggled and were excited when pieces fell. Not a single student expressed frustration at anyone else, and their pride and confidence grew the more they worked at it. They worked well as a team, communicated, and asked each other for help. After failing over and over to keep all of the pieces on the mobile, students found the balance right in the last minute of art class! They were so proud and thrilled. 

Enjoy a little moment of peace as one of the finished mobiles spins!

Stichin' Pillows in First Grade!

Recently, a good friend was telling me about a fascinating problem she had encountered in her professional circles: first-year med students who utterly lacked the requisite fine motor skills, highlighted by the fact that they couldn't sew stitches. Not at all. The friend went on to explain that, lacking subjects like home-economics, most schools were no longer really preparing students with the early fine motor skills needed to lay the groundwork for training doctors.

 
 Life skills, like sewing, are not something that kids should leave school without learning. Sewing used to be required, along with things like balancing a checkbook and a little basic cooking. That is why the Kindergarteners have a sewing table for choice time in art, and why my first graders just finished up sewing their first art class pillows.

Seeing the first grade pillows, some fourth graders mentioned having loved the sewing project, and wanted to know, could we sew again this year? "I love my pillow," said one boy, "and I still sleep with it in my bed."

Making artwork with a real, tangible product brings meaning and an enduring sense of success.

In this lesson students learn to thread a needle, trying techniques to smooth the thread to go though the needle's eye. They learn to pin multiple fabric layers, and to make stitches at regular spacing so that the stuffing doesn't fall out.

Students learn studio habits to carefully organize and keep track of their tools when they are using sharp objects, so that nothing gets left behind, so no one gets hurt by stepping on a pin or needle.

Many students added optional buttons or bows to the gorgeous fabrics, which were mostly upholstery textile samples donated by Burlington Furniture Company.

They have built pillows! And, along the way, they have built patience, concentration, self confidence, and dexterity, too.

Framed Mini Works of Art

A group of second graders recently had extra time on their hands in art class, and had the choice to either work in their sketchbooks or make miniature framed works of art. Anyone who was wavering was sold by the obvious joy of using glitter glue in their day.

   The prompt to this little project was to honor something or someone you love by making a framed work. Whether by discussed mutual agreement or just lots of parallel thinking, there were lots and lots and lots of cats!

And lots of love for their families!

A closeup of one adored dad!

The whole family and some imaginary pets, too!

Students started with four popsicle sticks, and made designs and patterns on them with colorful permanent markers. Students glued paper to the back of the layered sticks, and added a ribbon across the top from which the framed work could be hung.  It was an easy, fun way to make these second grade artworks feel formal and fancy!