African Masks

These are some pictures I found while researching Masks-- These are all from different groups in Africa.  Some look really similar to what I actually made in class-- that was exciting!

Google Sketch-Up

Google sketch up was an amazing descovery for me! I love how this kind of art expands the realm of possibilities for students!  It presents a whole different kind of experience than any other.  They must think of the WHOLE picture-- behind the building, in front of the building, inside the building.... It made me really open my mind to what I wanted to create.  It made me visualize the 3Dness of it all.  I had a hard time at first visualizing what I needed to do to create what I wanted and eventually I got the hang of it.  I think this is an EXcellent tool for teachers and their students...

Pinch Pot

I thought the pinch pot was much easier and much more satisfying than the coil pots!! My pot was super awesome but... when I finished forming it and I was setting it down on the table, all of a sudden all of the sides started sinking and it became a very wide-bottomed, short-sided bowl! Its ok though, I think it looks alright, and the sun I stamped in the center is really cool! Children would probably LOVE working with the clay! It was a good experience!

Coil Pot

I've got to say-- I am not a very good pottery maker!!  I really struggled and had to start over a million times! The coil pot was harder than I thought it would be and it didn't really turn out how i would have hoped! It was still a good experience though-- I would like to see if I would have liked it better on a wheel... probably... I have always wanted to try using one of those~

Yarn Stamps

These yarn stamps were so fun to make!! I loved getting my fingers dirty!!  We took yarn, soaked it in elmers glue, and put it on a little piece of cardboard and let it dry!.. We made them to stamp into our clay pots on a later date (like petroglyphs).  I  ended up only using the sun to stamp into my pot because I realized that my music symbol would be backwards-- and I didnt love the girl stick figure I made.  It was an awesome way to personalize our pots and make them unique to us!

Watercolor Resist

The watercolor resist was a very fun project.  I wasn't too pleased with how it turned out for me- but it was a really fun idea! I wish mine was more whimsicle like Van Gogh's Starry Night is.  I thought the pastels were a blast though-- I even went out and bought a set of my own!! I loved mixing the colors for the watercolor wash in the background! It was fun to see what everyone else mixed up to be a "night time sky." 

Watercolor Techniques

I was able to learn different watercolor techniques through this project.  It was super fun to have foods there and create what they tasted like through watercolor!! It was a nice excuse to have good food there! I really enjoyed the different tools you can use to create "textures" and designes with watercolor.  Salt over a watercolor wash, alcohol drips, and a wax candle were fun things to use to create abstract, neat things.  My favorate box that I created was the one that looks like some sort of solar picture from space- it turned out neat.   I think that was the wheat bread I ate. hahaha