Renewal

Yikes!  I have so many photos on my computer that I am about to crash my hard drive!  Anyone else have that problem?  I discovered these workshop photos as I was making an attempt at reducing photo files this weekend and thought I would share them with you.  Hope you find some inspiration.

I am a better teacher when I learn something new or try out a new technique.  I imagine we all are.  When I take a workshop, read a blog, or create my own art I feel a different energy in my work with kids.  I am definitely more empathetic with my students who are hesitant - creating art is work and takes a certain level of courage.  How about you - what is your favorite way to give yourself that proverbial kick in the pants?

Mexican Mask Making Educators Workshop, Mint Museum of Art

I LOVE paper mache and have used it in my classes for years.   I decided to expand my cultural knowledge and had a excellent experience in a Mexican Mask Making workshop at our local art Museum.  If you are in the Charlotte, NC area check out The Mint Museum of Art.  Their education department is wonderful and offers great workshops and resources for teachers.  www.mintmuseum.org/

The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte NC
This is the Randolph Road location some days it looks like you are walking into the sky...

The workshop was excellent.  We sculpted modeling clay over bowls to create an armature.

Modeling Clay over plastic bowl.

I have always used wheat paste or a homemade flour paste with my classes but we used this product.  *It worked well but I have not used it with students because I have not researched the safety of the contents.  We used brushes to apply the paste but it still ended up on our hands.

Wallpaper Adhesive, http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/

We placed several layers of paper over our armature then let it dry.  *When I paper mache with my students we lay our work on trays to dry.  If there is a need for quick turn around on drying I position a fan so it blows on the work.  A blow dryer also works in an emergency.

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*Brown paper bag paper works best.  I learned this tip years ago from a professional puppeteer friend.  The fibers on the torn edges lock the paper pieces in place to create a smooth finish.

Paper Mache in process, http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/

Here is an unpainted mask from Mexico - WOW what a smooth finish!

Unpainted Mexican Mask, http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/

Once the work was dry we popped the masks off the forms.  The advantage of this technique is that you can make multiples of the mask form if needed.  If you are putting on a school production this could be really handy.

Clay armature & mask pulled from it by Mary Rutherford
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Painting and embellishing really brings the masks to life.

Beginning stage of painting
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Really elegant patterns
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I made a jungle cat and an owl:

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The owl was constructed with a very small amount of clay and a foil technique I have developed.  I used clay on the beak and brows only.  The eyes were plastic bottle caps.  I did this to have a sample that would be easy to repeat without the expense of so much modeling clay on my tight budget.
















Hanging out with fellow art teachers is the best - we have some really fun loving & talented teachers sharing knowledge with kids in our area.  Good way to spend some time - "renewal"credit at it's best!

Graduating Class: Mint Museum Mexican Mask Workshop
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Here is a really complex authentic Mexican Mask shared by our instructor:

Our Class Gallery - Aren't they wonderful?

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Message in a Bottle

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In my last post I showed you these two beautiful 1st Grade paintings.  Did you guess what they were?

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 Here is a little hint:  We have been riding a "wave" of excitement in the art room...

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My 1st graders have created some beautiful landscapes this year so we decided to explore the ocean with some colorful seascapes.  I really had fun designing this lesson and it is one I will definitely repeat!  Here is what we did:

1.  Painted wave lines with white tempera horizontally across light blue paper.

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2.  Using a palette of white, blue, turquoise, purple, and green we mixed cool colored tints and filled the spaces between the white lines.  This helped keep the white caps on the waves intact and made filling the negative spaces between the lines fun.  The lines help the little guys focus on filling small spaces with color rather than being overwhelmed by the entire page.

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They LOVED mixing all these great colors!

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3.  Using a similar technique we chose a palette of white, yellow, orange, magenta, and red to paint a sky on yellow paper.  We painted the clouds in white then mixed other warm colors to create a sunset or sunrise sky.

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I love how1st grade minds work - look at the shapes in these clouds...

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4.  I had my students trim the top edge of their ocean paper to create a wavy edge.  They just cut along the top white line as a guide.  Be sure to reinforce that they only cut the top wave NOT ALL the wavy lines...there is one in every crowd and we teachers have to anticipate every move, eh?

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5.  Glue the water to the sky.  Seems simple but monitor to make sure they align the two papers so the sea and sky match well.  I found putting a double line of glue on the bottom edge of the sky paper then laying the water on top works well.   *The original sheets were 12" x 18"so from this point on the work is a little more difficult to store due to the enlarged size.

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6.  Make a boat & glue it in place.  We used black paper and oil pastels.  We had fun designing mast heads, sails and naming our boats.  I suggested "The Whisper" as a name but they didn't take the hint - boat building is noisy.  The art room was ringing with happy voices.  I am having the kids use their art journals to write a story from the ship captain's point of view.  We are thinking about sending the stories out on our Artsonia Gallery as a virtual "message in a bottle".  TOO MUCH FUN!

This boat should be named "The Look Out"...

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Love the details - here is a fierce dragon Mast Head...

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And check out the mermaid...

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Here are a few of our finished seascapes - we definitely experienced some art endorphins after all the work.  Aren't they great?  If you use our lesson be sure to let us know how your students like it!

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I am planning on sailing away on the Pink Rose Bush...see you in a few days.