Oil Pastel Dance scenes

I thought that I had lost these images after erasing a memory card, little did I know they were hidden in a folder at work. These projects were made at the beginning of the year when we studied the human figure and movement. My students did several life drawings in their sketchbooks and while some of that is reflected in the projects below, most of the ideas expressed here comes from a romanticized notions about dancing. Enjoy.  

High School Final Exam for Art etc.

New posts coming soon is the good news. The bad news is that my computer with everything apparently belongs to someone else in Spain. If you have any desire to teach elementary or middle/high school art (and Drama too) in Alexandria, Egypt, contact me. The kids, school, package, etc is a good deal. My wife (the ES art teacher) and I need change, so we accepted positions at a school in Ethiopia. 

We had semester finals last week and I tried something new (a usual). In the past I have made my finals a time to finish projects, have critiques, class celebrations, and I even gave a traditional test once! This year I made a different exam for each student where they had to write step-by-step instructions on how to make a a given project (they were to include vocabulary, concepts, and a list to tools/materials) and then make it. The results were good for the most part. Below is 2/3 of one student's written portion of the exam. Just to give you an idea. I am happy to report that most students retained and were able to demonstrate the info they learned.

Other good news is that Alice In Wonderland is in the history books. The show was a success. Sadly, I no longer have grade 8 for Drama and Art. Below are a few photos from the musical.

Hit of the show, The Girls of the Golden Afternoon.

I am the monarch of the sea...

Give me a zip-a-dee-doo-dah...yes, thanks to Disney somehow Song Of The South and Alice In Wonderland share the same song.

Off with her head!

There was a small Alice, a medium Alice and a boy Alice. Why, because we could. In the words of the Mad Hatter "rules can be so limiting."  

Backgrounds painting HS art

I wanted to wish any and everyone who follows or stumbles upon this blog Happy Holidays. This will be my last posting until mid-Jan unless the world ends on DEC 21, 2012…has a time zone been determined for that event yet?

Crop circles are cool as are line designs, don’t let anyone tell you differently. We are currently on step one-the background to our next painting. If you are interested in the art concepts we are using look at the labels/tags at the bottom of this posting. Truth be told a few of my kids expressed concern about painting on top of their backgrounds and are content to leave them be. Sadly, I won’t be able to honor their request. Final results coming soon.

In the meanwhile be kind to each other-stop the hate, stop the violence, and treat each other with respect...everywhere please.   

More upper school clay projects

I decided to try a couple of different ideas for the student's second clay project. The first one being a box with a secret opening. My oldest brother was stationed in Turkey back in the early 70's. One of the gifts he sent me for my birthday was called a Turkey box. I'm pretty sure that's not the real name of the beautifully carved wooden box that had several secret compartments for the key, key hole etc. I don't remember there being instructions on how to open it, I thought he didn't send the key, Sadly I had already broken the box before my mom discovered where the key was hidden. The box still exists and lives on a shelf in my parents family room next to the late 60's encyclopedia set...and thankfully the shag carpet and wood panel walls are long gone. 

The boxes we made were a little more simple. Slabs, water, and scoring. In the greenware stage we took the fettling knife and carved the secret opening. Below is the process prior to the first kiln visit.  

Slabs!

Stages.

Hana shows off how well she can smooth clay.

Using a gouge to make lines. 

In the process of drying. 

Bone dry vs glazed bisqueware 

This is something new I have never attempted. The idea looks like it came form a 70's art book found in a thrift shop. Truth is it looks like the building outside our window. One student even added satellites on top of his project. This is my alternative to a coil pot. 

The real deal. 

I'm sure Sarah's parents are proud of her.

The minimum side is 12"

Glazed thrown bowls. 

School Photo Day

I'm one of the advisors for grade 8 and this is what we did on picture day for our silly photo. 

I think some of the boys didn't get the pajama memo. 

Glazed clay projects Grade 8 Art

So far the kiln has been behaving this year minus a few power outages at school. The grade 8 was so pleased with the outcome of their tea sets-a tea party was in order. This has been one good thing to come out of the shortened days due to the recent unrest in Egypt. We sampled 8 different teas form China, Japan, India, and Laos. Most seemed to like the different flavors but thought it was strange not to dump a bag of sugar into the cup. I've always said that Egyptians have sugar running through their veins. 

Cheers! 

From above

funny shaped vases were also  a part of our clay unit.

Lichtenstein meets Pollock