Scenes from Jewelry-Making Artist's Workshop

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of hanging out and creating jewelry with a few lovely students at Amherst Middle School. We learned some basics of jewelry design and construction and students were able to go home with duct tape earrings, beaded earrings, a glass bead bracelet, and a shrink art necklace. While they were creating, they were learning how to use jewelry-making tools and jewelry findings.

While these pieces are easy to make, they form the foundation of basic jewelry-making skills students can use to make a number of fabulous pieces! Hopefully they are inspired to create some lovely pieces at home!

And here's the link to the tutorial we used as inspiration for our duct tape earrings--I'm now sporting a pair of rainbow tie-dyed feather earrings my son made me! :-) *LOVE*

http://www.brit.co/flirty-fluorescent-feathers-another-win-for-duct-tape/

Fall Still-life With Glue and Pastels

Here are some pretty still-life creations my after school art class finished up this week. OK, I can use other, more "artsy" words like "dynamic" or "engaging" to describe these, but MAN, are they pretty, too! I've done this project before, and the students are always amazed at how the pieces come out (me too!). This group had students who are in first grade through fourth--so you can see it's pretty accessible to all with the right amount of scaffolding.

I made the mistake, this time, of using clear glue (gel and plain clear) since that's what other art teachers have said they used for this project with great success. I tried it because, in the past, I had found the regular  Elmer's glue can dry a bit cloudy. Anyway, I WAS NOT happy with the results. The clear glue soaked into the paper and ran off as the students were moving them to the drying space leaving drips and blops all offer the classroom and my car (a.k.a. the mobile art studio). It also soaked through the paper and glued the pieces to tables and the seats of my car...(big unhappy face for Mrs. Pettus) ;-)

So, if you do this project--which a HIGHLY suggest you try--use plain old Elmer's. It's fine for this project. So fun and magical (and "pretty")! Check out my previous post about this technique here.

ENJOY!

Fall Compositions With Elmer's & Pastels

Fall is my favorite season and I have been LOVING driving my hour-an-a-half drive up to my Grad School twice (sometimes three times) a week...I pop in a book on tape and enjoy the beautiful fall folliage that New Hampshire has to offer! Ahhhh!

The focus of my after school art class for my 1st-4th graders is "Fall Into Art"--fall-themed art activities...last week, we drew apple still lifes inspired by Cezanne, and this week we took advantage of the nice weather and beautiful fall displays outside the school that had been donated by the Amherst Garden Center in Amherst, NH. The Garden Center had flanked the entrance of the school with pumpkins and gourds, hay bales, scarecrows, and beautiful mums! I couldn't ignore all of the visual stimuli out there ready to draw!

We spent some time looking and touching the displays, then we sketched them. We moved inside and selected one the things from our sketches to "draw" on black paper with Elmer's glue. The students were VERY skeptical when I told them we'd be drawing with Elmer's and you should have seen the surprised looks when I did my demo and piped glue along the lines of my drawing!

I had seen this Elmer's glue/pastel combination online before but had never tried it. I think it would be great for winter snowmen as well...

Anyway, we let the Elmer's glue dry (they rode around for a week in the back of my minivan--the mobile art studio.

The next week, I showed the students how to color in the non-Elmer's areas--the negative space--with the chalk pastels, encouraging them to add highlights and shadows to make their pictures really "pop" and look more realistic. I suggested using my "use at least three colors in each section" rule...

The students were VERY pleased with this new "technique" and, at the end of class, we discussed some other compositions they could use this technique on. The fourth-graders were very specific with their questions about materials: where I purchased the materials, what they are called, how much they cost. They want to make sure the next time they go to Michael's Crafts Store they purchase the proper things so they can do this technique again--THAT (to me) is a sign of a successful art lesson--my students wanted to take something they learned in class and go with it.

Enjoy!

Secret Code Monogram Calder Mobiles

There are so many great lessons on the mobiles of Alexander Calder, but in case you need another--here's mine! I tried this lesson with my homeschool students and they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. It's a simple intro to mobile-making which can pose some issues to children regarding balance and construction, if they aren't used to working in 3D. We used the code found in the book "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett in which the children in the book realize that the shapes Calder used in his mobiles are actually symbols for letters and make up a secret code. 

I first saw the idea of using the code from the blog Salamander Art, and have used it in another Calder mobile project. This project works nicely for monograms since most people have three initials so the children could use three shapes from the chart to create their pieces. It was a fun project and many of the children finished early enough that we were able to have a mini critique and I was able to pass back all of their work for the semester. A great last day project.


Secret Code Monogram Calder Mobiles

Supplies Needed:

• Code diagram and/or pictures of Calder's work for inspiration (see Salamander Art's blog for code chart)
• Pens/pencils
• Foam craft sheets
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Copper wire (I'm not sure of the gauge I used, but it was easy enough to bend by hand but study enough to hold its shape)
• Wire cutters
• Coat hanger
• Cork from wine bottle
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Piece of mat board or cardboard

Directions:

1. Write the first letter (initial) of your first name, your middle name, and your last name. Now, look on the Calder Code Chart for the shape that corresponds to those letters. Draw the shapes near the letters they go with.

2. Draw or trace the shapes onto the foam sheets. I magnified the shapes something like 500% and then printed them on card stock and then put a few on each table. The students moved around from table to table tracing the letters they needed. Cut out your shapes and punch a hole in the top of each using the hole punch. If your shape has internal shapes, take a bit of leftover craft foam, cut the little shapes out and glue onto the larger shape.

3. Cut two lengths of copper wire: one that is about 14" long and the other that is about 8-9" long. Curl the wire at both ends of each of the pieces to make a loop. Don't close it all the way just yet--you'll need to add some shapes. On the short length of wire, add a foam shape to each end. Then twist and form a loop in the center of this short length of wire. Slip the center loop of the short wire onto one of the end loops of the larger wire. Add your third shape to the opposite end of the large wire.

4. Check the piece for balance and make a loop in the middle section of the large wire to hang the piece. We found that our hanging loop needed to be slightly off-center toward one side in order for the piece to be balanced.

5. Glue the cork to the mat board or cardboard. Cut a length of clothes hanger wire and bend it gently and create a loop at the end from which to hang the mobile. Hang the finished mobile on the wire stand and enjoy!

Monster Sketchbooks

Last fall, my (then) four-year-old son and I came up with these cute Monster Sketchbooks. He was able to make a few of them and then he happily drew and wrote his name in them while I worked next to him on some other projects.

These would be great for giveaways in lieu of candy (if you want to be "that house"-hee hee!) or a neat party or classroom craft. The matchbook case-style notebook is easy and quick to do. You don't have to do a monster-theme. This would also be a nice notebook to create before heading out on a hike. Bring your notebook with you and do leaf rubbings and draw from nature!

Monster Sketchbooks

Materials Needed:

• 1 piece of colored construction paper (9x12") for the cover (you could use orange for a pumpkin, green for a monster, purple for a vampire, white for a ghost or mummy, etc.)
• 3 sheets of white construction paper (9x12") for the drawing paper inside
• Scissors
• A ruler and pencil
• Stapler
• Markers and crayons

Directions:

1. Cut the piece of construction paper you'll be using for the cover in half lengthwise. You will have two pieces, each 4 1/2"x 12." You only need one per booklet, so put one aside for another use.

2. Cut each sheet of white construction paper into three 4"x9" pieces. Stack all nine pieces together and fold them in half. This will make the bundle of drawing paper inside your notebook.

3. Mark the cover and begin folding: Using the picture, above, as a guide, divide the cover rectangle into three sections: the first should be 1" wide. The next section should be 5 3/4" wide, and the last should be 5 1/4" wide.

4. Fold the cover at the 1" tab. Insert the folded edge of the stack of white paper into the cover at the 1" tab and staple. You can then close the cover and tuck it into this flap--like an oversize matchbook.

5. Use construction paper scraps and/or markers to decorate the covers of the sketchbooks like your favorite monster!

Happy Halloween!

Dragon (Faux) Stained Glass

Yesterday was the first session in my after school Medieval Art Class! What a blast! I have a great group of kids and a nice mix of boys and girls!

Aren't these fabulous?!

We did a variation on a project I saw in the book, "Medieval Projects You Can Do" by Marsha Groves. The image is pretty much the one Groves uses, but I used the Contact paper technique that I've developed with my students over the last couple years.

I showed the children pictures of stained glass from medieval times, making sure that I had examples of traditional stained glass (tall and rectangular), some details showing the brushed-on enamel details, and an example of a rose window with its circular design.

I then provided them with a guide that had the dragon image on it with all of the sections labeled so the children would know what was fire, what was dragon and what was background (sometimes that gets confusing). Using a template like this is actually very traditional. In medieval times artisans would sketch the designs for windows onto wooden panels and the artisans would fabricate the windows on top of the wooden templates.

The end results of this project were gorgeous! It is funny how different the pieces can be even thought they are all the same subject.

One bit of warning, using tissue paper squares with children can be, um...tricky. This group wasn't bad at all: I had the tissue paper squares in a tray in the center of each table and I warned that crazy movements can cause the squares can fly up and get on other people's work (not cool!). Once the tissue paper is on the Contact paper, it cannot be removed, so the children need to be mindful of their neighbors' pieces and move slowly and carefully.

I do hope you try this project, it really is a cool one!

Here's the method:

Dragon (Faux) Stained Glass

Supplies Needed:

• Template (I copied mine on 8 1/2" x 11" paper)
• Pencils, Ruler & Sharpie to create your template
• Piece of clear Contact paper slightly larger than your paper guide
• Clear tape
• Four 3/4" x 12" strips black construction paper "(for frame)
• About four 1/4" x 12" strips black construction paper "(for leading)
• Many 1" squares of tissue paper, assorted colors
• Scissors
• 1 clear sheet protector, optional

Directions:

1. Make your template: Draw a border around the copy paper that is about 1/2" wide. Use the pencil & ruler to create a simple, bold image made up of straight lines. Don't make anything too detailed! You can use the dragon image for inspiration. Once you have your design down, use the Sharpie to go over the lines. These will be the guide lines you will use when placing your construction paper leading. You may want younger children to work from a template image you've created, but older children could create their own over a period of classes.

2. Tape the template to the table using clear tape.

3. Remove the paper backing from the Contact paper and place it on top of the template sticky side up. You will be doing all of the work on the sticky side of the Contact paper. Tape the Contact paper to the table using a couple pieces of clear tape to hold it in place while you work.

4. Place the 3/4" pieces of black construction paper over the areas of the template designated as your border. Place the paper strips directly onto the sticky side of the Contact paper and press lightly. It is OK if the strips extend beyond your template--you'll be trimming the piece later.

5. Using your template as a guide, place the 1/4" strips of construction paper over the leading lines on the image you drew. Simply rip (or cut) the construction paper strips to the proper length to cover your leading lines. Cover all of the lines in your drawing.

6. Once you have the border and all of the leading lines covered in construction paper, start filling in the remaining sections with colorful pieces of tissue paper. The squares can overlap each other and can overlap the black construction paper lines a bit (you are actually working on the piece from behind). But take care to make sure the tissue paper goes where you want it to. It is almost impossible to remove the tissue paper from the Contact paper once it gets on there. 

7. Once all of the sections are filled in with color, trim the piece down to 8 1/2" x 11" and slip it into a clear sheet protector to protect it. Other options would be to use another sheet of Contact paper on the other side of the piece to seal the tissue paper and construction paper safely inside. Or you could run the piece through a laminator (maybe), I don't have one at my disposal, so I'm not sure of that, but it may work. 

Place in a sunny window and enjoy!

Working on our dragon (faux) stained glass windows.
Everything is taped down with clear tape and the tissue paper
squares are in the center of the table in cardboard trays.