It's just 2 weeks until my final student art show. I have a lot to do. But here's a few quick glimpses.
First, here's a sample of 1st grade dragonflies a la Eric Carle (we made their wings with painted paper). I admit it, I actually had the kids use a template for the body and wings. Somehow, it just wasn't the point; the painted paper was really it. They will be hopefully hang near the garden that we are hopefully creating for the art show. You'll see. Hopefully.
And some more 6th grade tooling foil dragons:
And a Chihuly "rainbow tower" in progress:
I will NEVER do this again. I've discovered that the kids have trouble putting their bottles on the tower, which means that I need to put EVERY BOTTLE on myself. Not good. We're talking between 200 and 300 bottles here. Painted and cut bottles are being made by the 4th graders, and tissue covered bottles with twisty tails were made by grade 5. These were a challenge - how did you make these look so easy, Mr. E? Our tissue paper often fell apart in the process.
Meanwhile, the 3rd grade garden gnomes are getting lots of character - about 1/2 are completely done, and the rest need one more class to finish. The gnomes have brooms, rakes bows & arrows, braids, baskets, and more, and are are so cute! Here's a sampling:
Love the fishing pole, and that's quite the beard, no?
Uh, sweetie - I think you are done, right?
And so am I for tonight.
Wow, your last student art show! I can't imagine what that must feel like. This is my 20 th year teaching, so I'm definitely in the second half of my career, but my mortgage will keep me teaching well into retirement years :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats to you, such an accomplishment.
Looks great! I love the dragon flies & will be stealing that for sure!!!! :) Your Chihuly tower looks great! I love the mix of painted and tissue papered bottles!!! I never had trouble with tissue paper coming off? We used elmers glue & then tempera varnish on top. Yours looks beautiful..sorry it is frustrating for ya!!
ReplyDeleteTwo things -- One: that tower looks like it may be worth all the extra work -- pretty spectacular!! Did your fourth graders need any help cutting the bottles or could they do it all by themselves?? And Two: I absolutely LOVE the little guy buried in his "cloud" of beard!!!!
ReplyDeleteGood to know that the Chihuly stuff is a no go! I have been thinking of trying parts of it with the students but something told me it might be a bit much to take on! Yours will be WELL worth the trials and tribulations when done. It is beautiful and the gnomes are so creative. Love the painted paper dragon flies too!
ReplyDeleteTry using coffee filters colored with markers, rubber banded to a cup, and sprayed with spray starch. Lighter, cheaper, and easier to hot glue to a structure for a collaborative sculpture.
DeleteCharlene, my students did that, as well. Each was mounted to an individual small square of mat board, and they were displayed together on one panel. They looked great. And our bottle tower, despite the challenges, was a huge hit so I wouldn't change it for the world!
DeleteHow did you make the arms of the garden gnomes? I absolutely love them!
ReplyDeleteIt was really easy, actually, but I'd like to improve on the process if I make them this year. We made a tight roll of newspaper and taped it up. The roll was shaped into sort of a U shape, and the inside center of the U was hot-glued to the back of the Gatorade bottle at the "shoulders" and then taped over it to double-secure it. The kids could also glue/tape it to the sides of the bottle to make them stick out forward, or leave them outstretched to the sides. Then we just papier-mâché'd over them along with everything else. I'm hoping to have an opportunity to make them again this fall. Let me know if you have any other questions!
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