Down by the sea

 After School Art Enrichment Program

For my first art project of the new Art Enrichment Program at a local Montessori school I had students work with clay to create a collection of handmade pottery fish.    During lesson one the children hand cut their fish shapes from a slab of clay.  They added eyes, fins, scales and an array of fishy details.  I took the clay fish home and kiln fired them to a bisque state.  During lesson two, the children painted their artwork with non-toxic glazes.  The fish were kiln fired once more and a saw tooth hanger was added to the back. 

Preschool Fish

Elementary School Fish

A school of children and fish ready for another exciting year of sharing, creating and learning.

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Summer Art Camp - Garden Art

Art for the home and garden

 Art Camp Projects

 POTTERY ART

CLAY TERRARIUMS

For our first art project the artists created a terrarium from a slab of clay.  We discussed vessels that can be used and what can grow inside a container.   Armed with this information the artists drew, cut out and applied over a slab of rolled out clay a paper terrarium pattern.  The boys and girls traced around the shape, cutting through the clay with pencils, to form the foundation of their terrarium design.  They assembled rocks, plants, bugs and creatures from left over clay that were then applied to the clay base. 

The handmade terrariums were set aside to dry, fired to a bisque ware state in my kiln, painted with lead-free glaze, then fired one last time.  To finish off their pottery pieces,  a saw tooth hanger was attached to the back.

 

HANDMADE CLAY BIRDS

Bird sculptures were created from clay left over from the artists terrariums.  The clay was rolled, pinched and modeled into a variety of bird forms.  A hole was made in the bottom of the birds so they could later be attached to a wooden dowel.

 

A very colorful flock of birds ~ glazed, fired and in flight.

 

BISQUE GARDEN STAKES

With thoughts of butterfly, rainbow, balloon and princess gardens for the girls and death, grave and zombie gardens for the boys; the artists sketched and painted a bisque garden stake.  Afterwards, the stakes were fired in my kiln to a lovely glossy ceramic state - perfect for planting in an outdoor garden or container. 

 

PEACH PAINTING ON CANVAS

Inspired by Daliah Smith's colorful Peach Painting

Perfectly Peachy - oil - 5x7 inch

To begin their painting on a 16x20 inch canvas, the artists drew three large circles, within these they added three smaller circles, then two curved leaf lines all of which formed the basic shape of the three peaches.

Multiple coats of gold and pink paint were applied to the negative space to create a sense of depth with color, value and texture.

The artists paint palettes contained light pink, dark pink, dark green, light green, gold and white.  They used a combination, and multiple layers of these six colors to paint the peaches, leaves and shadows.

The proud artists with their finished masterpieces:

END OF CAMP CUPCAKES

On the last day of art camp everyone takes part in our Friday feast - cracking, pouring, mixing, scooping and finally eating scrumptious cupcakes.

Thanks to my artists for a great week of family fun and creativity!

xo

Summer Art Camp

Wonders of the Natural World

This week artists created works of art prompted by their knowledge of sea life, animals of the wild and plant life.

CLAY FISHBOWLS

As a prompt for our first project we discussed various forms of sea life.  Afterwards artists sketched a fishbowl shape on card stock which was cut and placed on top of a slab of clay.  With a pencil students traced the pattern cutting through the clay as they went.   An assortment of ocean dwelling creatures were built from clay scraps, then scored, slipped and squished to the fishbowl.   The fishbowls were set aside to dry then fired in my kiln.

During our next class the artists painted their fishbowls with pottery glaze and their artwork was fired once again.

The fishbowls in their finished state look absolutely adorable.

GARDEN MARKERS

The artist's bisque garden markers sketched, painted, fired in my kiln and ready for a garden.

ANIMAL PAINTING

Inspired by Eli Halpin Paintings

Eli Halpin - Three Goats

We began this project with a discussion of animals in the wild and the whimsical artwork of Eli Halpin.   This was followed by the artists sketching an animal of their choice onto a 16x20 inch canvas, using the rules of three to create an interesting composition.

In order to create visual interest, at least three layers of color were applied to the negative space of the background.   The artists chose two complimentary colors and painted them in layers on their animals.  Rosy cheeks and decorative accents finished off their whimsical paintings.

 

 

 

 

 A round of thanks to Eli Halpin for providing artistic inspiration for this painting project!

TREASURE BOX

Wooden boxes were drawn on and painted creating a fun little piece of work in which to store various treasures.

CUPCAKE MAKING

On the last day of art camp everyone takes part in our Friday feast - cracking, pouring, mixing, scooping and finally eating cupcakes.   A delicious end to another wonderful week of art.