Week One: Drawing Center Open

Flower Power!

Artmaking in the CBMS art studio is back in action. After first putting systems in place (creating portfolios and sketchbooks, reviewing studio norms), the “Drawing Center” is open! In the Drawing Center, students are introduced to a variety of materials, tools and resources artists use to produce drawings. Pictured here are two individual approaches to similar subject matter. One artist chose to draw flowers from a still life, while another found the information and inspiration she needed in a book about flowers. Welcome back artists!

Blog Gone Wild

It has been a while since I looked in on our art blog, being on summer vacation and all – So it was quite a surprise when I checked it today and found that the CBMS Art Blog has been visited by people in 46 states and 48 foreign countries! I guess it’s time to step things up and get some new posts going! Scroll down to find the visitor map on the left side of the page.

WELCOME BACK ARTISTS!

Those in our school community are invited to look at the wish list at the left side of the blog page, and see if there is anything there you are able to donate to the art program. Our need is ongoing - you can contribute all throughout the school year.

ENGAGE AND PERSIST: Collagraph Printmaking

One of the 8 “Studio Habits” (Hetland et el, 2007) artists practice in the Choice-Based art studio is Engage and Persist.”  This is what artists do when they grab hold of an idea and stuck with it.

Collagraph Print by "A," Grade 5

Recently I  observed a 5^th grade student demonstrating this habit. He was learning to make a collagraph and print it on our etching press. There were many steps to practice and his first try did not produce satisfactory results.

The student who made the handsome edition of prints pictured above worked independently to master this new technique over a three day period. He stuck with it until he could control all aspects of the process and produce a good, clean image.

The Class that Loved Clay

With four weeks left in school, the Clay Center’s days are numbered. Clay artists are intent on making the most of the few days that are left.

One class in particular is especially prolific, as evidenced by our new style of graph: The "Team Box-top Graph."

As you can see, the DREAM team is outdistancing the other teams hands down.

Finding an idea then finding the “right stuff”

A small cohort of papier mâché artists have been working for several days now on various animal forms. The mâché was layered over balloon armatures – a process these students had experience with from past years.

"C's" Bee, Grade 5

Once the sculptures were hard, the decorating began: paint was employed as a surface treatment and then the search began for just the right thing to use for finer details, in this case, wire for wings, antennae and stinger. The final touch for this sculpture was to add a string so the bee could be installed in the artist's bedroom when it gets home.

The Marvelous Thing

Work in Progress by "M" Grade 8

What I know:

It started out as grey cardboard strips, woven together into an elegant mat.

It was disassembled in order to paint the strips blue.

It was reassembled and then green strips were added too.

Blue and Green are the artist’s favorite colors.

It is held together by weaving and by string.

It can be rolled into a sculptural object.

Ambitious Artists

"Noah's Ark" by "C," "B" & "S," Grade 5

It was “C’s” vision, but he couldn’t do it alone. “C” collaborated with two peers to complete his version of “Noah’s Ark” in time for the end of 3^rd Quarter.  The ark itself seemed to come together fairly quickly, but then there was the matter of designing a way to show the flood, and the houses deep below the water. And the animals – what is a good way to make the animals?  “B” and “S” pitched in and helped craft the animals and apply brown tape to the solid side of the ark. The other side, they were proud to show, is open, so you can see inside. Noah stands on the prow and feathered birds perch up on the top.

And one more cool thing? The ark fits inside the flood, for easy transport.