In the Berkeley School Art Studio September 2014

Orienting to the studio -

Habits and Routines are the focus for the beginning of the year.  students to be independent in the art studio.

Kindergarteners making their 1st sketch books of the year.

K's working on drawing in their sketch journals at the big tables.

Getting the art studio space ready for art making.

Before...

... before...

A deep clean and materials and supplies inventory took place over the summer and the week before school started. Tables were stripped and refinished, floors were newly painted and waxed, more closet shelving was built to easily access supplies. All the great cleaning and organizing yielded very spacious lovely studio environment for art making, teaching, and learning this year.

After!

OK Go - "Primary Colors" | A Stop-Motion Music Video for Sesame Street

A great visual and song for musically learning the Primary colors.

Linguicism | Teaching Tolerance

Linguicism | Teaching Tolerance

4/5 Clay Face Vases and Tiny Houses

4/5 students working on hand building with clay. They are making coil pots with relief sculpted faces on the front. After glazing, students will find plants that accentuate an aspect of the face they made. The plant will look like hair. 

These students are woking on slab building small houses.

to see more images go to the 4/5 page at - tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com

ECC Eugenia Students Blowing Watercolor Paint

Students in the Eugenia classroom work with straws to blow puddles of watercolor paint across their paper, enjoying the patterns and colors made from the process. 

(for more images click on the Early child hood link at - tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com)

4/5 Vote Posters

VOTE Nov. 6, 2012
                                                           

Students in the 4/5 art classes looked at nonpartisan posters encouraging citizens to vote. We looked at the time line of voting rights. It was surprising to some that wide spread voting rights were not enjoyed by many until fairly recent history. Students made nonpartisan posters to encourage people to get out and vote.
(for more images of students at work check out tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com)

4/5 Sculpture with White Clay

October 22, 2012 was week #2 working with clay. This week students had a choice of what they could create with clay. We are working toward building skills in the use of clay to make a larger sculptural portrait. Students will use techniques of creating a coil pot and then attaching clay by slipping and scoring to connect facial features to the pot.

more images @ the  4/5 page on tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com

4/5 Terra Cotta Clay Tiles

Students in the 4/5 classes begin work with clay. Terra cotta clay is a red earthenware clay that when fired loos like red clay pots. Clay tile work allows students to build skills; wedging and prepping clay, working with tools, measuring for size, getting thickness correct, and drawing or creating relief designs on the surface.
for more images of students at work see the 4/5 page @ tbsarstudiok-5.blogspot.com

K/1 & 2/3 Paper Pumpkins

There's noting quite as fun as a great Halloween craft!

K/1 & 2/3 students made dozens of paper pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns during art studio this week. Many students expanded on the work by making tiny ones, larger ones, yellow, green and brown ones. There were vines and leaves and even one marionette pumpkin that sings opera.

for more images take a look at the k/1 & 2/3 pages @ tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com

ECC Magnolia Class Birds - Paint Paper Collage

In my weekly Wednesday visit to the Early Childhood Campus the Magnolia students used the paint papers they made last month to create bird collage. I guided students in breaking down the bird form to its basic shapes - ovals, a circle, and triangles. Students drew shapes, cut them out, and glued them to the background paper.
for more images of Magnolia students at work see the ECC page @ tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com

K/1 Drawings - Maps "From Home to School"

K/1 students in Blackberry Creek made map drawings of the path from their home to school or school to home. 
See the K/1 page for more images @ tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com

Art Encounters - Early Childhood Drawing, Professional Development

teachers at the ECC working with materials that their students will be using for drawing.


On October 17, 2012 I prepared a professional development experience for the teachers at our Early Childhood Campus. The topic was stages of drawing in young children. There are studied stages of development that children go through in their mark making and drawing life. We reviewed the stages of drawing that children pass through as they grow. We looked at photographs of some of our own students at work and observed where they are in their drawing life.  We shared experiences of our teaching practices with children and their drawing. For a fully hands on experience I brought drawing materials; Black paper, white conte crayon & chalk pastel, black ebony pencils and colored chalk pastel for teachers to try. It's alway great to work with materials that our students are going to experience.


See this Illustrated table
Drawing Development in Children 
http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

Alexander Calder's Circus

© Alexander Calder with Calder Circus, still image from Carlos Vilardebo's 1961 film of Alexander Calder's "circus". Courtesy of Fondation Calder.

Alexander Calder enjoyed experimenting with materials and working making contraptions. He used this love of making things to create a circus that he would animate and perform for his friends. Much of the collection is housed at the Whitney Museum in NY.(visit the 2/3 page on tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com to view a delightful video) 

2/3 students in Sweet Briar and Temescal Creek have started a four week sculpture experience working with the inspiration of Alexander Calder's circus. Students are making circus performers and circus acts using corks, wire, rubber  tires, wood, felt, wool, yarn, string, nails and tacks. 

K/1 Here I am In October...

A Blackberry Creek student working on drawing her self portrait with glue. The next step is to let the glue dry and add chalk pastel to the paper. The glue areas will remain black while the mixing of chalk pastel colors "pop" on the black paper. 
(see more images at tbsartstudiok-5.blogspot.com, K/1 page)

Blackberry - Glue self portrait

ECC Euginia students work on drawing a self portrait.

      

"One Community Many Faces" 

One of The Berkeley Schools' 2^nd year students traveled to Coppenhagen on summer vacation with her family. She and her Mom participated in a group project where everyone at the museum made a face out of clay that was mounted on a wall structure. The sculpture was started at our Fall gathering on September 23, 2012. It's outside the East entrance of the Art Studio. We are continuing to make this community art piece in the K- 8th classes this week. (10/1/12)

Thanks to Jeanine for bringing the project to us.

photos by Jean Marsters (9/23/12 "Fall Festival" Pie & Chili bake off)

Circus Drawings 2/3

In 2/3 we are starting a series of classes focusing on the theme of Circus. Alexander Calder created a mini Circus out of wire, metal, cloth, clay, yarn, and wood. Here a student sketches her ideas of the circus. In coming weeks students will work with sculptural material building their own circus acts.

Paint Papers

In the ECC Magnolia Classroom students made papers that will be used for collage. BLICK Tempra paint mixes very well. Colors stay true and the clean up is easy. Artists experimented with the process of mixing colors on their pages. All work will be shared with one another to create collages in the style of author and artist Eric Carle.