Week 5... Busy as a Hive!

*Progress Reports go home Friday 9/9!*
Although this week was shortened by Labor day on Monday, students have been busy learning and creating in the art room this week! Mrs. Mulloy was chaperoning a STARS leadership team on Wednesday out of school, but students had a lot going on with their research and art making! Submissions for the Hamilton Place Bus design contest have been scanned in and will be submitted this week! I'll keep you posted if any Eagle Artists make the cut, and I'm working on getting our online gallery updated as well!!

1st and 2nd periods Ceramics had a History of Ceramics and Pottery investigation due Tues (9/7). This week students worked diligently creating their own ceramic rattles this week. After creating designs in their sketchbooks and investigating the history of rattles in different cultures and their use up to now with infants, students got their hands dirty! Although our shortened 55 minute periods are tough for accomplishing much ceramic work, we are learning to work quickly while having enough time to clean up before the bell rings and get to the next class (usually at the other end of the building). We are also learning a lot about the role of humidity, temperature, and trying to keep our clay wet enough to work! Chemistry is alive in the art room, as are pop quizzes! Students' rattles and investigations (3-4 pages, as always) due Thursday (9/9)!

3rd period Art 3/4/AP should have already turned in a bus design and IW last week! My students looked a lot like college art students this week; each working on their own choice projects! Creating 3-4 page investigations on their ideas, students are executing interesting works of art, from traditional charcoal still-life drawings to tissue-paper embroidered canvases! Projects and investigations, including a self-critique ( as always) are due Friday (9/10)!

4th period Photography had 7 Elements of Art photos and an IW due Tues (9/7). This week students began to learn about Camera Basics and Exposure in Photography. After a podcast series, videos, and online research time, students created a 3-4 page investigation on the topic. Heavy in new vocabulary, this week was full of talk about apertures, shutter speeds, ISOs, depth of field, stops of light, and ranges of values. In addition to all the vocab and notes, they need to use a camera with adjustable settings to take multiple photos manipulating the light, focus, and depth of field just by changing the camera's settings. They should submit 2 digi files or prints: one exposed automatically, and one showing an identical image but with manipulated exposure (blurred focus from long shutter speed, shallow depth of field from larger aperture, etc) due Monday (9/13)!

6th period Art 2 students were busy creating the 2 realistic drawings (yes, they can learn to draw realistically, no matter what!) they will use in their Summer reading/ Seminar book inspired artwork. After summarizing their book in 2 paragraphs, students were asked to brainstorm important ideas, themes, symbols, and objects from their books. Students then created small sketches of each object or symbol. (All of this work was done in the IW and should be part of a 3-4 page investigation on the Summer reading book and project!) An additional homework IW (3-4 page investigation, 50/50 images and text, with MLS sources, as always!) on Art and Literature is due Tuesday (9/14)! They were then asked to bring in 2 objects or photographs from their list to draw (the most accurate realistic drawings are done form OBSERVATION, not memory). After students complete the drawings, they will choose passages from the book to and use their knowledge of typography to paint a beautiful arrangement of words to combine next week with their drawn images on large paper. I am SO excited to see how the works of art turn out, and I hope this project will reinforce the students' interest in or knowledge of their Summer Reading/Seminar books, as well as the important relationship between Art and Literature!