The Ratner School Art Program

It was great to have a full and complete week at school. All the classes working on clay managed to complete their work, despite the challenges faced by days off in the art room. I have plans of firing the kiln all week this week and hope to get the majority of the work through the first firing. We have IOWA testing this week and several classes will not have their regular art class. I have worked out the schedule so most students will have some time in art, and some students will get to collaborate with our younger students on a project for fun.

                                                       

Kindergarten Art

We began our unit on United States symbols.In art, we focus our studies on the Statue of Liberty and I tie in a unit on self portraits as well. We began the week talking about the symbols people use to draw portraits. Some examples I showed were "spider eyes", the simple curve symbol used to represent a smile, and the favorite backwards "L" or jack-o-lantern triangle symbol for the nose. Each student then learned the simple proportions and placement of features for portraits and began to draw their self portrait. Every student had a mirror to observe themselves and to try and draw what they saw adding as many detail as they could in one class period. The portraits are charming and I will soon hang them in the halls so everyone can enjoy them. After learning more about portraits, we began the Statue of Liberty drawing. The artists drew the facial features of Lady Liberty, then added a blue green watercolor wash over their drawing. This week, the students will collage their statue image over a background created by gluing different nationality newspapers in a pattern to symbolize the diversity in America.

1st and 2nd Grade Art

I was approached by a student in 1st grade who had an idea for a project he really wanted to do in art. He had developed an idea to take images of existing super heroes, cut them out and collage them on paper. I extended his idea to include oil pastels and water color paint to create a scene or setting that the super heroes could use their powers. We had a lively discussion about how we could be super heroes by helping, saying something kind to others, or doing helpful acts without anyone knowing. We then discussed how we could illustrate a story only using images, not relying on words. The students also had the option of using magazine images if they did not like the super heroes images. I believe they all enjoyed a lighted assignment and I appreciated the idea coming from an enthusiastic artist. After the work was complete on their super hero work, the students could create a free work using oil pastels and water color. I believe they expanded their techniques and were thrilled to get to take the work home right away!

3rd and 4th Grade Art

I love the enthusiasm of this group of artists! They were so excited to get to experiment a have a clay play day. While I begin the Ratner students in Kindergarten working with clay, several students have not had the opportunity to shape and construct with this medium. Exploring the properties of clay helps the student develop confidence and a deeper understanding of what the material is capable of doing. We will not have classes this week due to IOWA testing, but will begin working on our formal project next Monday.

  

                                        

5th and 6th Grade Art

All the students completed the sculpting of their super heroes! Around 80% of the students also decided to construct a base for their work. I was glad to see the amount of detail and level of craftsmanship displayed in their pieces. The work is expressive, creative and each character really tells a story. The work will take some time to dry completely before I am able to fire in the kiln. After the work is fired, the students will glaze their piece. I am excited to see the choices they will make with the glaze application.

7th and 8th Grade Art

The teapots are completed! We had a few issues with missed days of school due to weather and some of the work began drying out sooner than we wanted. The students all showed strong persistence and determination in completing their work. The project was split with students sculpting their teapots with a theme and students that wanted a simple, functional teapot. Both approaches offered challenges, technical skills and a higher level of understanding of clay construction methods. After the work is fired in the kiln, the artists will glaze their work and then we will have a tea party in class. The tea party is always one of our favorite events culminating a challenging project, plus we get to have cookies!

The Ratner School Art Program

We had a bit of an abbreviated week last week in art, but still managed to complete several projects. With the exception of the 3rd and 4th grade class, all the classes began their clay projects. I try to have everyone working on clay at the same time as the mess is tremendous and I try to keep the dust contained to a few weeks! I am getting the hang of working with clay and have enjoyed the projects this year. Because the kiln size is on the small side, it take me a while to fire everyone's work, but I will begin that process as soon as the clay dries enough to load the kiln. I have over 200 pieces to load this week, wish me luck. I have added a link to The River Gallery in Rocky River. They currently have a wonderful ceramic show in their gallery that would be worth the trip for your children to see. I think they will all have a deeper appreciation for ceramic work now that they have been creating art using clay.

                                             

Kindergarten Art

I worked with the Kindergarten students for one class creating clay disk bowls. The students made several golf ball sized forms and smashed them into disks. The disks were then scored and slipped together and placed inside a plastic form. Once the forms are dry and fired in the kiln, they will apply a glaze to the bowls. This will happen next month in art.
The students continued building the skills they gained with the collage work and created a collage based on the work of Ezra Keats. They looked at several examples of his collage illustrations, noting the details and setting of each piece. They learned the terms horizon line, focal point and we added texture and details to their art vocabulary as well. The students were asked to tell a story with their artwork using only cut paper elements. The results are wonderful and are hanging in the hallways by their classrooms.

1st and 2nd Grade Art

The reason I have begun to enjoy working with clay more is because of the growth and skills I see being developed for this grade level. The students showed great patience and attention to detail with their clay project. We began the unit with a pinch pot bowl shape which transformed into a birds nest with added texture. The artists could add eggs, worms, leaves or bugs to the interior of their nest. The focal point of the sculpture would be the bird resting on the edge of the nest. The students remember the parts of the bird from the sketches and found that they were easily able to sculpt a realistic form. They created such wonderful pieces, they wanted to continue to work with clay. I asked Ms. Patel what unit they were focused on in Science, and they were beginning a unit on volcanoes. Perfect! Each student created a 6" high volcano that will hold a plastic test tube. They will mix together the elements in Science to make their volcano erupt! We have so much fun collaborating with science. I am excited to see how the work looks after the glaze is applied.

3rd and 4th Grade Art

We unfortunately missed an entire week of art because of President's Day and the snow day on Tuesday. We somehow managed to finish the Van Gogh painting project on schedule, however, and will be beginning clay tomorrow! The paintings are fantastic and I am so excited to display them in the school. The students really loosened up with the application of the paint, showed improvement in value change and color theory. I will let the students begin to explore the clay material tomorrow and we will begin our clay unit after the IOWA tests.

 

5th and 6th Grade Art

The current clay project in art was created to tie into the study in history of the traditional Gods and Goddesses of Ancient India. We talked about the powers and gifts the traditional deities possessed and how we could translate that knowledge into a contemporary figure. The students noted that the characteristics were similar to super heroes, so that was the starting point of the project. Each student sculpted a unique figure with different element portraying various "powers". The forms are mostly around 6 to 7" high and have wonderful details. The students have shown a strong aptitude for working in clay. This will be the final week for the sculpting of the figure and the clay base.

7th and 8th Grade Art

The students are in their 3rd week of building their coil construction teapots. Several artists have begun constructing and attaching the spout, handle and the lid. The shapes are coming together and the confidence is growing with each class. A teapot is a complicated form to create with clay. The artist has to construct a solid body without making the form too heavy, the spout must be placed with the correct angle to pour the liquid and the lid should fit correctly on the body of the pot. In addition to the function, we want the teapots to be visually appealing! This is a challenging project, and once again the students are rising to the occasion. 

The Ratner School Art Program

All grade levels have finished the work on the cards and I am so impressed with the work they created. The most difficult part of working on this project was the smaller scale of the paper. Most of you know how we like to work on a large scale in our art program, the students can explore the material more freely and with greater experimentation with the composition. The images for the cards were tiny at 8" x 10"! The students commented on the scale, but then set to work with their usual gusto and focus. We are beginning our ceramic unit in most every class this week, so the focus is shifting to a more sculptural approach in the art room. I am looking forward to working with clay this year. This metal smith is finally getting more comfortable with clay!

A beautiful photo from my friend, D. Woolfork

Kindergarten Art

The students studied the work of the Gee's Bend quilt makers of Alabama. We looked at several examples of their work and talked about the material used, colors, patterns and stitching. The artists then began to create their own patterns using various textured paper, dots and squares. They designed their collage using their scissors to cut shapes and glue to connect their shapes into a pattern. The final phase of the work was to add marks to emulate stitches. After their first design was completed, they created a "free work" collage. They could build 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional with their paper. Beautiful work all the way around!

1st and 2nd Grade Art

We finished the Aboriginal painting project this week with great success! The artists loved painting with q-tips and worked diligently dotting their designs with the 5 colors. They are hanging in the hallway by their classroom. We had some time to work on the bird designs for our next unit in art. The students are going to create birds sitting in nests using clay. We will make a pinch pot nest and sculpt the bird sitting on the edge of the nest.  I thought it would be helpful for them to study a picture of a bird to better understand the proportions and parts of a bird before the clay work began. The drawings were so lovely, they wanted to hang them in the hallway as well! I love that they are excited to share their work with everyone, thank you all for waiting for the art work to come home to you.

 

3rd and 4th Grade Art

The students are moving quickly and with confidence painting their Van Gogh inspired flowers. The observational drawings at the beginning of the year have helped them lay out the composition for their still life and they are enjoying applying paint in a layered manner. They are gaining better control of the acrylic paint, seeing value changes and understanding more color theory as the project progresses. We will have at least one more week working on the still life paintings, then we will move onto our clay unit.

                                                          

                                                          

   

 

5th and 6th Grade Art

The students have all completed their "bird" card designs and they look amazing! They really showed their skill at observational drawing with this project and I am so proud to see how their skills are growing. They were equally proud of the work and enjoyed a faster pace project. We are beginning our ceramic unit next. The students will be sculpting their own "super heroes" to tie into the study of India in their history class. They have sketched ideas and will begin working with the clay this week. I will post pictures in the next blog. 

7th and 8th Grade Art

The cards have been completed and the students are now ready to begin their next project. We are moving into a clay unit and they have decided to make teapots. I have had some success with teapots at this grade level and think we will once again be able to create a functional piece in this unit. The students are formulating their designs right now, I will post some pictures next week of the building progress.

The Ratner School Art Program

What a busy week and weekend we have had at the school! Sunday's open house was filled with prospective parents and students visiting our school. I always enjoy the opportunity to show others what our art program is like at The Ratner School. Every parent I met commented on the work they viewed throughout the school and how impressed they are with the skill and creativity our students exhibit. I am so proud of our students!  

We are currently working on a project in every art class to help raise funds for the maker space. There are many hand tools, fasteners and materials we still would like to purchase and all the students want to take part in helping build the space. We have contracted a company to create blank card sets with the artwork of each student represented on the individual cards. Many thanks to Sydnia Tcheurekdjian on finding a company to work with us. I am still working out the details of price and how you can purchase the cards, but I promise I will let you know when I get it all settled. The work is beautiful and I think everyone will be pleased to buy the cards featuring the artists of our school! 

I love the portraits the students draw of me and give as gifts. 

Kindergarten Art

The Kindergarten artists finished the work on the Chinese Zodiac. They showed great skill and understanding about details, color use and correct material control. The work was sent home on Thursday and I hope they were able to tell you more about the symbols of the zodiac. I am having a wonderful time watching the tremendous growth in our youngest artists!

Great pirate rabbit!

1st and 2nd Grade Art

This class was the first group to complete their card project. The students decided to focus on zentangle designs, remembering the successful zentangle name project from the beginning of the year. We talked about making the cards black and white, but the class really wanted colorful cards, so we set on creating the patterns with markers and watercolors. They were careful with their patterns and are very excited to help raise money for the maker space! I can hardly wait to see the final cards printed.  

3rd and 4th Grade Art

This class did not really get a vote in the imagery for the card project! We had already begun the Van Gogh flower painting project and I did not want them to lose momentum. The students created a still life with the flowers in the vase for the image on their cards. This only helps them with the composition, details and color choices for their large painting. The smaller sketches are wonderfully painted and they are very proud of their work.

5th and 6th Grade Art

All the students in the 5th and 6th grade class finished their cards and they are amazing! The class decided to focus on the subject matter of birds. They could create a realistic drawing of the bird of their choice using their observational skills, or they could create a "hybrid" bird. Some students combined animals, most chose to create a more realistic drawing of a bird. I am impressed with the work they created and I believe the images will be very successful as cards.

7th and 8th Grade Art

We had our final run of printmaking this week and the majority of students were pleased with the prints they pulled. We began work on the images for the cards at the end of the week. The students at this grade level wanted to have completely unique cards from one another. I am letting them choose the subject matter for their work and am excited to see how their work will evolve.