Abstract Cardboard Sculptures, Inspired by Frank Stella

Last month, 1st grade artists looked at and discussed the work of artist Frank Stella. We learned that he is a contemporary artist, which means he is still alive and making art today.  

Frank Stella, Pachanak (1979)

Stella began his career making abstract art, focusing on geometric shapes, and later on he explored large 3D collage artworks. We looked at and discussed some of his later 3D artworks. Students noticed that Stella used many different kinds of shapes, materials and colors.  

Frank Stella, Shark Massacre (1988)

We also discussed the abstract nature of his work, focusing on what we noticed and observed in the artwork. We spent some time on one artwork in particular, called Shark Massacre. Some students thought the sharp triangles reminded them of shark fins, while others connected the shapes to waves on the ocean and other students felt they were similar to rows of sharp teeth. We talked about how abstract work allows us to have personal interpretations, depending on how we see and connect to the work.

After discussing his work, we learned that we could combine different pieces of cardboard to create our own abstract sculptures in different ways. One method we focused on is slotting, which involves cutting a slot into two different pieces and sliding them together. Students chose several different pieces of cardboard and combined them together, using slotting among other techniques. We added glue to make sure all the pieces were secure and let them dry. 

The following class, students painted their cardboard sculptures, making sure to turn them around to get all the different sides. Students expertly mixed together a variety of different colors, sharing "recipes" with each other for new colors. After allowing them to dry, we added patterns to the sculptures during the next class. Students brainstormed different pattern examples, such as stripes, polka dots, zig zag lines, repeated shapes, etc. Students also got metallic paint to use, which worked well with many different color backgrounds.

The very last step was to coat the sculptures with a layer of Mod Podge, to seal the paint and to make sure all the pieces stayed together. Students also created titles or names for their sculptures, thinking about what inspired their design or what their sculptures reminded them of. Below are some examples of our abstract Frank Stella inspired sculptures on display at the recent Art & Music Extravaganza

 

 

Anna, 1st grade (Massa)

Katie, 1st grade (Salvucci)

NJ, 1st grade (Salvucci)

Sophie, 1st grade (Salvucci)

Coil Pots

Recently, artists in 3rd and 4th grade made coil pots using clay. First, we learned that clay comes from the Earth and is made up of different minerals. For thousands of years, people have been using clay to make pottery, making the clay into cups, bowls and vases to use. We also learned that clay goes through many stages to become a finished, glazed coil pot and the first stage is wet clay. 

To begin, students used rolling pins to flatten the clay and used a yogurt cup to trace around and make the bottom of the coil pot. Then we took smaller pieces of clay and rolled them under our palms, forming coils or snake-like shapes. Students worked hard to create even coils that would reach all the way around their pot’s base. We learned how to score, or scratch up, the clay and apply slip, which is a mixture of clay and water and acts as a glue, to attach our coils together. It is important to “scratch and attach” everything, because while it is wet, clay sticks together easily, but eventually it dries and can come apart. 

3rd graders built coil pots using 6 layers of coils. 4th grade classes got another day to add decorative details to their coil pot, including spirals, handles, shapes and letters. The coil pots dried out for a week until they became bone dry and were fired in the kiln. The kiln is an oven for the clay to get heated and become hard. 

The following class, students painted glaze onto their coil pots. Six color stations were set up around the room and students used the colors they wanted to use at that station. Students had to carry their coil pots to the different stations very carefully. 

We painted 2-3 layers of glaze, so that the colors would come out bright. Students had to make sure to cover all the white spots, which was more challenging because of the texture of the fired clay. Some students chose to paint the glaze as solid colors and other students created patterns such as stripes or polka dots. 

We got our coil pots back after they had been fired again, to melt the glaze onto our pot and make it shiny. Students noticed that the colors had gotten brighter. Below are some examples of our finished coil pots from 3rd and 4th grades:

Chloe, 4th grade (Dubuque)

Elena, 4th grade (Mattson Graves)

Emma, 3rd grade (Fletcher)

Mateo, 4th grade (Doherty)

Shahd, 4th grade (Doherty)

Sidney, 4th grade (Doherty)

Nikolas, 4th grade (Dubuque)

Tamsin, 4th grade (Cikacz)

Cameron, 4th grade (Dubuque)

Carnival of the Animals Masks

For their upcoming June concert, PK and K artists made animal masks to connect to the Carnival of the Animals songs they have been learning in music! Each class was given a different animal. 

We began with a white mask template and painted them. We also painted paper to use for different parts, like ears, as well as for the background. After the painted mask had dried, we added different cut out details to represent the animal. 

Mrs. Martignetti’s class created elephants, using their painted gray paper to add large ears and folding a piece of painted paper for the long trunk. 

Mrs. Beatty’s class made lions, using their painted yellow and orange paper to add ears and a mane. We also added a nose with black paper. 

Mrs. Segreve’s class created donkeys, using their painted gray paper for ears and adding a tuft of hair and a snout to represent the donkey. 

Mrs. Blackwood’s class got fish, so we used painted purple and blue paper to add fins and scales around our masks. 

Mrs. Bolton’s class made kangaroo masks, adding long ears with painted paper and a heart shaped nose. 

Ms. Mattson’s class created colorful birds, painting the mask red, blue or yellow and adding colorful feathers and an orange beak that pops out. 

Finally, Mrs. Tan’s class made swans, drawing a black design around the eyes and adding white feathers. They also created beaks using orange paper that pop out by folding them and gluing down the sides. 

Classes also helped make backgrounds for the show, collaborating on large murals. Some classes cut out leaves from painted green paper, and other classes worked on an underwater background. Look for our masks and background at the concert this Friday, June 17!

One Point Perspective Cityscapes

Last month, 5th grade artists learned about one point perspective, which is a form of linear perspective that allows us to represent 3D objects and space on a 2D surface. Using intersecting lines that are drawn vertically and horizontally and that come from one point on a horizon line, one point perspective shows how things appear to get smaller as they get further away. It is a way to create depth in a scene. 

The horizon line divides the “ground” from the “sky” or determines the viewer’s angle. The vanishing point is the dot on the horizon where the receding diagonal lines converge or meet. The receding or orthogonal lines connect the corners of each object to the vanishing point. These define the edges of objects and shapes in the scene. In one point perspective, all vertical lines meet at one point, which is called the vanishing point, while the horizontal lines are parallel.

To begin this project, students were asked to create the illusion of 3D space on their paper without learning about one point perspective, to see how they might approach this task. Many students thought about how to show depth by representing objects that are closer to the viewer as larger, and objects that were further away as smaller. 

The following class, we learned about the rules of one point perspective and began our cityscapes. Students began by drawing the horizon line and placing the vanishing point on that line, using a ruler. Then they added two lines that started at the vanishing point and ended at the bottom of the paper. Then they began to draw shapes for buildings, connecting the corners to the vanishing point. Students planned out a cityscape, adding buildings of different shape and size. 

The following class, students added details to their buildings, such as signs, windows and doors. Students got very creative with their details, including logos of different companies and brands, and cars on the road. They outlined their pencil lines using Sharpie marker during the next class, and added color by using crayon. It took us several classes to finish our drawings, but students were very proud afterwards of how they were able to create the illusion of 3D space! 

We finished this project with a written self assessment and compared our finished drawing with the first practice drawing we did. Many students were shocked at how different the two drawings looked, and it was exciting to see the growth. Below are examples of our one point perspective cityscape drawings, which were also on display at the recent Art & Music Extravaganza:

Betzaida, 5th grade (Domermuth & Fantasia)

Eden, 5th grade (Bellis)

Saleena, 5th grade (Psychoghios)

Anthony, 5th grade (Domermuth & Fantasia)

Anita, 5th grade (Domermuth & Fantasia)

Greg, 5th grade (Psychoghios)

Robert, 5th grade (Bellis)

Jirat, 5th grade (Psychoghios)