Emotional clay faces Grades 3 and 4

In their own class the students in Grades 3 and 4 undertook a term theme of 'Puppets'. I thought this would be a good opportunity to study 'The Face' in the hope they could use what they learnt in their own projects in their class. We began by looking at and amazing ceramic artist Johnson Tsang who creates out this world ceramic faces. We looked at how he creates different emotional states using a 3D medium. The students then had to plan their sculptures by looking closely at their own faces in a mirror focusing on what changed on their faces when they were sad or angry or happy. The results were really funny and wonderful and most students did a really good job. Sculpting emotion is not easy and I was impressed by their efforts.  

Graffiti names Grade 5 and 6

As a follow on from our stencils the students discussed and analysed examples of graffiti. We had a lesson how to create bubble writing and discussed what makes an effective artwork. Techniques on how to make their work stand out and appeal to a wider audience. They were instructed to come up with a tag name and then to create that name in a graffiti style. They LOVED this activity. I can't stress this enough and the conversations I had formally and informally on the difference between tagging and Street Art were really invaluable. Hopefully it will help curb some of the illegal tagging in the area when they grow up.

More photos to come ... stay tuned

Street Art continued with Grade 5 and 5 students

During the holidays before I took the students on the Lane-way Tour I attended a workshop run by the same tour company http://www.melbournestreettours.com/. The workshop was dedicated to how to make a stencil. I used the skills I learnt from the day to teach my students how to create a two-layered stencil using their own photo. After creating a stencil the students were shown how to spray paint effectively to finish their work. This was one of the hardest projects I have attempted with my students. The second layer of the stencil was challenging and most students needed my help. Some students did a fabulous job though and the results speak for themselves. Next time I would just do a one-layer stencil unless I had an assistant and longer class times :)

Street Art Excursion with Grade 5 and 6

I took the Grade 5 and 6 students on a Laneway tour of Melbourne's world famous Street Art to immerse them into the topic. The tours are conducted by the artists themselves and give the students a real grass roots view of the culture. All the tour guides are enthusiastic and have so much information to pass on. It was a wonderful day. The tours are run by http://www.melbournestreettours.com/ follow the link for further info. I highly recommend them. I have been twice.