Trying Tapigami

At the last conference I attended (a few weeks ago) I was introduced to tapigami.  Which is art made using only masking tape.  I showed my sixth graders a video from YouTube, gave them some tape and scissors and about 30 minutes:

These are by no means finished, we've just started.  And it's part of a bigger unit on environment, so we'll be working on them for a while.  When students are satisfied with their creations, they'll put a layer of Mod Podge on them to seal in the stickness. 
We're always looking for something new, right?  So go google tapigami and have some fun!

Sometimes Keeping Things Pays Off

Four years ago, I made gelatin plates with my sixth graders.  And it was a disaster. Of pretty epic proportions.  So, of course I swore I'd never do it again.  But being the hoarder being the art teacher that I am, I shoved them in a box.  Today my sixth graders needed to Gelli print over some contour line drawings, and I only have five real Gelli plates, so I pulled them out of the box I'd shoved under a table, and you know what?  Those homemade (school made???) ones still work!  They were still in one piece, and there was really minimal shrinkage.
Of course, they needed to be melted down, and I made a tiny disaster of that, but still!

Old gelatin plate that I pulled apart with my hands for microwave melting.

Pulled apart pieces in a little plastic container that once held some kind of cards.

After melting.  Notice the spilled drip.

Can't wait to get these (newly melted and then set back up) out with my students next week!

Mini Modern Selfie Tins

Oh, blogging world, it's been so long!  The last school year was so hectic with so many classes and so much going on, that blogging got pushed to the back burner.  The new year has started, and it's a fresh slate, but first, a project leftover from last year's sixth graders:

This is a project that I was sure I'd blogged about, but I went a lookin' I apparently had not.  My original idea was for students to create a snapshot of themselves at this particular moment in time.  Thanks to having the perfect art teacher husband, I had plenty of Altoid tins--some the regular size, more of the mini size (which I ended up liking better).  To begin, I had each student choose a tin, and trace it four times in their sketchbooks to have a space to try out ideas (one for the top of the lid, one for the underside of the lid, then inside and finally the bottom).  
Most chose to do their name for the top lid, and then anything went for the inside.  

After the drawing our of their ideas, they had to show them to me and then get a new paper (which caused some complaining).  Students used pencil, then watercolor pencils for coloring.  Once all the drawing and coloring was done, they cut them one at a time and used Mod-Podge to attach the paper to the tin.  After some serious begging on my part, my principal kindly bought ArtResin for my classes (which is on the spendy side, but pretty darn amazing).  While she was debating on the purchase, my backup plan was Mod Podge covering all of it, but I don't think it would have worked as well.

This one had Mod Podge, and it remained pretty cloudy.

Then I had all this "stuff" from years of being an art teacher, years of collecting for "this would be cool" that got put to good use:

Oh, glitter, the kids love it, and it makes me crazy.

This is a beach, with sand and cut up feathers for seaweed.

Cotton balls for clouds, cut up feathers for grass.

So, students added glitter and beads and other items, then we mixed small batches of ArtResin and carefully poured it in to 'set' the items in place.  These are so amazing, and I hope students (or their parents) keep them forever for a snapshot of them at age 11 or 12.

Silkscreen 101

This is my second year silkscreening shirts with my sixth graders, and I think I've worked out some of the bugs from last year (though I still have a way to go).  Disclaimer: this is what I do and it works for me, but it's not what I learned in college, it's more jerry-rigging things I have around the house.  With that in mind, let's get started!
Step one, get some screens:

The larger one was purchased from Nasco,
the smaller ones I'm borrowing from a friend.

I had to clean mine out from last year.  The kits of emulsion that you purchase come with screen clean-out, but of course I didn't remember that so I just used bleach and a scrub brush.  And yes, my bathtub is baby blue.

Step two, coat the screens:

Just follow the directions on the bottle, mixing the stuff from
the small bottle into the large bottle.
Have a magnifying glass handy to read the directions if you're over 40 like me.

Pour a healthy amount.
I do all of this step in my basement bathroom,
and I do it with the light on.

Spread it around evenly.
This is where I had my biggest problems when I began--
in college we use a scoop coater, and I don't have one.

Then I found out the squeegee works nearly as well.
(Though honestly it's not as even, or it's harder to make even)

Step three, shoot the screens:

I do this step on top of my washing machine with a simple light from Home Depot clipped to a shelf.  I use glass out of a thrift store frame, and a black blanket from my couch.  Make sure you lay it on the screen backwards or it will print backwards. Through trial and error, I found 45 minutes works the best for me.  At the end of the 45 minutes, I quickly pull off the glass and transparency image (more about that in a minute) and run the screen upstairs to wash out with the sprayer at my kitchen sink.  I couldn't take a photo of that because time is of the essence here.
Now, for the transparency image part: I have my students turn in their ideas to me electronically (my district uses Schoology) and then students vote.  Once an image or quote is chosen, I have learned to make adjustments (all those fonts they like can be quite distracting!).  I then have them printed twice on transparency, and it is VITAL that you tape them together exactly right.

See this?  I had to re-shoot the screen because that corner of text wasn't perfect.

Once the screens are washed out (with the non-exposed emulsion--ie what was under the black sections of the transparencies dropped out) and they've dried you are ready to print.
For the printing part you only need a squeegee and screen printing ink for fabric.  I allow my students to bring their shirts in any time, and after they've printed them, they dry in my room.  Then I send them home for heat setting with this document.
I'm sure I've left out some need-to-know things, so please comment if something is unclear.
Keep on bein' awesome, art teacher friends!

Nothing Like Some Last Minute Panic Setting In

There's so much to keep up with! I knew I'd switched half the elementary schools to the fall show date at our central office as the other group had done the fall date for years.  I knew it was coming.  I knew I was supposed to fill half the display case, but for some reason September 20th seemed so far off.  
But it's not, it's tomorrow and I had NOTHING for the display case as of 8:30 am this morning, September 19th.
In true professional art teacher fashion, I ditched my plans for sixth grade (finish binding their sketchbooks and start their t-shirt designs) and had them make paper sculptures (working alone or with a friend or two).  I had some leftover foam core pieces for the bases, and they had 35 minutes to work.
Here's a few of what they created:

Dinosaur by a student who literally started at our school last week.

Sponge Bob's house by a student who spent her recess finishing it all up.

Some sitting on my [newly-cleaned-this-year counter top] to dry.

A collaborative rainbow.

Now they only need to dry for delivery to central office tomorrow afternoon.
Friday this class will be back to their regular plans, but they really helped pull off a miracle for me today!

Trying to Motivate Sixth Grade

Sixth grade gets some SERIOUS "senior-itis" by this time of the year. They're really too cool for school and getting them excited (particularly when you see them at the very end of the day like I do) is feels nearly impossible.  
I'd decided at the end of last year to do some silk screen printing with my sixth graders to make class t-shirts, and then so much came up that we're just now getting to it at the last two weeks of school (nothing like cutting it close). Due to traveling to another school at the end of the day, I only have two sections of sixth graders this year.  I ordered two ready-made silk screens through Nasco, along with a squeegee and four colors of fabric printing ink.  The photo emulsion I already had at home, mixed and ready to go in my refrigerator (doesn't everyone???).
Technology is not my forte, and when I tried getting them to use their chromebooks to make t-shirt designs on their own time, I didn't have much luck.  I sent out a cry for help to one of our tech people, and she came to the rescue by helping me "team teach" the computer/tech part (ie, she taught it, I wandered the room helping/kind of struggling along with my students).  She also set up a voting link through Schoology (that I might want to tweak before next time, because it seemed like they only voted along friend lines. . . ) but anyway, all that part is done, votes were tallied (I made some executive decisions when ties were discovered). 
Today will be our first day/class printing.  Students were expected to bring their own t-shirts from home, and to watch the videos I dropped into Schoology yesterday BEFORE they come to art.  Here's the test print video I made for them:

I am truly excited to share the joy of silk screen printing with my classes, and I hope they like it too.

Last Kiln Firing Of The Year

It seems like every year I feel like the school year is going on and on and then suddenly TIME'S UP.  While I didn't wait until the very last minute to get all the clay projects done, (looking at you, 2016), I did feel a twinge of worry about getting it all done in time.  I've learned that my [older, but still working] kiln does much better (and fires faster) when it's FULL, so I filled it:

Top three shelves were second grade bells (simply a pinch pot, turned upside down with animal features added and two holes poked through to add a small sphere that you can see grouped in the middle).

Then there was one shelf of glaze-fired tiles from a Mayco workshop I attended at conference (and I told two others who live near me I'd fire theirs).  We used stencils and some different glazes--it's very similar to this lesson I found on the Mayco lesson plans site.  I am thinking of doing a parent/child fundraiser next year with something similar (and maybe if I write it here I'll actually remember to do it!)

We used some silk-screens and I missed part of my "L"

. . . but Heather didn't!

And then the bottom shelf was the sixth grade tiny painted houses (African tribe inspired):

They're even more luscious now!

I did have six (!) students who didn't want theirs, so I totally snagged them and have them displayed behind my desk because they're AWESOME and I LOVE THEM.
Second graders (of course) knew that their bells were amazing, and they did an equally amazing job painting them:

Action shot!

We use tempera block paint for it's fast drying time
and then add a layer of gloss medium for permanency and shine.

You can kind of see the cotton string here that I use to tie the bell part in.
I use cotton twine so they can paint it.
I prepare the bells (tie the little sphere in) before students arrive.

Whew!  I'm tired.  Good thing summer is only 16 school days away!