perilous penguin pyramid

footy pic

During a big tidy up of my art room I found a pic that I did last year. I think I've posted it before but it's even more apt now.

'Christmas 1914'

completed bookmarks

Today the y2's completed their woven bookmarks. After cutting them from the card looms we just tied the warp threads together at the ends.

Some children added stitching.

I'm sure that whoever receives these will value and treasure them knowing that a lot of effort went into their creation.

mural completed

Here's a pic of the 'finished' mural I've been painting on and off for the last few weeks. Not ecstatically happy with it but time ran out on me to do a more detailed job. It looks good from a distance and does brighten the wall up!

Hopefully the children will enjoy spotting all the different creatures, counting the red/white/yellow flowers, as well as discovering which ladybird has the most spots etc.

painted tigers

The y1's painted their clay tiger sculptures today. A base coat of orange over the terracotta clay and black stripes added with permanent marker. 

Finally a splash of white paint to enhance them.

Love the 'expression' on this one's face! He looks really unhappy to be sat drying on the shelf.

sad face

Although the pottery sold quite well there were no takers for any of my cards! I'm putting it down to the fact that the table was small so they couldn't be displayed or appreciated in all their glory. I'll just have to make more so that I can have a stall of my own!

new(ish) card

My better half is selling Polish pottery at a Xmas fair this weekend. I might sneak some of my hand-drawn cards onto the stall and see if they sell.

'polish' figures

A couple of faux, ceramic 'polish pottery' type figures. The one 'sitting' on the edge is a simple slab figure whilst the one with attached limbs has a hollow body and a large wooden bead for a head. The hair is hand-made string, that I've had for ages, and the fixings include vintage buttons.

Stop press : the ceramic poppies that we made in school have so far raised over €500 for the Royal British Legion.

relief sculpture

Today the y4's painted their clay relief sculptures of Roman legionaries.

We'll mount them on thick card when they're dry.

more tigers

Today the y1s finished off their short project - different ways to represent/portray tigers - by creating clay sculptures. We used terracotta, air-drying clay and made them from simple 'balls' and 'sausages'.

Next week, when they've dried, we'll paint them.

more

Yet another card 'design' - footy team selfies.

At the prices I'm considering charging (£2 each or 3 for £5) I can't go overboard with detail and colour on my cards otherwise they would take far too long. Remember that these cards are all hand-drawn, so for an original, unique piece of art they're a bargain! Once the cost of materials, envelopes, cellophane wrappers etc, not to mention time, have been taken into account I'm unlikely to be able to retire on the profits. Would you charge more?

Mural and cards

A quick pic of a mural I'm currently in the process of painting in our FS2. I went for simple, bright graphics rather than a 'realistic' representation.

And I hadn't realised what a variety of 'designs' I've created on my hand-drawn cards until I began to sort them into groups today! I've obviously done a lot more of some designs than others.

Must start trying to sell some.

Romans and tigers

Y4 made some clay relief sculptures the other day. Using simple rolled slabs they created and assembled shaped pieces to represent Roman legionaries.

Today the y1's drew tigers. They had a go before following step by step instructions to draw several variations.

We then looked at Rousseau's 'Tiger in a Storm' before drawing our own large pictures of a tiger hiding in the long grass.

mosaics

Y4 have been completing their mosaic pieces by grouting them. 

Once they've dried we'll seal them with a coat of PVA. The idea is to use/give them as coasters.

weaving

It was y2's turn to weave today! We started by threading up our looms before embarking on the tricky task of creating stripey bookmarks! There was a lot of unravelling of mistakes so hopefully they'll be completed in time for Xmas!

tigers

Following on from their leaves last week, our y1's did some more weaving. And as they are currently looking at the book 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea' it seemed apt to weave tigers!

We added extra stripes, claws, grass etc. to further enhance them.

Our ceramic poppies were very favourably commented on today and about 2/3 of them were taken away in return for donations to the RBL. Shall have to check tomorrow how much was actually raised. The remaining ones will be available for the next few days before finding a suitable home in our forest area.

poppies

Today we planted our ceramic poppies to form an avenue that parents and guests will walk down tomorrow when they attend our y5/6 remembrance service. The idea is that afterwards when they are leaving they will choose a poppy and give a small donation that will go to the Royal British Legion.

We managed to produce over 300! Not quite on a par with the Tower of London but the proceeds will end up in the same place.

elephants

Today I showed the y3's a simple way of drawing recognisable images of elephants. They had a go first ( you might be able to spot their 'before' drawings) and then followed step by step instructions to portray elephants from the side, front and rear!

I think they managed - don't you?

Did you spot the 'A' starting points? Similar step by step guides to drawing a whole load of easily recognisable images can be found in my book - 'A is for Art' - available in my 'shops' ( shameless plug! )

leaves

Today our y1's wove some Autumn leaves. They cut out simple leaf-shaped looms and wove strips of paper and card through them.

We added thinner strips to further enhance the overall effect.

Excesses were trimmed off.

hedge

Completed the planting of our hedge this past week. Lots of different bushes that should, hopefully, grow to about 2m tall and thicken out over the next few years.

cityscapes

Today, the y2's drew cityscapes. First off they had a go at drawing a city themselves - pic 1. We then, step by step, took them through a simple method of representing buildings that might feature in a city - pics 2, 3 before ending up with a 3d scene (pic 4).

I reckon there is some progression between pics 1 and 4.

paper sculpture

Today the y1's created some small paper 'sculptures' of a forest floor. We cut, tore, twisted, wove and glued different papers to represent fallen leaves, grass and twigs.

Here's the 'one I did earlier' as an example, though I think I might have been too enthusiastic!

The plan is to actually display them on a floor (we have some large papier mâché trees that are crying out for a 'setting') away from walking feet!

new card

Another card 'design'.

Poppies 3

A pic of the poppies we're currently making in y5/6. All have now been glazed and are currently being processed through the firing stages. 

pop-ups

Y2's today completed their pop-up representations of our local town. They've drawn, coloured and stuck different aspects onto each face. We even put a stained glass window 'inside' the church!

poppies 2

We're onto glazing our ceramic poppies. A couple of coats should hopefully do - we've only got 2L of red glaze!

self portraits again!

Today the y1's created 'full body' self portraits. The idea was to get them to recognise that there are different 'you's' depending on the situation or circumstances. To that end, we got them to create 4 different selves - school me, party me, (own choice) me and future me.

This chap decided he'd be party-bound dressed as Spider-Man. The third is his Halloween costume and his future self is shown as a Sheffield United footballer! I'm not sure what the die hard blades fans would make of a switch to orange and green full length body suits for the players.

Next week we'll be looking at facial expressions and how to represent different emotions on paper.

more cards

Tried out another idea for my hand-drawn cards today.

Let me know what you think.

torchlight

The y3's theme this term is 'see the light'. To this end we've created images that show that colours can only be seen when there is an available light source. I think I saw an image on the Internet that sparked me off.

The production of poppies continues apace. More have been sculpted today. I think we might end up with 300+ which should make for a very effective display. Next week - glazing!

Poppies

Inspired by the poppies at the Tower of London we've started to make some very simplified ones of our own. The intention is to 'plant' them as an avenue to be walked through by the parents attending our Remembrance service in November. Afterwards we hope people will offer a donation in order to take one home with them.

Today's painting.

portraits

The y1's continued with their 'all about me' unit and created self-portraits from clay. Not sure if we'll paint, 'varnish' or just leave them when they've dried.

Today's small painting on my table.

Again, 12cm square, mixed media.

painting & Poland

This weekend saw my wife and I venturing to Poland to stock up on pottery. Whilst there we visited the site of the POW camp from where the 'Great Escape' took place - stalag luft 3. There's a small museum with artefacts and poignant information regarding the fate of the escapees. There's also a reconstruction of a section of tunnel and a replica of one of the huts.

We didn't manage to get as far as the actual site of 'Harry' as time was short but hope to return early next year. 

Currently on my painting table - a small (12x12 cm) mixed media piece. 

romans

Have finally got round to making some (rough and ready) mannequin stands to display the Roman costumes from our last Xmas production! They look quite effective lined up in ranks. Now just got to find a suitable place in school to position them.

Another portrait

The rest of y1 completed their collage self-portraits today. This one is actually quite a good likeness as her hair is exactly like that!

Again, not at all bad for a 5 year old!

Klee

As a follow-on from their colour mixing, the y3's have started to paint some simple landscapes in the 'style' of Paul Klee.

We drew them first before adding a grid as an aid.

Portraits

Today the y1's finished their collage self-portraits. I think they turned out quite well. We added nostrils and eyebrows as well as eyelashes!

And a couple more cards - should have taken the pic before putting them in the cellophane packets!

more cards

Made some new cards - collaged patterned papers for the dresses and drew the rest.

Packaged with envelopes- am still thinking £2 each or 3 for a fiver.