going round in circles

Tenuously, as part of their Ancient greek studies and with a nod to Pythagoras and Euclid, y3 created some designs and patterns using the 'old' compass-drawn method. 

 

 

 

They actually enjoyed the preciseness of the task and 'magical' way in which the patterns emerged. None of them had ever used pairs of compasses before!

Meanwhile y1 have been making bugs from lollipop sticks and card;

today

Pen sketches of mini-beasts in Y2.

 

And 'Greek' mod-roc statues in Y3.

Lollipop stick and wire armatures.

 



yesterday

A bit of wax resist with Y3. Ancient Greek designs which we are going to cut into vases and urns.

 

Watery-paint blown trees and finger print leaves with Y1.

greek & roman

In Y4 we began to create our mosaics following on from last weeks designs. We are using small reconstituted tiles (as our tesserae) that can be cut (carefully) with scissors and glued into place with ordinary PVA glue. Once they are complete and dry we'll grout them.

 

In Y3 we have decorated our 'Ancient Greek' coil pots. We used sharpies so as to get a better and finer line. We might PVA threm to seal everything together, we might not!

potty

Coil pots with Y3 yesterday to tie in with their Greek project. We used a tube as a former and found it much easier than just trying to coil the  clay 'sausages' free-style as we have done in the past.

 

 

Here they are in the kiln prior to going through a drying and then a firing programme. Some of the children managed to add rims to their pots.

 

 

We won't glaze them as we are after a matt finish and our glazes are all gloss. (Note to self - order some matt glazes!) We'll probably use poster paints to add decoration or even just sharpie pens. The latter might be better to achieve a finer line.

no time to breathe!

A very busy last couple of days in school. In FS1 they are currently looking at 'when I grow up...'. So we did drawings that literally grew up!

 

 

In Y3 they've just started studying the Ancient Greeks so we drew Greek warriors and mythical beasts. Next week we'll be making pots using the coil method, which we'll then decorate with similar images.

 Today, Y1 painted some huge papier mache trees. We completed 5 in all - they will form part of a magical forest (hence the strange colouring!).

And finally, in Y2 we drew some dinosaurs.

Oh and we've also been making clay islands (based on an upturned thumb pot) but I didn't manage to get any pics! Nearly the weekend - might have a chance to recharge!

on my worktable

An ancient Greek version of the recent Viking figure. Am seriously thinking of putting together a booklet of warriors through the ages, that utilises this generic, very simple but ingenious method of construction. Any thoughts on which figures to include?

 

painting

In Y3 we used straws to blow watery paint around.

 

 

We then used these fantastic 'paintings' to create images of the Gorgon's - those mythical sisters from Ancient Greece (Medusa, Stheno & Euryole) who, with one glance, could turn you to stone. 

 

We used ring reinforcers ( those little sticky circles) for the eyes and added other details with felt tip pens.

painted pots

Today in Y3 we painted the 'Greek' pots we made over the last two weeks. A mix of black paint and s'graffito with a bent paperclip resulted in this image of Medusa.

 

 

A lot of the pots had cracked but this only added to their 'ancient-ness' - we chose to explain it away by saying that of course they'd be like that after over 2000 years!

clay

Today in y3 we made coil pots. The children have previously only made thumb pots so these are a big step forward. We used air-drying clay as our kiln is still in it's wrapping awaiting installation in it's new home. When they've dried out we'll paint 'Ancient Greek' patterns and designs on them ('cos, funnily enough, the children are studying the Ancient Greeks!).

 

 

dummy mock-ups

Been playing around with the box thingy idea that you might have seen previously on this blog. I must fathom out how to put those links to previous postings at the bottom, like everyone else seems to do. Am tentatively thinking of going with Q'oobs or possibly CUBEz ( the latter would fit in better with my overall 'branding' ! - please don't hurt yourself laughing) as a concept name. These two rough dummies came about because Y3 are studying the Ancient Greeks whilst Y1 are looking at 'water, water everywhere' as a theme - it's supposed to be a piranha!

 

 

I'm thinking of putting a little book together detailing how to make a variety of models all from the same very simple starting point. I would welcome any thoughts or ideas. I'm aiming to self-publish and sell through Etsy/Folksy as per my best-selling (!!) book - 'A is for Art' (please check it out in my shops on the right of this post).

masks made

We have been making masks ready for our plays. They are deliberately over-size 'so that the people at the back can see the characters'. These two represent Theseus and the Minotaur. Simple card/paper construction with button embellishments. All we've got to do now is write the plays!

greek sculpture

Over the last 3 weeks the children have been undertaking a mini-project - to create Ancient Greek sculptures from 'scrap'. This is one of the results!

A stunning recreation of Aphrodite (Venus) rising from the sea. She stands around 40cm tall and has been made from card boxes, tubes and thread. The child who made her was insistent that her modesty should be protected - hence the strategically placed arms!

mask designs

We're planning on writing plays in the near future (after our end of year tests!) so today in art we started designing masks that we might wear when performing them. The plays will be linked to our studies on Ancient Greece (hence the mask idea) and will be based on the myths Theseus & the Minotaur or Odysseus & the Cyclops.

greek shipping

As part of our Ancient Greek studies we've been learning about ships. Rather than just draw and label a pic I made a quick template to create a moving version. The tab moves the oars back and forth by means of a hidden linkage and the flag lifts to reveal a 'fascinating fact'. This is my 'here's one I made earlier' example - the template was very basic and left a lot of creativity open to the children.

'scraper pottery'

As a change from using clay, this week we made 'Ancient Greek pottery' using black card, orange oil pastels and matchsticks! My first idea was to create handled pots but I quickly realised that this would be very difficult to do with the whole class at the same time - I would've been running round stapling and fixing like a madman!!

So we settled on plates - easier to fabricate, and even easier to display on a wall. We cut black card circles and coloured them using orange pastels (to simulate terracotta).

We then scratched/scraped patterns and designs into the layer of pastel using a matchstick.

These are a couple of the finished plates. This week we've been looking at the myth of Odysseus and the Cyclops - hence the bottom plate.

We painted our 'Greek' pots yesterday. We scratched back to the terracotta clay using a pin for extra detail. They're sitting on our 'market stall' waiting to tempt passers by.

page pals & pots

Managed to get Enterprise club up and running again. We began to batch paint our bookmarks.You might just be able to spot some frogs, horses, rabbits and the odd mouse. We'll be detailing them further next week.



We've also been going potty again. Thumb pots with handles and rims this week. I think we'll be decorating them next week - we just haven't got the space to make and dry much more!

coil pots

Yesterday we made pots using coils of clay. We smoothed the sides using that expensive and highly sophisticated piece of equipment called a lollipop (popsicle) stick! We left the bottom and insides as they were both for decorative purposes and to show how they were originally constructed. We'll be decorating them with black painted designs when they are dry.

thumb pots

We're doing the Ancient Greeks this term so in art we had a go at making some clay pots. We've started off with thumb pots (or pinch pots if you prefer) and will be going onto coil pots. Unfortunately we haven't got a kiln so are having to use air-drying clay - am sure the pots will still be reasonably serviceable though. We'll varnish them to add a bit of protection 'cos they can sometimes be quite fragile.

The children thoroughly enjoyed getting their hands dirty (literally!). I've reminded them that aprons are a very good idea!