Scratch Art

Students learned about positive an negative space and how to include the element of balance.  Students scratched out the positive space of the of their clay scratch boards using various line thickness and weighs.

Projects in Clay

Cookie jars made by upper classmen.  Superb!

Students clay cylinders with etchings.

Student Themed Lidded Vessels

In this project students had to create a lidded vessel using a building technique of their choice (coil, slab, wheel).  Pictured here are the students' work, some are in the leather-hard stage while others have been bisque fire and have their first coats of glaze on them.

Optical Illusion Art

Op Art Cube/designs

UNIT: Op Art - Graphic Design Lesson: Op Art Cube Grade Level: Middle School (5th grade) Standards: 1.      To plan and organize for unique and original solutions (design using perspective and design) 2.      Refine strategies (symmetry and space) for imagining and implementing ideas (creating interesting optical art drawings) 3.    Explore and discuss the elements of art (space, line , value and texture) and principles of design (variation and balance) 4.    Apply intuitive perception in the problem solving process 5.    Apply diverse original solutions in the problem solving process Procedure: 1. Introduce students to opt art using a PowerPoint and example from famous artists. 2. Distribute drawing guide.  Draw examples of opt art designs on board. 3. Students sketch ideas using examples. 4. Distribute 9'x12' white paper.  Guide students to draw template for 6 sided cube. 5. Using pencils, students choose 3-6 different opt art designs and using rulers, draw lines and shapes. 6. Next students outline their lines with fine tip Sharpies. 7. When outlining is completed, students use thick Sharpies (or colored pencils) to color in every other line as discussed in lesson (and described in guide). Materials: Example guide, power point, colored pencils, sharpies (fine tip and thick tip), markers, 9'x12' drawing paper, white out and rulers Vocabulary compare, contrast, line, shape, color, principles of design, interest, focal point Technology             PowerPoint for pop art and optical art Assessment             Rubric Artistic movement/artist             Optical artists- Victor Vasarely and Bridget riley             Modern art STUDENT SAMPLE Background: Victor Vasarely: 1906-1997; Pure Vision - Vasarely's experimentation with optical effects in the 1940s and 50s earned him a central role in the evolution of Op Art. Vasarely's boldly colorful and eye-popping paintings are instantly recognizable and remain entirely modern and relevant today. Vasarely - Widely considered the father of Op Art, the Hungarian-born artist Victor Vasarely was instrumental not only in provoking a school of thought based on the relationship between art and science, but in creating some of the most striking geometric paintings in the history of late Modernism. This book, which gathers together a generous selection of his most significant works, celebrates his immense intelligence, passion, and artistry. Prints by Victor Vasarely Vega-Nor by Victor Vasarely Alom by Victor Vasarely Cheyt M by Victor Vasarely

Sculpting and Painting - 3D

Foam Board Carving

Commercial Art

Samples of students' final projects

Concept: Designing a box for a food product.  Student Outcomes:  Students will design and illustrate a box for a food product.  Focusing Event:  Students will be exposed to examples of food product designs, such as Ritz crackers, cereal boxes, etc.  Students will be given a planning sheet where students will develop their ideas for their project by picking foods and coming up with adjectives to describe them. Procedures: Show students examples of common food products that are packaged in boxes.  Have a discussion with them about the following: fonts, colors, designs, and interesting points.  Hand out the planning worksheet.  Upon completion of worksheet, students will create 4 sketches of possible designs.  Have students written a paragraph explaining what their product is, the font, colors, and design they will use and explanation of their marketing. Give a demonstration on how to make templates for their boxes. Students will create their own boxes and design. Closure/Assessment:  Self-assessment rubric, teacher assessment rubric, class presentation, written paragraph.  Materials: colored pencils, markers, colored paper, pen and pencil, planning worksheet, 80 weight paper.  

The Pottery Wheel

Objective: to create a small to medium vessel (a cylinder  cup, or bowl)) made of clay, using the pottery wheel and hand building skills.

 Students were introduced to the pottery wheel and learned how to work their own wheels.  For several class periods they learned how to throw clay onto the wheel and use the techniques listed below to meet the objective of creating a vessel.  These opportunities helped students develop basic hand building skills and students each received one-on-one attention from Mr. Ransavage during class time.  All pieces made were fired and glazed.

Skills:

• wedging
• centering
• pulling
• trimming
• use of tools
• surface techniques
• basics of glazing

Water Colors

Various water color student samples from adapted art lessons for my special education students at Chittenden South Supervisory Union High School, Hinesburg, Vermont

Shad: A Local Fish Art Project

SHAD

Shad are amazing fish.  The shad is a kind of fish that lives part of its life in the Delaware River.  Shad have a metallic blue to green back and its sides are silver to white.  Shad have lived in the Delaware River for thousands of years.

Indians fished for Shad during the annual spring spawning runs and taught early settlers how to catch shad in order to feed their families.  Shad saved George Washington’s troops from starvation as they camped along the Schuykill River, a tributary of the Delaware.  Washington, later on in his life would write that he caught over 1500 Shad.  By the 1800’s fisherman caught Shad by the ton.  Farmers took advantage of this seamless endless supply of fish by using them as fertilizer on their fields.  People prized Shad for their delicious meat and tasty eggs (roe).  Everyone eagerly awaited the spring migration of Shad.

In the Spring of each year, adult Shad between 4 and 6 years old, return from the Atlantic Ocean to the streams where they were born.  Male a female Shad travel as far upstream as possible where they spawn.  The eggs hatch before they drift all the way back to the Ocean.  After reaching the ocean, the immature Shad form schools and begin a three to 5 year migration pattern only in the ocean.  They feed plankton and smaller fish.  Upon reaching maturity, they return to their home stream to continue the cycle.

America grew rapidly and people fished more and more for Shad.  Pollution also became a problem for the Shad.  By the 1970’s, Shad were almost nowhere to be found.  People decided to find ways to clean the Delaware River and control how much fishing occurred.  By the early 1980’s shad began to make a small comeback.  The Shad festival in Lambertville NJ began as a celebration for the comeback of the Shad.  People are now aware that polluting and over-fishing hurt the Shad.  We can help this amazing fish by keeping its habitat healthy and by not over-fishing.

School -  A large number of fish in a group

Migrate – To move from one area to another in a cycle

Habitat – The natural area that a plant or animal lives

Shad – A fish that lives both in the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean