Thiebaud-inspired Cupcakes

Kindergarteners were looking at the art work of Wayne Thiebaud for this collage lesson. We watched the beginning of this video on CBS Sunday Morning . Of course, the students loved his art work! We began by discussing geometric shapes and students used a trapezoid template to trace and cut their cupcake wrappers. They decorated the wrappers with all of the different types of lines that they had learned. We used secondary colors for our lines. During our second class, we glued the trapezoids down to a background and also added the "frosting". The students got to pick if they wanted chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry frosting. We tore the paper strips for the frosting, emphasizing going from smallest to largest. They were finished with a circle cherry and review of geometric shapes. This was one of my favorite projects so far this semester.

1st Grade- Beverly Buchanan Clay Houses

 

1st graders studied the sculptures of Georgia artist, Beverly Buchanan. Her sculptures and photographs of poor, Southern sharecroppers' homes sparked our conversation about what the word "home" means to us. The students used small pieces of clay to create triangles and squares that were attached using scoring and slip. The students created textures on the surface. After the houses were bisque fired, the kids colored  them with oil pastel. Then, they gave it a surface wash of watered-down black tempera. I sponged it off a bit for them so the textures would show up and then we added a coat of glossy mod podge. I also tied a piece of twine through the hole for them. I just think these are so sweet!



Kinder- Van Gogh Ceramic Stars

Kindergarteners made these adorable stars just before our holiday break. We looked at "The Starry Night" and talked about lines and texture. We used a star shaped cookie cutter to cut them out of a slab of clay after the students had created textures with a variety of tools. Old marker caps were a big hit! After the stars were bisque fired, they were painted with tempera. I added a coat of glossy mod podge for protection and also tied a piece of twine through the hole for them. They were so excited to take these home. It was great!