Art with Miss Emily
Term 4 Art with Miss Emily
This term has everyone excited as it is so close to the end of the year and Christmas. The F-2 class has embraced their Christmas spirit and we have started out Christmas craft. Our first project is creating Native Christmas wreaths. This is a longer task than most other lessons we have done as the students have had to forage and gather trays and trays of gum nuts, seed pods, leaves and flowers to dry. Our focus words and art elements are pattern, texture and aesthetics. Amanda and Lachlan Hilder joined in the foraging on their journey to and from Clare gathering some very interesting items full of different textures and patterns.
Here is a look at where we are so far.
The 3-6 term is an extremely busy one, we are doing textiles and by the end of the term students should be able to take home their very own hand made teddy bear. This is a project I undertook with students back in 2010 with the help of my dear friend the late Campbell Wally. With his help the schools in the district made over 100 bears to send off to the children of Haiti after their massive earthquake and cholera outbreak. Teddy bear making is by no means an easy task, it requires patience, accuracy and resilience to keep going when things aren’t going right, so we have our work cut out for us however it is a great activity filled with so many important and useful skills. Below is a photo of Campbell and a group of students from 2010 who made teddies as well as a photo Thomas a bear that Anna Oakey made, Thomas sure has stood the test of time, still as snuggly and handsome as the day he was made.
With the term being the shortest of the year, it is very important that students come to class on Tuesdays ready to get stuck into their work otherwise they wont have a completed bear. So what does this unit involve?? Students have been responsible for calculating how much material is required to complete one bear and assess how many meters of fur we needed to purchase. They then searched through the spotlight webpage to choose fabric whilst sticking to the available budget. We have looked at ways we can save money by making joints ourselves out of recyclable materials instead of purchasing them with budgeting being a very important part of the plan. Students are now marking out their patterns and discovering the importance of accurate pattern marking with the age old saying of measure twice, cut once often being heard in the classroom so that their bear will actually end up looking like a bear.
Students will also be learning to use the sewing machine as well as hand sewing and just for good fun and an extra challenge try their hand at knitting a scarf for their bear. So much to do with so little time but I have every faith that those that show up every week will get the job done.
7-8 art this term has moved into the Tech room as we take on Jewellery work. We started the term making a small copper pendant as they developed and grew an appreciation of the jewellers tension sawing skills. They battled their frustrations with broken saw blades and sanding struggles to create wearable art. Following this we worked with aluminium to make hand stamped cuff bangles which the boys all really seemed to enjoy. We have a couple more small projects planned for the term which will use sterling silver as the material base.
