Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Paper Making Tools




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Miss Jennie and I really wanted to incorporate both of our areas
of expertise in making paper. Art and science are inevitably intertwined
as the materials an
artist uses come from the natural world. This project incorporated
the idea of recycling( we had saved paper scraps all year) and
the artists learning that most paper comes from trees.
We asked them"Does the paper just grow on the tree?" "No!" They

were told about chopping down trees and a bit about the manufacturing

aspect of papermaking.We had a bin full of soggy

 paper that was placed in the blender and
swirled into a "paper smoothy". We then dumped the pulp into a
bin of water that the children could see through the bottom of. We showed them 
screen on a frame that had been made especially for this project. They each got
to "dive" their screen into the pulp-filled water and scoop up pulp to make
a piece of paper. They walked it to our drying area where they could add bits
of flowers or colored tissie paper to it. The weather was bitter for an Atlanta spring.
Monday and Tuesday were very cold , but by Thursday we had de-thawed and were

happy to be working outside with water.
I have found that children love a process. Making paper, printmaking, working
with clay, building with wood. It gives them confindence and creativity all in one.
We even had our youngest artists who have just turned two make paper.
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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Crafty Crow

Our preschool blog had a nice place on the artsy blog called"Crafty Crow". Check it out and enjoy some wonderful ideas from many creative folks.
/http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

The listing was the papier mache pieces that our Three Year old artists created.

Art in the Garden: Papermaking










Miss Julie and Miss Jennie combined efforts to assist the
children in making paper from recycled scraps.
The artists were able to help blend the saturated paper with
our blender. They saw the pulp floating in the water and learned
how to dip their screened framed into water and pull up a piece of paper.
After watching it be pressed off of the frame, they added flower petals,
leaves and spots of colored paper. We endured 54 degree weather while doing it!


Mark of the Maker from Ravenswood Media on Vimeo.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Kindergarten Self Portraits








Here are a few of the self portraits that
the Kindergartners worked on. They were
worked on in a few phases. The background was
painted with a couple of layers of color. The face,
body and neck were added. The artists cut fabric for
their bodies. Finally, three dimensional objects were offered
for usage. As you can see, they all chose to use these various
objects in their own way.
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Sunday, May 8, 2011


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Clay Exploration





More pushing, pounding, pinching and rolling.
What is it that keeps these young artists captivated
by the clay? Perhaps the newness of the
material? They love touching it. The clay is
cool, hard and smooth. They can rub a moist sponge
on it and see how the texture changes. Adults don't
have to intervene which causes a long term uninterupted
exploration of the material. Each age group responds
to the clay in a deep and engaged way.
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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Mortar,Marbles and Magic














Pre-K students worked on a wonderful
project for their promotion from our school.
It was a fast paced and magical day of
using objects from home,collected and donated
items. All were placed in space designed by the
artists. They will be revealed in a few weeks.
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