Clay Bird Vessels

These clay bird vessels were made by my grade 4 students recently, inspired by these bird vases from 'Be Creative Mary'. Students rolled a slab of clay and cut a basic bird shape. They then rolled a second slab and traced the first bird shape so they had two identical pieces. The pieces were joined at the head and the tail, leaving the middle section open and unjoined. 

The vessels were stuffed with newspaper for stability whilst texture and decoration were added to the bird using clay tools.

After firing, students added colour by rubbing oil pastels into the surface of the clay to pick up the texture and then painting with coloured inks and dyes. I later added a coat of spray varnish to each piece to seal it. 

 

Rainforest Landscapes with Toucans

This lesson was inspired by the toucan drawings at Art with Mrs. Seitz. 

I wanted to reinforce some of the aspects of landscape painting such as foreground, midground, background, focal point and creating depth by overlapping. 

Students used pictures of toucans and rainforests as reference for their drawings. Once complete, students outlined in permanent marker, coloured in oil pastels and then used a wash of green edicol dye to complete. (Watercolour should work the same).

Peacock Drawings

These peacocks were drawn by my grade one students as part of our recent India theme. The peacock is India's national bird and these peacocks were inspired by the decorative and colourful style of Indian arts and crafts.

Students were given several photographs of peacocks as a reference and we discussed using basic shape to break down the image to make it simpler to draw. Once their drawing was completed in pencil, students used oil pastels in blues and greens to colour. We then painted on some blue edicol dye (food dye) to create a bit of a wax resist. Finally the drawings were outlined in black marker and sequins were added as a collage element.

I have taught this same lesson a few years back with grade 3 students. You can see their results here. I think the grade ones have done a charming job with theirs too.

 

Ceramic Peacocks

These ceramic peacocks were created by grade 3 students using pinch pot, slab and modelling techniques. These were, again part of our recent Indian theme to tie in with our 'Hearts For India'  fundraiser.

Students began by creating a small pinch pot. They then rolled a thin slab of clay and cut it into a fan shape using clay tools. This tail section was decorated with feather patterns before being joined to the back edge of the pinch pot. A neck, head and beak were then modelled from a rolled up piece of clay and joined to the front of the pinch pot body.

The peacocks were later glazed in blues and greens and some chose to glue on beads or sequins for eyes.

These made perfect tealight candle holders and looked perfect lit up for our school open night - until too many inquisitive hands caused me to blow them all out.