5th Grade LVAA Clay Tile Mural Project

After practicing with oil based clay and learning clay vocabulary and more, my 5th grade is finishing their tile mural project. This project was funded by a grant I received from the Louisville Visual Art Association. The portrait tiles will be put together to form our school mascot, a dolphin, after they are fired in my kiln. I may be art on a cart but I've made it work!

2nd Grade Weaving Portraits

I do paper weavings with 2nd grade every year and usually have them turn the weaving into a fish or butterfly. This year I wanted to change it up and had them turn their weavings into portraits. They created clay masks this year so the portraits were a great follow up project connection.

Carolyn Braden's 1st Grade: Painted Landscapes

Yet another project inspired by Pinterest; Landscapes. I decided to have my first graders use paint media. They were given the primary colors and black, white, brown and green. If they wanted a tint or shade of a color, they had to use their mixing palette. They also had to make purple, orange or gray if they wanted to use them. They had a choice of creating organic or geometric mountains. They learned about foreground, middle ground and background and many other vocabulary words with this project. We will have presentations next week. I think they did a fabulous job!

The 2nd Grade KMAC Field Trip: Clay Masks

My 2nd grade had a great time making clay masks at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. I had them create practice masks with oil based clay before the trip so they would be familiar with techniques. They sketched out their favorite pieces while they toured the museum. Then they created masks with clay. The mask started as a slab of clay and they cut out the face shape and added low-relief pieces. They used Mayco Stroke n' Coat glazes to add color. When we left, the museum put their masks on rolled up newspaper to give curve to the pieces. I pick up the masks in approximately one week and am excited to see the final results.