Illuminated Letters... sort of anyway.

one of my students just happened to spell his name while putting them away... :)

My 6th graders are finishing up their "illuminated" clay letters.  They are using illuminated letters as the foundation for their next two assignments. (clay and printmaking).  For this assignment they were to create their first or last initial in a clay slab.  They had to have a minimum of 3 layers.  We finished them by painting them with tempera cakes and Dick Blick Varnish.

They are really beautiful and I love the way the varnish makes them shine.

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Tackling the Clay!

I won't lie... I have a love and hate relationship with clay.
It is a magical and it is messy.
It is amazingly fun and absolutely tiring.
It is everywhere but everyone loves it.

So once again it is time to tackle the magical medium.  This year I am super excited to use the slab roller I was able to purchase using artsonia money from last year's snap my art fundraiser!

And since I am all about giving kids a little bit of choice... I showed them how to create a clay

pinwheel 

or 

trivet

I demo'd in class but some of the kiddo's were gone and others may have questions so I made this video demonstration that will play in a loop during class tomorrow.  I won't win any Oscars (and the music will drive you crazy... hit the mute) but it will serve my purpose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmktpULhr70