Working with an Artist-in-Residence

When my principal first approached me about having an artist-in-residence work with me and my students, I was a little skeptical. I wasn't sure if I would like turning over my classroom to another person.

But I have really enjoyed having her work with me. She's been a great resource for my students and for me too! I went to her studio for several hours one Friday afternoon to help her roll out and cut all of the clay tiles we needed for my students. I felt like an apprentice learning from a master artist! 

My kids have really loved having her teach them. They're learning a lot from her about sculpture, clay, firing ceramics, and glazing. Here are a couple of pics of their pieces in process.

I assigned my students to find an animal the first week we were back in January. It could be a real animal, a mythical animal, or a new animal from their imagination (ps, this is a great resource of you want to teach your kids about silly made up animals). They had to research or make up facts about their animal, sketch it, draw it, and color it. Then, when the artist came to work with them, they had to sculpt it. It was a really cool project and I will definitely be doing something similar again. 

Have you worked with an artist-in-residence before? What did you like or dislike about the experience? Does anyone have an artist in residence come on a regular basis? 

Kelsey 

Clay!

My first graders have been working on a special surprise for their parents for Valentine's Day. Clay pottery! We spent one week making the pinch pots with Crayola air dry clay and by the time they came back the next week, the bowls were dry and ready to paint.  This is my first time using water colors to paint air dry clay and I have to say, I love it. I'm never going back to acrylic. (See my post from a few weeks ago about how to use liquid watercolors without all the hassle.)

This year, I came up with a new system to keep up with which piece belongs to which kid. Last year, I carved or had the kids carve their initials into the bottom before it dried. Disaster. Total disaster.  

So this time, I planned ahead. I have these old drawing board that I don't use (but probably should).

I laid them out, three per class because I have three tables per class. I put pieces of tape with each child's name on the board at their table.

They put their pot on their name. Simple as that.

The following week, the board were at their tables with their pottery, they grabbed them, painted them, and put them back.

And then the next week, I got out all the boards, wrapped each bowl in a small piece of newspaper and taped it up and wrote the names with a sharpie.

It took a lot of my prep time every day to prepare the boards and then wrap the bowls. But for me, it was totally worth it to not have the chaos of trying to decide if those initials are HB or MP.

Plus it helped me keep up with who was absent when we made the bowls. If they weren't there, they wouldn't have a bowl on their name tape. And that was a lot easier than listening to a kid who wants to tell you that he really did make one that so and so stole his bowl.

What about you? How do you keep up with your students' pottery or other three-dimensional work?

Kelsey

My own art

As an art teacher, it seems like I never have time to make my own art. But lately, I've been trying to carve out some time specifically for making art. My new obsession: clay miniatures. I've posted some pictures below, not because I like showing off, but because I hate showing off. I'm trying to get myself more used to showing my art to people. Here we go!

Tiny Super Bowl Spread

Tiny Apple Pie

Tiny Pulled Pork, Cole Slaw and Beans

Tiny Burger and Fries

Tiny Italian Meal Prep

Tiny Chicken Nuggets and Mac and Cheese

Tiny Pot Roast

Tiny Salad

Tiny Sandwich and Chips with a Pickle

Tiny Blueberry Scone

Tiny Steak Dinner

Tiny Tart