Mendhi Hand Casts

Henna has been used for hundreds of years and is a natural plant dye. When applied to the skin, the henna produces a temporary stain. Mehndi is the Hindi word used to describe the art of henna. Traditionally henna is applied on the hands and feet and is used for weddings and religious occasions such as Eid, Diwali and for the blessing on the birth of a child or to bring good fortune into one’s home. Today henna is also used to temporarily decorate your body, as a form of self expression and body art. There are many symbols used in Henna meant to bless the one adorned with the artwork.

Naturally, I wasn't going to assign your children to tattoo each other up, but this seemed like a new opportunity to create a cast sculpture while learning a little bit more about other cultures!

Before doing anything we learned how to draw various henna symbols and designs. The students were tasked to sketch and ink various symbols that best represented them such as the following:

Peacocks ~ beauty
Swans ~ success
Birds ~ messengers (between heaven and earth)
Dragonflies ~ rebirth
Fishes ~ a womans eyes
Flowers ~ joy and happiness
Vines and leaves ~ longevity, devotion, perseverance, entwined lives and vitality
Tortoise ~ Protection and fertility
Lotus Blossom ~ the light within / the awakening of the human soul. Grace, beauty, creativity, sensuality, femininity, and purity.
Sun, Moon,and Stars ~ deep and lasting love between lovers/partners
Paiselys ~ represent fertility and good luck

  Next we used plaster strips to create a plaster cast of our hands. Casts are the initial step in making molds, and it a pretty fun process!

After making two half casts, students attached them together to create a complete mold. Then, after sketching their designs onto their hand cast, students painted their "henna" on. I mean, come on-how cool are these?!

 

Texture Slab Sculpture

Because we had yet to really do subtractive work with clay, I decided it was time to try a little carving. To begin, our students pre-drew a series of zentangles to practice designs and rhythm that would look nice transferred into clay. After sketching, students received a slab of clay that they carved the design out of. After being cooked, fresh clay was rolled on top of the slab to create a protruding design. Then, students built a vessel out of their textured slabs. I know that we are seeing a lot of bowls, boxes, and cups in sculpture, and call me uncreative, but I just feel like items with a purpose are kept longer, appreciated more, and that students gain greater satisfaction in seeing their sculptures being used! I wouldn't want a giant clay shoe laying around my house... but maybe that's just me!

Here is an example of a before and after of the clay slab and it's transfer:

and here are the finished products!

 

 

Though this was fun, I'm so excited to see the outcome of our next project, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

Trompe L'oeil Sculptures

Our focus for this sculpture project was inspired by an art term- Trompe L'oeil
Trompe L'oeil means "to fool the eye".  Rene Magritte is a wonderful example of an artist who brought this term to light with here oil painting "This is not a pipe" seen below.

Obviously, it's a pipe.... but really, it's not- it's just a painting of a pipe. You cannot smoke it, or hold it, it is just an image.
Our sculpture students were given the task to draw, design, and sculpt an item that is not what it appears.  We have many items that double as dishes or jewelry holders such as a flower, leaf, football... and a few pinch pots disguised as a cupcake, apple, and beehive.

This cheesecake is actually a pencil holder!

 

While this bird bath makes a great jewelry dish!

Seeing all the ideas were fun, but the final glazed products were even better!

Giacometti Armature Sculptures

There is no confusing the style of Alberto Giacometti. Rough, slender sculptures that appear to be almost erroding take the name of Giacometti.

An Italian sculpter born in 1901, Giacometti has a style all his own.

 As we learn how to create different types of sculptures, we learned that armatures are a vital core to so many sculptures, and these are apparent in the works of Giacometti.
The armature of a sculpture is most simply put, the skeleton. Proportions, poses, and designs are determined with the armature which is later added to to create the final product.

Mimicking the rugged style of Giacometti, our students planned, formed, and sculpted a slender armature of a figure that is posed doing something that represents them. Surprisingly, they were all so different!

Dasha and Carina worked in tandem to create a sculpture performing a acrobatic act they claim to do all the time ;) I think we need a live demonstration!

Here, Michael applies the plaster to his armature.

After copvering with a coat of black paint, and then accented with metallic paint, the "bronze" sculptures were complete.

We have Julia, our swimmer...

Our performers, Viktoria and Alina...

A few of our many athletes...

And there's our acrobatic duo! (With the hidden infinity symbol for their eternal friendship!)

This makes for a pretty cool looking series of armature sculptures!

Paper Animal Masks

Our high school sculpture students created a huge variety of amazingly crafted animal masks, and in record time. This project was unique in the sense that our students were given written directions and relied solely on themselves and their problem solving abilities to interpret the instructions and assemble their masks. Here are just a few of their incredible pieces of work!

Larisa had to improvise when she ran into trouble with the beak on her owl, and eventually came out triumphant!

Viktoria and Meaghan's colorful koala's make me believe that all koala's should be blue and purple!

The precision and added details of Michael's tiger makes this look like it belongs in a movie or video game!

And the crown was the icing on the cake for Lyubov's panda.

I wish I could post pictures of all of the masks but there were just so many! Needless to say, they were anything but disappointing. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Oldenburg Sculptures

Harnessing the spirit of Claus Oldenburg's large scale sculptures, our high school sculpture students embraced a new semester with some giant, hand-crafted school supplies. I don't think these require much explanation, I'll just let them speak for themselves!
 

You are measuring up to the standard, Alina! (and partner Mikala-not pictured)

Meaghan and Viktoria's crayons never fail to invoke a smile!

I loved all the variety!

All the elementary children were smitten by Lyubov and Larisa's Eraser!

Can we just talk about the giant and FUNCTIONAL tape dispenser in the back! And the accuracy of that glue stick close up would blow your mind. Amazing work from all of the high school sculptors of SVLA!

Coil Pots

What would a sculpture class be without some good ol' fashioned coil pots? I love using coils as an introduction to the use of clay because learning how to roll, smooth, and attach them successfully proves to be a lot of trial and error, and what better way to learn than to do?

The objective was to implement techniques taught in class to create a functional vessel. Though I am sad to say there were a few casualties (as is the case with most clay projects), we learned so much and are excited to expand our knowledge and abilities with clay for future sculptures!!!

Here are but a few cool concepts our students came up with!

Ben did a great job of using a variety of different clay coils!

I love the movement that wraps around Lyubov's cup.

Larisa used negative (empty) space to really enhance her sculpture.

Though Alisa had to deviate a little from her original sketch, her cup and stand turned out great, and I adore the bright color choice!

Animal Masks

It's not new news that there are TONS of different materials to use when creating a sculpture. Sculpture is a wide category of art that can be found everywhere. Following our Chihuly class installation, we began to explore one of the many careers in which sculpting is a prominent skill, that of a special effects make up artist. Before prosthetics used in movies and broadway plays such as The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, Spiderman, and Lion King can be applied to performers, clay sculptures are created and cast as molds.

For this project our students were "hired" as special effects make up artists for The Jungle Book musical. Using paper mache, molds, cardboard, plaster, and paint, they were to create a mask for the production. They learned how to manipulate these materials, plan an overall goal, and attach add-ons in a creative and clean manner. 

The variety was awesome and the final products turned out very nice! Is there anything these artists cannot tackle?