In the Art Room: Ceramic Painted Elephants of India

My kids busted out the most adorable clay pieces this year, not gonna lie. This project, created by my fourth graders and inspired by the painted elephants of India, was a fave of mine.

Each year in my art room, I like to focus on a particular country and/or continent and introduce the kids to the sights (lots of groovy cast-off souvenirs from the thrift store), sounds (a wee introduction to the languages) and tastes (this year that involved making candy sushi) of that place. The previous school year, we "traveled" to Europe with an emphasis on Paris. At the end of that particular school year, I had a third grade student ask, "Can we please travel to India next year?!"

Photos from National Geographic taken during an annual Elephant Festival in Jaipur, India. Elephants have long been revered in India which has helped them survive in greater numbers than any other country in Asia. That being said, there are roughly 3000 elephants currently held in captivity as apart of illegal animal trafficking. It sucks how, as humans, if we can capture and keep something, no matter how big or how much respect we claim to have for it, we will. Thankfully, the elephants shown in these photos live in a large open area created just for them.

I agreed to the little dude's request, "Sure! Let's learn about India!" and then, weeks later, turned my art room into this...aka NOT India. At our registration night preceding the first day of school, after viewing my art room, said student marched up to me, totally ticked. 

"You said we were gonna learn about India!"

Me (realizing my Big Fat Hair Mistake and thinking fast): "Oh! We are! We're learning about Asia this year."

"Asia IS NOT India."

Me (noting that it was a good think we'd be studying geography): "Well, India is in Asia. So we'll cover it, I promise." 

Little Dude, crossing arms: "We better!"

And, Every. Single. Time. I saw that kid, I swear to you, he asked me, "When are we gonna learn about India?"

Photographing these elephants proved to be tough as it was hard to showcase all of the details some kids put into their work. Like this bowing elephant who is carrying a colorful box with a baby elephant, covered by an umbrella, inside. Both balancing peanuts, by the way. I guess they are those gag-tastic orange Circle Peanuts, hence the color choice.

So then I got an idea. Usually when I introduce the kids to a country that I've not been to, I do a whole lotta homework. But here I had a kid that was not only Indian-American but had also been to India several times! So I asked him to put together a list of the Top 10 Most Important Facts We Should Know about India. Days later, he returned with a list of 20 things as well as a large bag full of beautiful saris and other clothing. 

I've gotten into this habit that if the kids have extra time, they can make whatever they like outta clay. But they have to remember to follow the clay rules: No clay should be thicker than an Oreo cookie; Slip and score everything; If your clay project is wiggly like a loose tooth, it won't make it to the kiln. It'll go to the Clay Fairy. This class was so interested in making elephants that many of them created babies to match. I love the sweet gaze on this mama elephant's face.

With my student ready to present, I had to come up with a coordinating lesson. I didn't want my student to simply present to his classmates and then not have a project tie-in. It was then that I remembered this awesome Painted Elephant lesson created by an art teacher buddy of mine (hey, Debbie!) featured in Arts and Activities a couple years ago. 

This is the elephant created by the student who inspired the lesson!

So just how did this presentation go down in 30 minute art classes when clay elephant makin' was involved? Well, I had the kids gather around our demo table (which is just a rando table in the room. It's crowded but I've found that the Elmo doesn't led itself to demos as it has a hard time focusing on constant movement. Yay, technology.) I told my little presenter that he had 5 minutes at the beginning of each art class to read and explain a bit from his list. When finished, I would jump in and explain the first phase of the project.

Ya'll. This kid was amazing. His passion for his country and culture was so inspiring and touching. The kids were thrilled to learn more about their classmate and asked so many awesome questions. I hated to stop him but told the kids that we'd be learning more in the next coupla weeks. Then we did this:

(In case you didn't know, my classes are 30 minutes in length. Here's what we did the first day:)

1. Divide your clay into two equal spheres (I stopped saying "BALLS" a loooong time ago, ahem) and make two pinch pots of relatively equal size. In an upcoming post, I'll share with you how I teach pinch pot making. Until then, stick your thumb in the sphere, take it out and pinch the sides evenly. 

2. Crumple up a page from one of those countless art supply catalogs you are hoarding and stuff inside one pot.

3. Argh! It's a Monster with Poor Dental Hygiene! Use an old toothbrush and a cup of water to slip and score the rim of both pinch pots. Place one pot atop the other.

4. And close by smearing the clay. If there are gaps, seal those with a clay Band-Aid or a smashed piece of clay that can seal those gaps.

5. Roll that pot back and fourth until it is smooth. Yeah, I know there's paper inside. It's there to stay. Now, wrap a damp paper towel around that bad boy, pop it into a ZipLock bag with your name on it and I'll smell ya later.

6. The next art class, after my student's chat, we were back at it. I gave a super rough example as to how I would make an elephant. However, I emphasized that it was how I would do it...you're a different and much more creative artist than me. I know you'll think of something way better. Smash a sphere of clay into a cookie size for the face. Cut another smashed sphere of clay in half for the ears.

Poor elephant staring at his disembodied legs. Explains the surprised expression.

7. With rulers on the tables, the kids were requested to make four legs as thick as a hot dog and 2" in length. Heads were attached to bodies but we held off on the legs. At the end of Round 2, we put what you see above in the bags. By the way, a whole lotta kids didn't get that far. No worries. The kids know art class is super short and are used to our little sing-song: "Art class is Oooh-ver, But I'm not finished yet!, That is Oooh-kay, We'll finish next time!" 

8. The following class, the kids were ready to add all the fun details to their elephants. I printed off those pics from the National Geographic website and placed them on tables. This really inspired the kids. One thing I pointed out was how many of the elephants were draped in fabric. We looked at the lovely fabrics of the outfits my student brought in. I had tons of textured fabrics on the tables (from doilies to burlap and placements) and showed this kids how to pound the clay onto the texture. this texture could then be used for the fabric on the elephants back. Notice that the clay is super thin. This is because it will be attached to another piece. If it were a thick piece attached to another thick piece, it would explode in the kiln.

9. On our fourth and final day, the kids were allowed to use whatever amount of clay they needed to finish. They added baskets, jewelry, babies, umbrellas, you name it. Once the legs were attached to the bottom, I jabbed a bunch of holes to prevent that sphere from exploding (because an enclosed piece of clay will blow up). Again, we left the newspaper inside. It didn't harm the kiln or the firing. 

I let these guys dry a long time. Like a week and a half. My room was pretty warm and dry due to the constant running of the kiln. But I wasn't taking any chances with these guys exploding.

When this student's umbrella proved to be too top heavy and fell off, we improvised with this drink brolly. She said the holes in the ears of her elephant were going to hold her earrings. Genius.

Once these guys were out of the kiln, the kids were given two art classes to glaze them (although some took a class longer). I give the kids two brush sizes: medium and The World's Smallest Paint Brush. I encourage them to use that wee one for the tiny details and I think they did a good job of that. Also, I am in love with Mayco's Stroke and Coat glazes. I give the kids a wide variety of colors and they love them. Two coats gives a great shine and the color is very vibrant.

Some students opted not to have their elephants so brightly colored. Just a bit of blue eyeshadow to accent my eyes, thank you very much.

And other kids took it to the extreme. I love that bright yellow with the orange earrings!

This girl may have worked on her elephant forever. But look at it! It's amazing! From the basket to the detail of the baby, such awesomeness.

On our last day of All-Things-India, our kid-presenter told us a bit about the clothing he brought. He explained that some of the clothing would be worn at an Indian wedding and that those were big parties that lasted for days.

Me: Oh! I wanna come! Will you invite your favorite art teacher to your wedding party, please?!

Kid-Presenter: Haha! No! You won't be around any more. You'll be old! And probably dead.

Wow. Comments like that make me happy it's summer. Time to live it up before the Grim Reaper arrives!

Until next time, go make yo'self a painted elephant, they're super fun, ya'll!

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In the Art Room: Kindergarten Clay Butterflies

Ya'll. I got this genius idea about a month and a half ago that all 400+ of my students should be working with clay. At the same time. And while this made for easy set up/clean up (read: We're 5 minutes late, ya'll -- Stop, Drop and Get Out! The next class is using the same thing!), all that clay left my room covered in a lovely layer of dust. Which, if you are an art teacher then you know, means two things:

1. The kids will figure skate across your dust-covered floor much to your pretend dismay (because, let's face it, you do the same thing when they're not in the room).

2. The kids will leave a path of dust covered foot prints leading a slightly disgruntled custodian to your door (ha, I totally kid as I have the most understanding custodial buddies around). 

Despite the dust-bowl-esque appearance of the art room, I love teaching clay as much as the kids do working with it. Seeing what creations they come up with is always so much fun. Howevers, with the wee ones in kindergarten-town, I like to start with the basics of hand building construction (slab, coil, sphere) in a pretty structured way.

Which leads me to this here Clay Butterfly project. If you're new to teaching clay or you simply need a quick project that teaches the basics of clay construction in a fool-proof-ish kind of way then this big bad butterfly is the thing for you. Here's what you'll need:

• Low Fire Clay (I use cone 06)
• No kiln to fire the clay? No worries. Try this out with air dry clay or Sculptey, available at craft stores.
• Skewer
• Toothbrush and cup of water
• Texture for the butterfly. We use a lot of lace, doilies and placemats in my art room.
• A butterfly template, optional
• Crayons
• Watercolor paint

 When I introduce clay, I have the kids gather around a table and do a demo from start to finish. Then I run through the entire thing again, this time having them repeat the directions after me. I thought I'd share with ya'll the start-to-finish routine...but don't worry, I won't make you repeat it back.

On auto-repeat, I tell the kids: You can make ANYTHING outta clay as long as you can make a Slab, a Coil and Sphere. With those three things, anything is possible. First, I have 'em make a slab.

1. Begin by squishing the clay as hard as you can between your two hands. Then thump it down onto your textured surface (this thumping-down business is always a hit, no matter what the age) and begin pounding the daylights outta that clay. Now, you're gonna have to remind the kids that the goal is not to punch they clay too much, it's not your brother after all. The end result should be a clay that is a consistent cookie thickness.

 Sometimes you can pound and pound that clay and it just won't get wide enough. So I tell the kids to pound their clay at a diagonal to help the clay stretch and become the desired width.

 The end result should have the texture of your pounding and be consistently cookie thick.

 2. Peal that clay off of your texture like a Fruit Roll-Up. I have to tell the kids that otherwise they'll simply dig at it with their fingernails. If you show them how to pull the clay and the texture away from each other, it's much easier. Also, isn't that texture rad? Clay is so receptive to texture that I'm always showing kids ways to incorporate that into their clay piece. Lace is my personal fave.

3. Once the clay has been pealed off of the texture, have the kids trace a butterfly template (not shown, duh). Or, if you are a Template Hater, don't. I use templates for this activity as the focus is on working with clay. If I can remove the frustration of drawing and redrawing a butterfly onto clay, them Ima gonna do it. When the kids cut into the clay, show them how to properly use that skewer stick. It should stand up vertically, like a solider. If the kids hold it like a pencil, they either just saw through the clay (leaving behind a chewed up looking edge) or don't cut all the way through. 

3. Smooth out those clay boogers. I know those rough edges aren't sharp now...but just you wait until you run your hand over that bad boy after a good bisque firing (that's a first fire for you first timers). I've sliced my hand up on such a surface. I always emphasize running a finger over the edges to smooth 'em.

4. Once they've gotten that slab butterfly body made, I teach 'em how to make a coil. For them, that's old hat. That's like the very first thing all kids make outta clay: a snake! Using my extra clay, I roll out a coil that is as long as the center of the butterfly. If I make it too long, I cut it to size with my skewer.

5. Now, I don't use a scoring tool, I use a toothbrush. I do use the terminology "slip and score" and explain to them that it's the glue that binds it all together. Without it, your clay project is sure to fall apart and you'll be so super sad. Don't let it happen to you.

 6. Stick that coil to the slab. In my demos, we chatted for a hot minute about the three parts of the butterflies body and used our pinching fingers to create them.

 7. Using spheres, we created eyes for our butterfly. Again, we toothbrushes because we didn't want our eyes to fall off. It totes sucks when that happens. Eyelashes (because all butterflies have 'em, right?) and mouthes were added along with anything else the kinderkiddos might imagine.

8.  When they brought their finished pieces to me, I wrote their names on the back and stuck two holes in the head for antennae and a hole in each wing for hanging. You might not want to do this in front of the children, especially if you fail to tell 'em what you're doing as stabbing their clay project proves to be a traumatic experience for some...not that I've ever done it or anything. Ahem.

Now, bisque or first firing these guys was cake because I could just stack 'em up on my kiln shelves. But I knew that glaze firing would involve many rounds of loading and unloading the kiln because of the flat and wide nature of the pieces (in case I'm not speaking your language: you cannot stack glazed pieces in the kiln as they'll stick together once fired). If you recall from earlier in this here post I mentioned that EVERYONE in the UNIVERSE was making something out of clay so glaze firing all of these really would have slowed my firing to a snail's pace. Therefore, I knew I had to find a glazing alternative.

I gave the kids watercolor paint and we had a chat about crayon resist. It helped that we'd dabbled in this in a previous lesson so the kids kinda got the concept. I told 'em that bright colors worked the best and that coloring super hard was the key to making this work. I likened it to putting a raincoat on the butterfly so that when it got wet with the paint, the paint would roll right off the rain coat. We also chatted about the symmetrical nature of a butterfly's design which inspired some kids. For others, they either weren't interested in that or their texture pattern made it too difficult to create a symmetrical design.

Once the crayon coloring business was through, the kids were free to paint. I asked them to pick one color (my friend above chose not to but the end result is lovely) and really like really had to stress painting away the white spots. The key is to have a moppy wet brush and to paint slow enough for the paint to sink into the crevices. Once complete, I slapped some ModPodge on 'em and my fourth grade morning helpers added the hanger. I added a dot of hot glue inside each opening at the top, inserted the antennae and, viola! Kindergarten Clay Butterfly!

What are some of your fave kindergarten clay projects? I'd love to hear, ya'll!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #100 (WHAT?!) and an Art Show Sneak Peak

Monday, Let's Do This: Oh, I was so ready on Monday. I had my To-Do List scrawled in Sharpie on my hand (ever wonder why my hands are mysteriously hidden in my photos? cat's outta the bag) and I was ready to get the Art Show finished up in time for the big night. crayon dress: made by me, DIY here; sweater: Betsy Johnson, picked up at Buffalo Exchange; shoes: BC, super old; palette pin: gift from a friend (thank you, Paul!)

 Ya'll are gonna have to forgive my absence. This past week was our annual art show and I was doin' some serious time at the joint. From framing, to loading and unloading the kiln (up until the actual day of the show, ack!) to finally finishing the mural that'd been on my floor for, gulp, a month (okay, more like two months), the To Do List was seemingly unending. I did end up letting some stuff go (Let it go, let it go; Can't frame one more thing anymore; Let it go, it go; Turn away and slam that art room door) which made it so I could actually leave the school and see that man who lives in my house and eats my chocolate. 

I thought I'd share with ya'll just a teeny tiny sneak peak of our art show. We had a turn out of well over 400 folks (I only know this because they ordered 400 cups of ice cream to pass out for our Ice Cream Social and they ran out half way through the night!). The evening went by in a blink and left me totally pooped...but in a good way. Be warned: many photo-heavy art show posts to come. Oh! And I'm a wee bit behind on sharing art lessons with you but I'll be catching up on those soon (hello, summertime!).

AND, lastly, can ya'll believe this here is my 100th What the Art Teacher Wore post?! I just traveled back in blog time to find my very first weekly outfit post. I didn't have the title nailed down yet (I called it "What NOT to Wear" for the longest time!) but I've completely enjoyed sharing my outfits with you. However, if you have any thoughts or suggestions on this weekly post, I'd love to hear 'em!

Until then, have a great week (it's our last one!) and I'll be back with ya'll soon!

I don't believe I've ever shared this mural that my student teacher, the kids and I created this year! We always make a new one for the front lobby and this one was a mammoth. With a photo of every child in the school, it was a beast to assemble. I'll share with you the details in an upcoming blog post.

Rainy Tuesday: For some reason, the weather this week took a turn for the chilly worst. Temps dropped from the 80's to the 50's which had me propping open that kiln lid and warming my hands. dress: thrifted, vintage; sweater: ebay; boots: Hunger; bows: H & M; belt: from another dress

Just a peak at some a kindergarten display. I've written about most of these lessons: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus painting and A Unit on Line. I'll be sharing a lesson on those clay butterflies later this week.

Clean Your Room! Wednesday: Gah, up until the day before the art show, those kids were still creating paintings (that I ended up hanging the day of the show! I was like a monster: Must. Hang. EVERYTHING.) That afternoon, I spent hours putting everything away (all my closets currently  look like an episode of Hoarders) and prepping my room for the big day. dress: old, Anthropologie; sweater and shoes: thrifted; tights: Target; bow belt: made by me

My art room used to be the school library. When they remodeled years ago, the wall to wall shelving became wall to wall cabinets. I know, I'm spoiled rotten. Usually my counters are covered in bottles of paint, brushes to be washed, construction paper, you name it. All that got put away and I covered the counter in paper to display clay projects. Extra Panda Paintings, as well as Ice Cream paintings (in honor of the Ice Cream Social) were hung on the cabinets. 

Okay, ya'll. The kids made awesome Asian-inspired clay pieces this year...but my favorite lesson is gonna have to be these ceramic Painted Elephants of India by my fourth grade students. Each one is clever, unique and amazing. Lesson to come.

Art Show Thursday!: Even my toes are excited. My administration is The Very Best. They allow me to get a substitute teacher on this day so I can finish hanging artwork and prepping clay displays. I got this idea from another art teacher years ago...and it's simply genius. It also allowed me time to take our school's superintendent as well as the board members around the show. I think it's crucial to inform everyone of the importance of art education. Job security, people. blouse: garage sale; skirt: etsy; sandals: Target; necklace: The Paper Source

Alright, ya'll. As much as I LOVE murals, I really hate putting them together as it usually involves me crawling around on the floor with a hot glue gun with a tail of two bright orange, extra long extension cords attached. But the end result is worth it, says me. I got the idea to make this mural light up after creating my Starry Night Light Up Dress and based the theme off of this Winter Wonderland Mural the kids created a couple years ago. 

Finally Full-Day Friday!: I seriously cannot believe my school year is this close to being over. I'm very sad I didn't get to cover everything that I would have liked...which leads me to believe that I need to work on my school year planning skillz. It's on my Summertime To Do. sweater: super sale, Anthropologie; picture frame dress: Modcloth; tights: Target; shoes: Fluevog

On Wednesday afternoon, as I was clearing the tables for the art show, I found this graffiti on one of my tables. I have an idea who wrote it...my fourth grade students, whom I'm taught since kindergarten, have been very sentimental these last couple of weeks. I'm going to miss them so much...and I think they are feeling the same.

Another clay project fave of mine are these fourth grade pandas. The student on the left had created a clay umbrella but the weight of it caused it to fall over. Our solution was to add this drink umbrella once it was out of the kiln. These two pandas are just hilarious to me...it's kinda how I imagine hubs and I in just a matter of days. Summertime, here I come!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #97 and Last Call for the Best Dressed Contest!

Feelin' Frida-ish Monday: I have a coupla after school art clubs, in those small groups, we have the most enlightening convos. One girl asked, "We learn about men artists a lot. Aren't there any girl artists?" I had already been thinking about how I'd like to introduce more contemporary artists next year (this guy does it all the time and has me inspired) but now I know that more female artists need to be thrown into the mix. So! What contemporary/female artists do you introduce in your art room? dress: thrift store; necklaces: Forever39, ahem, 21; belt: Anthropologie; tights: Target; boots: Seychelles 

I don't know what life is like on your end of the world but I'm sure it's crazy-busy. Especially if you are a teacher. End-of-the-school-year projects to wrap up, mountains of artwork to sort for our school-wide art show, let's-get-rid-of-this-stuff spring cleaning, the list grows by the day. So this week, I thought I'd share with you just some of the things we've been working on in the art room. Complete lessons on this here blog to come, but for now, you'll have to savor these sneak-peaks.

AND, just so's ya know, Wednesday, April 30th is the LAST CALL FOR THE BEST DRESSED ART TEACHER CONTEST! Yes, I'm shouting at you, that's how excited I am! So many of you awesome art teachers have sent me snaps that left me rolling in laughter (which is a good thing, I swear! Ya'll are the best!). 

What's the Best Dressed Art Teacher Contest, you ask? 

Well, here's the details:

Nominate yourself or an art teacher buddy!

Simply send an email to me at cassieart75@gmail.com with a photo of your best artsy look. High resolution photos preferred, please.

 Please include a short bio about the art teacher and what inspired the look.

Photos and bio will be shared on this blog on April 30th.

Open voting on this blog will end on May 5th and the winner will be announced May 7th!

The winner will receive a magical prize along with an interview on this blog.

So! what are you waiting for? Shoot me an email, you crazy art teacher, you!

So if I'm not found Buried Alive under the 400+ clay projects that the kids have created over the last coupla weeks, it'll be a miracle. These clay stars were created a couple months back. Our original intent was to glaze them and "sell" them back to our parents with the proceeds going to charity. However, due to some personal stuff, that had to get placed on the back burner. But now we're back! And I just knew I'd never be able to get 400+ stars glazed and fired along with all those projects. So I lurked the interwebs for a possible solution and saw something about coloring clay projects with crayons...(well, construction paper crayons were recommended but, in the state that my room is currently in, there was no finding mine)...

We painted over them with watercolor paint (I asked that the kids pick just one color, por favor) and viola! Colorful and completed in a snap! More details about these stars and how they were created in an upcoming post.

Bump-It Up Tuesday: So I had a hair appointment after school on Tuesday (not that you'd ever be able to tell I got my hair cut. I'm such a chicken, I always just get a couple inches taken off. So boring!). Once seated in the hair-cuttin-hot-seat, I proceeded to unravel the following from my 'do: 11 Bobby Pins, 2 Pink Bows and 1 Extra Large Bumpit. My hair dressers reaction, after regaining her thoughts, "Ohmigawd, IS THAT A BUMPIT?!" I live in the South, ya'll! It's Big Hair or Die! shoes, sweater and top: thrift store; skirt and belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing 

Speaking of clay projects...my 3rd graders created these Chinese-inspired clay dragons. Ya'll, this project was such a hit! I would easily do this again with all grade levels. The creativity was off the chain crazy! I can't wait for them to glaze them so I can share the easy-peasy lesson with you. 

Some of my 4th grade students created Panda's with Personality (oh boy, ya'll. Do they ever have personality!) while another group created Asian elephants inspired by the painted elephants in India. Many added jewelry, fabric and flowers to their elephants. I have a feeling these are going to be the most colorful elephants ever.

So Stinkin' Tired Wednesday: Seriously. The end of the school year is near...and my work load only builds as I'm sure yours does as well. This photo was the only one I managed NOT to be yawning my head off in. dress: vintage, thrifted; tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

After finishing off our clay projects, We Returned to Our Normally Scheduled Program, Already in Progress (said in that officially dorky voice). Which means my 4th graders added either bamboo, cherry blossom trees or pine trees to their large (12" X 18") watercolor painted backgrounds. Lesson to come, promise!

What is Wrong with You, Thursday?!: Wow, this outfit was a let down to the folks, both big and small, in my school! The 4th grade decided that they had never seen me in "short shoes" (um, I'm guessing that means flats?!) and my librarian buddy dubbed this a "too normal" of an outfit. Humph! Time to get outta these Short Shoes and step up my Non-Normal game, I guess! top: Target; skirt: vintage, etsy; shoes: gift; headband: made by me; necklace: The Paper Source

Meanwhile, in 3rd grade, we excitedly finished these Ming vase inspired still lives. We spent a long time on this project but learned so much...I'll be sharing this lesson later this week. Stay tuned, ya'll!

Hittin' the Town, Friday: Almost everyday after school, there's something going on. Whether it's an art club or meeting up with buddies, I'm always running. I had decided that, with art show approaching, I should spend more after school time in my art room...but I just can't! Not with buddies that I need to chat and shop with. Tamara, thank you for snapping this photo at my happy place -- Anthropologie (where I walked out with a not-at-all-necessary $298 dress for $26, eeee!). dress: made by me (go here for the craziest food-processing-foot-cutting story everrr) 

My 1st grade friends made clay koi fish...and while those dry, they are creating these koinobori (Japanese for Carp Kite) for May 5th which is Children's Day in Japan.

I actually picked up these die-cut paper fish years ago through Roylco and never got around to having the kids create them. This time it worked to be the perfect tie-in, as well as a super short project while our clay drys out. I'll share with you more about this project soon. Ah! So much to share with ya's!

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