GOING LIVE TONIGHT, JANUARY 4TH AT 8PM CST RIGHT HERE. We'll be chatting about What We Wish We Knew our first year(s) teaching. Chat soon! Until then... How about a fun heart sculpture project where kids discover an artist and use them as their inspiration? That's exactly what I had in mind when I came up with this simple and effective project using papier mache pulp and plaster! My buddy Natalie Waggenspack over at smART Class (one of my favorite art teacherin' blogs!) inspired this lesson. Here is the process video with an introduction to the artists I found inspiring:
Originally I was calling this project the Jim Dine Hearts Sculpture...but I didn't want my artists to feel limited to one artist. Shoot, they don't even have to use an artist's style as their inspo, they can come up with their own. But if you are looking for a project where your students do a little bit of artist investigation, I think this would be super fun.
I think this project would best be suited for students from third grade on up. I'll be doing the Candy Heart Sculpture with my fourth graders so I might either reserve this lesson for next your or try it with my younger kids. Here are the supplies needed: * Aluminum foil. I really liked using the sheets of foil as they were precut and just the right size. * Activa Product's Celluclay or Fast Mache. Both are very similar and work great. If I were doing this with my kids, I would definitely premix the clay. * Activa Product's Rigid Wrap Plaster. Used for the wings. * Tempra or acrylic paint.
I love the work of contemporary artist Chris Uphues (I know my students will as well...check out his street art, so fun!) and he inspired this heart.
And I had Frida in mind when I painted this heart. I really loved creating these hearts and see so much potential with this project.
Love to hear from you if you give this project a try! Don't feel limited to the sculpture supplies I used. I really think a variety of mediums could be used to create these fun hearts. Full disclosure: Activa Products and I are working together to create fun projects with their products. I received these sculpture supplies from them. Thank you, Activa Products!
