Wood dollhouse

Making the wood dollhouse with definitely my favorite project this term. I have never worked with wood before and it was so much fun cutting the wood and learning how to use the tools. I also liked how it was a group project and we were all able to work together. Cutting the wood was a bit of a challenge because it wouldn't always come out in a straight line. When we had the base of the house done we glued printed paper of red bricks on it and then put modge podge over it. Then we painted the inside of the house white. When the paint dried we put tape on the floor of it and painted over it in different colors so we could make a checkered design. The ceiling of the house has a line of chandeliers that we made out of paper clips. There are about 7 bunched up paper clips in a row. The roof is supposed to be like a garden. We put moss on half of the ground and glued it down then built pool chairs with towels and pillows to have a hang out area. Next to that we put down mulch and built a pool. The pool is made up of blue glitter that we found and we surrounded it with little rocks from outside. The whole house came out great and it was a really fun experience. I learned a lot about wood making this.

Plaster Pals

When we worked with plasters everyone made a plaster pal. I thought this was a really fun project. I made a pig. First I had to blow up a balloon and then put plaster sheets on it. When it dried some of it was cracked so I put paper mache over the whole balloon, which made it more stable. When that dried I made a nose made up of wires and paper mached it and glued it on. Then I made ears and eyes. The ears were also made with wires and newspaper. When I finished glueing everything on I painted the whole pig face pink. This project was so fun. The most challenging thing was getting the plaster and paper mache to stay stable and not break. It was really cool starting from just a balloon then working on it for a week and seeing what came out of it. I am very happy with my finished work.

Clay project

The three projects assigned by the clay group where an animal, texture, and whatever you wanted. I made a cat face, a triangle with different textures by using all the clay tools in the class, and I also made dice. I really liked working with clay because it was  cool just to play around with it and to make different shapes and see what comes up of it. A lot of the time I wouldn't know what to make so I just tried making different shapes with the clay and it turned out great. My favorite object I made was the dice because it looked real and it was fun to make. I liked making the cube and then the wholes on each side. The cat was fun to make because it came out really cute and I liked playing around with it, by making it's ears and eyes and nose. One mistake I made was not going on the pottery wheel. I would of liked to go on it and make a bowl if I had more time. I think it would of been really fun and I would have been interested to see how it turned out. I really liked working with clay, I thought it was a fun experiment.

Brainstorming on plaster project

I really like the idea with the paper mache balloons. I think it would be cool if we made masks or a mold of our hands. It would be really cool to paint them afterwards when they dry and make cool designs on them. Also we could maybe plaster animals and make their full bodies not just the face.

Making Paper

Making paper has been really fun so far. I made it by choosing the colors I wanted, then ripping them up and putting them in a blender. After I blended it I I put it in a tub of water and then put a square screen under it so the paper would go on top and shape it. After I took it out and took all the water out with a sponge. Then I put it on a piece of cloth and let it dry. I made one piece with dark and light pink with also some blue. The color was really pretty but it came out a little thin. I also put some flower pedals in it. I think this project is really cool and I liked it because I have never done anything like this before and it was a great experience. The second piece I made was with Julia. It was with light and dark green and some yellow. We made it big and thick and it came out really nice. We put orange specks in it after we finished and then let it dry. Both of my papers came out really nice.

Paper Reflection

Overall, I think our project/presentation went really well. I think we explained the uses of paper and the history of paper really well. We made a cudy catcher to tell the classmates different facts about paper and it really made the class interact with each other. I thought this was a fun and creative way to present our project. We had a good basic background on the history of paper. I think we could of added a bit more but we had all the general facts about it. I really liked that we brought in different paper objects like Liza's sketchbook and print making. We also made origami objects like paper cranes paper hats. I thought it was good for us to show the class how to make paper hats at the end of our presentation because it is a fun and easy thing to make. One thing we could of added was more detail in the making of paper, but it was too long to be in our presentation. I thought it was a good idea to add in the things you need to make paper, instead of writing the steps. For the first presentation to go I think our group did a great job and set the tone for the next groups to go and present. 

Sculpter of Ropes course

For our first project this year we made a  sculpture of a different object in school. We had to use only cardboard. We learned how to cute with a knife and make cardboard 3D. I chose to make a sculpture of the  ropes course by upper field. I really liked how it looked and the different objects on it.

I started off making a sketch of my object in my sketch book. Then I made it 3D. The different between my object and my sketch is that I didnt incorporate all the objects in the actual ropes course to my sculpture. I did not put in a tire swing and the color of the actual sculpture is a little different than mine.  At the end I painted the whole thing brown. I liked making this project because I have never worked with cardboard before and I thought it was interesting and fun.

Final project

For the next couple of days I am going to draw in my sketchbook. I could not think of one project I wanted to do, but I thought it would be fun to make different drawings. I have been looking through pictures of peoples drawings in their sketchbooks on Ms. Roberts site and it has given me great ideas. Also, looking through the material in the art room helps me a lot. I can't wait to see what all my finishing drawings will look like

End of year Reflection

Art this year has gone amazing for me. I really have gotten a lot more into art class and I think my skills have improved a lot. I have always loved art, and coming into this year I thought my feelings for it wouldn't change, but I have grown to love it even more. I have learned new skills and techniques that will help me forever. I think my strengths are my creativity in projects, and figuring out how to use different materials, and drawing. I would love to be better at making my artwork more detailed. I will leave this class with a whole new view on art class, and a bigger passion for art. I am looking forward for the next three years of art class at Beaver.

SKETCHBOOK ARCHEOLOGY

When I look at the cover of my sketchbook I see myself in the beginning of freshman year. I remember all I cared about was bright colors and fun designs. I think I have learned a lot this year, I still incorporate bright colors into my art work, but I also learned a lot this year about symmetry and texture and adding it into my work. I also started to love pencil drawings and using charcoal and oil pastels. As I turn the pages of my sketchbook I see all the bright colors I incorporated with my drawings and all of the collages I have made. As I turn through the pages of the middle of my book I start seeing more materials I have used like the xerox transfer of a picture of Marlyn Monroe and also many different designs with oil pastel. Towards the end of all my drawings you can see there is a very diverse amount of work. Anything from blendings oil pastel colors, pencil drawings, layering of paper, details in my drawings, to spray painting different designs. I have really enjoyed working in my sketchbook a lot. It has definitely helped me with projects I have done, and also expressing my feelings throughout the year. It has let me test out different materials and designs I wanted to try. I am really happy with my sketchbook from this past year and will hopefully keep it with my for a long time.

Sculpture brainstorming

I am making a portrait of my 3 month old brother named Adam. I am going to make a bunny because they are so adorable, sweet, cuddly,  and innocent. My brother shows all those traits, he is the sweetest thing ever. I am going to put the bunny right in the middle with a backdrop of New York City because he lives there. New York City is such a crazy loud and fun city and it shows all the traits of  how my family is.

Symbolics portrait

My drawing is going to symbolize my sister Andi. I chose my sister because she is the most important thing to me in the world, I love her so much. She always makes me smile and laugh and she brought happiness into my world when she was born.

• 4 years old - 4 objects or the number four and half a circle
• ballet
• gymnastics 
• sparkles/bright colors
• dresses
• scooter
• tv- calliu/strawberry short cake
• ketchup- french fries and chicken nuggets
• sweets

Cranes for Japan

Watching the videos of the Tsunami in Japan and looking at photos was devastating. Some of the things that stayed with me was watching the water rush onto the land and destroy everything. It was very sad seeing the little kids getting checked for radiation. The photo that made the most impact on me was a mother talking to a policeman searching for her family, she looked so sad. My three wishes for Japan are for families to find each other and reunite, for other people in the world to help them in any way possible, and for the people in Japan to be happy again and have peace in their world.

Getting Back to Materials

In today's class I decided to use red masking tape for my self portrait. I wanted to see if I was able to form different shapes with this stiff object. It was hard to cut the tape and put it into the exact shapes I wanted. I started off playing with it and seeing how I can transorm this one object into different shapes and sizes. The eyes were hard to create because it took me a while to decide how I wanted to make them.  I was very surprised how I transformed a role of tape into a portrait of myself. I think it turned out really good.