Visits to schools 2014/2015 (Pt 2 of 2) - grades 5 and 6 projects

Grades five and six students explored relief printmaking with their projects.

Grade 5 exploration for this project was structures. It served as the basis for creating one large colour image onto a contrast colour of  paper.
The first part of the project had them formulate a sketch on paper and then by tracing it onto a thin vellum paper they drew it again into a rectangular thin dense foam plate using ball point pen. (Scratch-foam made by scratch art USA).
A related element was created and by using stamping they repeated the same block image as 12 small prints side by side on a half sheet of colour subi printmaking paper.
Using a template that I had laid out and cut, I used light gray pencil crayon to mark in where the large and border imagery was to be pasted down onto the same size of a rectangular base sheet of Pegasus black cover paper.

Grade 6 undertook a project that is simply known as You Cube. It pairs repeated two colour contrast self portraits realized as relief block onto six sided corrugated cardboard cubes. 

There were 4 stages involved in this project that included:

• taking a digital photo (selfie) and then transferring this to the surface of a soft carvable block
• carving away the surface to create a relief 
• printing of six images using contrast inks and paper colours
• constructing the cube from waste cardboard then trimming and adhering the print to each side

grade 6 student carving away non black line areas of his block

Visits to schools 2014/2015 (Pt 1 of 2) - grades 1 and 3 projects

recycled plastic water bottle and tissue paper collage lanterns

grades 1/2 

Hyde Park Public School, Thunder Bay ON

photo: S. Lieske © 2014

Since early November of this year I have embarked on a quest as an art educator who will ultimately being visiting the classrooms of 18 educators in 5 local schools until May of 2015. Thanks in kind to funding from the Ontario Arts Council and the Artist in Education Program I was able to offer boards my services and find placements in schools without too many difficulties. I had quite a lot of teachers contact me and unfortunately since I am only funded for a max. of 6 schools had to turn down about 8 more.
Perhaps if I am fortunate in 2015/16 to be funded again I will offer it again to those who missed out this time around.

I completed a 25 hr placement last week at St. Bernard School, a jr. elementary school.
Four projects were undertaken as follows:


Grade one - in the three sessions during my visits students made tissue paper bowls followed by an activity that applies wet media painting on paper (using color mixing theory for the lesson), and then a mixed media approach using cutting and collage of the separate pieces of the cut up paintings fastened to a larger surface followed by relief print stamping. The theme explored was Nature.

forming tissue pieces over a balloon using liquid glue 
(thinned with a little water)

applying water based printing ink onto a corrugated

cardboard and foam shape stamp

Grade 3 project began by have students create a rough sketch, then using an air cured sculpting medium (paper clay) they reconstructed the sketch into three dimensions by building up low relief shapes. The pieces were attached using liquid wood glue to the masonite panel (on which a photocopy of the original sketch had been adhered using acrylic gel medium). The final step was a session where students applied colour to the monochromatic panel using non-toxic student grade acrylic paints and various size brushes. Once they were dry they were glazed with a single coat of gloss acrylic varnish medium. Theme explored in images was Canadian first nations.

A student here is shaping paper clay sculpting medium.  

By placing translucent wax paper over top of the drawing you can pace clay over top 

and using pointed tools like a pencil and by rolling the medium with your fingers

you shape it to conform to the drawn lines. 

Textural details can be added in while it is still pliable.

air dry sculpting medium is left on top of wax paper to dry 

which also separates it from the drawing underneath