Fifth Graders' Mexican Bark Paintings

Fifth Graders are working hard on their Mexican Bark Paintings. Each student had to choose either a real or an imaginary animal, then draw the animal showing movement. Here are students adding bright colors with tempera paint.

Third Grade Picasso Double Faces

Need some color? Check out third grade's crazy faces. We looked at Andy Warhol's print "Picasso Double Face" for inspiration, then looked at several of Pablo Picasso's cubist faces where he combined two faces as one or added multiple views to a single face. We then drew our own cubist face,and are now adding color with paint. Be on the lookout for these paintings during the school-wide art show in April.

2nd Grade Akan Akuaba Dolls

Second Graders are continuing their study of African art through creating their own clay Akan Akuaba Dolls. The Akan tribe is from the country of Ghana, and artisans make these dolls as a symbol for a husband and wife's wish for a baby. The dolls are in the shape of the ankh, an ancient Egyptian symbol which means life. Students are about to start sculpting their dolls out of clay, and then will add color with glaze. Here are students with their finished drawings, ready to start clay next week.

Austin's First Night Parade

Here are photos from the 2008 Austin First Night Parade. Check out Zilker's Picasso Cart making its way down Congress Avenue! Many thanks to the Zilker students and parents who pushed the cart in the parade!

Finished Milagros

Here's what the Fifth Graders' finished milagros look like! After bisque-firing the clay, fifth graders painted the milagros black with acrylic paint. I then added a metallic finish to each piece (the metallic finish is labeled toxic, so I put it on instead of the students). Last, I seal each piece with a clear coat of gel medium. The metallic finish really makes the clay look like metal. The black paint creates a contrast that shows off each student's texture and pattern work.

Zilker First Night Picasso Cart

Zilker Second and Third Graders created this Picasso-inspired float for Austin's Third Annual First Night celebration on December 31st. HEB donated the shopping cart. Go to First Night to see our Zilker Picasso Cart in the Grand Procession down Congress Avenue from 6 - 8 pm December 31st!

Third Grade CATS

Third graders are working on their oil pastel cat drawings, inspired by artist Laurel Burch. The bright colors really contrast with the black glue lines. Third graders are learning oil pastel techniques and "personification;" each student had to choose a human emotion and illustrate that feeling as an expression on her or his cat's face. They also worked hard on planning out their color schemes before starting their final drawing. This project is one of my personal favorites because every student creates a successful and inventive artwork.

5th Grade Clay Milagros

Milagros are small, metal pendants that represent a wish, prayer, or request. Milagros are found all over the world, but here in Texas most people buy them imported from Mexico.
Fifth Graders are creating clay versions of milagros that will eventually be painted to resemble metal. The shape of a milagro usually represents the wish. Students first had to think of a request, wish, or prayer, then decide how they would represent that wish through the medium of clay.
We talked using symbols to represent their wishes, which neatly ties in to our second Blanton field trip on Tuesday, November 18th. As part of their museum lesson, students will be discussing how different artists use symbols in their artworks as a way to communicate their artistic ideas to their viewers.

You always see smiling faces when we are working on clay!

A student scores the back of the clay shape she is about to attach to the background of her milagro.

She then adds slip, which is clay mixed with water, to both pieces of clay. The slip helps to bond the two pieces together.

Students hard at work on their milagros. Next class we will be adding details, texture, and pattern to the clay.

Fourth Grade Clay Masks

Fourth Graders are now creating their African clay masks in class. On this day we were learning how to score, slip, and smooth, the necessary steps for joining two pieces of clay. In the following photos, students are adding their eye shapes to their mask form.

Flower Power

Second Graders are now painting their flowers. Students are busy mixing the intermediate color they chose for the larger petals. Over the next two weeks we will be adding primary or secondary colors to the small petals and stigmas, as well as details like stamens.