Creating our Installation!

Kristina Arnold was the guest artist today at Drakes Creek Middle School. She showed us pictures of her installation art and of other artist that create art in unique ways using recycled materials. Then the students created their own visions of the sea using acrylic paint on long sheets of clear vinyl.

To See the Sea

Today we are looking at the ecosystems of the ocean. Each student received a packet showing definitions for Habitat, Ecosystem, Invertebrates, Vertebrates and then we added: Estuary, Oceans, Coral Reef. The students filled in the definitions of these as we watched a youtube video "Biomes Project-Marine Ecosystem". We also took a little trip up to the lobby to view the artist's installation project and then we worked on a mural of our own ideas of ocean life.

The Installation of Kristina Arnold's Art at Drakes Creek

Today was very exciting when Kristina and her husband arrived to install her hanging cloud! The students were amazed and they love it! Next week it will be their turn to create with plastic bottles and recyclables......hmmmm I wonder what it will look like??

Creating Waves Using Pastels

Students at work!

Contemporary Artist Gregory Burns

We looked at the art of Contemporary Artist Gregory Burns for inspiration for our artwork. Here's some examples of his work.

The Science of Making Waves

The students struggled with the idea of an abstract picture of a wave but once they got into it they loved using the chalk pastels. I encouraged them to create two totally different ideas since we will be using these tomorrow for our inspiration for a bigger drawing of waves. We enjoyed some extra inspiration from watching some fun surfing of the waves on youtube.











Today we conducted a science experiment to show that wind moving on the top of water produces waves. First we made predictions of what would happen when we fanned the water. Some students said "ripples will occur" others said a "big wave". Some said that the water would move from one side of the container to the other. I chose some students to fan the water with a piece of cardboard. Some students caused ripples and others created waves by fanning very fast! We then turned on a fan and noticed a more regular rhythm of waves and ripples in the water.

We used Chalk Pastels on Pastel Paper cut into small pieces. The students created two examples of their own ideas of waves in an abstract way.

A Note from Visiting Artist Patricia Ritter

As the visiting artist at DCMS, I had a great two days with students and art teacher Kim Soule. Prior to my arrival, the students had already discussed the pollution of groundwater through careless disposal of motor oils and other materials and I came to their classroom to expand this science project through painting with watercolors. After we looked at some of my paintings of rivers and creeks, we moved on to an introduction of working with watercolors by experimenting with various techniques such as washes, color mixing, brushwork and letting the water move the pigment around on the paper. Day two found us creating paintings of water rushing around rocks in a creek bed. Although students followed along with me as we drew out and then painted our 8" x 8" watercolors, you will see that each work of art is different and expresses individual use of design, color and techniques. Thank you to VSA of KY and Ms. Soule for this wonderful opportunity!