Thursday, February 26, 2009

Spartan Spikes in Art 2

Hey, my name is Amanda Shahan, I'm in the 10th grade, and I'm in Mr. Davis's Art 2 class. I named my piece "Spartan Spikes." We were given the assignment of making face jugs and my mind began to think creatively. I love medieval and dark clay pieces so i wanted to relate my face jug to that. I want to thank Mr. Markievich for helping me throughout the assignment. Without him this wouldn't have been possible. I first made two pinch pots that were close to being the same size, and then placed them together to make the head. I wanted to find a way to make a Spartan helmet hanging down off his face. So I then made a neck by making a coil pot, and then smoothed the pot into a triangular form. To make the helmet possible, I made many slabs of clay that I combined to make a helmet. A lot of slip was involved to keep the heavy slabs on. You can't really notice the spikes in his mouth due to the picture being so dark, but I cut small pieces of paperclips with a wire cutter and pierced them through the clay inside of his mouth. I myself thought that the eyes were a challenge because I wanted them to bulge out to make him more medieval scary. I first took a clay tool that looked like a tiny hook and scraped away the clay to make the eyes sink in, but then I placed the excess clay to make the eyes bulge out and give it the look of a medieval scary face jug.  The one thing that you might want to watch out for while doing this process is to be mindful of how much you take away because of cave-ins. To make the eyes bulge I took a slab the size of my pinky finger and made that the white part of the eye. I then took another tiny slab half the size of the first one and made that the iris. To make the pupil I simply took a detail paintbrush and spun it smoothly on the tiny slab. You could also use a tool to get the same effect. When it comes to the magnificent color of my clay project, I used a glaze called "Black Ice".  This glaze is a lot thicker and usually only needs one coat. Compared to last years clay pots in Art 1, I think I've improved astronomically. So far I can honestly say that this is my best piece of art this year, due to the fact I spent an extreme amount of time on it.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

OH NOES!!1 I CAN HAS SCARY FACE JUG!

I'm Maddie Fuller and I'm in the 11th grade. I took Ceramics last year, and am taking Art 1 this year. I really enjoy ceramics, but I also love sketching and painting. I'm going to take Art 2 next year.
For this assignment, I took a huge chunk of clay and made two pinch pots of the same size. Then I attached the pinch pots to make a hollow globe. I wanted my face jug to have a tongue spout, rather than a regular spout. I tried to incorporate the spout into the face of the jug, so I decided a tongue would be the best way to do that. I kind of accidentally slammed it on the table, and it made the bottom slant. I noticed that this made it look like a slug, so I decided to make the top of the jug into the face. Mr. Davis suggested that I add horns, and I liked the way they turned out. The teeth are made of broken white ceramic tiles.
For the glazes, I decided to make it look as realistic as possible. I used natural colors for the skin and tongue, and painted in the eyes so it looks like it's staring at you. This assignment was a really good way to start with clay in Art 1 - it teaches you all of the basic techniques, and they're really easy. I think this is one of my best pieces.

Face Jugs in Art 1

Hey, my name is Aden Johnson. I'm in the tenth grade and am taking Art for the first time. I don't especially like to paint and draw, but I really like working with clay - anything hands-on. I go to Donaldson Center in the afternoons to take welding classes, and I'm going to be a certified welder and go into the Army after I graduate.
For this project, I made two pinch pots, then I slipped and scored them together. After I attached them, I cut a hole in the top and made a spout out of clay coils. For the face, I stuck two teeth made out of clay tile pieces, and made a moustache and eyebrows. I added three legs and handles for ears, then cut a nose hole and a mouth hole so the piece wouldn't explode. The legs came off in the first firing, but Mrs. Cauble showed me how to slip and score them back on with kiln cement. After it was fired, I picked green for the glaze - it's my favorite color. I liked this assignment - it kept me busy and I never got bored. I want to take Ceramics next year so I can do this stuff all semester.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Musical Abstract Findings

Aloha, my name is Chad Wise and I am currently in International Baccalaureate Art. The picture you see on the left is my latest studio. You may be thinking, "What is that?!" Well, to answer your question, it is an abstract drawing with different shapes and shading. I used a pen on the entire work. The 'pattern' that you see is a bunch of shapes that look like blades of grass overlapping each other. The three black zig-zag type shapes that you see are just random lines I drew and then connected. I shaded them in twice; the pen strokes went in different directions to make it darker. Another shape that is pretty interesting is in the top left-hand corner. Instead of connecting straight lines like the black shapes, I connected rounded lines. I then filled it in with dots, which gives it a contrasting look from the rest of the work. I believe this studio took me about two weeks to finish. None of it was really planned, it happened randomly. Of course, I knew the type of shapes I was going to use, but the placement was random. I worked on this while listening to music, and I can tell what type of music I was listening to when I worked on certain parts of it. Near the bottom-left, the blade with the black blade on the inside of it was the first one I drew. I used the darkened blade to remind me how I started. I do not know what to call this yet - Untitled #3 seems too ordinary, and yet is also fitting at the same time. I had a lot of fun on this studio; I felt that I was actually doing something that worked for the class. My previous studios are not as representative of me as they should be, this one is. -Chad Wise

Monday, February 9, 2009

Time Explosion in IB Art

Hi, my name is Masha Harley. I'm in Mrs. Cauble's IB Art class. I started this painting when I was sitting at home being bored, but I never got to finish it. So I brought it into class, and Mrs. Cauble and I came up with few ideas. She suggested that I smear embossing powder on the painting and heat it with a heat gun. I thought it was a good idea - I tried it and it looks good. This painting doesn't really represent anything in particular, but time is definitely important to everybody and most people need more time. The powder expresses like an explosion of time, where everybody gets more time. The numbers in the background represent more images of time, and just give the painting more interest.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Welcome Mr. Markievich!

Hello parents, caregivers, students, educators, administrators, and employees of Woodmont High School.  I would like to introduce myself, as I have been granted the opportunity to complete my internship in this excellent school.  My name is Eric Markievich, and I am currently attending a graduate program at Lander University for the Master of Arts in Teaching degree, and initial teaching certification.  I received a BA Art from Penn State University, and am grateful to be furthering my education here in South Carolina. During my free time (which I have very little of these days!), I am involved in studio arts such as painting, drawing, and sculpture.  I am also a musician and creative writer, and enjoy spending time in the great outdoors. I certainly look forward to this experience, and thank y'all for having me.

Welcome Mr. Moore!

Hi, my name is Chris Moore and I am student teaching here at Woodmont High School for the spring semester with Mrs. Cauble. I am a Master's in Art Teaching Student who is also an active artist in South Carolina. I am currently a acrylic and encaustic painter whose work seeks to visually record the layers of information we experience daily. I feel that art education is a opportunity for students and individuals to create new appreciations for the craft and skill it takes to create the world we live in. I would like to extend my thanks to Woodmont's faculty and students for the opportunity to observe such exemplary educational standards and practices.