Visit 2: Greek Pottery and Silhouettes

The second time I visited Mary White's class we talked about greek pottery and silhouettes. I started out by having each student write down a life changing event. Then I told them the story of Ajax.

The Suicide of Ajax.

We talked about how in early greek pottery the artists would depict the moment just before the action of the climax of the story. It the story of Ajax this moment is right before he throws himself on his sword.

We then talked abut silhouettes and how artists in ancient Greece and today use them to simplify dramatic images. I showed the students this work by Kara Walker as an example of a contemporary artist using silhouettes.

The students sketched a picture that illustrated the life story they had written down. They filled in their sketches with sharpie to create silhouettes. At the end some students explained the pictures that they drew including one boy who shared the experience of his father going away to fight in Iraq. 

Visit 1: Tessellations

On my first visit to Marry White's class we learned about tessellations. I discussed with the class what tessellations were and how artists have used the throughout history. We looked at Islamic tile patterning, Sol LeWitt sculptures, and M.C. Eshcer drawings.
      
Then I demonstrated how to make a simple shape that can tessellate. The students each then made their own tessellations. They outlined their shapes in marker and filled in their drawings with colored pencil.

One student made his abstract shape into an animal by adding detail.