More than just Clay: Sharing Friendship & Peace

Providing students with an active clay and sculpture program builds many opportunities for learning.  Clay is a unique art material that is highly responsive to touch and very forgiving.  In this sense, allowing for mistakes and playful art making gives students a sense of control, builds personal confidence and opens the mind to a greater sense of self-expression and imagination.

  

Applying sculpture skills, SKSS students shared a connection with our neighbouring elementary school (Lloyd George) by teaching clay techniques to Mme Girard’s grade 2 class.  We decided on a theme of Friendship & Peace. Just incase we could save the world, one grade two student at a time!  Students worked with clay slabs to cut their hand shape from both high school and elementary students to create a collaborative bowl.  To finish the designs, students added french or english words and symbols that represented our peace and friendship theme. 

Excited young artists chattered and worked hard over two sessions of classes creating common ground through their clay work and glazing.  Perhaps most importantly, SKSS students spoke about the valuable outcome of our collaboration, which was more than our colourful hand-bowls.  In fact, they expressed that teaching and working with young students reminded them of the importance of helping others and the significance of art making at any age. 

Inspired by Collaboration: Imaginary Animals

Animals enrich us in so many ways … the facial expression of an irritated house cat or the sheer beauty of witnessing a local herd of Bighorn sheep crossing the street at Sun Rivers in Kamloops.  Animals are interesting to learn about and observe. In this sense, animals inspire a creative subject for playful art making. 

Upper: Kaitlyn M face painting, LG artwork: Raccola
Lower: Art by LG student, Kate M & Rhona Armes admire LG student practice face painting 

Throughout the month of June 2015, South Kamloops Students participated in a collaborative art project with Lloyd George Elementary School.  Grade three artists from Mme Roy’s classroom came to the South Kam artroom and created an imaginary animal with a high school student.  Through a dialogue of composition, explanation of line, shape, colour, and an openness to creativity, 24 elementary students designed imaginary animals.  This process of creating imaginary creatures provided an ideal subject to take risks, try new materials, and connect both realistic and imagined imagery. 

Designing Collaborative Images: Easton & LG student

Garden Art Show!  SKSS Students set up the framed elementary student work in our school courtyard.
LG students were invited to SKSS back for a second visit to view the in-progress artwork created
 by their high school buddy's.  We also had some face painting! 

SKSS Student Courtney shares a moment with LG students reading artist statements.

The second stage of our creative thinking involved SKSS art students working with the images created by the grade 3 students to develop a personally meaningful image.  Aspects of material and composition presented a diverse opportunity for students to develop the image, maintaining some of the same qualities while pushing the sophistication of each imagined animal. 

Here are some of the outcomes of the SKSS student work:

Artwork by: Kate, grade 9

Artwork by: Camryn, grade 10

Artwork by: Lauren, grade 9

Our collaborative project comes together with a final presentation of student learning at Riverside Park on September 19^th, 2015.  Students will share our work and process with the community at the Kamloops Children’s Art Festival, an annual event hosted by the Kamloops Art Council. We are very proud to be a part of this celebration of the arts and share our finished work with with Kamloops!

Clay Monsters: Collaborative Containers

     Highlighting South Kamloops Secondary student collaborations this spring begins with the fantastic clay work of artist, James de Rosso.  De Rosso shares his creative ceramic monsters while providing an inviting platform for teaching basic sculpture techniques, including forming, joining, blending, and texturing.  In addition, monster themed art making allows for unlimited and imaginative possibilities as inspiration for clay creations.  With this in mind, student artists from both Lloyd George Elementary and SKSS collaborated together to create unique Monster sculptures.  

     The outcome of our art making is a playful collection of student work mindful of the many techniques and problem solving skills that occur when hand-building with clay.  The success of our collaborative project is not only partaking and guiding art making activities, but perhaps most importantly, student collaboration provides an an opportunity in develop community.  Building a connection with our neighbouring elementary school provides a shared and common link between both elementary and secondary students.  However, as SKSS art students continue to engage in shared learning with Lloyd George Elementary art buddies what is most meaningful is the compassion and caring atmosphere students create in the artroom.

Thank you to Mme Stafford’s grade 3 class from Lloyd George.  You worked hard to create a fantastic group of clay monsters! 

Visit artist James de Rosso at :  www.monster8all.com

Maison de Lumiere: Kinder clay!

Sculpture & Ceramics students shared their slab building clay techniques this January by working with Mme Upshaw and Mme Linthorne’s Kindergarten class from our neighbouring elementary school, Lloyd George.  Students paired-up to create a ‘Maison de Lumiere’ focusing on aspects of texture and hand-building sculpture techniques.  As collaborative activities often witness, the artistic process becomes an opportunity in our school community to build a brief and meaningful relationship between the teenage artists and their newly acquainted Kindergarten friends.  SKSS art student Katherine R. reflects on her experience working with the Kindergarten students:

Kids are really creative and ready to try new things, which is why working with the kindergarten class was so cool.  It was really interesting to see how much their houses varied in size, colour, and in general how different they were.  They all were very excited and enthused about working with clay, since for many of them it was their first time.  They also got to paint their houses with ceramic glaze.  Many picked their favorite colour and layered it on the entire house!  For someone who loves kids this was such a cool opportunity to talk to them while teaching them something new.  It was privilege to give back to the community in such a unique way.

We would like to thank our Lloyd George Kindergarten friends, teachers Mme Upshaw and Mme Linthorne, and librarian Mme Cauchon, for such fantastic participation and sharing in our creative art-making collaboration. 

Grade 3 Art Buddies Create Clay Salmon

It's salmon season, and for Mrs. Yamaoka's senior Art Foundations class that means buddying up with the incredibly talented grade 3 class of Lloyd George.

As a student in Mrs. Yamaoka’s class, I have always loved teaming up with the younger students to create something special. The kids are always so inspired; my buddy particularly so. She was so excited to make a fish to give to her mother for Christmas. She knew exactly what she wanted it to look like too. It’s fantastic to have that sense of confidence.

All of the students got right to work, tracing the body of the fish, cutting out the shape, and then adding detail. The young students were surprisingly well behaved and focused! At the end of the class, the fish looked absolutely amazing.

A week later, the students returned to glaze their fish. Once again, my little buddy knew exactly which colours she wanted to use. She walked around the class on several occasions, asking every person if they had the glaze she needed to use. She’s the most determined child I have ever met.

When the fish were glazed and fired, the kids finally got to see the finished product of their work. From what I’ve heard, they were absolutely thrilled.

At the end of one class, my buddy told me that art is important because without art, we wouldn’t have colour. All of the grade three students were so insightful and inspiring. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to work with them.

Written by Shannon Charlebois

Art Buddies Visit SKSS Grade 1 Star Tiles

In early December, Mrs. Yamaoka's ceramics class had the opportunity to work with grade ones from Lloyd George Elementary. In part with the holiday season, the kids were focusing on a "star" theme, so we decided to make ceramic star tiles.

Each student was paired with a grade one and given a square of clay. The children were given an array of textures, tools, and cut-outs to make their projects unique. Under the guidance of Mrs. Yamaoka's students, each grade one created a one of a kind tile. During their second visit, the grade ones learned about glazing and did a fantastic job adding colour to their creations.

The collaboration was a huge success; everyone had fun and it helped everyone to get into the holiday spirit.


Great job grade ones!


Written by Sarah & Ariga