Imaginative Ceramic Creatures

The following is a small sample of work created by 5th grade artists. These hollow stoneware figures are the product of investigating the work of the artist Sara Swink and an exploration of gesture and narrative in artwork. This project was done with both 4th and 5th grades. The following links are to the instructional videos that cover the technical aspects of the process used for both grades. Design Worksheet, Wet Work1, 2 and 3. It's exciting to see that the students' work is by far more creative than my instructional examples. I believe this is can be credited to both the deep dive into looking at and discussing Sara Swink's work and ongoing dialog with students about the narratives they were creating during the art-making process. 5th grade artists were challenged to further enhance their work by adding contrasting textures to their sculptures. The instructional video is linked here.