Mixed Media Artworks

Mixed Media Artworks

Inspired by Souther Salazar

4th Grade

Before creating their own work, students discussed work by contemporary artist using the thinking routine called ODIP.  In this routine, students share ideas by observing, describing, interpreting and proving.   The process allows them to slow down, look closely, reason, provide evidence and use their imaginations!

As students planned their own ideas for a mixed media artwork (artwork that combines multiple materials) they chose materials I had picked up this summer at  the scrapbox, an awesome reuse center in Ann Arbor.  Sometimes materials inspire artists, like the many plastic materials with cutouts that became windows or buildings.  

Students had 3 criteria to follow:  

- Mixed media with 3 or more materials

-Emotion/facial expressions

-a theme or story

It was amazing to see the variety of thinking and artmaking that students engaged in.  See some snapshots below:

Elizabeth engaged in thoughtful planning before beginning her final work.

Maela was curious about a sponge she found in the recycle center and experimented with it, using it as a stamp.  Lilly was inspired by this idea and used the same technique to make her sand.

Ethan reflecting on his work.

Daniel created art about a major interest of his, prehistoric creatures.  Here he is figuring out how to create moving pieces on his artwork.

Ainsley used tape, paper, and paint to fix a "mistake."  Artists persist through failure.

Some completed works:

3D Landscapes

IImaginary Worlds 

Inspired by Souther Salazar

4^th Grade

Students began this project with a quick imagination game.  They began by drawing organic shapes.  They then had the challenge of turning those shapes into creatures.   

Students then spent some time looking closely at work by Souther Salazar.  Souther Salazar is a contemporary artist living in Portland, Oregon.  “Souther Salazar's installations transport the viewer into a vibrant and endless world of overlapping drawn, painted, sculpted and animated narratives and dreamscapes -- half-remembered, half-imagined places where stories can develop and take on a life of their own. Utilizing a variety of mixed media, found objects and layers of assemblage, his work evokes the wonders and imagination…”

We used thinking routines from the Columbus Museum of Art, including "See, Think, Wonder" and ODIP to talk about his work.  

 

After observing, describing, and interpreting what they saw in artworks by Souther Salazar, 4^th graders returned to their creature sketches and made imaginary drawings of them in an environment. 

 Next up, students translated their ideas into 3D landscapes.  Students used many materials and found objects, developing narratives along the way.  They showed space by placing objects in the foreground, middle ground, and background.  

Check out some of the finished works!  What stories and curiosities do you see?

We finished up by having a art celebration!

Community Maps: 3rd Grade

Maps of Our Community

Inspired by Aminah Robinson

Students began this project by discussing our community and the places that make it important to us.   Each student chose one location and created a series of prints using styrofoam.  Next, students observed, described, and interpreted artwork by Aminah Robinson.  Aminah Robinson created many mixed media artworks about the people and places that comprised her community of Columbus.  Classmates then traded prints, experimented with sewing, and added embellishments to complete their own meaningful maps.

Sewing!

Students inventing their own stitches.

Inventive tree!

Adam excited to share his problem solving in class.  He persisted through difficulty to create a water tower out of pom poms and a toothpick. 

The blue is a river leading to a sewer.  The slit on the edge is the sewer line.