Lino Block Prints

I love printmaking. It is my favourite process to teach and I have tried many different methods over the past four years. This year was the first time I tried linoleum block printing with my students. Fortunately for me, I have two small high school classes (four students each!) so I did not need many supplies to give it a go.

My AP studio art class tried their hand at carving and printing blocks as pieces for their AP portfolios. I also had the opportunity to squeeze in a week of block printing with my IGCSE class as an end-of-year activity. Both groups thoroughly enjoyed the process and found carving quite therapeutic. I am amazed at the details of their final results.

 

Following our last classes today, I was gifted a few of these prints and discovered the sweetest notes written on the back! I am glad for the opportunity to journey with these students.

Patterns Continued

This month I taught my usual paper weaving project in kindergarten and first grade. There were many “I love art” exclamations throughout the learning process, which made these final weeks more enjoyable. Perhaps this comes from the tactile ‘over, under’ weaving rhythm… and the novelty of being able to do art on the carpet? We made painted paper first, and used a portion of this for our warp and weft patterns.

The finished woven pieces became placemats for a picnic meal collage. First graders continued with pattern and created a printed design around the edge their plates. We talked about cutting big, paper shapes to fill the space on the plates and adding smaller details afterwards. Some students had time to create utensils also.

Printed Patterns

Today was a trying day; with tears, an overflowing sink, and paint everywhere… We are SO ready to be done with the year, though we still have 2 1/2 weeks left!

Kindergarten and first grade have been working with patterns recently. We did a paper weaving project and I wanted to try something spring-y also involving patterns. Matisse’s colourful, patterned still lifes inspired the piece: A fruit and veggie printed vase of flowers. We looked at several examples of the artist’s work and I did a demo to give the kiddos some ideas for creating areas of pattern. I limited the colour palettes to warm and cool versions of the primaries: red, blue and yellow (these ended up getting mixed together!)