Submitted by
Jan Hillmer, Visual Arts Specialist Berkeley
Preparatory School
UNIT: impressionists
and post impressionists -Ceramics
PROJECT:
Van Gogh sunflowers relief sculpture
Grade Level: Elementary (Jan did this with third grade)
See
more examples
Objectives:
Students will create sunflower drawings and relief
elements on clay using a variety of tools to obtain
textures. Students
will observe Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings carefully -
compare to work by Georgia O'Keeffe and Monet.
Materials:
Clay
, Clay Tools,
Canvas
cloth, slip dishes, Glazes
(or Underglazes), Kiln
Instructional
Resources:
Pictures of
Van Gogh's Sunflower paintings (PowerPoint) - Georgia
O'Keeffe's sunflowers and Monet's flower painting. Actual
flowers (or silk flowers) for study.
Prints
Vocabulary:
Impressionists, Post Impressionists, clay, score and
slip, fire, glaze. Texture, additive and subtractive
methods of working with clay, relief
Instruction/Motivation:
-
Show Van
Gogh’s flowers. [If you need a print, see links above]
Compare and contrast Sunflowers with Monet
flowers and O’Keeffe's sun flowers.
Discuss how Van Gogh used texture in his
paintings.
-
Science
integration - discuss parts of flowers (use real
flowers if possible).
-
Demo
clay slabs, scoring and slipping, additive and
subtractive clay methods.
Procedures:
Distribute clay. Have students create slabs approx ½ “(1.3 cm) thick.
Add and subtract clay to create sunflowers.
Add Hanging device (hole can be made with straw -
or insert a high fire wire loop on the back).
Allow to dry. Fire.
Glaze as desired.
Closure:
Compare and
contrast slabs with paintings.
Does student demonstrate a variety of textures in
work?
Evaluation:
Did students
create textured works of sunflowers?
Did students use both additive and subtractive
methods of clay work?
Did
students exhibit craftsmanship in working with clay and
glazing?
