Copper Tooling with Colorful Borders

This 3-dimensional relief project involved creating an abstract design using expressive lines to divide the composition, and a variety of textures to fill the spaces. Students created the center of their formal design with Copper Repousse, and continued the lines and patterns on a wide border using vibrant chalk-pastels and colored pencils.

copper details

The details above show an angled view that reveals the 3-dimensional relief pattern at the center of each design. Below you can see the finished projects, which are fairly large at 25″x25″.

Lilli Kessell & Halle Lazo
Lilli Kessell-Fay & Halle Lazo

Emily Johnson & Mia WamsleyIsaiah Sacramed & Jazmine Kaleohi
Isaiah Sacramed & Jazmine Kaleiohi

Alyssa Pinoliar & Maeghan Fostanes
Alyssa Pinoliar & Maeghan Fostanes

Hawaiian Themed Copper Relief

Copper Details

Copper Repousse or “tooling” is the technique of creating a decorative low-relief by pressing and stretching the metal from the reverse side to make the design raised on the front. “Chasing” is the opposite technique of refining details on the front by sinking the metal in. Students used popsicle sticks, barbecue skewers, and a variety of wooden clay tools to smooth, stretch, and define the copper foil on both sides.

Imani Belt & Triston Mahuiki

These repousse designs represent symbols of Hawaii that students first drew with pencil on paper and then transferred to the copper. Above, Cambria Miles created the native and endangered Monk Seal and Tristen Mahuiki chose a Taro plant. Below, 8th grader Heather Faretta fashioned a red-tailed tropic bird (Phaethon Rubricauda) that can be seen on the North Shore of Kauai.

Heather Faretta

7th grader Isabella Kotsol designed a humpback whale, pictured below on display at Kapa’a Middle School’s Elective Night Art exhibit. You can also see how the projects were embellished and hung with colorful beads made from strips of rolled magazine pages.

Isabella Kotsol

Harlem Shake


Kapa’a Middle School’s Art students take on the latest viral trend. They aren’t the tamest bunch of little monsters, but they sure know how to have fun!

Be sure to check out Mr. Sanderl’s version too… CLICK HERE!

Pinch Pot Critters

The first batch of Critters is out of the kiln! These little pinch pots have definitely got BIG personality! I also included the names and descriptions that students invented for their critters.

Oceana & Sunny
“Crackers,” the small brown owl, secretly lives in the cupboard and eats all types of snack food. He plays practical jokes at night and naps during the day. “Peri Piranha,” the ferocious fighting fish loves to eat sushi. He is camouflaged in the aqua-marine colored water so that he can sneak attack other fish.

penguin & Mikayla
“Bob,” the party penguin lives in Los Vegas and loves to eat eat junk food including chips, pizza, Oreos, and cookies. He behaves like a penguin unless he is threatened, in which case he will shoot lasers out of his eyes.

Ashley & Chloe
“Shadow,” is a rare creature called an Eclipse Dixit. Dixits are known to travel the world looking for cocoa beans. Every lunar eclipse flocks of Dixits sing a beautiful song.

Emily & Monster
“Chubbs”, the spotted monster, lives in the pantry and likes to eat Cheerios. He is famous for his pro-tennis career and he likes to give out hugs.

Iana & Sabrina
“George”, the baby elephant, lives in the garden and eats blueberries. He likes cloud-watching, smelling flowers, and swimming with his gnome friends. “Ella,” the pink elephant will do tricks for peanuts- her favorite treat! She can spray water with her trunk, and juggle up to four things at once!

fish & Brisa
“Kitty,” the Luna Shark loves to eat java chip ice cream while watching his favorite shows- Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries. “Roger,” the giraffe likes to eat apple bananas and watch Sponge Bob.

critters_07
“Mud,” the green spike-tailed Croop, lives in swamps, marshes, and wet muddy areas. Croops will eat anything that fits in their large mouths and like to hunt prey by hiding in the mud. When threatened, Croops can dig in to the ground leaving only a spiked tail above ground acting as a primitive but effective form of protection.

critters_08
“Chompers,” the gaming dinosaur loves to eat tacos. He lives under the bed, sleeps all day, and plays PS3 all night. “Mr. Buttercup,” the spoiled fat cat, spends his days in bed at a royal palace. His favorite things to do are take naps and eat cookies.

critters_09
“Spike,” the spiky blob, lives in an underwater cave and eats noodles. You know he’s happy when he turns pink, and he puffs up when he gets mad. His favorite thing to do is ride on the backs of narwals. “Trig,” the pig-troll sleeps under a bridge and eats anything he can find. Although Trig looks scary, he is actually very kind. He will only attack with his razor-sharp tusks if he gets scared.

Art Analysis

Art Analysis Charts

Not only do Kapa’a Middle School Art students learn how to make different types of Art, they learn how to analyze and interpret too! Learning how to process and make sense of a variety of different cultural artworks and styles begins with the right vocabulary and a system for identifying the various parts of a whole. Students worked in pairs to create poster-sized charts that describe, analyze, interpret, and evaluate a variety of Art.

Graphic Organizers

Understanding a work of Art involves peeling away layers to reveal meaning. The process is multifaceted, involving the artist’s intention, the context in which the art was created, and also the personal experience and values of the viewer. Through the process students learned a strategy for approaching artwork (especially works that are unfamiliar or confusing) and also a little more about themselves.

Happy Valentines!

On my desk today...
On my desk today…

Valentines day at Kapaa Middle School is a whirlwind of excited kids, pink carnations, little stuffed animals, and LOTS of SUGAR! For me, the highlight was a surprise delivery from Mr. Sanderl… a red-tipped white carnation with the note “Let’s flip a coin- Heads, your mine. Tails, I’m yours.” Sounds like a win-win situation to me! The paper-cut heart is my Valentine for him (and a possible future lesson idea!).

Cupcake Sweetness!

Colorful Cupcakes...

Sugar Mill Cupcake’s local business owner and KMS parent commissioned Kapaa Middle School Art students to create some artwork to decorate her store! This has been an ongoing side-project that several students chose to work on in their spare time and outside of class. Thank you, Westy, for providing my students with such a great opportunity to learn about the “business” side of Art, along with a fun experience painting something special!

Progress and inspiration...

Pottery Wheel Demo

I had so much fun demonstrating different throwing techniques on the pottery wheel for Kapaa Middle School Art students! Wheel-throwing is not easy to learn, but it is certainly rewarding and FUN!

Pictured above are the various forms and vessels that were the result of my “demo day.” You can also see a peek into our studio space, which is equipped with 5 pottery wheels that students will rotate on to.

Creative Critter Progress

The first clay project this year was to hand-build a simple pinch pot and then transform it into a Creative Critter by adding features such as faces, wings, tales, feet and other details. They all turned out so unique!

Before leaving for the holiday break, we tucked these clay babies into the kiln where they will be bisque fired and prepared for glazing when the kids come back in the New Year.

Stay tuned for the finished projects! Next I will be introducing Kapaa Middle School Art students to the pottery wheel… get ready for a fun mess!

Recycled Magazine Bowls

Our most recent crafty Art project was to make a bowl out of folded magazine pages secured with white glue. This project introduced students to creative ways to re-use and recycle old magazines and create something 3-dimensional, functional and beautiful!

While the original objective was to create a bowl, several students stretched their imaginations and invented creative forms and unique containers!

As an introduction to the layering and 3-D construction process, I shared the contemporary artwork of Japanese artist Haroshi. Haroshi’s skateboard sculptures are similar to the magazine bowl project because they are made from recycled materials (skateboard decks), display colorful layers, and often have a functional purpose.

” I can make what I want, I can skate where I want- that’s being free. But at the same time there are risks. That’s what I think art and skate are.” -Haroshi

Complement A Master

Students “complemented” a master painter by choosing to reproduce one of her/his most famous paintings using colors that are complementary (opposite on the color wheel) to the original. Advanced Art students were required to apply skills in a new context while learning to paint with acrylic on canvas. The original painting can be seen in the bottom left corner of each image, with the student’s complementary version behind.

Students followed several steps in a lengthy process before achieving their final results. They began with research, preliminary sketches, color wheel painting, and measuring a proportionate grid. They worked closely with their sketchbooks throughout the painting process, referring to their notes, sketches, and color wheel.

Once the paintings were complete, students wrote an Artist Statement reflecting on the process, and comparing their final complementary painting with the original “master.” View a sample here!

I’m so proud of my students for their hard work and great effort! More samples of Complement A Master paintings are currently on view in the KMS office and G-101 Art Room display cases!