Students tried to capture the life-like expression and character of an animal, bird, reptile, or sea creature for this assignment. The main focus was on rending a naturalistic form using value tones created through visual texture.
Advanced students were given more creative freedom when choosing the subject for their scratchboard design, since they did a similar assignment in my class last year.
Families, faculty, and community members were invited to enjoy an evening to celebrate the hard work and talents of Kapaa Middle School students in their Elective classes. Basketball and square dancing kicked things off, followed by chorus and ukulele performances and delicious cookies made by Home-Ec students. The Science teachers also joined in this year with interactive labs and demonstrations for a combined event.
The Art display was enhanced this year with our purchase of professional display boards! This was an exciting development from last year when I was literally hanging artwork from the window-blinds. It was impressive, if I do say so myself!
Chris did a fabulous job with his media crew, and live-streamed the whole event on Kauai Stream. Other media included a sneak peak of the Yearbook, Computer Class projects, photography, and viewing/listening stations highlighting the GT Media students’ films.
Thank you to everyone who helped put on this fun and successful event!
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.
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-Fay & Halle Lazo
Isaiah Sacramed & Jazmine Kaleiohi
Alyssa Pinoliar & Maeghan Fostanes
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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!
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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.
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!).
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!
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.
Julia