Thursdays at CAM are Full of Looking, Learning, and Making!
Daily Snapshots of Life @ CAM Create Camps
Mini Makers (Kindergarten) focus for today was weavings- inspired by the artist Zoe Paul! They created amazing wall hangings with fabric and paper strips. After snack, things got a little wild with yarn paintings! The minis made lines paintings using only yarn as a tool. This technique required patience and expression. Bold colors, dynamic linework, and mark variation all contributed to these masterpieces!
Questions for your artist:
What was your word of the day? What type of materials did you use in the studio?
Share with you grown-up:
Explain the process of creating a yarn painting!
Continue the creativity:
Now that you’ve learned about optical illusions, linework and experimentation in art, go home and continue to practice! Use markers or crayons to create a line drawing that fools your eye. Think about a maze or a tangled ball of yarn. Twist and turn your marker until you make an amazing line drawing!
Printmaking (Grades 1-2) artists used knowledge from yesterday to print additional collagraphs this morning. Their texture plate abilities are soaring! They printed textures with fruit and vegetables as stamps, and acrylic paint as ink. These arrangements showed their knowledge of composition and shape. Next on the schedule- kindness cards. These small tokens of compassion will find their way around campus today- a little cheer up for those that might need one. In the afternoon, printer went out to pass their kindness cards along to those visiting Cranbrook today!
Questions for your artist:
What is a block print?
Share with your grown up:
Explain the process of fruit printing. What was the hardest part? What was the easiest part?
Continue the creativity:
Make a kindness card at home using markers, crayons, or colored pencils. Write a short note to someone you care about, a friend, a family member, or someone you live with! When they aren’t looking, sneak the kindness card in a place they’d least expect- a purse, a lunchbox, maybe even their toothbrush drawer! They will smile so big when the card reveals itself!
Clay (Grades 3-5) artists worked on a unique project in the morning. They practiced rolling out slabs of terra cotta clay- a red clay often used for practical ceramic forms such as tiles, vessels, dishware, etc. They created an edge, for the front of their tile to act as frame. Then, they gathered natural objects from outside which they would print inside the frame of the tile with underglaze. What a lovely decorative tile! In the afternoon, ceramic artists were prompted to create a container. The challenge? To add a lid AND handles that fit just right! The ceramic artists’ hands were molding and sculpting away today! We are so proud of their diligence + hard work all week.
Questions for your artist:
What is underglaze? What is texture? What are natural objects versus man-made objects?
Share with your grown up:
Explain the hand-building process you used today. How did you “print” with underglaze?
Continue the creativity:
Practice recognizing textures at home today! Look around outside for natural or found object with texture. Gather them in a bag or tray. Once you have what you need, spread them out around you and draw each one 3 times. Use a pencil, colored pencils, or markers to sketch. This will be practice for drawing textures from observation!
Fiber + Textile (Grades 6-8): artists worked on their paper plate weavings this morning. The 6th-8th graders slowly built layers to create a small basket from this weaving technique. In the afternoon, they learned how to silkscreen print in the Art Lab. They used a stencil method to create images with freezer paper, and screen-printed onto fabric. To most of the class, this was a new techniques, and they really “wow’ed” us with their results. The fibers artists are a group with focus, ambition, and craft- and we are so proud of how well they are doing this week!
Questions for your artist:
What is batik? Explain the process you took to create today.
Share with your grown up:
Explain the process of silkscreen printing. Talk about the process of paper plate weaving. What are the steps to success?
Continue the creativity:
Now that you learned how to use glue to draw and dye fabric, go home and practice this again! Create a foil embossing by drawing with glue on cardboard and letting that dry. Once dry, layer foil on top of the cardboard while flattening the space with your hands- use a cotton swab to get in the small spaces. For a fun look, you can add shoe polish or acrylic paint on top!
Create Camps @ CAM 