Middle School Students Experiment with Boat Designs

Thinking about buoyancy, displacement, density and stability, the middle school students experimented with boat designs. Beginning with several iterations of paper boats the students tried them out in the stream table to figure out which designs worked well, were stable and efficient moving through the water. After figuring out which designs worked best the students will build small models and then scale one up to culminate in the construction of wooden paddles and a single coroplast and wood boat large enough for a student to paddle across the Parker pond.

Early trial with paper and tape

Tape to help with waterproofing

Figuring it out together

Checking buoyancy by adding pennies for weight

An ark-like creation

Figuring proportions  and folds for the scale model boats

Hot gluing the stern flaps up

Fitting the breast hook to give the boat its shape

Fitting the gunwales

Naming the model boat

A finished model

And one more

Working on the final boat....folding the coroplast with the help of Ron Ishkanian, a local boat builder and friend

Attaching the breast hook

Sawing a paddle handle

Trying out the finished boat (in the art room)!

And in the pond!

M.S. Self-Portraits

The annual Parker self-portrait project has begun for the middle school students. The students watched a video on how use different values and gray tones to give dimension to a face and then reviewed rule of thumb methods for placement and proportion for achieving their likeness. They worked from mirrors or photos, thinking about the shape of their face and trying to accurately locate and capture their features. They tried to put all these elements together to create an image that is recognizable as them.

Checking in with the mirror

Luckily, it was the left arm that was broken!

Working from top to bottom

Trial and error yield fine results

Close attention working from a phone photo

Parker Alum, Sam Wickstrom, portrait artist, gives the middle school students some pointers

6/7/8 Watercolor Paintings

The middle school students began a unit on water color painting by watching a short tutorial on the internet and then experimenting with paint on wet and dry paper, mixing colors together, and adding details to wet and dry surfaces. Local water color painter and Parker Admission Director, Laura Mandelson, came into class to show the students some of her work and to talk about how to achieve different results with this medium. Then the students each figured out a composition of particular interest to them, sketched out the scene and painted it using many of the newly acquired techniques.

Early experimenting

Working oncolor mixing and texture

Laying in some first colors

A turbulant sky

Laura discussing her work with the class

Painting the sky behind an eagle

Flowers from a still-life

Middle School Learns About Ming Vases

With two Chinese students in our middle school this year, it seemed like the ideal time to all learn something about Chinese Ming vases. These vases date back to the Ming dynasty, 1368,  and are characteristically made of white porcelain with cobalt blue decoration. The shapes were quite specific, generally having a narrow neck and designs featuring fish, birds, floral motifs, vines and iconography. Using oil pastels covered with white acrylic paint, the students tried their hand at demonstrating their understanding of this art form by scratching designs into their rendition of large vase shapes that were then cut out and mounted on black paper.

Creating a stencil for the initial vase shape

Filling in with blue oil pastel

Tracing the stencil onto final paper

Beginning to scratch in the images

Blue images are beginning to emerge

Lettering the name in Chinese characters

                                                             Three finished works

Radial Design Locker Names for 4-8

A new year brings new art to the Parker hallways. The first project for the 4th - 8th graders is something colorful and slightly mysterious or intriguing to identify their lockers. Radial name designs, symmetrical patterns emanating from the center of a square, are the theme this year. After looking at mandalas and discussing the way they are used in assorted religions and mindfulness practices the students got to work. Their papers are folded into eighths and a name is written filling one entire segment. Carbon paper is used to transfer the name from one segment to the next reversing the letters on alternate sections. The square is colored in bearing in mind the need for symmetry while expressing each child's individuality.

Designing the first segment

Fitting in the name

Adding color with symmetry in mind

Color beginning in the center

Emphasizing the circular pattern

Intense color

The pattern begins to overshadow the name

One finished work

Another finished name

Middle School Students Sculpt Food

An introduction to Pop Art and the large food sculptures of Claes Oldenburg, were the jumping off point for the middle school students to begin a unit on sculpting food. After a demonstration of the sculptural possibilities of working with water and strong toilet paper, the students sketched out a couple of ideas and began building their creations. Realizing that one key to success is using as little water as possible, the forms of bagels, pizza, fish fries and bowls of ice cream began to take shape. Once the proper form is achieved, the items will be painted and arranged on plates to look like the real meal!

Getting the feel for this unusual medium

Building an Oreo

Painting a muffin top

Adding the final glaze coat

A dish of pasta and meatballs

Yummy ice cream sandwich

Cherry pie a al mode

Donuts!