Calgary Tower and Fort Calgary Art Projects

This is a project I have been doing with Grades 1/2. It relates to Calgary's history but can be adapted to whatever historical landmarks are in your area.



It's an 8"x10" canvas.  This one is for the opening of the Calgary tower in 1967.

This one is for the establishment of Fort Calgary in 1875.





I give the students a choice for which one they want to complete.

Here is some student work.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- 8"x10" substrate, we use canvas, you could use cardboard or hardboard
- drywall filler
- recycled cardboard
- acrylic paint in sky blue, black, green, white, orange, red and purple
- scrap coloured paper, glitter paper
- black and red ribbon
- for Fort Calgary you need some twigs
- blue and red sharpies for Union Jack flag for Fort Calgary
- tacky glue
- printed text labels from the computer
- Mod Podge, optional

PROCEDURE:

Cut pieces for your project out of recycled cardboard.

For the Calgary Tower we cut out the tower and some additional skyscrapers to represent downtown.

For Fort Calgary we cut out a Tipi, the main fort building, and the 2 towers.

The kids wrote their names on every single piece on the coloured side with a sharpie. We turned them to the brown side and gave each piece a coat of drywall filler.  The kids just use 2 or 3 fingers to spread on the drywall.  We don't put it on the coloured side because it has a shiny finish that the drywall doesn't stick to after it has setup.
I also had them add some drywall filler to the canvas to texture the sky a bit.  Set aside to dry overnight.

After the drywall has dried it's time to start painting.  I tape off the horizon line for the kids.  This gives the kids a visual on where to stop painting. Calgary Tower is portrait style, Fort Calgary is landscape.

We paint the sky blue for both the Calgary Tower and Fort Calgary.

Let dry.

While the canvas is drying paint the parts and pieces.

Don't worry about the details just the background colours.




Let dry.

When the canvas is dry I lift the tape and move it up so the edge is right at the end of the blue sky.

For the Calgary Tower we paint the bottom black.  For Fort Calgary we paint it green.

Remove the tape when the ground area is dry.

Using a sponge we sponged on some clouds.  I find that if you moisten the sponge first you get a better result.  You just want it damp.

When your parts and pieces are dry start adding details.


I used black ribbon for the tower and red ribbon for the trim on Fort Calgary.

We also used coloured paper and some glitter paper for our skyscraper windows.

Glue the pieces onto the canvas.

For Fort Calgary we add designs to the Tipi with coloured paper and ribbon, glue on windows and trim, and add a flagpole with a Union Jack we make out of paper and sharpies.

We also add some cut twigs to form the outer wall of the fort.

Finally add the titles.  I printed these off the computer, added a little colour with some disk tempera paint like a wash, and had the kids cut them out.

Glue into place.

You can add a coat of Mod Podge to seal everything into place and give the piece a nice shiny finish.

That's it.


See you next time.

Gail

Clay Spoon Monsters

I finished my month long residency on Friday. It was a large school with 500 students and I completed 2 projects with each class.



This was one of the Grade 2 projects, spoon monsters.

I know I could use a spoon monster by my stove!

Here is some more student work.


I only have a few photos as I'm still doing my glaze firing.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- clay, I used about 1 box per class (25 students)
- newspaper, I give each student 1/2 a page
- canvas placemats
- penny nails
- skewers
- little water cups
- glazes
- kiln

PROCEDURE:

For clay we work on top of canvas placemats.  Each child gets a penny nail for cutting, a skewer for scoring and adding detail, and a small cup of water.

I start off by giving each child a lump of clay approximately the same size.


I get them to roll it between their hands or around the table to form a nice round shape. They are about the size of a large naval orange.

The grade 2 students push their thumbs into the ball of clay and form a nice pinch pot.  I talk to them about what a good thickness should be. (width of their thumb).

I will go and check each one to make sure it's going to work before we move on to the next step.

Take your 1/2 page of newspaper, crumple into a loose ball and stuff inside the pot.


The newspaper helps the pot keep it's shape.  I remove these before firing.  Current school policy is to remove combustibles.  In the past I have just let these burn off during the bisque fire.

Take pot and turn onto it's side.  Give it a few thumps on the table.  This will flatten the side so it can stand up on it's side.

I tell the kids if it wobbles try again.

It should look something like this.

Flat on the bottom.

I give each child a smaller lump of clay and we start to add the features to our monsters.  We attach clay by using our "scratch, scratch, water, water" chant.

We use our skewer to score/scratch our clay and then dip our finger into the cup of water and add this to our scratches. I then tell the kids that the scratches have to KISS.  An easy way to get them to remember despite all the 'eww gross' comments.

I also tell them that 'short and stubby' is our friend. We don't want features that are to thin or tall on our monsters.

Finally we scratch our names onto the bottom of the monsters.  I drape the clay with plastic to equalize for a day or 2 and then allow it dry out for 1 - 2 weeks.



I then bisque fire, we glaze, and I do the second fire.

I had 3 grades completing clay projects during this residency.

Here are some of the penguins from Grade 1.  My full tutorial is here.

and here are a sampling of the owls from Grade 4.  My owl tutorial can be found here.

Awesome work by all classes!

Well I have to go prep for the start of another residency on Monday.  I have lots more student work and  new tutorials to add in the coming week.

Gail