A Pennsylvania Art Teacher in Hawaii!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] Four different views of U.S. topography from my plane window.[/caption]

Yes, it's true. The very next day after school let out, this Pennsylvania gal officially left the eastern seaboard to journey to... HAWAII! I visited the third largest of the Hawaiian islands, Oahu (the island of Hawaii is the largest, followed by Maui). Matt and I got to spend two whole weeks on the tiny, gorgeous island in the Pacific due to an extremely generous invitation from two very close friends. Our home base was on the windward side of the island in a beautiful little town called Kailua.

[caption id="attachment_1166" align="alignleft" width="300"] Matt and I on the first leg of the trip from Pennsylvania to Logan Airport in Boston, Mass.[/caption]

It was super neat to experience the island under the guidance of someone who grew up there. We definitely filled each day with an ideal blend of adventure and much-needed relaxation. Hawaii is the most isolated populated group of islands on earth - 2,390 miles from California and 3,850 miles from Japan! We were truly isolated from our everyday lives and responsibilities which was both fun and terrifying at the same time!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] Much to my delight, there were a bazillion of these little guys to be found on Oahu. I would always catch their movement over sunny surfaces anywhere we visited on the island![/caption]

I was uber-captivated by the flora and fauna that the island offered. There were so many leafy/ petal shapes I just had never seen before. And the colors, THE COLORS! The natural palette of the island was intense to say the least. I was also impressed by the sweet simplicity of most of the Hawaiian architecture. Most homes were one story, with modest, bungalow-style square footage. Despite the small sizes, the homes seemed like comfortable, cool, idyllic living spaces.









On the third day of our stay I found a book in the night stand of the room I was staying in that detailed the life if Princess Ka'iulani. I can't specifically say why, but I immediately became obsessed with her biography. Ka'iulani's full name was Victoria Kaʻiulani Kalaninuiahilapalapa Kawekiu i Lunalilo Cleghorn! She was heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii and held the title of crown princess. Kaʻiulani became known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and fearless determination to "be political." After the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, she visited the President Grover Cleveland in D.C. to help restore the Kingdom, however her efforts were not enough to prevent the annexation.

[caption id="attachment_1206" align="alignleft" width="240"] 'Iolani Palace was built in 1882 under the reign of King Kalakaua. It had electricity four years ahead of the White House in Washington, D.C.[/caption]

In reading about her life, I discovered a lot of information about the post-colonial government and the history of the royal Hawaiian families. On the fifth day of our vacation we visited 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu. It is the only royal palace in the USA.



 

 

 

 

 

On the second day of our trip, we visited The Byodo-In Temple. The Byodo-In Temple is a non-denominational Buddhist temple located in "The Valley of the Temples, not very far from our home base in Kailua. This brass bell is called a Bon-sho, which means sacred bell. It hangs in its own house outside of the main building at the Byodo-In Temple. It is 5 feet tall and weighs three tons! The bell is customarily rung before one enters the temple to spread the eternal teachings of Buddha. Ringing the bell will purify the mind of evil spirits and temptation. It is said that ringing this bell will bring you happiness, blessings, and a long life.





Of course, on my journey I discovered lots of beautiful art! I also took not note of this beautiful quote written on one of the gallery walls in The Bishop Museum of Natural History (Honolulu, HA) I think it sums up the complexity of Polynesian artistry quite nicely.

The artist in Polynesia was a priest eminently trained in the sacred and esoteric knowledge of his society. The process of creation was a sacred act." -J.C. Edler (1999)

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300"] An artist at the Aloha Stadium swap-meet carving an intricate design into a long board.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300"] Gold-leaf Buddha sculpture in the Byodo-In Temple.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="320"] This is a piece of kapa on display at the Bishop museum that is about 300 years old. It was said to have been work by a member of the chiefly caste (ali'i.)[/caption]

The most precious art discovery I made in Hawaii easily was KAPA! Kapa is paper-like fabric that was made by Native Hawaiians. Kapa is made by beating fibers of the wauke tree with "beater" (ʻiʻe kūkū) onto a stone slab! The beaters have four flat sides each with their own distinctive textural pattern. After the fibers have merged, the Kapa is covered with beautiful linear designs and geometric shapes like triangles, squares, chevrons, and diamonds. The process of making kapa was done primarily by women -- a process handed down through generations from mother to daughter.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Kapa beating sticks. If you look closely you can see the different textures on flat beating surface.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300"] This station was set up by the Bishop Museum to allow visitors to take their own turn beating some kapa. The feel of kapa was most comparable to the Tyvek material used in certain postal envelopes.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] My sketchbook design for our sand sculpture![/caption]

And even though it was vacation, I managed to get some art making in too. I teamed up with one of my vacation-mates to create a large scale sand sculpture of the Hawaiian goddess, Pele. Pele is the deity in charge of fire, wind, lightning and volcanoes. Every incident with a volcanic eruption in Hawaii it is said to be Pele's way of expressing her longing to be with her true love, in many stories a young chief named Lohiau, but she's a fickle and dangerous lover who sometimes kills her husbands. Yikes!



However fleeting, I am glad I had the chance to leave my mark on the island of Oahu. It certainly has left an indelible mark on me. I will not soon forget the amazing culture I got to discover and two amazing weeks with friends and loves that are so dear to me.

End of the school year surprises!

Today, first thing in the morning, a 5th grader surprised me with this beautiful bedazzeled masking tape hair accessory! It's hard to tell, but the entire thing is made of masking tape. She even took the time to add some bedazzled bling and a bobby pin. I think I shall wear this all day. This will add some serious style to myfinal visits with each group and art room clean-up! I sure will miss these sweet student surprises this summer.

3-D Letter Sculptures

I chose to end the school year with my 6th graders with a sculpture unit. 6th grade is the highest level of students housed in my elementary school, so this week and next week's classes will be the last hurrah I have with most of these students. :( Next year they will move to the high school and begin a new art journey. For our final project we created fabulous 3-D letter sculptures using recycled materials and Plaster of Paris. I first found this project on the Art Projects For Kids blog done with papier mache. This project was the perfect fit for a group of "almost-high-schoolers" who are seriously ready for summer. I found this project to be simultaneously relaxing and challenging for my group of artists so it was a good fit for the tail end of the school year.

[caption id="attachment_1142" align="alignleft" width="300"] My teacher examples of the project. I will definitely use these as art room decor around the art room until I teach this lesson again next year.[/caption]

Check on my teacher samples of this project!

What I found most remarkable is that the students really seemed to be into the building part of the project and it was a good challenge for them to practice some serious measuring, troubleshooting, and craftsmanship skills. I prepared for this project by strategically sending out an e-mail to fellow teachers and staff requesting their old cereal boxes and cardboard toilet paper and paper towel rolls. I sent that email out last February and by mid-April I had the hundred boxes I needed. Thanks colleagues and cereal-eating friends! It feels great to recycle, doesn't it?

Day one of the project involved making a letter shaped armature for our sculptures. We started by breaking down our cereal boxes for construction. I had the students find the glued section of the box and run their finger down the edge to turn the box into a flat form. Then I had each student cut out the two large rectangles there were the front and back of the box and the two long skinny rectangles that were the sides. Next, each student chose a block letter tracer (I made the entire alphabet by hand on card stock weight paper) and traced it onto the two large rectangles. Older students could probably design their own block letter type, but I wanted to keep things simple for my 6th grade group. After this, the students took 3 mini toilet paper rolls each and cut them in half. The goal for the day was to get the cardboard armature taped together and all side planes covered with extra pieces of 2" cardboard strips.

The next day students came to art class was used to Plaster of Paris. Students loved this part because it was a chance to get messy and it is neat to witness the plaster transform from wet and weak to hard and strong. I encouraged each students to put on two coats of the Plaster of Paris, making sure to cover all of the cardboard armature and also to smooth the plaster so they have a nice, neat, non-bumpy surface to paint on.



On the third day, students put a base coat of paint on their sculptures and finished with unique coloration and pattern designs. Many of my 6th graders said they are going to make more letters this summer now that they know how.

Happy Nurse Appreciation Week!

Did you know that last week was both Teacher and Nurse Appreciation week?  My 4th grade students had the opportunity in art class to honor the nurses who work so hard to keep us safe and healthy. I was able to coordinate a collaborative mural project with the hospital in the same town where I teach that allowed my 4th graders to give thanks and learn about collaborative public installation art.

First, I created four 4 X 6 foot murals using Photoshop. I chose four images that exemplified the concepts Nurses Care, Nurses Know, Nurses Share, and Thank You.

Each mural was composed of 24 pieces which is roughly the number of students I have in each class. I turned all of the pieces of the mural upside down and numbered them on the back. The students had no idea which piece of the picture they were working on until the end. Each student was responsible for composing a sentence of thanks that supported the theme of each mural. A few examples of these sentences are below.

After each sentence, students used a spring colored palette to paint their portion of the mural.  The students really got excited at the end when all of the pieces were coming together to see what they had created. The finished mural were displayed last week in various wings in the local hospital. Thank you, nurses, for all the wonderful things that you do!

My Dream Robot Prints

Here's a super fun and simple lesson that I'm using to introduce my 2nd graders to basic stamping/printmaking methods. I had a feeling that robots might be a hit with young artists, but I had no idea how much 2nd graders loved thinking about robots--How do they work?, What can they can do?, Do robots have personalities and if so, what are they like? I found this great lesson over at  The Chumley/Scobey Art Room blog which proved to be a great, non-messy, ink-less and brayer-less solution for exposing young learners to the joy of printmaking.

The recent 100th anniversary of the Titanic's tragic demise reminded me about how intrigued I was with the story/photos of the sunken vessel when I was an elementary student. I remembered my library teacher telling my class about "Alvin" the mini, underwater robot that could swim the ocean floor and explore the ship's remains. I recall watching video clips of little Alvin fitting through tiny, portal windows and wandering down the once grand, now rusty and barnacle-covered main staircase. I recall my mind being blown in library class-- simultaneously tickled to know that scientists were so clever as to have made such a useful invention and also so proud of the little guy for being so brave!

First, students brainstormed a few places where robots exist in the real world. Most classes were able to think of some good, non-fiction examples such as car washes, factories, NASA space shuttles, and even Roombas! Next, we made a list of ten adjectives that could be used to describe robots. I asked the students to design the robot of their dreams that would assist them in completing a task from their daily lives.

First, we used black Acrylic paint and recycled materials to "stamp" simple shapes to create a robot. I scoured my art closet for old tools such as old marker caps, paper cup rims, clothes pins, Legos, cardboard, wooden handles, nuts, bolts, etc. The students loved experimenting with making a variety of stamps for their robot's vents, tubes, latches, buttons, and doors. On day two, we used fluorescent paints to add a splash of color to our robots designs.