Paul Klee and Blocks of Color

   

February 24, 2013

 
 Painting without a Brush

Cannon experimented with a new tool for adding color and texture to paper. He used Speedball water based printing inks and a two inch brayer to roll color onto his paper. We looked to Paul Klee’s Egyptian landscape for inspiration.  The different “blocks” of color and the textures of the watercolor paper showing through look somewhat like the textures Cannon achieved with the brayer. We will use these printed papers in lots of different ways in the coming weeks.

 

Stamping

There are some special days coming up, so we took some time to make a few cards for some special people.  Cannon had a new tool to try out on this project too. We found some large stamping tools with a good knob on them and a three inch diameter circle with a stamp form attached. By removing one of the stamp forms we had a plain acrylic surface that would hold the clear stamps that we use to put images and messages on the cards. Cannon was able to get a good grip on the stamp and place it where he wanted it on the card.  

Before we stamped Cannon searched through scraps of paper of different colors and textures. Some had plants and flowers pressed into the paper.  He selected the color and texture he wanted and then using the glue stick he put the colored paper onto the card stock and smoothed it down with the “baron” (printing tool for smoothing paper on an ink block).  Then he added his message and image with the new stamping tool.  He signed his name with his new signature stamp.

 

A Curiosity

Cannon got out his magnifying glass and took a closer look at the seed pods from the Sweet Gum tree.  These spiky little balls act a bit like Velcro. We were able to get four of them to stick together while we lifted them in the air by one stem.  We were curious about what was inside the balls.  They were so hard mom had to get out her special chef’s knife to saw it in half.  Inside were tightly packed seeds. 

 

The seed pods also housed a visitor that found its way onto Ms. Beth’s hair.  Mom’s sharp eyes spotted the tiny spider and she picked it up and we tried to transfer it to our magnifying jar for a closer look.  But he was a speedy little thing and he made his escape several times before he was captured.

 

 

 

Between projects we took some time out to read a few more chapters of Captain Underpants.  It is fun reading and Cannon is quick to point out words that are new to him.  

Look!  Captain Underpants in Chinese

 

Sunday February 17, 2013

CANNON and the  OOBLECK! 

It was Mad Scientist Sunday.  We put on our aprons and lab coats and poured four boxes of corn starch into the red storage box.  Dad brought a big pitcher of water to the table.  After Cannon explored the texture of the super fine cornstarch – it is so fine some people use it as baby powder – then we started adding water.  When we had just the right balance of cornstarch and water we had Oobleck. 

 

The Science
Oobleck is a pressure –dependent substance like Silly Putty and quicksand. They are not liquids and not solids.  They are known as Non-Newtonian fluids. Applying pressure to the mixture increases its viscosity (thickness).  A quick tap will make it feel hard because it forces the cornstarch particles together. But if you dip your hand slowly into the mix your fingers slide in as easily as through water. Moving slowly gives the particles time to move out of the way. *

Lift a handful of Oobleck up out of the container and the solid lump will ooze through your fingers like the Swamp Monster from the Black Lagoon.



*Thanks to an article from The Scientific American for this explanation.

 It took a good bit of effort from Dad to clean up all of the cornstarch from the floor.  Just when we thought it was all cleaned up we found another bit waiting to be swept up. We saved the box of Oobleck to play with later. Then we read the book by Dr. Seuss. He made Oobleck famous with his book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

H2O Color –Watercolor

Cannon made good use of his new large palette for liquid water colors. Before he painted he used a “magic”  (white) crayon to make invisible lines on white pape. When he painted over them with watercolors the lines magically appeared.

 

Cannon paints independently with
his watercolors. He is using a
resist technique with white crayon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading and Word Play
We took time out for some more of the Captain Underpants book and finished our day with a chapter from Frog and Toad about good friends raking leaves for each other. Cannon used the Banana-gram tiles to find  words in the "it" family; fit, sit, lit, bit, hit.

 

 

Ceramics Class at the Indianapolis Art Center

February 13, 2013

Ceramics Class at the Indianapolis Art Center

Wednesday afternoon I met Cannon for his first ceramics class at the Indianapolis Art Center.  The class is made up of 12 early elementary students 10 boys and 2 girls. His teacher also teaches third grade. After introductions we started on the first project, a heart shaped dish. We were introduced to the clay and how to prepare it for the slab roller.

We took our turn in line and placed the clay on the slap roller between two pieces of canvas.  Then Cannon had no trouble turning the large tractor sized wheel to roll the clay through the two rollers that gave us a nice smooth slab of clay just the right thickness, just like a perfect clay pie crust.

 Cannon traced around the heart shaped pattern with the wooden tool.  Then he used a fork to press in a “pie-crust” design all the way around the shape.  We draped the clay over a ball of extra clay.  Cannon helped roll a “snake” of clay, scored the coil with the fork and then dipped his finger in the bowl of slip and spread it over the coil. We attached it to the bottom of the draped dish and set it aside to begin drying.



Cannon watches instructor Gina help a student.

By now Cannon realized he was going to have to have messy hands for a while.  I explained that the clay would wash right out of his clothes so he relaxed and we moved over to the wheel area. Students work one on one with an instructor at the wheel. Since I had experience working with a wheel it was okay for us to work together.

 



 

 

It took us a few minutes to get in position. The wheel height is adjustable so after a few attempts we were both in position to begin working.  I threw our blob of clay on the center of the wheel and started the wheel very slowly. Cannon used the sponge to add some water and he extended his arm and placed his hand on the rotating clay.  Since we hadn’t centered the clay it had a very lumpy bumpy feel which Cannon thought was funny. 

Together we centered the clay Cannon’s hands on mine and he adding water with the sponge as needed. When the clay was centered, he put both hands over the spinning clay cylinder, palms down and fingers fully extended and curved around the top. I covered his hands with mine, then we moved his hands down the cylinder to feel its smooth rotation. Cannon’s eyes lit up and a slow big smile spread across his face.

 

 

Then we pushed a thumb down into the middle a short way.  Slowly we pressed down until we had a small cup formed.  The Cannon used his pincher grasp to “pull” the cylinder up, thinning the walls of the cup and making it grow a bit.  We worked together to grow the cup.  We finished just as it was clean up time. We went to the sink and washed off the “mud” and dried our hands.

 

 

The class lined up for a tour of the Kiln room.  We went through the drying room and then into the kiln room. We saw all of the different kinds of kilns from small electric kilns to the large kilns that use gas.  One of the artists explained how he fired his pear shaped clay objects.  He showed us the “cones” that are used to tell the artist what the heat is inside the kiln.  The cones start standing straight up but when they get to just the right temperature they will curve over.  Cannon was given the cone to take home.

Back in the clay studio we put our heart dish on the drying shelf and finished cleaning up. Mr. Dan was waiting for us and we put our coats on and headed for home.

Cannon flips to the next page of Captain Underpants.

Sunday February 3, 2013

Cannon couldn’t wait to get to Chapter 4 of the Captain Underpants book we started last week. He really likes the antics of George and Harold who enjoy playing jokes on their classmates and on their principle Mr. Krupp. Cannon did silent reading for the first few pages and we highlighted those words that Cannon indicated were new to him. Then we read together and did a good bit of laughing.

 

Hiding Tiger by Cannon Hoops

We took a break from reading and cut more paper shapes for the “hiding tiger” collage we started last week. We worked together to paste the shapes down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pasta machine was unpacked so that we could make the first part of our special Valentines.  Cannon softened the Sculpy clay and then he turned the crank on the pasta machine.  He used a cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. Then he pressed a message into the hearts.  

 

Playing with Numbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We practiced counting to 100 first, by 10’s then by 5’s.  We used the hundreds chart, and the five’s chart and the new Mathlink cubes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Reading!

Cannon kept asking for more Captain Underpants so in between our other activities we read six more chapters of the book.  George and Harold are planning to hypnotize Principal Krupp...to be continued.  

Tiger -in-a-Tropical Storm by Henri Rousseau

January 27
On a Tiger Hunt with Henri Rousseau

We continued our trip around the world stopping in India at the Jim Corbet National Park.  We read a short paragraph about Jim Corbet and his adventures as an eleven year old in India. He later became a famous Tiger hunter.  Then we looked at Henri Rousseau's painting of a tiger hiding in a forest.

Cannon began a collage of a tiger hiding in a forest, he used his new cutting tool to cut tall and sort grasses and leaves and began pasting them down using a glue stick. Then he got a bright idea
and reached for his apple core tool and used it to firmly press the papers onto his picture.

Cannon had the idea to use the rounded end of his Apple Core Tool
to smooth down the pasted paper.

We are not finished yet and will continue this next week.


















Meeting Captain Underpants



Cannon meets Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Cannon was introduced to Captain Underpants and his two naughty friends George and Harold.  He thinks his dad looks like George who wears a tie and has a flat-top.  The boys invent the super hero Captain Underpants and write about his adventures at their elementary school. In the first story Captain Underpants saves the school by flushing away the "inedible Hunk".  Cannon learned several new words and dad had to explain what a "wedgie" was. 





Scrabble Snacks
 

Can't wait to make this Scrabble with crackers.

Cannon made a list of words words from the story and we used them to play Scrabble Junior.  First we laid out the words using the Banana Grams and then we laid out the words using Cheez-it crackers that have the letters of the alphabet pressed into them. We nibbled on the crackers as we worked. Yum!

Checking out the box.

The List
We started our session by making our list and assembling our materials.  But before we started Cannon wanted to share his book about an airplane ride and pointed out the picture of the family being picked up by someone who was just like his uncle who picks his family up at the airport too.  What fun, making connections from his reading.
Before we started we shared a story about Frog and Toad and winter.  Then we started on our list.  At the end of our session we crossed off the things we had completed.  We didn't get everything done but it is nice to have something to look forward to in the next session.

Beach in a Bottle

January 20, 2013
A New Year and new adventures await us.  We had a very busy first 2013 session, catching up and sharing.  Cannon showed me his marble tower…at least three feet high his fine crop of wheat berry grass, the paper airplanes he made and flew with dad, his banana grahams words and more.  

Cannon examined the branches of Pussy Willows that I had brought with me. He stroked the fuzzy “catkins” and looked at the buds not yet open.  Pussy Willows are one of the first signs of spring.  My friend shared some from her garden. Perhaps Cannon’s branches will sprout roots and I can plant them in my garden this spring.

Catkins from the Pussy Willow branch.

 Cannon was eager to unpack the new Art Cart and get started.  So was Avalon, who crawled over and stood next to Cannon, holding onto his chair and trying to get a peek at what we were doing. But before we got started, Cannon and his mom showed me the first edition of Cannon’s first book, Avalon’s Book of Colors, his Christmas gift to his sister.  

 

 

He and his dad had worked together to prepare the book for publication. They did a great job!  We learned lots of things from this project and had fun too.

 

 



And now at last we can reveal his other Christmas projects.  For mom, Cannon dyed two silk scarves and for dad, he modeled desk accessories from polymer clay. 

 



Cannon proudly shows off the scarves he dyed of mom.

Then we unpacked the Art Cart and made our list, just like Toad did in The List.

We got out the globe and Cannon picked out the places he wanted to “visit” over the next few months.  Then we started our journey by looking at the Maldives – an island nation in the Indiana Ocean south east of Sri Lanka.  First we used our imaginations and made a “piece of the ocean” by filling a zip-lock bag with blue green hair gel.  Then we added some small shells and pressed the air out of the bag and sealed it.  We put it in another bag and used white glue to be sure the bag would not pop open accidentally.  This piece of ocean is fun to squish and push the shells to different parts of the bag. Good exercise for the pinchers and grabbers.  When we held it up to the light from the window we could see air bubbles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time to make our Beach in a Bottle.  The project came from an article in Humpty Dumpty magazine July/August 2012 issue.

With mom’s help we gathered all of the supplies and equipment – she even bundled up Avalon and made a quick trip to the grocery for the all important blue food coloring.
Together we reviewed the steps to the project.  First we sampled some water from Figi and found the Figi islands on the inflatable globe.  After we emptied the bottle we used it for our project.


Then we had to add the beach.  We used small shells and sand I had collected from a beach on Paradise Island in the Maldives.  Cannon used a spoon to measure ½ cup of sand.  He selected small shells that would fit through the bottle opening and pushed them into the bottle.  We made a paper funnel to pour the sand into the bottle.

 

Then it was up to Cannon to tell me what we should do next. He looked at the magazine and showed me the next step.  We measured a cup of water and asked mom to use the food coloring to turn it blue for the ocean.  We made a funnel from foil and Cannon poured the water over the sand. 

 

 

 

 

 

The last step was to fill the rest of the bottle with mineral oil.  Then we added some white glue to the bottle cap and put it on tight.  Cannon turned the bottle from end to end and made blue ocean “waves”.  We could see the sand shifting beneath the waves carrying the shells to the beach.   Something to ponder…why does the water and the oil stay separated? Hum.

 

We took a donut and coffee break. Friends, Frog and Toad are still with us and we started their third book Frog and Toad Together.  We looked at the rest of the Humpty Dumpty Magazine.  I asked Cannon to sign the copy of his book that he gifted to me.  We also tried out a new cutting tool which worked very well.  We will use it next week.

It wouldn't be an Art Sunday without a bit of painting.
Cannon created this using liquid watercolors and salt.
He loves being able to paint independently with the
Apple Core tool.  He especially likes cleaning and
blotting his brush then reloading it with color.

 

 

 

 

The Grass is Greener at Cannon's House

January 6, 2013

Wheat Berries are a celebration of life!  They sprout quickly indoors and provide us with a vibrant green in the gray days of winter. Cannon and mom researched wheat berries before planting theirs. They found out you can use them in baking, health drinks and even in tortillas.

Cannon used a round plastic container (Glad-ware 6 cup/48 oz).  We put about 1 inch of fiberfill on the bottom to provide drainage then added about two inches of potting soil.
Cannon scattered the seeds across the top and then covered them with a thin layer of soil. 

 He kept them moist, giving them a light sprinkle of water everyday.  Within days the seeds sprouted and by the end of the week “farmer” Cannon had a fine crop of wheat berry grass. 

 Dad gave everyone a good laugh when he suggested he go to sears and by a mower to cut the grass with.  Cannon can use his scissors to trim the grass when it begins to “lie down”. 

Cannon thought the best part of this experiment was running his fingers over the tops of the green stalks just like every wheat farmer in the world has done since the beginning of wheat farming.

This experiment was from Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars by Sharon Lovejoy.