Arts & Activities articles from February 2005

Arts & Activities archives from February 2005

Editor's note.(Editorial)
February 1, 2005... If "magic" in the art room is what you are seeking, ceramics and clay will help you put a creative "spell" on your students. Molding something out of clay, decorating it and glazing it, then firing it in the kiln is a fantastic experience for...

Ceramica Y Cultura.
February 1, 2005... CERAMICA Y CULTURA. Video/Teacher Resource Guide/20 Color Prints/24 min./ $85. Level: K-12. Crystal Productions, P.O. Box 2159, Glenview, IL 60025, (800) 255-8629, www.crystalproductions.com. The story of Spanish and Mexican maiolica is...

Ceramic Tress of Life: Popular Art From Mexico.
February 1, 2005... CERAMIC TRESS OF LIFE: Popular Art From Mexico (2004; $35), by Lenore Hoag Mulryan. University of Washington Press, P.O. Box 50096, Seattle, WA 98145. A visitor to shops featuring the art of Mexico would surely see examples of the "tree of...

Cubism.
February 1, 2005... CUBISM. Video/20 min./$69. Level: Middle through High School. Lucerne Media, 37 Ground Pine Road, Morris Plains, NJ 07950, (800) 341-2293. This new release, with its many images of paintings, traces the roots and origins of Cubism, the...

Wake Up Our Souls: a Celebration of Black American Artists.
February 1, 2005... WAKE UP OUR SOULS: A Celebration of Black American Artists (2004, $24.95) by Tonya Bolden. Harry N. Abrams, 100 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011. This book is not meant to be a comprehensive history of the black American artistic legacy....

The Art of Fine Enameling.
February 1, 2005... THE ART OF FINE ENAMELING (2002; $24.95), by Karen L. Cohen. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016. This is a useful resource for secondary-school students enrolled in jewelry making and craft workshops....

Staedtler, Inc.(shop talk)
February 1, 2005... The patented soft surface of STAEDTLER, INC., Ergosoft[TM] Watercolor and Colored Pencils provides only one of several innovative features that make this product distinctive. The Ergosoft Watercolor and Colored Pencils is a high-caliber pencil...

Winsor & Newton.(shop talk)
February 1, 2005... WINSOR & NEWTON offers a new concept in self-contained and portable artists sets. The new Field Studio Gift Set Collection is the perfect accompaniment for artists on the go. Each Field Studio set is housed in an easy-carry compartmentalized...

Delphi's.(shop talk)
February 1, 2005... Looking to get more value and use from your kiln? DELPHI's free Fusing for the Classroom Quick Start Pack includes lesson plans, project ideas, supply resources and an article on how to get started in fusing on a limited budget. In just three...

Sargent Art, Inc.(shop talk)
February 1, 2005... SARGENT ART, INC. now offers Liquid Metal[TM] Gold and Silver Metallic Acrylics in larger, and more convenient, 64-oz. and half-gallon sizes. Sargent Art has also just introduced a six-pack assortment of their popular 8 oz. Liquid Metal Paints...

Artograph.(shop talk)
February 1, 2005... The Artograph Projector Floor Stand, from ARTOGRAPH[R], now features a handy column key to provide even more support and to ensure that the legs maintain their proper position. This column key is simply inserted into a special hole located just...

Paragon.(shop talk)
February 1, 2005... The "EZ Beader" from PARAGON is a new bead kiln designed to anneal glass beads to prevent breakage during cooling. The EZ Beader comes in two versions: the EZ Beader with three-key digital controller and the EZ Beader-S with infinite control...

Dover Publications.(shop talk)
February 1, 2005... Throughout history, masks have played in important part in theatrical presentations, religious affairs and other events. Masks of the World Coloring Book from DOVER PUBLICATIONS is an entertaining and educational collection that spotlights 30...

Storytellers: turning our experiences into art.
February 1, 2005... Though animal sculptures have been produced for centuries by the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, storyteller figurines are a relatively modern art form. Helen Cordero, an artist of the Cochiti Pueblo, is attributed with its invention. Now these...

Idea in a box.(tools and techniques of using clay)
February 1, 2005... For this year study of clay with my freshman class, I decided to let them apply their clay skills by creating a box. I wanted them to have something functional and something that would require the carefulness that a square corner would demand....

The plate as a canvas.
February 1, 2005... MATERIALS * Plaster (for plate forms) * Shallow bowls or plates to mold plaster * Newspaper * Masking tape * Clay * Clay-working tools * A variety of glazes and under-glazes * Digital camera for record...

Marvels of Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics from the Corcoran Gallery of Art Collection.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2005... LEARNING from EXHIBITIONS Maiolica, a high-quality, beautifully decorated tin-glazed earthenware, evolved during the Renaissance to achieve a value well beyond its natural material worth. Maiolica is one key to understanding life in...

Clip & save art notes.(self-portraits)
February 1, 2005... ABOUT THIS SELF-PORTRAIT This picture is thought to have been painted for the Painters' Guild of Brussels, of which Rogier van der Weyden was a member. Saint Luke was the patron saint of painters so it was natural for the guild to have...

Classroom use of the art print.(self-portraits)
February 1, 2005... Rogier van der Weyden (Flemish; about 1400-1464). Saint Luke Drawing a Portrait of the Virgin, about 1435-40. Oil and tempera on panel; 54 1/8" x 435/s". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. THINGS TO LEARN * During the later Middle Ages and...

Trashcan artists.(Children's art diary)
February 1, 2005... If you are about to throw something out, trying to secretly aim beneath your child's radar, it won't work. A child's sixth sense kicks in, signaling that, once again, an adult has mistaken a valuable treasure for trash. "I need the watch box...

Courtyard connections.(art school management)
February 1, 2005... Just like in life, creative ideas for teaching art can be triggered by circumstances and evolve in a totally organic and unpredictable way. So it was with our courtyard tile and fountain projects. The seeds were sown in the year that our...

Young arts.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Why I like art is because you can do anything you want. You can make up an imaginary world, something you have never done before. No one can tell you what you should do, you can do what you want. You can express your feelings while you do it....

Nonobjective black and white design challenge.(nonobjective arts education)
February 1, 2005... As my class looked at slides of Sonia Delaunay's works of art, we discussed nonobjective art as being art that has no recognizable subject matter in the work of art. I asked the students if this type of work could express ideas or feelings....

Imaginary X-Ray.(learning activities)
February 1, 2005... Everyone take a deep breath. Where does the air go? What do the lungs remind us of? Who here has ever cut themselves? Where does the blood come from? What does the heart remind us of? What carries the blood? What do veins and arteries...

An appetite for design.(Pixel palette)
February 1, 2005... Everyone has a favorite cookbook. Book vendors report that recipe books, specialty food books and magazines are still great sellers in these hi-tech, low-touch times. After seeing the wide variety in our local bookstore, I thought that a...