Trends Modern Art

Hello, fellow lovers of modern art. Long time no see.

Where have you been?  
Me? Where have I been?

Touché.

I've been around, brewing up some crazy art projects. Hopefully, I'll get to share them with you soon! A while ago, I posted this really cool Claes Oldenburg project we did creating papier mache sculptures of letters in the alphabet. Here are a few of the images from the project.

My far, this was the most time consuming aspect of this project. Constructing the letters out of cardboard, styrofoam cups, paper and tape. Making sure everyone's letter was just so. It was fun but you need several hands for this if your students are in the younger grade bracket.

The start of the papier mache process. It usually starts off so nice and civilized.

My husband and son, trying to show the students the proper way to apply their papier mache strips onto their sculpted letters so they don't end up with a starchy mess.

I love the fact that every time I introduce a new project, I hold my breath for any glitches. I've had plenty of moments where the tape didn't stick right, a print didn't even come out, or the you could barely see the paint or the students finished their piece in under fifteen minutes. LOL Even though I make samples and try techniques out at home, stuff happens.  In this case, I was really hoping the cardboard base would stand up to the papier mache liquid, especially with the students and their overzealous papier mache techniques, slopping it on and whatnot.

A little soggy, but nothing a few hours in the sun couldn't dry out.

All of the letters turned out so cool!

Some could even used as weapons. :)

Once they were dry, I thought it would be easier if I took them all home and painted a coat of primer on them myself. Until it was almost midnight and my hands were covered with white primer and I still had a huge pile to finish. Why do I always get myself into this mess? Story of my life!

So creative and so fun! And the hard work is always worth it in the end.

If you want a step-by-step instructions on how to complete this project, you can check out my Pablo Picasso papier mache project for papier mache basics. Or, you can go to Art Projects For Kids for another 3-D Papier Mache Letter. Have fun!

One of my students did an oral report on Claes Oldenburg, and part of his presentation was this large-scale sculpture of a cell phone.

It wasn't something we did in class, but it was so cool and amazing I thought I should share it with my readers!

They used the simple papier mache instructions from our last project and applied them to this creation, an old school cell phone. I wish I could show you how large the phone actually is--all of my students couldn't keep their hands off of it. This would be a really fun rainy day project to start with your kids. All you'd need is a hair dryer to make the papier mache dry faster, but the possibilities are endless.

If anyone ever creates something amazing and fabulous from the lesson plans on this blog, please feel free to share them with me. I'd love to see how you let your creativity flow!

The artwork above was created by a third grader.

Claes Oldenburg is the perfect artist to share with children. Who wouldn't love his giant ice cream cone leaning precariously over the edge of a building? Or his monumental swiss army knife? And what about his huge floor cake made out of soft fabrics?

My students loved it all! Drawing inspiration from Mr. Oldenburg himself, as well as a lesson from Art Projects for Kids, respectively, I thought we would create our own giant letters from papier mache. It was most definitely an ambitious project, especially when your class is only one hour long and you don't have a sink in your classroom.

But anyhoo, we overcame our obstacles and completed this papier mache project in four class sessions. The classroom was loud, a little chaotic and messy. This is definitely the day when you will need to find several mom helpers to assist you because you will need as many hands as an octopus to ensure you finish each step when you should.

Since you can easily find step by step instructions for papier mache here and here, I won't reinvent the wheel but I will share how I broke down this project into manageable stages.

• Collect as much cardboard, newspaper, computer paper and masking tape as you can haul with you.
• Day #1: This class should be dedicated to drawing, tracing and cutting out your letter from cardboard using scissors. Use your letter as a stencil and create a second letter. Cut it out. We decided to go with a bigger sized letter (around 11 X14 inches) so it could stand up to the papier mache process.
  
• Start constructing letters using styrofoam cups and masking tape. Wrap in computer paper and tape it with masking tape in preparation for papier mache.
• Day #2: Time to papier mache. Make sure your student takes special care to get into all the bends and folds of their letter. It will look neater in the end.
• Let dry.
  
• Day #3: Paint one coat of white primer paint or spray paint them with a white primer color.
• Let dry.
• Begin to add color by painting your letter. Base colors first, to ensure even coverage. Smart Craft paint is inexpensive craft paint that comes in a huge variety of colors. And it costs .99 cents, so what is there not to love?
  
• Day #4: Finish painting fully constructed letter with acrylic paint.
  
• You can use an old hairdryer to speed the drying process. Once its dry to the touch, you can add patterns, multiple colors, you can design on it with markers, or in the case of my art student, you can splash paint all over it.

The sculpture above was created by a fourth grader.