Chinese China

Fifth grade artists finished up their study of Chinese art and culture with a study of Chinese vases. They learned that each vase has a different shape and purpose, such as the ginger jar, which was made to hold ginger and other precious spices.

They were interested to learn that blue and white porcelain became very popular in many parts of the world, and for a long time people did not know how to make this porcelain because the Chinese kept the process a secret!

We created our own “scratch paper” by coloring the paper with blue oil pastels, painting over it with a thin layer of tempera paint, and then scratching traditional Chinese patterns and designs into the dry paint.

IMG_0144 IMG_0145 IMG_0146 Scritchin’ and Scratchin’

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I Can: Tell two facts about Chinese vases; decorate my vases with traditional Chinese motifs such as flowers, birds, and geometric patterns.

New From the First Grade Crew

First grade artists are finishing up their Asian inspired art projects from our cultural focus of China and Japan.

They loved learning about China and the giant panda bears.  We looked at cool panda videos and read Barney Saltzberg’s sweet book about Chengdu, the panda bear who could not, would not, fall asleep!

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And of course their pandas are way too cute!

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We also learned about the Chinese New Year and celebrated by making hats and Lucky Fu Good Fortune wall hangings.  Gung Hay Fat Choy – Best Wishes and Congratulations!

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I can: tell two facts about Chinese pandas; talk about similarities and differences in American and Chinese New Year celebrations.

 

Asian Art Projects

Georgetown artists have been learning about the art of Japan, China, and India.  Third and fifth graders explored an ancient form of Japanese “tie dye” called shibori.  In Japan, fabric is folded and tied in elaborate ways to create beautiful dyed fabric.

images-2 Shibori fabric

Students folded and dyed paper to create their own shibori-style art.  The results…beautiful!  There was much oohing and aahing as everyone carefully unwrapped their dyed papers.

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IMG_9886 IMG_9887Their beautiful papers became the backgrounds for two more Asian inspired projects – Fifth Grade Pagodas and Third Grade Gyotaku Fish Prints.  More to come on these projects soon!