Native American Designs

Transcription

1 Unit 2 Third Grade VAPA Lesson Native American Designs Essential Question: What can be learned about Native American culture from their stories, games, and art? Big Idea: Native Americans pass down beliefs and culture. Background: Students have read about quilts and cloths that communicate values, stories, and heritage of diverse cultures. As hunters and gatherers, Native American art used natural resources from the environment, such as clay, fibers, and animal skins. Intricate designs communicate a deep respect for the environment, and often served a utilitarian purpose in addition to being a form of creative expression. Reflections, p. 148

2 VAPA Standards: Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary 1.1 Perceive and describe rhythm and movement in works of art and in the environment. Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design 1.5 Identify and describe elements of art in works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, space, and value Skills, Processes, Materials, and Tools 2.1 Explore ideas for art in a personal sketchbook. Communication and Expression Through Original Works of Art 2.4 Create a work of art based on the observation of objects and scenes in daily life, emphasizing value changes. 2.5 Create an imaginative clay sculpture based on an organic form. Role and Development of the Visual Arts 3.1 Compare and describe various works of art that have a similar theme and were created at different time periods. 3.2 Identify artist from his or her own community, county, or state and discuss local or regional art traditions. Diversed of the Visual Arts 3.4 Identify and describe objects of art from different parts of the world observed in visits to a museum or gallery (e.g. puppets, masks, containers) Make Informed Judgments 4.2 Identify successful and less successful compositional and expressive qualities of their own works of art and describe what might be done to improve them. Lesson Objective: The artisan will craft either a clay pot or a string art picture by using hand shaping and pressing methods with Native American inspired design patterns. Materials: Pottery Air dry clay* Scratching/pressing tools for designs (paper clips, pushpins, bolts, etc.) Water, plate Paper towel String Painting Piece of Paper/Pencil Adhesive backed felt pad Friendship Thread (pearlized/mercerized) Mod-Podge Water cup/brush Paper towel Clay* (about one pound per student): Air Dry works fine, but provides only one class period to produce the whistle sound Polymer allows students to try again the next day, but requires oven baking. Other Choices:

3 *If you desire/have the opportunity/resources to fire this project with a bisque firing in a kiln, then the recommended clay supplier used by King High and Poly High ceramics (purchase order through RUSD): Let the clay dry 3 days before firing. Cone 5 or 10 (not the 06). 25lbs. is one bag. Many Options: Suggested: Either Coronado, Clay LBM, or Sonora White. Procedure: 1. View examples of Native American designs on pottery and basketry. Students develop their own design sketch with paper and pencil. Harcourt Reflections, p. 106 What animal is this?

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5 Pima, 1920 Pima, 1930 Pima, 1930 Pima, 1900 Pima, 1920 Maidu, 1880

6 Harcourt Reflections p.130 Riverside History, 3 rd grade ed., p has additional research. Basket weaving is a detailed, time-intensive process. Natural fibers are difficult for young fingers to manipulate into a tight weave, so the alternative, string painting, offers the opportunities to make colorful, intricate designs with fibers. Native American pottery contains many of the same patterns as basketry. 2. Option A: Pinch-Pot Pottery (with a coil twist). Begin with a palm sized lb. of air dry clay. Roll it into a ball, and press a thumb into the center. Widen the hole in the center, but don t press too far down. Keep a thick bottom.

7 Scratch initials into the bottom with a paper clip. Grab another pinch of clay, and make slip (50%water/ 50% clay). Without it, the coils separate easily. The pot on the right was made entirely of coils, and lost half its sides, not to mention a split base. Blend into a creamy paste. Cover and fill cracks and divots in the bowl, and smear a ring of slip around the rim of the bowl. Roll out a long coil of clay, about ½ thick. Use slip the wet rim, and the clay coil to build up the rim of the bowl.

8 The slip will create a tacky surface to which the coil will adhere. Add more slip and work around the edges of the coil, blending into the pinch-pot base. Use firm, but gentle pressure, or the shape of the bowl will be compromised. As more coils build up the side, make each coil a little smaller than the previous. Finger pad blend the sides of the coils together, using gentle pressure, and a little more slip. Blend the inside of the bowl with fingerpad rubbing and smoothing. Decorate the sides with impressions from bolt heads, or other found objects. Rinse frequently. To avoid pulling out chunks of clay, gently toggle from side to side as the bolt impression is removed.

9 Support the inside of the bowl s rim with a fingerpad while making an impression. Pushpins and paperclips can be used to scratch a design, or invest in clay sculpting tools. Use Native American inspired design patterns. Found objects, such as the tip of this doorstop, can make impressions.

10 Allow to dry for 3 days. Use a flat brush for large areas, a round brush for filling decoration areas, and a liner for lines. Hold the brush like a pencil, and drag the paint toward the artist. Balance with the pinkie finger. Allow to dry for three to five days.

11 Seal and finish with a brush-on or aerosol varnish for acrylic paint. Option B: String Painting Nez Perce, 1860 Cherokee, 1830 Kaska, 1860 Purse, 1880 Ojibwe type Man s Hat, 1890, Micmac type

12 After viewing Native American art designs, develop a design sketch. Give each child an adhesive-backed felt pad. Transfer the desired design to the back of the felt pad with a pencil on the paper.

13 One design element at a time, press firmly through the paper and create a perforated edge. It helps to pull the pencil through each similar direction before handling the curves.

14 Gently, firmly, and steadily remove the outlined design section. Choose a color of friendship thread. Cut off a nine inch portion, or so, depending on the size of the design. In small sections, working from the outside inward, press the thread into place.

15 Patience: wax on, wax off make the circle er tree thing. Trim the corners as desired, peel the remainder of the paper backing away, and voila!

16 The thread has memory, and will eventually pull away, so it s important to seal it. Instead of aggressive brush strokes that might lift the pattern, dab the Mod Podge sealer all over each pattern, and on the exposed bare areas as well. The matte finish has almost a leather hide feel to it. Black thread unifies the separate designs. Beads threaded through raffia tassels hanging from the bottom sides might be a nice touch. Closure/Discussion: 1. What was successful about your Native American inspired design elements? 2. Structurally, with the clay coils or the string thread swirls, what was challenging about placing the material/medium where you desired? How did you problem solve to persevere?

17 3. Which design elements and colors were inspired by or reminiscent of Native American elements? Which were designed by you? Assessment: Score 4: Intricate designs are derived primarily from the baskets viewed and researched. For pottery, multiple uses of pressed clay, etched designs, and painted elements. For string art, intricate design uses multiple thread colors within a given shape, and layers them artistically, whether it be concentrically inward, or swirled back and forth like ribbon. Score 3: Coil or thread elements retain their intended form and shape. Native American inspired designs use a pressed, etched, or (string) painted technique. Designs are symmetrical. Score 2: Limited connection to Native American inspired designs. Lacking symmetry. Score 1: Structural issues predominate due to removing the entire adhesive backing for string art and wearing out the tacky surface prematurely, or failing to use slip to adhere the successive coil clay layers. Jumbled colors or painted designs lack consistency of pattern and design. References Goldfein, R. (1992). American Indian Art Magazine. Tempe, Arizona: Ironwood Lithographers, Vol. 17, N. 4 Wooley, David (1990). Eye of the Angel: Selections from the Derby Collection. Northhampton, MA: White Star Press.